The Nation Newspaper

Tag: heart

  • A heart that is chronically untrustworthy

    AN elderly couple holding hands, taking a romantic walk can be exciting to behold. They must have crossed many emotional rivers together and you wonder what’s been holding them together all these years. Guess many would want to be like this when they grow old. It’s a wonderful notion: having someone as your mate in a happy and lasting relationship.

    What are the ingredients of a great relationship? A beautiful face, handsome buddy, resources to carry out your dreams, and more. However, trust is the livewire of a great relationship and it makes the emotional ledger balanced. It is the first and the most important predictor of long-term relational success.

    For a number of people, trust is indeed a complicated matter. Some actually trust blindly. Those in this category are with hearts that have shown time and again to be untrustworthy, yet they continue to give that person underserved chances. Naturally, this can be linked with the saying that goes, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

    To allow a chronically untrustworthy individual to be one’s significant other is to create an inherently insecure relationship, which may ultimately lead to disillusionment. Usually, it is better to evaluate your partner’s trustworthiness during courtship to be sure that you are on the right track.

    While some people trust blindly, others actually have trust issues. This can be due to negative experiences from the past or those who can’t trust a committed relationship with the opposite sex. They, therefore, continually go through an emotional struggle when it comes to trusting their mate, no matter how dependable their partner is.

    When you like and admire someone, you still need to be on the alert emotionally. It is not wise to just believe that all is well because you never can tell. That was precisely what Maureen did and in the process the emotional cat was let out of the bag.

    “I met my boyfriend about nine months ago. We met at the cinema and somehow hit it off almost immediately. Like yours truly, he had had some nasty relationships and we talked about it holding almost nothing back from each other.”

    Could this be love? Has she finally found what she so desperately craved for? Questions, questions and more questions. From experience, Maureen tried to be a little cautious and tried to cross check all the emotional details. “ At a point, I thought everything was going great. We planned an outing at the cinema and I put in so much effort to look great that evening. Then he called me to inform me that he had to travel for an emergency in the office. I felt really disappointed but held no grudges because work was also important.”

    Somehow, our dear friend made up my mind to go to cinema alone instead of feeling very lonely at home. “To my utmost shock, I saw my boyfriend at the cinema with another girl. They were kissing and hugging themselves and didn’t even know that I was there. Then I walked up to him just to say hello. When he saw me he was just too shocked to say a word. He just stood up and ran out of the place abandoning his date as well. I could not wait to watch the movie and I cried all the way home. Only God knows what happened to the other girl, she probably was also one of his many victims.”

    Like Maureen, Biodun is at the crossroads with the girl he loves so much. Dedicated and loving, he does everything to assure her that she is the apple of his eyes. One night while she stepped out to go to the kitchen, or he was curious and slightly suspicious, he snuck onto her phone and found that she was actually talking to, and even flirting with people whilst still maintaining a relationship with him.

    Tears of affection! Yet, he decided to keep it a secret that he had seen something on her phone that same night and questioned her about the other people in her life seemingly casually.”She lied and even showed me her phone claiming that I was the only person in her life. Then I noticed that she had actually deleted the messages I had just seen.”

    Biodun was incredibly upset, but brushed it aside, and decided to just keep that in mind for the future. “About three weeks after, Maureen came over to my place and while she was taking a nap, curiosity got the best of me again, and I crept onto her laptop and discovered that she had been talking to her friends about breaking up with me because she thought that I was insecure about our relationship, that I was too anti-social for her tastes and that we didn’t have much in common.”

    At this point, his heart was crushed, and decided that it was better to save himself from more pain. I told her exactly what she had told her friends and expected her to apologise and be sober. She took it a lot harder than he had expected and didn’t like the fact that Biodun questioned her commitment either.

  • Give gifts from the heart

    Give gifts from the heart

    It’s the month of love and Ikeja City Mall, as always, is celebrating with its customers. This year, as part of the activities planned to celebrate the Valentine season, the mall has rewarded 10 premium shoppers with candle lit dinner for two. Other rewards like shopping vouchers and a week’s trip to Kenya or South Africa will come up March 4th.

    The shopping promo is tagged “the ICM 2014 valentine’s promo”.

    The promo which is in partnership with Hemingway’s Safari Africa Ltd, is an in-mall activation aimed at rewarding ICM’s premium shoppers for their loyalty.

    Qualification is purchase driven and in three steps, winners emerged. First, shoppers made purchases from any store in the mall worth N25, 000 or above, got tickets from any of the Hemingway’s Safari personnel positioned at entrances of the mall, wrote their names and numbers behind the receipt and dropped their receipts in dedicated boxes placed at any of the three mall entrances .

    The first raffle draw was held two days ago in the mall where winners were picked in a lucky dip for the Candle lit dinner with press men and mall tenants witnessing. The selected couples will be hosted at Dheerhug, a restaurant inside the mall today. They will be feted with exquisite cuisines, exotic wine and lots of love songs and games that will show how well they know their spouses.

    Also, three winners will be picked in the second draw next month with the following prizes: -3rd prize $600 worth of shopping voucher, 2nd Prize $900 worth of shopping voucher and the Grand prize, an all-expense trip for two to either Kenya/ South Africa or $1500 worth of shopping voucher.

    All winners will be contacted via phone calls as soon they are picked, as it was done on wednesday when the first draw took place. This is to inform them of their selection and confirm availability for the reward.

    Promo will end February 28th, between the hours of 10am – 6pm.

  • UCH breaks new grounds in open heart surgery

    UCH breaks new grounds in open heart surgery

    The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the first teaching hospital in Nigeria, has scored another first in medicine, with its open heart surgery, a feat which attracted wide accolades. OSEHEYE OKWUOFU writes.

    The University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Nigeria’s premier teaching hospital has recorded a major breakthrough in medicine in the country when it successfully carried out a “bloodless” open-heart surgery on a patient.

    The operation known as Coronary Artery By-pass Gland (CABG) was carried out on 19-year-old Kazeem Ojo by a team of surgeon from the hospital lead by Chief Medical Director, Professor Temitope Alonge.

    The patient was expectedly happy at the feat performed by the hospital which has drawn commendation from health professionals.

    The cheery news on the successful CABG was broken last week by Alonge who said the surgery was carried out without complication. This indeed was a major breakthrough for UCH and the Nigerian Medical practitioners.

    An elated Alonge, said with the feat, Nigerians would no longer need to travel abroad for such tertiary treatment as more Nigerian doctors are currently being trained to offer such medical care in the hospital.

    The orthopaedic and trauma surgeon said, “following acquisition of the Cardiac capitalisation machine by Toshiba in 2011, it was installed and put to use in 2013, UCH is able to resuscitate its open heart surgery. That allows us to evaluate the state of the arteries supplied by the heart muscles and if for any reasons there is any blockage, the blood vessels can be opened up with the balloon, but if the damage is extensive such that we cannot do the so called balloon and geo-plasty, then we resolve to open heart surgery.

    “This technically means that the chest will be split into two, the heart is exposed and then, the blood that is entering and leaving the heart is diverted into a machine called the heart-lung machine and we stop the heart.

    “So, technically the person is dead and the blood is going through the machine and going back into the patient and then repair work are carried out on the heart and after that we wake the heart up again.”

    Professor Alonge was not alone in the euphoria of the celebration of the great achievement. Members of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals also came to savour in the joy of the medical breakthrough.

    The national President, Nigerian Union of Allied  Health Professionals, Dr.  Felix Olukayode Faniran, described the feat as a great breakthrough.

    According to him, “the essence of our being here is to examine health care practices in the country, one of  them is what you heard  Professor Alonge said that they just had a breakthrough in open heart surgery being carried out at UCH.”

    Speaking further on the successful bloodless open heart surgery, Professor Alonge said that issue of open heart surgery was not new in Nigeria, the ability to resuscitate the procedure started last year at UCH.

    He explained further that the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu was actually the first institution to have embarked on open heart surgery but the challenges have always been that of equipment, manpower and ability to sustain it.

    To offer its services to others in the country, the management  of the institution last week invited well-meaning Nigerians and corporate bodies to support  an endowment which it launched  to further assist patients needing open heart surgery but could not afford the high cost of treatment.

    He invited all Nigerians to support the good cause by assisting in raising the standard of medical care been offered in the hospital.

    According to him, the population of Nigerians seeking medical treatment for cardiac surgeries such as open-heart surgeries, hole in the heart conditions in foreign countries would take a downturn, as patients would now be able to access these advanced surgeries at the state-of-art Cardiac Catheter Resuscitation Centre (CATH LAB) in UCH.

    He added: “There is no better place to have a cardiac surgery than in the country you reside. Proximity of care is important for recovery because follow up treatment is needed for some cardiac cases.

    “This facility is comparable to what obtains in India, United States and the United Kingdom. Nigeria would now be the place to come to for cardiac surgeries in Africa. That would be our medical tourism.”

    The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan was established in November 1952, in response to the dire need for the training of medical personnel and other healthcare professionals for the country and the West African sub-region, remains the tertiary hospital with the highest number of patients on its list annually.

    The oldest teaching hospital in Nigeria, has evolved over the years, with the finest tradition of infrastructure renewal to keep abreast with modern technology, to be able to offer the best medical care obtainable anywhere in the modern world.

    The management of the hospital, comprising of renowned medical practitioners, has in addition to Federal Government efforts in refurbishing the teaching hospital, taken steps to widen the scope of services provided with the resuscitation of the open heart surgical procedure of the hospital

    Since its inception, the hospital, which is strategically located in heart of the city of Ibadan, has recorded so many feats in medical care, training and human development.

    In the area of training and human development, UCH, according to Professor Alonge, has trained over 6,051 doctors, 501 dentists, 4,513 nurses, 2,307 midwives, 471 peri-operative nurses, 1,062 laboratory scientists, 576 environmental health officers tutors, 326 primary health care tutors, 590 community health officers, 640 physiotherapists and 551 health information management personnel.

    The patients turn out in the accident and emergency (A&E) Department of the hospital alone averages 6,000 annually and about 160,000 new patients are seen in the various out-patient clinics every year.

    In May 2006, a surgical team successfully performed open-heart surgery on three paediatric patients, an important landmark in medicine in Nigeria.

    Over the years, UCH has also produced many core professionals for the nation’s health sector, and more of its products have continued to excel overseas.

    What is open heart surgery?

    An open heart bypass surgery is performed under general anesthesia, which requires that the patient be on a ventilator during surgery.

    Surgery begins with harvesting the blood vessels that will become the grafts. The saphenous vein in the leg is commonly used because it is long enough to create multiple grafts. If the saphenous vein cannot be used, vessels from the arm can be used instead. The left internal mammary artery is used for a single graft and is taken once the chest is opened for surgery.

    Once the saphenous vein has been recovered, the chest is opened by making an incision along the sternum, or breastbone. The surgeon then cuts the sternum, allowing the chest cavity to be opened, giving the surgeon access to the heart.

    In the traditional CABG procedure, the heart is stopped with a potassium solution so the surgeon is not attempting to work on a moving vessel, and the blood is circulated by a heart-lung machine. At this time the heart-lung machine does the work of the heart and the lungs and the ventilator is not used.

    The surgeon places the grafts, either rerouting blood around the blockage, or removing and replacing the blocked vessel. The amount of time on the heart-lung bypass machine is determined by the speed at which the surgeon is able to work, primarily, how many grafts are needed.

    Once the grafts are complete, the heart is started and provides blood and oxygen to the body. The sternum is returned to its original position and closed using surgical wire, to provide strength the bone needs to heal, and the incision is closed.

     

    The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the first teaching hospital in Nigeria, has scored another first in medicine, with its open heart surgery, a feat which attracted wide accolades. OSEHEYE OKWUOFU writes.

  • Winning a heart in distress

    When you are in a relationship that you cherish, the most important thing on your mind is for it to endure for so long. As soon as you see any sign that the emotional flight is nose diving and the one you love wants the love boat to capsize, you need to do something fast. For many, when there is a strain, they try to be sweeter and more affectionate, hoping that the other person would reciprocate their emotional gestures.

    Some actually spent countless hours trying to talk about what they were both feeling and “work” on things. But that only pushed those they adore further away. No matter how much reasoning or understanding you did, when it came to the lovebirds, they just won’t understand how you feel.

    The crux of the matter is that if you’ve been close to someone for a while and had started sharing an amazing level of love and connection, then it may not really be a serious threat.

    On his or her part, there must be something they do not like about you or are confused about. So it is only logical to give such a person time and understand what they are passing through. If you are patient, you are likely to discover that deep down the person still has some space in the heart that still wants to connect with you and share what you used to share.

    This is the kind of scenario that thirty-two-year-old Akindele and his fiancée, Adebimpe, were ensconced in. They are back together but it was a very difficult courtship. Interestingly, things actually fell apart just before they tied the knot. Adebimpe was the precious bride that he had always adored. She had the right looks, a good family background and a fantastic job. But there was a snag.

    “She was a very arrogant and difficult person to deal with. She was always so aggressive each time we discussed something she did not like. Usually, I expect her to shift from her stand but over time I came to realise that the one that I had fallen helplessly in love with is very rigid. I ran to her best friend thinking that she could help talk to her but she also confirmed that her friend sticks passionately to her views and that I needed to take things easy with her.”

    Akindele has fallen in love and he just cannot shift his affections elsewhere. Certainly, this is a hard emotional nut to crack. Many in his shoes would have taken a walk away from a slippery emotional corridor without stress. So what is really wrong with this babe? you wonder. The Romeo went into the archives to do some research and in the process, he found out that her heart had been in the panel beater’s workshop a couple of times and she was not ready to go through another emotional bullshit.

    “When I realised that she had been hardened by the relationships that she had in the past, I thought that if I did my best, then I would be able to win her over gradually.”

    So, he put on his thinking and emotional caps and tried to ‘recycle’ this emotional waste. Transforming or winning a heart in distress is not a very easy assignment, but he was determined to get a positive result.

    “At a point, she changed and things began to fall into place. I was really happy because it was like a dream come true and I decided to propose to her three weeks after my conviction. I also told my friend about my decision and he was very happy for me.”

    Could this be a dream come true? Not exactly! “We met in a restaurant on my birthday and it was meant to be a memorable experience. It started on a bright note and everything went well until I proposed. As soon as I told her my intention, her mood changed and I tried to calm her down and we departed.”

    Perhaps, what she needed was time to gain composure, and so he took it as one of those things. “I called her a few hours later but she refused to pick my call. I tried again and again but she got very cold. Things changed once more and it was obvious that we were back to square one.”

    So what did he do? “I was so confused that I just did not do anything. To my surprise, she became very angry with me and I just couldn’t understand why she was doing all that to me. Initially, I ignored the actions, thinking that she would soon realise her mistakes, but to my utmost surprise she was the one who was always getting angry with my actions or inactions.

    “Now, I am at a crossroads. Should I make a u-turn or persevere to see if there is going to be light at the end of our emotional tunnel?”

  • Heart problems and sudden death:

    Rising  incidence of  sudden cardiac death (scd) in the Nigerian  African: Possible explanations, tips on diet, exercise and   why patients who have heart related issues should   come together.

    In the past few weeks, news of Nigerians suffering sudden cardiac death(SCD) has added to the burden of uncertainties which ordinary citizens have had to bear as a result of the whiplash of the economy and other societal ailments . In their homes, on their exercise machines, even as they sleep, try to get out of bed and in hospitals all over the country , Nigerians , rich, and poor are being struck with identical disease conditions that characteristically kill the heart slowly ,steadily and suddenly . The unfortunate situation is being observed in spite of the fact that very many Nigerians frequently travel overseas to spend huge amounts of money on heart related medical issues in a manner that has forced concerned observers to describe some of these trips as medical tourism. It is not wrong for people to seek medical evaluation and treatment any where reliable facilities are available as long as the patient realizes that it is important to take into consideration the continuity of care when he comes back home. When complications declare themselves, there may be no choice other than to seek life saving help from the abandoned centers (stones that builders reject are often the ones they find suitable to hold corners of buildings). Travelling out of the country to different parts of the world for diagnosis and management of heart conditions seems to have benefitted only a limited number of Nigerians . It is time people came together and discussed the challenges patients with heart problems face so that needs assessment sheet can emerge ,with the hope perhaps they will one day make it into Government policy agenda. When a patient surfers sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), The heart can be released from what ever is responsible for stopping it from pumping blood . In extreme cases, the heart can even be operated upon without removing it from its normal anatomical enclosure while a life support machine or an artificial heart takes over the function of the heart. This can even be extended as desired to allow healing of dead or injured heart muscle (myocardium) depending on whether the procedure is being done in India, UK or America.

    Whereas compared to black people it is less likely for whites to die suddenly from Cardiac arrest, people and governments of these countries have worked very hard and have continued to do so ,to ensure that Hospitals over there have the best equipment for the diagnosis and treatment (medical and surgical) of heart conditions. They have also ensured that when patients suffer cardiac arrest , there are well equipped emergency vehicles and first respond personnel within reach to convey them to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible .

    Conditions that will lead to sudden cardiac death can remain silent for years, and when discovered, continuous evaluation and reevaluation to avoid tipping the patient into the region of death is mandatory. Very often ,the conditions imposed by travelling overseas for routing heart health care makes continuity difficult for the patient. The consequences are such that affected patients and their relations have no way whatsoever of getting help from their heart Physicians at very critical moments. On the other hand, more than half of Nigerians with manageable cardiac problems who have no means of traveling out of the country for treatment are doing remarkably well, the major problems being in the areas of access to essential medicines and adherence to drug treatment.

    The human heart like the brain and penis are richly supplied with blood vessels but the arteries in these organs do not enjoy sufficient collateralization compared to the scapula, the elbow and the knee. The arteries therefore are simply end arteries and can be easily obliterated by trauma, and disease conditions that affect their ability to respond to changes in blood rheology. Diseases of the heart and its blood vessels are called silent killers because whether or not a patient knows he has any of them, they are quite capable of precipitating cascades of death related events any where, any day and at any time. Sudden cardiac death and stroke (cerebrovascular accident) may occur as separate events or simultaneously in situations which may be much more challenging especially when in the province of physicians forced to do their shopping in resource limited countries. Sudden cardiac death may be defined as unexpected natural death from cardiac (heart) causes, occurring within a short time not up to one hour. It is not the same thing as sudden cardiac arrest (SCD) which defines a condition where a previously normal heart suddenly stops beating and patient is alive. Some authors may add a few other characteristics but these have been well documented especially for purposes of ancillary investigations and decision making.

    Contrary to what has been the belief for sometime that cardiac arrest and SCD occur more frequently in men, current evidence suggest that the number of women dying from heart attack is now coming to run parallel with that recorded for men . Recently , a young mother was dressing up a kid for school when she slumped and died .Perhaps the physical exertion of that morning coupled with flashing thoughts about traffic situation amongst others may have combined to give her heart the load that killed it. In another bad situation, a middle aged widow folded over as she shook out pieces of clothing she was looking to spread on the ropes . A third one had pain in the left side of her chest as she made to get out of bed .She was a trained medical person and a known hypertensive; yet in spite of her years of experience she ignored it and did go to work but died shortly after entering her office .

    It is perfectly normal for people to think about many issues and ask questions as they reflect on current personal efforts to keep their own mortality as far away as they possibly can.

    Space and time can only permit a few words, but the substance in a message simply providing a few explanations on the why of a common condition, and laying emphasis on paying maximum attention to family history, weight, food, drink, alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes and smoke might just be sufficient to stimulate action ,reduce anxiety and reduce the number of people dying from cardiac arrest and stroke.

    For adults, risk factors for heart attack may be arranged into two broad groups; those factors arising from the structures that make up the human body including the heart itself and those outside it.

    Further sub classifications can be made but they generally are interrelated and will include uncontrolled or poorly controlled disorders of metabolism such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus, obesity, chronic alcoholism, smoking, underlying congenital and other disease conditions of the heart(Wolf Parkinson white syndrome, viral or bacterial cardiopathy etc), blood, liver and kidney, environmental issues that cause stress in the home, office and on the roads, social and economic factors that allow the vicious cycle of suffering, poverty, ignorance and disease to subsist . Several large scale studies have shown that being a black African puts an individual at increased risk of dying suddenly from heart related issues, compared to a white person of the same age , occupation and sex. The risk is particularly higher for male Africans. Subtle but significant differences do exist between black people and whites in the mechanisms that control and regulate blood pressure and blood sodium(salt) on one hand, and the way individuals from different ethnic groups respond to therapeutic measures aimed at correcting the imbalance or derangement in the cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms at different levels in the brain(medulla oblongata), heart, the coronary blood vessels, the kidneys, the liver and the nerves including the nerves that connect the heart with the spinal cord and the Brain. Refutable data from several reports suggest that for any established disease condition of the heart ,the rate and speed of progression to sudden cardiac death differ for men and women with respect to race and ethnic category, and hence a drug designed for Japanese adult populations to mobilize salt and fluid out from body tissues into urine may not produce the desired effects when administered to Nigerian patients.

    By the middle of the third week of intrauterine life, cells that will form the human cardiovascular system will have begun to form(cardiogenic center); and at a seventh amenorrhea, a fetal heart beat can be picked up by ultrasonography. Though the conducting system of the normal heart begins at a point located in the right atrium inside a small bundle of specialized cell; the sino atrial node(SAN) passes through the AVN, the His bundle and then through the Purkinje fibers into the cardiac muscle, any sliced piece of the heart under experimental conditions is capable of contraction on it’s own for some time in a phenomenon similar to what happens when the tail of a wall gecko is cut off .Congenital abnormalities of the heart can involve all the very important portions of the heart mentioned above. In the same way anatomical variations exist in the cytoarchitecture , and other morphological characteristics of these sites as well as other very important areas of the heart including the left anterior descending coronary artery( LAD) popularly called the artery of sudden cardiac death . Consequently unique physiological and pathophysiological patterning may occur without notice in individuals with diseases of the heart. For an example,the increase in heart rate of a ten year old Chinese during a ten minute rapid results test may therefore not be the same as that of a Nigerian of the same age and gender. For similar reasons, and controlling for confounding factors, the speed and smoothness of recovery of an American male cardiac patient to a 30 minute aerobic exercise will be different compared with a black male South African of the same age . This is because at the level of signal transduction , the two important laws of Laplace and Frank Starling operate differently in blacks compared with whites. For a patient undergoing life long management for hypertension or diabetes mellitus therefore, rushing into any exercise program no matter how mild because your Doctor overseas has told you it is safe is not good enough. Cardiologists and many other categories of Physicians are very much aware of this and hence the goal usually rather than focusing on drug treatment of pathological conditions is to ensure that a patient as a whole gets well , suffering is removed and the quality of life improved. Similarly it is also unwise for a hypertensive patient to go partying all over the place eating huge quantities of food, smoking packets upon packets of cigarettes and drinking large volumes of alcohol , just because someone with a similar problem has been doing the same thing and appears to be healthy .

    TO BE CONTINUED NEXTWEEK

     

  • ‘We don’t have special hospitals for the heart’

    ‘We don’t have special hospitals for the heart’

    Dr. Femi Thomas, a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Head of Department of Surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and former Ekiti State Commissioner of Health, in this interview with Joe Agbro Jr., says government ought to do more for cardiac patients and advocates for cardiac centres nationwide

    FROM your practice, would you say more Nigerians are suffering from heart failure?

    Well, heart failure occurs when a disease of the heart persists and it is not treated. The problem is a lot of things that we do in the country are predisposing people to heart failure. For example, you will see a situation where people consume a lot of alcohol, they come up with alcoholic heart diseases and they end up with heart failure. For children, you see a situation where people have inborn (congenital) heart diseases that ordinarily should be corrected. If they are not corrected, they also end up with heart failure. So, heart failure is like end-point of these problems.

    Among the heart diseases, which is most prevalent in the country?

    I think the commonest here is hypertension. I remember we carried out a study when I was commissioner for health in Ekiti State a few years ago and we got to know that up to 16% of people above 40 years old are hypertensive. Many of them come down with what we call coronary heart disease.

    How would sum the challenges of the practice of cardiology?

    We are not supposed to be where we are. You see, these things are simple. Luckily, I have been commissioner for health before, so I know that what is on ground is enough to meet our needs. As turbulent as our stay was in Ekiti then when I was under Engr. Segun Oni, we were still able to start a teaching hospital; we were still able to start a college of medicine. We were able to rehabilitate 185 primary health care centres. We were able to rehabilitate five general hospitals. As at that time, we had the best eye centre in the southwest. All within three years. There are four elements of service when it comes to healthcare delivery. You talk of infrastructure, equipment and materials, right personnel that should be well motivated. Then, the final thing which is the most important thing that won’t even cost the government so much is the one they are neglecting healthcare financing that is insurance. Already government has started, but as at today, coverage is just limited to about four to five percent of the population whereas with adequate policy on ground, the whole country can be covered. Ghana, I understand, covers 60 percent. Can you imagine? There are many ways of boosting these things without costing government additional money. Our tax system can be done in such a way that just as you are paying your tax, your health insurance goes with it. Your tax clearance card should be able to take you into any hospital in the country. The same way that a governor enters the hospital should be the same way that a cleaner will enter the hospital. And then you have the same opportunity to have the same type of care.

    Do you know that we sent a bill to the National Assembly to establish eight cardiac centres in the country? This bill has been on now for several months now. As I am talking with you, the bill has not reached second stage. It has not even passed first stage.

    When you say ‘we sent a bill’ what do you mean?

    I initiated it (the bill) with some other people. If I have bags of money to move around and mobilise people, maybe it is possible the bill would have (been) passed. But, I can’t do all that. I don’t have the capacity. See what is happening. We have orthopaedic hospitals all around. You can see National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Enugu, and Dala. We have psychiatric hospitals, Aro and all. We have national eye care hospital; we have national ear care hospital which has centres all over the country. But, still, we don’t have anything for the heart. The first heart operation was done in UCH, Ibadan as far back as 1974. And it is not being sustained. Enugu has been doing heart surgery since 1974. As at today, the best cardiac centre in West Africa is still in Ghana. And that is where they started in 1992. So, why is that we cannot have our own? Government can start all these things and then privatise later. Look, in this hospital for example, we’ve sent people for training. I was in India for six months in 2011 and 2012. I went with nurses for theatre, nurses for intensive care unit (ICU). I went with anaesthetist. We all did our training, now, we’re back. Since then, nothing to work with. We needed just about 100 million naira to buy the basic things to even start, we cannot. Now, we want to collaborate with an hospital in Chennai. We signed an MOU with them so that we can start open heart surgery in this place now. So, it’s like going cap in hand, isn’t it?

    It’s in the constitution that government has a responsibility to guarantee our health. At this stage, we should also be talking about integrated health. How do you fight kwashiorkor if there is no food? It is not a matter for drugs. How do fight diarrhoea if there is no water? It is a matter of treating the person and the person goes back home. So, agriculture, water resources, education have roles to play in this matter.

    How expensive is the treatment of heart diseases?

    Treatment is expensive and also technically tasking. You need equipment for various diagnostics purposes. You need equipment for therapeutic purposes. And these equipments are not by any means cheap… In the past, people were going abroad for pacemaker insertions. We’ve been doing that since 1999. Now if you have your money, we can do it. But, how easy is it for people to afford this. Our health insurance does not cover it. Anywhere in the world, the treatment of heart disease is expensive. The way people get these things done is through social solidarity, health insurance.

  • One of the contenders for my girl’s heart is a naval officer married to a German woman

    Please Aunty Ineed your advice. I’m 32, in love with a 19-year-old girl. The problem is that when I talked to her, she told me she loves me but she has two men in her life. The first guy is her secondary school boyfriend, he is 23yrs, learning a trade and he was the one that dis-virgined (deflowered) her when she was 18. The other guy is a navy officer and he is 50 years old, married to a German woman with a kid and he intends to marry her.  Aunty this girl promised to marry me, but I must give her some time to leave the other two guys since I don’t have a good job after my OND and her family does not have money and I want her to go to school and have her OND she must go out with them so as to get the money she needs for her school. Aunty I am confused what should I do now?

    Dear brother, they say the patient dog eats the fattest bone. In your own case, I doubt if there would be any bone left to eat at the end of this girl’s OND o. The naval officer is eating his own bone and the other guy too is having his fill and if you look at it, both of them have the right to eat as much as they can. The naval officer is obviously the one paying most of her bills while she has fond memories of the other guy, so they’re share holder. Smart girl; she has told you that she can’t leave any of them because of their contributions to her life, so the choice is yours to make.

    If you were my brother, I’d be so shocked that you could still be thinking of waiting for her after her revelations! You’re indeed a patient man. Just be warned the naval officer won’t be this patient if he finds out about you and the other girl. And as for the poor woman in the man’s life who has to share her man with a girl who shares her bed with other man, I can only pray she doesn’t get infected along the line.

    There are so many good girls out there who would work extra hard to make extra money for school fees. Not all girls are dogs so it doesn’t have to be this girl even if she is the most beautiful woman alive. Watch it o.

  • He told me to get married, that he will not advise me not to wait

    Aunty Adeola, what will I do? I am a young lady of 28. A friend of 7years suddenly quits the relationship just like that after much commitment from both sides and at the point where things were getting into place. He told me to get married that he’s going abroad for his masters after his service (which he is doing now) that he will not advise me not to wait.

    Whether it was your fault or not, a relationship breakup doesn’t have to break up your life. I know it is a painful experience, especially when you invest so much emotion, time and effort into the relationship. Sometimes it is hard to recover from the hurt, the disappointment and the thought of living your life without that partner. You can cry about it if it makes you feel better, and skip a few meals if you can’t help it, but don’t allow yourself to be stuck in that condition of self-pity and depression. Stop blaming yourself or your ex-partner. Don’t waste time over silly egoistic regrets. Shake off your disappointments, put that chapter of your life behind you and consider it a lesson well-learned. It now belongs to your past; and as you know you can’t change your past. Pick yourself up, move on with hope, and try again. It is only when you try again that you can find a truly happy and stable relationship.

    How do you recover from all this pain and heartbreak?

    1. Try to see the breakup in a positive light:

    This may seem like a crazy idea especially in the first few days of the breakup when the pain is so fresh and you feel so depressed. It is difficult to see anything positive about living the rest of your life without someone you could have sworn was your soul-mate. When you think of all the fun you had together, and how all youar friends and family who knew about your relationship will judge the breakup, it probably makes more sense to you to just concentrate on the pain instead of trying to see anything positive about the breakup. But think of it this way, you wouldn’t have broken up if you were soul-mates. I also expect that “true” family members and friends will rather be supportive of you than try to judge or tease you about your breakup. So, it is ok to breakup sometimes. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps you are being prepared for someone better suited to your needs. Take consolation in the saying that sometimes “Rejection is God’s protection.” You never know what negative outcomes could have been in your future if it hadn’t ended this way.

    No matter how good your ex was, he wasn’t perfect. It is sometimes helpful to think of all the bad things he did that once made you mad. Ask yourself if he really valued your love. A better partner is on the way. Your star will shine brighter if you wait patiently for it.

    Have a positive mind. Consider yourself better off without your ex. You can now do all the things you wanted to do for yourself, that your ex didn’t allow you to do; either because she was being controlling, wanted you to postpone it, or just didn’t like it. You can now easily buy that expensive home theatre system your ex didn’t want you to buy without any interference. You can now hang out with your friends for longer hours, stay late at the club or billiards, talk on the phone with anyone you want for any length of time, etc. without anyone cursing at you or fighting with you. Enjoy your newly found freedom and take control of your life.

    2. Stay close to people you love and people who love and care about you: These could be your relatives or very good friends who have a genuine interest in your well-being. They can help you fill the void of companionship that your ex may have left in your life. Their company will help to keep your mind off your ex and thus reduce the pain of the breakup.

    Avoid being alone for prolonged periods of time. This solitude can keep you fretting over your ex and failed relationship and translate into a feeling of loneliness, failure, and disappointment. Being around people you like can keep you energized and inspired.

    3. Stay in shape, stay active and participate in fun activities you love:

    Just because you broke up with your partner doesn’t mean you should now dress down, overeat to mask the pain, and stop going to the gym. No! It is now time to look your best. Don’t allow people to think you are now a miserable wretch because you lost your partner; as if your whole life depended on her. Engage in activities you love and enjoy. Go to the gym and get a good dose of exercise every day. Find creative ways of entertaining yourself. These keep your mind occupied and less likely to grieve over your breakup. Because grieving over your breakup will only keep you stressed and depressed. Worst still, as you continually waste time crying and mourning over “spilt milk”, your blood pressure rises making you susceptible to hypertension and other heart diseases. So why lose your life over a lost partner? Forget about her and move on into something more productive.

    Exercise also keeps your mind active, and helps you to stay in shape; so you can be noticed by other eligible partners. Eat healthy meals and dress elegantly to boost your image and confidence.

    4. Pursue your life goals and dreams like never before:

    This is the time to challenge yourself that you can achieve anything or any goal without your ex’s support. Empower yourself with this belief and pursue your dreams and work hard like you are trying to prove to your ex and all your skeptics that you can do it on your own. You can now enroll in that academic program this year. Let them see you succeed and wish they had you. Let this mindset challenge you to be your best. And when you are preoccupied with being your best, you wouldn’t even have time to think about the breakup.

    5. Free your mind and hold nothing against your ex:

    Free your mind and harbor no ill feelings against your ex as that will only keep anger lingering in your heart, and thus poison everything you think and do. Holding resentments against your ex and the breakup could also affect your ability to stay open to new relationships and enjoy life to its fullest.

    Approach the breakup with a positive attitude. Even if you think you were treated unfairly, try to forgive and move on. Choose ease (or peace of mind) over anxiety. Relax and have a clear mind so that you will know the right action to take. If you like, you can remain a friend to your ex. But, if you can’t, then you should just avoid her entirely without harboring any ill feelings.

    6. Move on and stay open to new relationships:

    Finally, move on and stay open to new relationships. There is a saying that “just because you have been choked by food before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat again.” It should only serve as a lesson as to what to eat, and how not to eat next time. This can also be applied to relationships and breakups. Just because you tried it once and it didn’t work doesn’t mean it will never work. Don’t let the fear of another breakup stop you from starting a new relationship. Just as all fingers are not the same, all women are not the same. So purge your mind of the “they-are-all-the-same” mentality and move on with hope. Stay open to new relationships and make a fresh start after a reasonable period of recovery. Don’t jump right into another relationship unless you’re really sure about what you’re doing. Your judgment may be clouded by your depressed emotional state. During your time of loneliness after a breakup, a lot of women will come along with adequate attention and care. Most of these women will try to take advantage of your situation to rush you into another relationship. So you have to be careful. Get over your pain first. Analyze yourself and your needs. Don’t just give in to anyone who comes along; that gives the impression of being desperate. And, unfortunately, many like to take advantage of desperate people. So rationalize in choosing your next partner. Utilize the lessons you learned from your previous relationship, and do your part to make your new relationship work.

    But even if it doesn’t work, you should understand that finding the right partner is like digging for gold. Sometimes in order to find the right partner, you have to encounter and overcome a lot of challenges, disappointments and obstacles; similar to the rocks, stones, clay and sand, that have to be encountered and eliminated in order to get to the gold underneath. Only those who don’t give up to these obstacles can bring home the gold. So don’t give up; go for the gold!

  • Dig a pleasant hole in his heart

    WHEN an orange tree bears bitter fruits, cut down the tree and not just the fruits.” This proverb from Swaziland tells us that it is better to get rid of something you do not value or doesn’t bring joy and pleasure. It is, therefore, very important to make yourself an asset; something to be treasured and something that cannot be replaced. This, of course, does not come on a platter of gold; you must have to earn it by the way you relate with the other person. For many, being a love material comes natural because you cannot give what you don’t have.

    A loving heart is a kind heart – a heart filled with forgiveness and one that pursues the happiness of the other person. Ancient love is not selfish but unfortunately many find it difficult to dole out this kind of love. On the love shelf what you run into is love that is cunning, crafty, stingy, pretentious and very greedy. The goal of a good relationship should be to find someone that you are compatible with.

    If along the line you discover that the two of you are not compatible then it is better to move on with your life and find the sparks somewhere else. The big question is the emotional journey here is easy or not. Well, it varies with people. While some are lucky with casting their emotional nets, others are not so lucky. They may have to go from a second, third or fourth lovebird before catching the apple of their eyes.

    While it is easier for men to do emotional swaps here and there, it is usually not the same for women. This is why it is better to look very well before taking a leap. A fall from your emotional height could lead to fractures or broken bones that would take time to heal or those that leave a permanent damage. A damage that would ultimately lead to further damages along your emotional corridor.

    “No man wants to hear about men who helped to fill the emotional vacuum in the past. Of course, you know that men like to brag about their conquests but it is a different ball game when it is a woman that is involved. It actually ruins the mystique and makes them feel anxious about being compared to the other person.”

    She believes that it is easier when you can identify with love when it catches up with you. Unfortunately, a lot of people get carried away with shadows and by the time they are ready the one that should have been captured must have moved on. Foluke says: “Dating when you’re younger is so much different than dating when you’re older, and if you’re looking for love, you would definitely want something that would work out fine.

    “I have seen a lot of friends who lost their first love struggling to catch up because they do not love the person they got married to. Personally, I was very lucky because I married my first real love and we are both very happy together.” Whether you’re still looking for your first love, or back in the dating field, there are some key things you should not talk about when you’re on your first date.

    Often, going that extra mile to make your woman or man feel special is all you need to make all the difference. You have to give so much and expect little in return. This way you are bound to overlook the shortcomings of the other person and vice versa.

    To fire up the romance in your relationship you must be a good listener. It is better to listen when he or she shares some inner desires, likes, and fears. Here, your duty would be to nudge and guide, and, above all, be interested. Interestingly, it is at this point that you are likely to get more ideas about what you should do next to impress and get more attention. You can also put little notes everywhere he can find all day. They could be love notes, smileys, or lines from love poetry or songs. This can make the one you are giving attention to dream about you all day, weeks and even months. In addition, you can create a spa atmosphere with special lighting, candles, and essential oils. Here, you are bound to make him feel pampered as well as have that special time together. However, it would be interesting to plan details all by yourself. This way your target will love the feeling of being pampered.

    Have a secret code for intimate sharing and use it in a crowd. It could be for saying, “I love you,” “You look lovely,” or “I want to kiss you.” Act silly with him now and then. It lightens up the mood, and gets him to become playful. It also tells him you are comfortable enough with him to be yourself, which is great cement for your relationship.

    As an African woman you can surf your way into his heart by cooking a special meal for him. This is a faster route to making him eat from your palms any day. This is a faster route to making him eat from your palms any day. The signal here is to tell him that not only are you multi-talented, but care enough to make a special spread only for him.

  • Heart disease threatens baby’s life

    Oluwanifemi Aisha Abdulazeez was born hale and hearty two years ago. Sadly, today, the diseased condition of her tender heart has become a source of heartache for her parents. With their hearts in their mouths, they are running from pillar to post in frantic bid to make her live.

    Her parents, it was learnt, treated friends and relations to a lavish party at their Oyo State home to celebrate her birth. Unknown to them, however, her heart was harbouring a disease that would later rend their hearts.

    Recently, experts at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, after some diagnoses, gave a startling disclosure: Little Oluwanifemi has a case of Congenital Heart Disease (Atria abnormality, right enlargement and left ventricular hypertrophy).

    The consultant doctor handling her case, Dr. Barakat Adeola Animashaun (Consultant Paediatrics/Paediatric Cardiologist) at the hospital, after a thorough study of her condition, gave a prescription: She must be taken to India for urgent surgery.

    The total bill for the surgery and travelling expenses, The Nation learnt, is about N1.8 million.

    “This surgery has to be done to avoid dangerous exacerbation of her case. Breathing has become too tough for her. We don’t know what to do to raise that kind of money. This is why I resorted to crying out as the last option for her to get assistance from kind-hearted Nigerians, organisations or government. She needs urgent attention. We need to be helped to give her an opportunity to live well.

    No amount is too small from anybody,” said her embattled mother, Omolara Akinsulire.

    She gave her Access Bank account under the name, Akinsulire Omolara, with account number, 0037313739, for the attention of “whoever God pleases to use to save my baby’s life.”

    However, a group, The Nation learnt, last night, had donated N1.7 million. Now, all the family needs is N100,000.