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Tag: Doctor

  • Doctors urge govt to equip hospitals against Ebola

    Doctors urge govt to equip hospitals against Ebola

    Doctors under the aegis of Medical Guild, Lagos State, yesterday urged the Federal and state governments to equip all hospitals to prevent the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

    They said it is necessary because patients reserve the right to choose the hospitals where they want to access treatment, as such hospitals should be equipped with anti-Ebola equipment.

    Its chairman, Dr Biyi Kufo, said global practices demand that certain protocols must be put in place in all facilities to protect workers from contracting the disease.

    “We are not sure there is adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on ground. It is the foot soldiers on the field who feel the presence of battle. We work in these facilities and we are aware of the situation on the ground,” he said.

    Besides, proper approach in combating the disease should not exclude the doctors.

    He appealed to the government to ensure all measures are put in place to protect doctors and other health workers, saying this will reduce obvious anxiety in the sector.

     

    Then doctors can treat patients without fear, he added.

    The outbreak, he said, will test the level of preparedness of any country to respond to an emergency, especial its public health.

    He said doctors and other health workers, outside their immediate family members, are the group at the greatest risk of contracting the disease.

    Kufo said there is no cure for EVD but there is supportive care, such as treating diarrhoea and weakness, among other symptoms.

    He said no doctor is aware of what the life insurance coverage is, adding the government needs to be clear about it.

     

  • U.S doctor with Ebola improving, says Expert

    U.S doctor with Ebola improving, says Expert

    The condition of American Dr. Kent Brantly stricken with Ebola seems to have improved, the director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

    Dr. Thomas Frieden said it was encouraging to see Dr. Brantly walk out of the ambulance unassisted when he arrived at Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital from Liberia at the weekend.

    Frieden said he understands the public’s concerns about Ebola, and the public health role is to ensure that the infection is not spread.

    The CDC chief said old-fashioned practices were required to stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa. These include finding the patients and their contacts, making sure they’re treated, educating the public and doing rigorous infection control in hospitals.

    Ebola is only spread through direct contact of bodily fluids.

    This current Ebola outbreak is the worst on record and has killed more than 700 in three countries in West African and infected more than 1,300.

    Before Brantly arrived in Atlanta, not much about his condition had been made public. According to Samaritan’s Purse, the aid organisation he was working for, Brantly was in “serious but stable” condition before being flown to the U.S.

    When the doctor was able to walk into the hospital, at least two experts said they were surprised but pleased that the doctor seemed to be doing well.

    This strain of the Ebola virus has a fatality rate of approximately 60 per cent and past outbreaks had fatality rates as high as 90 percent.

    Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said he felt “guardedly optimistic”, since Ebola usually advances quickly and Brantly had shown signs of the disease for at least a week.

    “The first thing we all said ‘Whao, he’s not on a vent,’” Schaffner said of realising that Brantly did not need a ventilator to help him breathe. “In general [with] Ebola is … you progress on a downhill course. If you’re at this point and you’re holding your own you’re entitled to be optimistic.”

    When the doctor was able to walk into the hospital, at least two experts said they were surprised but pleased that the doctor seemed to be doing well.

    This strain of the Ebola virus has a fatality rate of approximately 60 percent and past outbreaks had fatality rates as high as 90 percent.

    Morse said that Brantly was obviously not out of the woods and that he would be under constant monitoring to ensure his blood pressure, lung function, kidney function and other vitals remained steady.

    “If he really does get better, we want to know his secret,” Morse said.

    Doctors yesterday also spoke on how their infected colleague would be treated amid fears that  the outbreak killing more than 700 people in Africa could spread in the United States has generated considerable anxiety among some Americans.

    But infectious-disease experts said the public faces zero risk as Emory University Hospital treats a critically ill missionary doctor and a charity worker who were infected in Liberia.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received “nasty emails” and at least 100 calls from people saying “How dare you bring Ebola into the country!?” CDC Director Tom Frieden said Saturday.

    “I hope that our understandable fear of the unfamiliar does not trump our compassion when ill Americans return to the U.S. for care,” Frieden said.

    Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who will arrive in this week, will be treated in Emory’s isolation unit for infectious diseases, created 12 years ago to handle doctors who get sick at the CDC, just up the hill. It is one of about four in the country, equipped with everything necessary to test and treat people exposed to very dangerous viruses.

    In 2005, it handled patients with SARS, which unlike Ebola can spread like the flu when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

    In fact, the nature of Ebola — which is spread by close contact with bodily fluids and blood — means that any modern hospital using standard, rigorous, infection-control measures should be able to handle it.

    Still, Emory won’t be taking any chances.

    “Nothing comes out of this unit until it is non-infectious,” said Dr. Bruce Ribner, who will be treating the patients. “The bottom line is: we have an inordinate amount of safety associated with the care of this patient. And we do not believe that any health-care worker, any other patient or any visitor to our facility is in any way at risk of acquiring this infection.”

    Brantly was flown from Africa to Dobbins Air Reserve base outside Atlanta in a small plane equipped to contain infectious diseases. The plane had briefly stopped in Maine to refuel.

    Bangor Mayor Ben Sprague confirmed that the plane landed Saturday morning at Bangor International Airport.

    He said airport staff, law enforcement and public health personnel were on alert in case anything went wrong, but it was a straightforward landing and refuel.

    At the Dobbins air base, a small police escort followed his ambulance to the hospital. He climbed out dressed head to toe in white protective clothing, and another person in an identical hazardous materials suit held both of his gloved hands as they walked gingerly inside.

    “It was a relief to welcome Kent home today. I spoke with him, and he is glad to be back in the U.S.,” said his wife, Amber Brantly, who left Africa with their two young children for a wedding in the United States days before the doctor fell ill.

    “I am thankful to God for his safe transport and for giving him the strength to walk into the hospital,” her statement said.

    Inside the unit, patients are sealed off from anyone who doesn’t wear protective gear.

    “Negative air pressure” means air flows in, but can’t escape until filters scrub any germs from patients. All laboratory testing is conducted within the unit, and workers are highly trained in infection control. Glass walls enable staff outside to safely observe patients, and there’s a vestibule where workers suit up before entering. Any gear is safely disposed of or decontaminated.

    Family members will be kept outside for now.

    The unit “has a plate glass window and communication system, so they’ll be as close as 1-2 inches from each other,” Ribner said.

    Dr. Jay Varkey, an infectious disease specialist who will be treating Brantly and Writebol, gave no word Saturday about their condition. Both were described as critically ill after treating Ebola patients at a missionary hospital in Liberia, one of three West African countries hit by the largest outbreak of the virus in history.

    There is no proven cure for the virus. It kills an estimated 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the people it infects, but American doctors in Africa say the mortality rate would be much lower in a functioning health-care system.

    The virus causes hemorrhagic fever, headaches and weakness that can escalate to vomiting, diarrhea and kidney and liver problems. Some patients bleed internally and externally.

    There are experimental treatments, but Brantly had only enough for one person, and insisted that his colleague receive it. His best hope in Africa was a transfusion of blood including antibodies from one of his patients, a 14-year-old boy who survived thanks to the doctor.

    There was also only room on the plane for one patient at a time. Writebol will follow this week.

    Dr. Philip Brachman, an Emory public health specialist who led the CDC’s disease detectives programme for many years, said since there is no cure, medical workers will try any modern therapy that can be done, such as better monitoring of fluids, electrolytes and vital signs.

    “We depend on the body’s defenses to control the virus,” Ribner said. “We just have to keep the patient alive long enough in order for the body to control this infection.”

    The plane carrying the second American patient left the U.S. for Liberia yesterday.

    The private air ambulance is scheduled to arrive in Liberia after one stopover. The plane will then bring aid worker Nancy Writebol to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga., and is expected to land midday tomorrow.

    The same plane brought Dr. Brantly to Georgia on Saturday

     

  • Confession of a medical doctor-‘I sometimes consult Ifa to solve complex medical problems’

    Confession of a medical doctor-‘I sometimes consult Ifa to solve complex medical problems’

    Oba Adedayo Olusina Adekoya ( Erinsiba 1), Legusen of Legusenland, the traditional ruler of Ode Ule, Ogun State is a doctor, a thoroughbred herbalist and head of African traditional religion worldwide-Isese Agbaye. He told GBENGA ADERANTI that he sometimes resorts to divination to seek solution to the problems of his patients.

    What is your group all about?

    Isese is the religion of our ancestors, the umbrella body of All African religions, beliefs, practices, norms and folklores. The African religion is Isese Agbaye, it is the origin of all other religious practices.

    You said government has not been fair on issue of religion, what is this talk all about?

    First of all we want fairness; it is not fair to ignore some people.  Secondly, equity, whatever the data anybody bandies around we know we constitute the majority is this country. So when you concentrate attention on a section of the religion in the country and this attention is unfairly given, we feel cheated and we want fairness.

    The moral issues that are troubling the country are based on religious teachings.  You would not find any an Isese person after swearing with what he or she believes in telling lies. This is because you know that whatever you said will be counted against you. So, if an Isese  person swears in the name of Sango,  the god of thunder or in the name of Ogun the god of iron,  or in the name of Amadiora and went ahead to do the wrong thing,  that person will surely get punished. If we inject our indigenous religious beliefs into our national life, corruption will end in Nigeria.

    In order words, to reorganise our national life and make progress, we need to inject Isese into our system. Our foundation is Isese, we should build on it.

    But  Isese is Yoruba word, why Yoruba when there are other African languages?

    That is the problem we are having in Africa today. We’re all speaking the same language but we seem not to recognise this.  We’re speaking Huse language.  Go and write Igbo language in Yoruba alphabet, you will understand it pure and simple.  In Igbo language, when you say nti (ear in Igbo language) that is eti (ear in Yoruba language), when you say imi (nose) in Igbo language)  that is Imun (nose in Yoruba language), onu (mouth in Igbo language) that is enu (mouth in Yoruba language), tell me, what is the difference? So the first set of words or vibrations that we believe first came in sssh. Sssh  is nobody’s language, it is language for everybody, around the world.

    Do you know the meaning of Yoruba?  Yoruba is actually an Arabic word, ‘Yar bawa’ that is the daughter of bawa, that was what the Fulanis were calling the people who were preventing them from colonising what we now call South West of Nigeria.

    I’m not a Yoruba man as a matter of fact.  I’m an Ode man. You find ugbo in Ilaje, you find ugbo in Ijebu, that is where they call Ijebu Ugbo not Ijebu Igbo as the place is popularly referred to. You find ugbo in Akwa Ibom, you find ugbo in Ibo land, we are the same people.  In other words, go to any indigenous shrine in the world, you’re going to meet something that is very common, that is a stone, meteorite that came from the sky. You are also going to find a container; Are we not the same people?  We are speaking the variance of the same language, that is Huse language.  That religion does not belong to Yoruba alone; it belongs to all of us.  You find people in Kalabari in Nigeria, the same people you find in Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, speaking the same language, the same tradition, the same culture, are we still different people?  People have migrated and they are speaking variance of the same language, based on environment they have migrated to a long time ago, that does not mean they are different people.  We’re all the same people.

    People would want to ask why would some people come together to review ‘dead practices’ like isese?

    They are living practices. If 70 per cent of Nigerians are practising something, then, it is not dead. When you say something is dead, it means nobody is practising it. Look at the source of the two latter religions, that is the Christianity and Islamic religions they all derived from the sacrifice Abraham made and was documented in the Bible. Now Judaism derived from that.  It was in Deuteronomy they said when Abraham went into the bush or forest and he finished that sacrifice, instead of using his son as advised, he used a ram but there was a stone on which he slaughtered that ram that stone is a meteorite which is what Yoruba people call edan ara.

    Islam and Christianity thrive on faith and you see the manifestation in miracles and other forms of super natural things.  Do you have this in Isese?

    Isese is all encompassing. I was describing to someone how priests and priestesses manifest when they are taken-over by the spirit, they predict, tell you things. If some people went ahead to package the presentation in such a way that suits their needs in a particular system, I think you will not say the thing did not derive from somewhere. That you modified it does not mean it did not come from a place.  Although that place that it was coming from may not be able to claim direct authority. They are all modifications of Isese and I can assure you that as an Isese person, healings happen, miracles happen.

    Many Nigerian believe in Isese, yet they have failed to openly identify with it, what could have been the reason?

    It is not that people don’t want to associate themselves; it is because the mode of organisation is very different from the western mode of organisation.

    In the western mode of organisation, you would want to show off, Isese is very humble, Isese is not glamorous.

    You went abroad when you were young that means you’re from an aristocratic background?

    Sincerely speaking and with all sense of humility, yes.

    Could you tell us about your family?

    I could trace my generation to 35 generations and the most recent is Kalejaiye Adeokun, he was mentioned in Rev Johnson’s book, ‘The History of the Yoruba People’. He was my great grandfather. He was a warrior, a trader, he was stupendously rich.

    Was your father a traditional ruler?

    His father was but he was not.  My father was supposed to be the Alaye Ode but he refused, he now told his uncle to assume the throne.

    You said you brought back your ancestors’ crown 222 years after it was taken to Ile Ife, how did you do this?

    By accident, by divine design that was going on that I was a tool.

    How did your crown come back?

    It was while I was working for Isese people that Sese Eefun crown that was taken to Ife in 1792 was returned.  The crown was taken for sanctification because 140 people died which was too much blood. They were supposed to do the sanctification for a maximum of 21 days and return the crown but I don’t know why they didn’t bring it back and since that time, Ode Ule had its crown at Obatala shrine in Ile Ife. But somehow, something started pushing me that I should go there, that is the only way I can explain it.

    The Sese Efun crown that went to Ife, was the one I brought back as Oba Amero in 2005. Between 1792 and 2005, the thing was there. I didn’t know, I was just doing my own.

    As the Chairman Council of Arts and Culture (in Ogun State), the Isese people wrote to me that they wanted to be using June 12 Cultural Centre (in Abeokuta) for their meetings.  I said if we call the place a cultural centre the people should have a space to do their meeting without charging them money.  That was how the marriage between me and them started.

    From there, we started the Nigeria Holy Land Project, whereby we now declared Nigeria Holy Land of Isese. People now started coming on a pilgrimage here from abroad and we go to them on cultural exchange. We go abroad to teach them about our values and things like that and they too come here for their spiritual uplifting.  We have been doing that. It was while we were going on pilgrimage we went to Ife, we declared Ife the Holy City so we used the platform of Professor Wande Abimbola’s Orisa World Congress in 2011 as first pilgrimage.  We were able to inject that principle into the pilgrimage to Nigeria, the holy land of Isese, Ile-Ife the holy city and some other shrines in Yorubaland where people should visit.  We initially had the Isese headquarters in Brazil but we now had to move it to Nigeria because there is no sense in us saying we’re going on pilgrimage to Brazil for something that started here, so we came to the source. That was how everything fell into place and I became Oba Isese Agbaye, as well as Oba Amero Obatala. It was during one of the visits that the idea of returning Sese Efun crown struck my mind, the rest is history.

    What was growing up like?

    Right from the time I was a child I was told by my mother that whenever they wanted to wake me up in the morning ‘I would say don’t wake me up, the king is sleeping.  Don’t you know that nobody wakes an Oba up when he is sleeping?’ that was when I was 18 months old. It was the same time I took 18 kernels of ikin ifa which I gave my uncle to keep for me.

    I remember that as a child people were always coming around me, they would eat, we would play.  It reached a stage and my mother said to me: ‘Look oga, you know we are teachers, we’re salary earners’. She said she was not chasing my friends away’ but I should please limit the number of people who were coming to our house.  A that time I was already entering secondary school.  I went to HSC but I had to retake my Advance level GCE because I was determined to read Medicine. We had no physics, chemistry and biology teachers and those were the subjects I was doing. I had to go to The Polytechnic Ibadan to retake my A level papers and from there I gained admission to the University of Ife to read Medicine. I was among the first set of medical practice managers.

    After working I started Lose Clinic, I later went to Germany. I worked in the best hospitals in the Western Europe.  By the time I came back, I stayed at Ode Remo, back then the whole place was in a shambles, I felt concerned because by virtue of my training at Ife, you’re supposed to be an instrument of social change. So in the whole of this area right now, there is no place that does not have its own health centre or comprehensive health centre because I engineered a lot of things.

    Some traditional rulers feel they are superior to their colleagues, this is causing serious wrangling, what can you say about this?

    Ifa will tell you nobody is superior to anybody but if you are now feeling superior, you are inferior. I know where my own crown came from we don’t have to argue about that. All I know is that things change, we are at the confab now, who knows what will come out of that? If somebody had said 50 years ago that Legushen crown would come back they would say forget about that, but things change. Look at the former Soviet Union, could anybody have said in 1960 that it would break up? No. That is why Isese says you should not think you are either superior or inferior to anybody; just be yourself and relate with your creator and do everything good to make the world a better place.

    Why are you jettisoning medicine?

    I’m not jettisoning medicine, I still practice. The thing is that first of all, if I was in the government practice, I would have retired by now, secondly, in the private practice, what I was doing in this area was just ‘sacrificial philanthropy’, sacrificing my time, my everything. I was supposed to start my practice in Lagos, but I just said there was no hospital in Ode, the nearest was 40 kilometres away, the General Hospital at Shagamu. I just said I had to go for it and I went for it. I came here and started it and by the time I spent 10 years here, I had seen more than 250,000 patients. I now found out that pushing myself to do all that thing was not enough that I had to make sure we create the infrastructure people would come in to use and with Isese people supporting me, I was able to do all these.

    Does that mean as a traditional ruler you still attend to patients?

    Yes, i still do it.

    You are a traditionalist and a western medical practitioner, how do you cope?

    I do both traditional and western medicine. We call it in medicine integrated medicine that is what World Health Organisation calls it. I practise both.

    How effective is the traditional medicine?

    Very effective.

    You said it is possible to do caesarean operation using traditional method; could you explain this?

    Yes I mentioned it that instead of doing a caesarean for a woman that has abnormal presentation. If you soak a ring in the necessary herbs and (make the) necessary preparation, just overnight, it is already working and you point it to the pregnancy that is the application.

    We (western) educated people call it is miracle, it is not miracle, it is normal. Because we don’t understand the process does not mean it is miraculous. People don’t understand how these things work and we are not ready to investigate all those things and we want to keep telling ourselves that until we are sure of how it works we are not going to accept it, it is wrong.

    Have you had any cause to consult ifa to solve medical problem?

    That is what we call integrated medicine, we consult regularly and it has been very effective and efficient because most of the things we use chemical for may actually not be that the chemistry was wrong, it could be a spiritual thing. What we call spiritual is what we cannot understand, but these are physical forces that we cannot yet perceive, so because we cannot perceive them we say they are spiritual. Somebody just discovered gravity because that was the first time they discovered that there must be some forces drawing those things down, he says; ’I have discovered it,’ does it mean such things have not been existing before? It is just that we have not reached the level of identifying those things. When there is going to be earthquake, animals that have senses would have picked the vibration and would have left.  The last tsunami, it was the sick animals that were caught, all of them (healthy ones) had left the area. Some villagers around the area where tsunami had always been happening know the signs, they went underground. That we have not been able to develop censors to a particular thing does not make it spiritual, it is still physical.

  • Striking doctors to meet on govt letter

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) would meet Monday evening  to deliberate on the letter it received from the Federal Government over the nationwide indefinite strike it declared six days ago.
    Its Lagos State chairman, Dr Francis Faduyile said the government wrote the association to present its position on doctors’ 24-count demands.
    He said NMA would assess letter to decide on the next line of action.
    Faduyile said no decision can be reach on the strike until the association meets.

    Faduyile accused the government of being  responsible for the strike because it created distortion in the sector.
    Meanwhile,  patients continue to agonise in all public hospitals across Lagos State continues as the strike entered the sixth day on Monday.
    At the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igboi and Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, among other facilities in Lagos state, doctors complied with the NMA directive as they boycotted their duty posts.

  • Why every family needs to have a medical doctor

    When a  light complexioned  fat  woman  of fifty years comes to him, and has  the same complaints, the same type of treatment should be  alright.   To the extent that this individual  knows, no further investigations are necessary .  Another care giver who  owns a chemist shop may be called to see  the  54 year old man  that he has been treating for hypertension who had suddenly develop paralysis of  the lower part of his body from the waist down to the feet.  Whereas the most  convincing explanation may be that his hypertension had caused stroke, a Medical Doctor if called to see this elderly patient may think of something other than Hypertension , which if ignored will kill the man ,and not the high blood pressure.

    The point being made here  is that it is difficult to ask a Medical Doctor to  turn himself unto a nurse by attending to  any patient he  did not see at the correct time. It explains why  many patients  that have gone out for major surgical operations outside are going through difficult times getting  Medical specialists  here to accept them as their patients and  render  follow up. Once that initial bond is misplaced, no one can guarantee the best .  As a colleague placed it at a workshop recently, it is like  managing to  fly  an  aircraft  with  engine  trouble from London to  Lagos  and asking  another Pilot  to  fly the same  aircraft from Lagos  to Abuja  .

    In   a correct  family, Mum  and Dad have   their health needs . The  kids depending on age and sex also have their  health  and nutritional requirements .  While it is the duty of every man to ensure he has a healthy family, good family health is a shared responsibility. What is common is that where the man is a Medical person, this responsibility is not shared.  The same  attitude is observed if the woman is a member of the medical profession; and when too much is expected from one party , serious disharmony may very quickly  emerge.   One way out of this is to have  sustainable arrangement with a Medical Doctor  , where the partner with medical  training informs and  guides decisions .

    As obtains in many families where  the level of education is average and above,  there are books on the shelf with  information  enough to handle  common ailments. There is also access to internet where information on health problems can be sourced very quickly, but rather  than  provide simple explanations, there is often so much stuff that people get really confused. The tendency to  make mistakes and  take wrong decision  is real when you  place information gathered on Internet above what you can get from Your Medical Doctor. A common problem here is referring or giving the wrong advice to people based on personal experience and information gathered from the internet

    For families with level of education low, or below average, ignorance becomes something else; every one  seems to know all there is about medical problems and can  treat many ailments.  People here  also  go to multi care providers and  advise people   ,sometimes inappropriately , where to go for medical  laboratory investigations  and treatment  based on  their experience , but mostly  from  assumptions

    There is a book ; ‘Where there is no Doctor’ which attempts to  assist patients help themselves over common but minor ailments. Written before the emergence of new tropical diseases, the book has been found helpful compared with the millions of similar materials available to white folks overseas, and particularly among patent medicine dealers to provide some degree of direction.  At the same time, it emphasizes the fact that situations exist in many parts of Africa and other parts of the World where there are no Medical Doctors  to treat the ill . People in these areas know  next to nothing about incubation periods , similarities and differences between fevers due to typhoid, malaria, hepatitis and Hiv  infection.  They also are not likely to know how a small , hard  painless swelling in the breast can  grow and become cancer or the difference between  fibroid and pregnancy.  It is in such communities that  young men  carrying the bladder worm ;  Schistosoma haematobium   as a result of which they pass blood in urine are  wrongly believed to belong to the class of men who menstruate.

    The point is that  Health according to the world health organization is a state of physical, social and mental well being and not the absence of infirmity or disease. Any wise man or woman will from that definition understand that even where you have access to and do know a lot about health and disease , you still need  a Medical Doctor to  inform  you ,direct  what decisions you make so you can act early

    Following are some examples;

    Breaking down syndromes into  component  diseases as compounds are broken into elements such that  differences between the fever caused by  Malaria and that due to Typhoid  can become familiar

    So that it becomes clear  why   passing stools that appear like  watery Egusi soup, fever that appears not to come down before going up, constipation alternating with frequent loose stools, abdominal pains ,  weakness   with or without vomiting and complete loss of interest in  activities of any nature ,all  events occurring in a child or  young adult may all point to one disease entity but are handled differently by Medical Doctors.

    In recent  times, some people walking into Medical laboratories to ask for HIV tests without regards for the recommended ways of seeing  a Doctor or medical counselor have had to face very serious consequences. Once a   positive result is given  to a Wife, Husband or Partner, it matters little if it turns out  from another Laboratory that the first test was wrong.

    A similarly   ugly  situation is seen  when  a  woman with  uterine fibroid and that decides  not to see a Gynecologist , is placed on folic acid and diets that help tumors grow well , and the all knowing care giver encourages her to  keep the so called pregnancy for years.

    To be continued next week

     

    Ancillary   Health  Issues:

    About  Prolonged  Standing.

    Commercial  Banks in Nigeria are killing the  Vertebral column(back bone ) of ordinary customers.  Bank customers are forced to  stand in long queues for hours  , while  staff  sit comfortably  in their  ergonomically designed   body  friendly  chairs  Students in  higher institutions  are  seen forming  single or double lines , suffering  ,trying to pay fees . Why ? There are health consequences ;prolonged standing   can cause degenerative conditions of the back  bone leading to lumbago, lumbo sacral arthritis(low back pain) and sciatica( pain can be in the buttock, leg and feet).  These conditions  may be silent  and once developed, there is no  permanent cure . They can only be treated.  Some one should please do something.

  • Medical doctor decries child sex abuse

    A consultant at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Dr Chidinma Ajayi, has decried child sex abuse, saying children are more vulnerable to abuse in the society.

    She said it has become a social norm, which is underreported as the affected ones are not ready to expose the culprit as a result of social stigma.

    Dr Ajayi, spoke at the African Child Day celebration organised by the National Council of Child Right Advocates of Nigeria,(NACCRAN) Lagos State.

    The event held at the media centre, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos was themed: ‘Sexual abuse and the community’.

    Child sexual abuse, Ajayi said, could either have a long or short term effect on the child as they psychologically live a traumatised life.

    She added that victims are most times violated by someone close to them. She, therefore, advised pupils to be more self conscious and report any abnormal actions from people, who disguise themselves as neighbours, elders, relations or family friends.

    She admonished parents to desist from all forms of child abuse and teach their children sex education.

    State coordinator, NACCRAN, Mrs Olaitan Oshodi, said the society’s greatest asset is the children, which without, is doomed for destruction

    “A child-friendly quality, free and compulsory education should be given to every African child. Education to the child should not be treated as a privilege that the society grants, but a duty that the society fulfils towards all her children,” she said.

  • My wife is like iced fish due to her dryness in bed

    Dr., please I’m having serious problems with my wife. For about four years now, I no longer enjoy sex with her. We sleep like strangers on the same bed. Naturally, she isn’t the romantic type and she is like iced fish in bed because of her dryness. I have to force her before she uses gel and even during her ovulation period, she doesn’t bother about sex and the annoying part is that every little thing, she gets angry. She’s full of complaint, finds it hard to listen to others and upon all, we are yet to have children. We have done all tests available and nothing is wrong with both of us. I’m sick and tired of this and I don’t want to cheat. Please advise.

     

    My brother, I keep saying on this page that I’m not a medical doctor. Okay, maybe you people want to confer on me an honorary doctorate degree. That will make me ‘Doctor of Hearts’; that’s nice.

    Now to serious business, there are three fundamental issues here and all together are enough to make a man have doubts about the ability of the union to withstand the tests posed to it. Let me attempt to touch them one by one. You will however need to book an appointment for counseling.

    Vaginal dryness during intercourse: Normally, the walls of the vagina stay lubricated with a thin layer of clear fluid. The hormone estrogen helps maintain that fluid and keeps the lining of the vagina healthy, thick, and elastic. During menopause however, the drop in estrogen levels reduces the amount of moisture available. It also makes the vagina thinner and less elastic. Apart from menopause, estrogen levels can drop from childbirth and breastfeeding, radiation or chemotherapy treatment for cancaer,

    surgical removal of the ovaries, anti-estrogen medications used to treat uterine fibroids or endometriosis. Other causes of vaginal dryness include allergy and cold medications and certain antidepressants, douching, lack of enough foreplay before sexual intercourse. No matter what the cause, vaginal dryness can be extremely uncomfortable. It can lead to itching, burning, and painful intercourse.

    The most common treatment for vaginal dryness due to low estrogen levels is topical estrogen therapy. Topical estrogen replaces some of the hormone your body is no longer making. That helps relieve vaginal symptoms, but it doesn’t put as much estrogen in your bloodstream as oral estrogen hormone therapy (HT). Most women use one of two common types of vaginal estrogen:

    Vaginal estrogen tablet: You use a disposable applicator to insert a tablet into your vagina once a day for the first two weeks of treatment. Then you insert it twice a week until you no longer need it.

    Vaginal estrogen cream: You use an applicator to insert the cream into your vagina. How often you apply the cream depends on the brand. This is applied every day for the first two to four weeks and then one to three times a week.

    Trying for a baby: This is one factor that may be giving room for tension in the home. You need to address it squarely. Since you are trying for a baby, I know a very good drug that may help with conception and at the same time increase cervical mucus because cervical mucus helps sperm survive and travel from the cervix up to the uterus and fallopian tubes. A lack of quality fertile cervical mucus can make getting pregnant difficult. It may also be a symptom of another problem that may be causing infertility.

    Still talking about achieving pregnancy, you may need to talk to a doctor friend of mine who specializes in that area.

    Her attitude: Until I see both of you together once or twice, it would be hard to judge if her attitude is right or wrong or if you are the one not understanding her enough. A woman doesn’t have to agree with everything you say if she has points of her own that differ from yours.

  • A literary doctor’s day

    A literary doctor’s day

    Two books: The Life of James Pinson Labulo Davis: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos and Worthy in Character and Learning, a collection of lectures and addresses by the founder of Lagoon Hospitals, Dr. Adeyemo Elebute, were presented to the public at the Metropolitan Club, Lagos, last Wednesday. NNEKA NWANERI reports.

    DR. ADEYEMO Elebute, is one of Nigeria’s renowned men of stethoscope. However, the Professor of Medicine and Surgery penultimate Wednesday became an author when he presented his two books: “The Life of James Pinson Labulo: A Colossus of Victorian Lagos and Worthy in Character and Learning”, to the public at the Metropolitan Club, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The latter is a collection of lectures and addresses by Elebute, the founder of Lagoon Hospitals, in his over three decades of medical practice.

    Among the early arrivals was the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu. He was accompanied by a retinue of Lagos white cap chiefs as he made for his seat on the high table. He was later joined by the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Fola Adeola.

    For 30 minutes, the guests networked and exchanged pleasantries. They were decked in various attires traditional and English. Scores of chairs faced the high table, which had on its background, large portraits of the two books.

    The programme which was anchored by Adesuwa Onyenokwe, a television presenter, began with the rendition of the national anthem. The anthem was rendered by Christine Ozoaga and Martins Osuho while Biodun Falode played the piano. Rt. Rev George Bako gave the opening prayer.

    Students of the CMS Grammar School added colour to the event by putting up a wonderful performance that attracted applause from the guests.

    Speaking, Adeola expressed delight that Elebute, who is a surgeon, has graduated from being a medical doctor to being an author. He said though the professor never met the hero of the book, he was able to make true discoveries about Davis. He noted that the late Davis was a philanthropist whose charity works affected the lives of people of Lagos State positively. “Prof Elebute is a brave man,” Adeola said.

    Chairman of the Lagos State Securities Trust Fund, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, who reviewed the books, explained that he felt a touch of envy for not writing the book. He said the striking characteristic of the book was the vividness of the imagery, rich with detail, which takes one back to Victorian Lagos (circa 1850-1900).

    He said: “That was the age of gentlemen and gracious ladies. The time of the beginnings of “innocent commerce” replacing slave trade. The book reveals vivid snapshots of many facets of the life in Victorian Lagos; rich with personalities and politics, social scenery, business, failure and recovery.

    The late Davis, a school teacher in CMS Grammar School, naval officer, mariner, merchant, farmer and industrialist, was one of the successful West Africans of the 19th century. He became famous through his political activism in the face of imperialism, his success in international trade and his marriage to Aina- Sarah Forbes Bonetta.

    The book paints a vivid picture of the life of the Victorian era colossus and, by extension, a fascinating but largely ignored era of West African History.

    Again, a piano recital and tenor solo was done by Falode and Osuho. It was entitled “Oloba”.

    Oloba is a Yoruba folklore song by Mrs. Victoria Randle, daughter of Davis, which she gave to the famous Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. It was used as the basis of the seventh of Coleridge-Taylor’s ’24 Negro Melodies’ published in 1905.

    A former Pro-Chancellor of Bauchi and Abuja universities, who was a one-time Principal of Queens College, Lagos, Mrs Gbolahan Abisogun-Alo, reviewed Worthy in Character and Learning.

    The book, published by Florence and Lambert, she said, “is on every position taken by the author over the years. Such positions are still valid and bother on character development and learning in the society.”

    The book was unveiled by the grandchildren of the author, assisted by other guests, including the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola.

    Oba Akiolu praised Elebute for a very good job since there was no document on the family. He told guests that there are many other details missing in the book, which the author should have beckoned on him to provide.

    “He is a worthy son of Nigeria and of history, whose book has opened up discussions on the role of what the British did for Lagosians,” Oba said.

    He led all to sing the ‘Birthday Song’ for Alhaji Lateef Okunnu who attended the event. Okunnu turned 81 that day and the wife of the author was 80 the Sunday before.

    Fashola expressed dismay over the purchase of streets by individuals which are named after them.

    He said such recognition should be earned through service to humanity, to avoid distortion of history.

    “How can we explain to our children occurrences in certain areas when the names attached to some streets have meanings and have been changed?” Fashola asked.

    Little Miss. Tara Odunsi, Prof Elebute’s granddaughter, presented flowers to the governor, thanking him for attending her grandpa’s book launch.

    In response, Prof. Elebute said his intention was to write on the life of Davis and the role he played at that time.

    “I am a fake historian. I only wanted to open up matters for discussion and leave the rest to the real historians.”

  • How Navy rescued me, by doctor

    How Navy rescued me, by doctor

    George Matthew Ela, a medical doctor in the employ of the Rivers State government, has narrated how officers of the Nigerian Navy rescued him from the hands of abductors. He said God did a miracle in his life during the one-hour exchange of bullets between his abductors and officers of Nigerian Navy, who, he said, rained several bullets on the kidnappers’ vehicle in which he was blindfolded.

    Dr. Ela, who was kidnapped about a month ago at Chinda Street, off Ada-George Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, was released the same day after being handed over to the police for investigation.

    Ela told Niger Delta Report that he had no problem or disagreement with anybody before he was abducted.

    He said: “I cannot remember anybody that I will say I am having problem or quarrelling with. So, I don’t know who is after me. A lot of people who know me can attest to it that I am very simple and gentle medical doctor. I have no business with people than my humanitarian service, which is my contribution to humanity. “

    Ela said he came to Chinda Street to pick his mother-in-law in the morning when he was picked by his abductors.

    He said: “I don’t reside at Chindah but came to the area to pick my mother-in-law. We had an appointment I was supposed to take her somewhere that morning. That was why I left home on time, when I got there. I parked at the road waiting for her to join me at the car.

    “Surprisingly, the next thing I saw was two haughty armed men demanding that I should give them my car key. Of course, I did. They dragged me out of my car and pushed me into their car. They quickly blindfolded me; that was when I realised that they were not after my car or to rob me of the little cash I had but to kidnap me.”

    He said at that point he thought life had ended, considering the kinds of arms at the kidnappers’ disposal.

    At this point, I was not seeing anything. I was only using my brain to calculate where they are taking me to. But barely 15 minutes after my abductors zoomed off, I had them saying reverse: ‘Police! Police.’ That was how I sensed that police were after them but I didn’t know it was Navy officers. Then I had a siren; even when the gunmen entered inside the street, I also noticed because I could sense the turning of the car. A minute after the turning of the car, I heard a gunshot released by my abductors, which made the Navy officers to retaliate in a full force. There was a steady raining of bullets on the vehicle and I was still inside the car. Then, I laid flat on the vehicle and I also sensed that there is a confusion and scamper for safety by my abductors. After that, I noticed I was alone in the vehicle blindfolded. Even at that, I didn’t know what to do next but I really know they jumped out of the vehicle but I tried to be careful before stepping out of the car.

    “When the gunfire ceased, I came out of the car with my two hands up; it was then I found out men of the Nigerian Navy were in a convoy when my abductors ran into them. They untied me and took me to Navy Base where I was interrogated, of course, for them I was a suspect. But before they took me to Navy Base for interrogation, my wife has already contacted the chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, my colleagues and friends in the state. So, that made the interrogation a bit easy because those contacted by my wife started calling the Navy and the police identifying me as a medical doctor before I was handed over to the police for further investigation.”

    Dr. Ela said as an Adventist he would continue to serve the God for rescuing him from the hands of enemies. He added that his escaped, especially in the hand of death was demonstrated when he came out alive from a vehicle that was hit several with bullets. He also said his escape is a miracle and a way God may have decided to reward him for his contribution to humanity.

    Ela, who is also the founding President of Edogh Abuan Development Association, said: “I think with what has just happened to me, we will be more proactive, especially in the area, holding seminars and enlightenment programme for the youths because we cannot depend on government in everything. Something has to be done, especially in Rivers State where political crisis has made many youths to be violent-minded. The government, family and the society must contribute their own quota to minimise crime in the society. The youths are going astray and nobody is talking. Those who got the opportunity to lead us in this country must be creative to provide employment to the teeming youths of this country. The parents on their own must look after their children while they are growing up and try as much as they can to give them the basic education and I believe this will reduce crime in the society. I want to use this opportunity to thank the Navy officers for saving my life.”

     

     

     

  • NMA urges FG to prevent doctors’ strike

    Prof. Ade Malomo, the Chairman Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Oyo State chapter, has called on the Federal Government to do everything possible to avoid the impending doctors’ strike by meeting the demands of the association.

    Malomo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ibadan.

    He said that doctors strike was dangerous to the society.

    Malomo urged government to pay attention to the demands of the association, adding that the lives of ordinary Nigerians would always be at risk during strikes by doctors.

    “It will not be easy for the poor populace at all. The lives of people will surely be at risk because their healths are at stake. People are bound to die and suffer,” he stressed.

    Malomo, however, said that the association would embark on warning strike from Wednesday to Sunday if the government failed to respond to its demands.

    “If nothing happens till Wednesday, doctors would consider themselves as having no righteous and proper option than to continue the strike. It’s very painful but there is nothing we can do.

    “The association had earlier issued several ultimatums to the government, clearly highlighting the major challenges and potential dangers in the health sector, but they were all neglected.”

    He said the association demanded that the government should act on the unfair adjustment of salaries in the health sector.

    “Other categories of staff are allowed to keep a step in their salary scale while doctors are barred from enjoying the same.

    “Government should look at the issue of designating some hospital workers as directors and neglecting medical doctors who are on the same or even higher grade level than the designated directors.

    “Also designating as scientists, people whose functions are technical and prompting them to act independently of medical laboratory experts, who are proper independent and medical lab scientists.

    “Let the government respond to our resolutions. If the warning strike does not yield result, we will embark on an indefinite one since strike is the only language the government understands.

    “Anyway, there will be emergency treatments.”

    Malomo, however, explained that doctors were not angry with healthcare workers but appreciate their roles.

    “But undermining the status of rigorous intellectuals and comprehensively demanding peak of professionalism, which medicine is, will not be in the interest of future generations,” he said.