THE SUCKER PUNCH

(Image: Getty)

The hospital waiting room was a little musty: the smell of dust covered the environment, a clear indication that harmattan was in the air. I could feel the tension in both our minds as I held tight to her hands and watched nurses walk around with files. We could see through the almost fallen window through to the laboratory where our blood samples were being screened.

...the Government has not done enough I whispered.

Across the room sat a man, I could guess he was in his late twenties,  just like myself. He wore a disturbing look,  his eyes were pale from worry, he sat with his face in his palms and was lost in thoughts,  clearly,  he was here for the same purpose as us. A nurse walked towards him,  tapping life into him with her hands,  she handed him an envelope and escorted him to the counsellor.

HAND WASHING: A Despised Centuries-old Vaccine By Dr Mark Godwin

Somewhere in rural Africa, a 4-week old baby is rushed to the Children Emergency Room with complaints of persistent passage of copious loose stools, at an average frequency of 10 per day which were initially pale and cheesy, but lately, greenish or blood stained and caffeinated. There’s a preceding history of fever that was gradual in onset, with progressive loss of weight lasting 10 days.

PEPTIC ULCER DISEASE

‘Doctor, I am an ulcer patient’, he said; ‘I have had ulcer for over 5 years’, he added. I squirmed.

The misconceptions that have placed peptic ulcer disease in the same category as other chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes have been saddening. These have been festered by poor information and unfounded beliefs.

Is Breastfeeding Still Crucial In This Age and Time?

Whether you are male or female, single or married, pregnant or nursing a child or even celibate, the issue of breastfeeding is one that you must give serious thought to. It's an issue you need to take a stance on, and resolve to be on the right side of evidence. As a matter of fact, we all need the right information and resolve on breastfeeding because we'll definitely be mothers, fathers, uncles or aunties to at least one child someday or we'll meet someone who needs the right information about breastfeeding. So, irrespective of your age, it is neither to early nor too late to learn about breast feeding. Follow me as we take a close look on the necessity or otherwise of breastfeeding.

101 Tips on Stress Management

Below are simple but very potent tips on bursting stress. A few may appear strange in your environment but avail yourself of the myriads you can practise.

1. Meeting a friend for a drink (non-alcoholic)
2. Set aside 10 minutes a day to relax and collect your thoughts

Effective Stress Management 1

Stress is inevitable. Everyone experiences stress at some point in life and, as a matter of fact, stress in the right dose is beneficial. In contrast, excessive or prolonged stress can lead to debilitating illnesses such as heart disease as well as mental health problems like anxiety and depression.
Follow me as we take the journey through identifying stress and how you can help yourself or any stressed individual.

What is stress?

Stress is a feeling of being under abnormal pressure e.g from increased workload, a dispute with a family member, or financial worries.

It is the ''wear and tear'' that our minds and bodies experience as we attempt to cope with our continually changing environment.

Effective Stress Management Pt 1

Stress is inevitable. Everyone experiences stress at some point in life and, as a matter of fact, stress in the right dose is beneficial. In contrast, excessive or prolonged stress can lead to debilitating illnesses such as heart disease as well as mental health problems like anxiety and depression.
Follow me as we take the journey through identifying stress and how you can help yourself or any stressed individual.

What is stress?

Stress is a feeling of being under abnormal pressure e.g from increased workload, a dispute with a family member, or financial worries.

It is the ''wear and tear'' that our minds and bodies experience as we attempt to cope with our continually changing environment.

First Things First: The Importance of Breakfast

I am not a great fan of breakfast; I would love to do anything but eat breakfast. I soon realized that it is not a good habit. I therefore had to reconsider and start consciously forcing breakfast down my throat.

It has rightly been said that if you do not eat breakfast, you will tend to eat more servings at lunch time which is not so good because then you add on more pounds. Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day mainly because it gives the brain energy to channel through the day and makes one more agile and active. It energizes the various body systems and makes them work at optimal levels. Now you see where I am going with this.

CHOLERA: What You Need To Know

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease caused by infection of the intestines with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. Both children and adults can be affected.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), about 3-5 million cases of cholera are reported globally each year and over 100,000 deaths occur annually around the world. Unsurprisingly, more than 90% of cases occur in Africa except in 2010 when the earthquake in Haiti caused a steep rise in cholera cases there. Thus, temporarily reducing Africa's contribution to the global incidence of
cholera to 50% in 2010.
According to the WHO, Nigeria reported 41,787 cases and 1,716 deaths due to cholera in 2010

Do You Know You Are Poisoning Yourself?

So the story goes. Ekumanku (not his real name) loves fun!
For him, life is short and must be enjoyed. He's determined nothing will stop him from doing just that. But little did he know that some of the ''fun'' he indulged in were literally stealing his life away- he was into drugs and had become a chronic alcoholic, which for him were all part of the fun in life. There was nothing he could compare to the Euphoric feeling he had each time he gets high on his recreational drugs and alcohol. For him, this was the peak of fun.

Say No To Herbal Concoctions!

He laid on the bed, his entire body so swollen that you would be pardoned to believe he's a live character about to feature as ''Michelin'' in a tire advert. A close look at him however showed that all wasn't well with him- he was breathless, gasping for air and in so much distress that he was screaming for help. Let's call him Terfa.

Terfa's problem wasn't just the physical pain and torture he was experiencing. He had just been diagnosed of a kidney problem which required that he underwent dialysis three times weekly to stay alive. Dialysis is a procedure by which ''poisons'' that ought to have been removed by the kidneys