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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Malnourishment Can Cause Malaria, Measles, Pneumonia in Children- Paediatrician

Malnourishment Can Cause Malaria, Measles, Pneumonia in Children- Paediatrician

Children's Health, NEWS
A Paediatrician, Dr Uche Anene-Nzelu, says malnourishment can cause severe issues for children including malaria, measles and pneumonia. Anene-Nzelu, who works at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos. According to her, malnutrition occurs when a child does not take adequate nutrition required by the body.She said that malnourishment could create an additional problem and burden for the child already suffering from malnutrition. The paediatrician also told NAN that malnutrition in children could start from when the mother was pregnant, saying that when this occurs, some organs of the child’s body could be at risk of not developing properly. “The impact is more from when the mother is
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Hong Kong Scientists Report Breakthrough Antidote for Viral Diseases

Hong Kong Scientists Report Breakthrough Antidote for Viral Diseases

NEWS
Hong Kong scientists claim they have made a potential breakthrough discovery in the fight against infectious diseases — a chemical that could slow the spread of deadly viral illnesses. A team from the University of Hong Kong described the newly discovered chemical as “highly potent in interrupting the life cycle of diverse viruses” in a study published this month in the journal Nature Communications. The scientists said the antidote could one day be used as a broad-spectrum antiviral for a host of infectious diseases — and even for viruses that have yet to emerge — if it passes clinical trials. The spread in recent decades of sometimes deadly bird flu strains, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have underscored th
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
What Catarrh or Nasal Discharge Means To You

What Catarrh or Nasal Discharge Means To You

NEWS
The nose, ear and throat are much related. What affects the nose may affect the other two organs and vice versa. Nasal discharge is a common symptom of an underlying disease state in both adults and children. Nasal discharge or “catarrh” is excessive discharge or build-up of mucus in the nose or throat, associated with inflammation of the mucous membrane that lines the surfaces of these structures of nose and throat. What causes catarrh? Just as in the case of ear discharge, nasal discharge could be due and is often due to infection. Most of the infection is of viral origin. Being of viral origin has significant implications on the type of intervention that a physician may provide for the sufferer. We shall discuss the treatment later on. Nasal infection causing nasal dis
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Labour Unions Hail Buhari for Not Privatising Health

Labour Unions Hail Buhari for Not Privatising Health

NEWS
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate, the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), have commended President Muhammadu Buhari for not privatising the health sector. They condemned privatisation of the sector, saying it would lead to masses’ exploitation. The leaderships of the two Unions, Ayuba Wabba and Biobelemoye Josiah, who expressed their concern at the recent 45th session of the MHWUN’s National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, urged health workers to unite for a common interest to resist the idea, described as anti-masses. According to Wabba, anyone who says health care privatisation will better the sector is telling lies. ”Anybody that tells me that privatising the health care will make it better, it is false. What has become
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Persistent Back Pain Associated With High Risk of Mortality

Persistent Back Pain Associated With High Risk of Mortality

NEWS
A prospective analysis of back pain and rates of disability may help explain the association between back pain and mortality. Back pain is very common, affecting millions of people worldwide. It is also a major cause of disability and missed work days. Risk factors such as posture, sedentary lifestyle, weight gain, obesity, and age can all contribute to the development of this condition. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke suggest that around 80 percent of adults experience back pain at least once in their life. A United States telephone survey showed that the prevalence of chronic back pain more than doubled in the 14-year interval between 1992 and 2006, and that it was greater in women. Back pain can be acute or chronic. Acute back pa...
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Clean Environment, General Hygiene Help in Prevention of Lassa fever

Clean Environment, General Hygiene Help in Prevention of Lassa fever

NEWS
Recently, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), confirmed seven Persons dead and 14 affected by the lassa fever virus in five states, which include Ondo, Edo, Delta, Plateau, Bauchi and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. In the face of this, health experts have advised that families, communities and individuals protect themselves by avoiding foods contaminated by rats and keeping their environment clean. People should not allow bushes to grow in their environment to deter rodents carrying the virus. Dr. Modupe Akinyinka, Senior lecturer and Consultant Public Health Physician at Department of Community Health and Primary Health Care Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja, Lagos, said Lassa fever occurs in all age groups and bot...
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimes1 Comment
Nigeria Hosts Maiden Lassa fever Int’l Conference

Nigeria Hosts Maiden Lassa fever Int’l Conference

NEWS
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says it is ready to host the maiden Lassa fever international conference in the country. The Chief Executive Officer, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said this at a news conference on Monday in Abuja. He said that the conference, to be organised in partnership with other stakeholders, would hold between Jan. 16 and Jan. 17, in Abuja. According to him, the opportunity created by the ‘anniversary’ of the discovery of the virus is being used to bring researchers and practitioners from across the world. He said that the researchers and practitioners would share and appraise global efforts towards the control of the Lassa fever virus disease. Ihekweazu said that the conference would also be an opportunity to increase globa
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Jan152019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Patronise Made In Nigeria Medicines, Pharmacists Urge FG

Patronise Made In Nigeria Medicines, Pharmacists Urge FG

NEWS
Say dependence on imported medicines is security risk THE Federal government has been called upon to patronise the local pharmaceutical industry by purchasing made in Nigeria pharmaceutical products even as pharmacists have warned that overdependence on imported medicines is a health security risk to the country. Newly elected president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, who made the call in Lagos last week,said government should believe in the locally manufactutured products. “Government should practice what it preaches and patronise Nigerian pharmaceutical companies, and show in word and in action that it supports the local manufacturing industry especially the pharmaceutical industry.” Ohuabunwa, who was one time Presiden
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Thin Line between Aberration and Genius

Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Thin Line between Aberration and Genius

NEWS
Albert Einstein Autism, or autism spectrum disorder experts say, has to do with a range of conditions characterised by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. A scientific research recently carried out discovered that in non-autistic adults, having more autism-linked genetic variants was linked with better cognitive functioning. From the psychiatry point of view, autism experts say, is an abnormal preoccupation with the self. It is marked by communication disorders and short attention span and inability to treat others as people. Health scientists have come to discover that there is not just one form of autism but many types, which are attributable to different combinations of gen...
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
FG To Help 506 Foreign-trained Doctors Secure Jobs

FG To Help 506 Foreign-trained Doctors Secure Jobs

NEWS
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has inducted 506 foreign-trained doctors to practice in the country as the federal government has promised to assist them secure work placement. The inductees emerged from the 903 candidates who sat for the October/November 2018 MDCN assessment examination for medical students trained abroad.    At the induction of the doctors in Abuja, Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said that his ministry and the MDCN would assist them to get work placement to ensure that none of them roams about the streets.    The minister also pledged government’s support for them to practice without hardship and charged them against temptations that might face in the course of performing their duties.    One of the inductees, Dr. Hauw
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Exercise as Medical Treatment for Depression

Exercise as Medical Treatment for Depression

NEWS
Published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology - Volume 60, Issue 12, September 2012DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2012.05.015 Author: Alan Rozanski, MD: St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals, Division of Cardiology, 1111 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10025 •Copyright & Usage: American College of Cardiology Foundation Major depression is a now well-established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), comparable in potency with conventional risk factors. Epidemiological study has demonstrated a proportional relationship between the severity of depressive symptoms and the likelihood of subsequent cardiac events, and patients with even mild depressive symptoms have been noted to have an increase in mortality risk compared with patients without depression. The mechanisms
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
High-Fiber Diet Linked To Lower Risk of Death and Chronic Diseases

High-Fiber Diet Linked To Lower Risk of Death and Chronic Diseases

Food And Nutrition, NEWS
People who eat diets that are high in fiber have lower risk of death and chronic diseases such as stroke or cancer compared with people with low fiber intake, a new analysis found.   Dietary fiber includes plant-based carbohydrates such as whole-grain cereal, seeds and some legumes. Fiber's health benefits have been recorded "by over 100 years of research," Andrew Reynolds, a researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand, wrote in an email. He is co-author of the new meta-analysis of existing research, which was published Thursday in the journal The Lancet.   The research shows that higher intakes of fiber "led to a reduced incidence of a surprisingly broad range of relevant diseases (heart disease, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer)," reduced b...
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Children Not Immune to Hypertension, Says Doctor

Children Not Immune to Hypertension, Says Doctor

Children's Health, NEWS
Dr Simon Abraham, a general medical practitioner, has said that children are not immune to hypertension. Abraham told News men on Saturday in Abuja that the youth could also be hypertensive. “I have seen a three-year-old child who has hypertension – a secondary hypertension. He said that the disease could be primary or secondary. The medical practitioner said that primary hypertension could be through inheritance or intake of too much salt. According to him, 80 per cent of the causes of secondary hypertension are not known, making it to be referred to as essential hypertension. He told NAN that secondary hypertension could be as a result of kidney disease or diseases in other vital organs. He said that about 20 per cent of hypertensive people belonged to the
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
UPTH Records First Successful IVF

UPTH Records First Successful IVF

Children's Health, NEWS
The University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH, has recorded success in In-Vitro Fertilization, IVF, after two years of establishment of the department. The Institution said it had launched the IVF unit in 2017 and two years later produced a male child through the IVF procedure. The Chief Medical Director of UPTH, Prof. Henry Ugboma, stated that the success was recorded based on efforts of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department headed by Dr. Preys Fiebai and the Assistant Conception Unit, headed by Prof. John Ikmalo. He said: “We are proud of this noble achievement. This success story started since 2017, when I was heading that unit. I am happy that we successfully recorded this IVF conception and delivery. “We still have many others who are pregnant no
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Jan142019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
The Tragedy of Abandoned N5bn Cardiac and Renal Facility in Lagos

The Tragedy of Abandoned N5bn Cardiac and Renal Facility in Lagos

NEWS
March 18, 2015 is a supposed-messianic date to remember as a ray of hope beamed for about 25 million Nigerians (13.9 per cent of the 180 million people) suffering from life debilitating cardiac and renal diseases. It was a day when the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola inaugurated the N5 billion ultra-modern Cardiac and Renal Centre, located beside the General Hospital, Gbagada. Fashola opened the multi-billion Naira facility amid fanfare with an intrepid perception that it was a right step in the right direction and hope to millions of Nigerians suffering from the diseases. However, four years down the lane, a centre with a high hope has suddenly become gold rust and now under lock with a smirk look of extinction. A News Agency of Nigeria...
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