Health
Birth Control: Expert Urges Medical Advice
Consultant gynecolo
gist, Dr. Uranta Ferdinand has called on women to seek the proper advice of a medical professional in their choice of contraceptive (Birth Control) methods.
Ferdinand who made the call following the critical health condition of a woman diagnosed with a wrong choice of contraceptive told The Tide that choosing contraceptive method with out medical advice has an adverse health effects.
Ferdinand said “it is dangerous to choose a birth control method without proper medical advice. We don’t mean just meeting every and any medical personnel but a professional in that field because a lot is involved and even more is that the choice depends on the medical history and health status of the individual, therefore it should not be taken for granted”.
He said that women with obesity or heart disease needed more proper counseling stating that some contraceptive methods could prove more harmful than imagined.
Ferdinand who noted that a large number of women use the implantable progesterone only as their method said however that the contraceptive should not be recommended for women who are overweight.
“The contraceptive that is good for women is actually individualised which calls for a thorough medical examination and a check of medical history. With this, the expert is guided on what contraceptive that is good, and for women who have some form of heart condition, you have to be careful in giving them the combined contraceptive which is estrogen and progesterone because of the effect it may have on the heart.
While listing some contraceptives often used to include the Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD), posterior, injectable contraceptive, deprofoveral among others, Ferdinand explained that the deprofoveral is a contraceptive that is implanted under the skin which he said can remain there for up to three years.
“The injectable ones is taken once in two or three months while the IUCD is inserted into the uterus which forms a physical barrier to pregnancy and does not distort the circle. However, those using the IUCD will experience complications such as pelvic pain, increased risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease. Sometimes this device can be dislodged or displaced in the uterus, it can puncture the uterus or even find its way to the abdomen itself. Though these complications are rare, they can still occur”.
The expert who noted that it takes the both partners to choose birth control and the method to be used said the best and non-complicated method for every type of woman was abstinence saying “the both had to agree not to have sex at the time of ovulation and this serves as the best control method”.
Some women who shared their experiences with The Tide affirmed the advice of the medical expert maintaining that formal education was not a yardstick for medical counseling on choice of contraceptive method as admitted by most women particularly in the rural areas.
Mrs. Roseline Wokoma, a 49 year old woman and mother of four children said “ignorance is the main cause. As a woman, it did not take formal education for you to get pregnant and even give birth and so, you don’t need it to get the right method to control your pregnancies. All you need to do is to meet a specialist who will conduct a test on you and give you the right method. Especially with resident doctors in the local health centres, they will speak and act in the way you will understand and all you need to do is just to adhere to the rules”.
Chidimma Jonathan said “once you do not use the right method, there is bound to be a lot of discomforts and side effects which includes swollen stomach, hormonal imbalance, fatigue and some more serious ones depending on the one you used. Let us try and seek medical advice before venturing into it for our own good health.
Lady Godknows Ogbulu
Health
Taraba Confirms Lassa Fever Outbreak
The authorities in Taraba State Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed the outbreak of Lassa Fever in the State.
Making the confirmation in an interview, State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Gbangsheya Buma disclosed that out of the nine suspected cases that were recorded last Friday, eight turned out positive for the viral haemorrhagic fever.
Buma stated that the state Ministry of Health is closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, and the Federal Medical Center, Jalingo, FMC, authorities to contain the spread of the disease.
“It is not a surprising thing, this is the season, and we have made preparations, though the outbreak may be overwhelming.
“I just received support from NCDC; they have sent some people here to provide technical support with the aim of stopping the progress of the disease.
“We are actually on top of it. We have provided support as a state to the FMC to provide free treatment to patients of Lassa fever,” he said.
Acting Head of Clinical Services at FMC Jalingo, Joseph Kuni, provided further insight on the outbreak, revealing that the center currently has ten patients in its isolation ward, with some awaiting test results.
Kuni said, “From January to February, the center had recorded 19 deaths from the isolation center.
“From January to February, we sent 105 samples, and 60 of them came out positive for Lassa Fever while 39 came out negative. The remaining ones are still being awaited.”
He explained that due to a fire outbreak that affected the modular laboratory last year, the center cannot perform tests locally, so they send samples to Bauchi or Abuja for testing.
Additionally, Kuni confirmed that one medical doctor from the hospital was affected but has since been treated and discharged.
Kuni emphasised the need for more assistance considering the alarming number of cases, particularly from the central part of the state.
Warning that Lassa Fever is endemic in Nigeria, Kuni said with sporadic outbreaks occurring primarily during the dry season, and it is transmitted to humans through contact with contaminated food or household items.
Health
Experts Warn On Excess Consumption Of Sweetened Beverages
Drinking two litres or more per week of artificially sweetened beverages — the equivalent of a medium-sized fast-food diet soda a day — raises the risk of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation by 20 percent when compared to people who drank none, a new study found.
Known as A-fib, atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat often described by many people who have it as a “quiver,” “flutter” or “flip-flop” of the heart in the chest.
Drinking a similar number of added-sugar beverages raised the risk of the condition by 10 percent, while drinking about four ounces of pure, unsweetened juices, such as orange or vegetable juice, was associated with an 8 percent lower risk of atrial fibrillation, the study found.
“This is the first study to report an association between no- and low-calorie sweeteners and also sugar-sweetened beverages and increased risk of atrial fibrillation,” said Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, in a statement. She was not involved in the new study.
While the study could only show an association between sweetened drinks and A-fib, the relationship remained after accounting for any genetic susceptibility to the condition. A 2017 study found people with European ancestry had about a 22 percent risk of inheriting the condition.
This heart condition may affect one in four women after menopause, the study further reveals”We still need more research on these beverages to confirm these findings and to fully understand all the health consequences on heart disease and other health conditions,” Kris-Etherton said.
“In the meantime, water is the best choice, and, based on this study, no- and low-calorie sweetened beverages should be limited or avoided,” she added.
Atrial fibrillation is dangerous and on the rise and is the leading cause of stroke in the United States. In addition, strokes connected to A-fib tend to be “more severe than strokes with other underlying causes,” according to the united states centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Atrial fibrillation can also lead to blood clots, heart failure and “can increase the risk for heart attack, for dementia, for kidney disease. All of those things are likely long term risks,” Dr. Gregory Marcus, Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and associate chief of cardiology for research at UCSF Health, told The Tide’s in an interview.
Health
Ogun Seals College’s Nursing Department Over Illegal Operations
The Nursing Department of the Harvarde College of Science Business and Management Studies in Abeokuta has been shut.
The department was sealed yesterday for operating without accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The enforcement team comprised officials of enforcement team of the Ogun Ministry of Health and members of the State Nursing and Midwifery Committee (SNMC).
Speaking during the enforcement exercise, the Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Oladehinde, said that the private institution had been offering a degree programme in Nursing Sciences.
He added that this had been going on for about six years without accreditation from the regulatory body.
Oladehinde, represented by the Acting Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Serifat Aminu, said that such unauthorised programme contributed to quackery in nursing and posed a threat to public health.
According to him, the nursing department of the institution will remain sealed until fully accredited.
He described a degree in Nursing obtained from Harvarde College and similar institutions without NMCN accreditation as worthless, stating that graduates would be unable to obtain a valid license to practice in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
“We have discovered that many institutions, including Harvarde College, offer nursing degrees to unsuspecting students.
“Our mission is to clamp down on such institutions because they end up producing quacks in the nursing profession.
“This is dangerous for society. Unfortunately, most students are unaware that their time is being wasted,” he said.
The permanent secretary advised parents and candidates desiring to pursue nursing or related programmes to conduct due diligence by checking the NMCN website for a list of accredited institutions, saying the regulatory body updated the list yearly.
He warned parents to be cautious of institutions making false claims, assuring that the Ogun government would continue to work diligently against quackery in both the education and practice of the nursing profession in the state.
Responding, a 300-level student, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed shock at the institution’s lack of accreditation, regretting the amount of money her parents had spent on the
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