Gombe First Lady Offers Free VVF Surgery To Women

The wife of the Gombe State Governor, Hajia Adama Dankwambo has introduced a health assisted project scheme that offered free Vesicular Vagina Fistula (VVF) surgery to women across the state in Gombe Specialist Hospital.

The Special Assistant to the first Lady on media, Alh. Hassan Adamu said VVF, has caused untold health challenge to some women in the state especially in the rural areas.

Alh. Hassan said the project was planned to give VVF treatment free of charge to about 50 women drawn from 11 local government areas of the State. He said the first lady was using the media including radio and television to mobilize the people about the programme.

Furthermore, he said the programme was a continuous one starting with 50 women while another set of 50 women are expected to join the programme, so that in a few years time Gombe would be free of VVF cases.

During the operation, the Fistula Surgeon, Dr. Sa’ad Idris, explained that, the First Lady had been doing a very good job for the people of Gombe State especially the women.

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Posted in: Gombe First Lady Offers Free VVF Surgery To Women,latest health news

The Dangers of Yo-yo Dieting

What is Yo-yo Dieting?

Yo-yo dieting is extreme dieting. You generally lower your caloric intake so much that you are essentially starving yourself to lose the weight you want to lose. This might seem to work for the time being; of course, if you lower your caloric intake, you will lose weight. However, as soon as you go off of the diet and start eating again, you will gain the weight right back and maybe more.

Crash diets can be extremely harmful to your health, and can cause ineffective weight loss. Most people who crash diet end up gaining the weight back because, instead of making a healthy change to their lifestyle, they starve themselves to lose the weight. As soon as they are finished dieting, they end up gaining the weight back. This can be terrible for your body, self-esteem, and overall health in many different ways.

What are the Dangers of Yo-yo Diets?

Depriving yourself of calories to the extent that you are basically starving yourself is dangerous, and there’s no way around it. At first, you might be proud of yourself for saying no to food, and you might feel really good about the pounds that seem to melt off of your body. However, not giving your body the proper amount of fuel to make it through the day can cause extreme tiredness or fatigue, and even depression. When you fail to make it through the day with your restricted caloric intake, you feel awful about yourself because you were unable to follow your arbitrary calorie guidelines. This lowering in self-esteem causes you to eat much more than you would even normally, and can cause you to put all that weight right back on and then some. When you deprive yourself of calories, you lose muscle first, which is not good. When you starve yourself, you also tend to gain back only fat, which makes you look even less toned than you might want to look. You are also at a much higher risk for problems such as high cholesterol, gallbladder disease, and high blood pressure.

What can I Do to Lose Weight Instead?

The dangers of obesity are similar to those of yo-yo dieting. High blood pressure, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, gallbladder disease, and arthritis are all side-effects of remaining overweight. However, because many of the problems associated with yo-yo diets are similar to those associated with obesity, crash dieting to lose weight is not any more effective than remaining obese. Therefore, it is recommended that people who want or need to lose weight make a healthy change in their lifestyles too instead of eating few calories a day. This can include adding an exercise program or simply increasing the amount of exercise you get per day. Take the stairs or park your car far away from your office. Get up and walk around or stretch during the day if you work at a desk. Go to the gym before work, so you are sure to get there. These are all great tips for adding activity to your daily routine. It can also help to restrict your calories, but not to the point where it's severe enough that you're starving yourself. Reducing your intake by just a few hundred calories a day can be helpful when coupled with an exercise program. Start monitoring what you eat throughout the day. If you go out to lunch during the workday, start bringing your lunch with you. This can save you calories and money. Of course, you should always consult a doctor before you start any diet or exercise program.

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Posted in: health news and tips,obesity causes and treatment,The Dangers of Yo-yo Dieting

Lower death risk seen with heart bypass

Older patients with clogged heart arteries may have a little lower death risk over time if they have bypass operations instead of angioplasty and stents to fix the problem.

In a bypass operation, doctors move healthy segments of blood vessels from other parts of the body to create detours around clogged arteries supplying blood to the heart. Angioplasty repairs the damage through a tube pushed through a blood vessel. A tiny balloon is inflated to flatten the clog and a mesh scaffold, a stent, is placed to prop the artery open.

Researchers compared these approaches using Medicare records on 190,000 patients with two or three clogged arteries — the largest study ever of this issue. Death rates were similar one year after either treatment. But after four years, nearly 21 percent of the angioplasty patients had died versus about 16 percent of those who had bypass surgery.

Doctors say differences in the overall health of people who had surgery versus the less drastic procedure could account for some of the results. They say angioplasty remains a good and safe option for many people.

"You're not making a mistake if you still have angioplasty," especially if you are over 65 with only one or two blockages, said Dr. Kirk Garratt of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. He is a spokesman for the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions, doctors who do angioplasties.

In the United States, more than a million operations or procedures are done each year to treat clogged arteries, and the study "provides comprehensive, large-scale, national data" to help doctors and patients decide which treatment is best, Dr. Susan Shurin said in a statement. She is acting director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which sponsored the study.

Results were discussed Tuesday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Posted in: heart attack detection and treatment,Lower death risk seen with heart bypass

Early dose of glucose may stop heart attack

Patients showing heart attack symptoms who received a mixture of glucose, insulin and potassium from paramedics were half as likely to go into cardiac arrest or die than those who did not receive the dose, a study found.

Researchers trained paramedics to administer the treatment after determining with an electrocardiograph-based instrument that a patient was likely having a heart attack. The results of the study were presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

Although the treatment did not stop the heart attack from occurring, patients who received it were 50 percent less likely to go into full cardiac arrest, in which the heart suddenly stops beating, or to die, than those who received a placebo.

The study of 911 patients showed the treatment also reduced the severity of damage to heart tissue from the heart attack. In patients who received the mixture, 2 percent of heart tissue was destroyed, compared with 10 percent in those who received a placebo.

Researchers said the study was the first to test the effectiveness of administering the treatment at the first signs of a threatening heart attack, rather than waiting for a diagnosis to be confirmed at the hospital, which can take hours.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"We've done a lot of studies of acute cardiac care in emergency departments and hospitals, but more people die of heart attacks outside the hospital than inside the hospital," said Dr. Harry Selker of Tufts Medical Center, who led the study. "We wanted to direct our attention to those patients."

Although 23 percent of suspected heart attacks in the study turned out to be false alarms, the treatment did not appear to have any harmful effect on those patients, the researchers said.

The treatment costs about $50.

"We wanted to do something that is effective and can be used anywhere," Selker said.

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Posted in: Early dose of glucose may stop heart attack,heart attack detection and treatment

14-Year-Old Girl, Dies After Drinking 2 Energy Drinks

A 14-year-old girl from Maryland died last December after downing two Monster energy drinks in a 24-hour-period, according to news reports, and the incident is stirring concern over the safety of the beverages for kids.

It should be noted that the girl, Anais Fournier, had a heart condition, called mitral valve prolapse -- which means that one of her heart valves has malfunctioned. The National Institutes of Health reports that the condition is usually harmless, and as many as one in 10 people has a minor form of the condition.

After she drank two of the energy drinks -- which together contained 480 milligrams of caffeine -- she went into cardiac arrest a day later and died from cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity, TODAY reported.

"She was at the mall with her friends the night before, and had a 24-ounce energy drink," Fournier's mother, Wendy Crossland, told the Record Herald. "She drank another one less than 24 hours later, even though she knew I do not allow them because I know they are bad for you. She went into cardiac arrest three hours later at home."

TODAY reported that the amount of caffeine Fournier drank in the two Monster energy drinks is about the same as that found in 14 cans of Coca Cola -- and is almost five times the recommended caffeine limit from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Caffeine is a stimulant, and is found in a multitude of food products, from coffee, to chocolate, to sodas -- and the amounts found in those products usually are not enough to cause any harm to health, Medscape noted.

But caffeine poisoning is not uncommon in the U.S. TODAY reported that cases of caffeine poisoning have increased over the last few years, from 1,128 in 2005 to 13,114 in 2009.

A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed that anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent of teens and young adults drink energy drinks. Nearly half of the 5,448 reported caffeine overdoses in 2007 were in people younger than 19.

"The known and unknown pharmacology of agents included in such drinks, combined with reports of toxicity, raises concern for potentially serious adverse effects in association with energy drink use," researchers wrote in that study. "In the short-term, pediatricians need to be aware of the possible effects of energy drinks in vulnerable populations and screen for consumption to educate families."

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Posted in: 14-Year-Old Girl,Dies After Drinking 2 Energy Drinks,energy drink gist,latest health news

Bottled water may boost kids tooth decay cos 'it isn't fluoridated', dentists say

It turns out that many dentists and government health officials suspect that the practice of skipping tap water in favor of bottled water may be contributing to rising rates of tooth decay in young children.

When the dentist had to fill six cavities in her 4-year-old son’s baby teeth, Amy Wilson was shocked.The New York City mother of three scanned her family’s habits, trying to figure how Seamus, now 7, could have developed such tooth decay so early.

“We said, 'No, no, no, they don’t have candy or gum or soda regularly,'” recalled Wilson, 42, an actress, author and blogger. For a while, she was stumped.

But then, at a party, a dentist friend posed a surprising question: Did Wilson’s children drink bottled water?

“I had a dentist tell me to make sure to give my kids tap water and not bottled because the latter isn’t fluoridated, and he’s seeing kids with more cavities,” said Wilson, who posted on the popular blog, Type A Parent.

“You should brush twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, see the dentist twice a year for fluoride treatment and get fluoride in your drinking water,” said Jonathan D. Shenkin, spokesman on pediatric dentistry for the American Dental Association. “If you’re not getting it in your drinking water, that takes out a component of the effectiveness of that triad.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, too, warns that “bottled water may not have a sufficient amount of fluoride, which is important for preventing tooth decay and promoting oral health.”

No question, many kids do drink bottled water. One recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics found that about 45 percent of parents give their kids only or primarily bottled water, while another in the journal Pediatric Dentistry found that nearly 70 percent of parents gave bottled water either alone or with tap water.

More than 65 percent of parents using bottled water did not know what levels of fluoride it contained, that study showed.

At the same time, tooth decay appears to affect a huge swath of the nation’s young children. About 42 percent of children ages 2 to 11 in the U.S. had cavities in their baby teeth, according to a 2007 prevalence study, the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study tracked rising decay from 1988 to 1994 and then from 1999 to 2004, when it was up overall about 2 percent. The data showed that decay affected not only more than half of children at the lowest income levels, but also nearly a third of kids in higher-income families.

That supports additional research by Bruce Dye, a dental epidemiology officer with the National Center for Health Statistics, which actually found that boys in higher income families had the greatest prevalence of decay. Whether that's because it's harder to get those boys to brush, or because parents in higher-income families are more likely to provide more beverages, such as juice, sports drinks -- and bottled water -- isn't clear.

“I look at that as choices being made,” Dye said. “Gatorade or bottled water could be part of that.”

To be clear, there are no studies to date that document a clear tie between bottled water and tooth decay. And the International Bottled Water Association, an industry trade group, notes that at least 20 of its roughly 125 bottlers do offer fluoridated bottled water -- and that water is a healthier option than other beverages.

Amy Wilson, 42, of New York, was shocked when Seamus, far left, had to have six cavities filled at age 4. She now makes sure Seamus, now 7, as well as Connor, 9, and Maggie, 4, drink fluoridated filtered water from the family tap. 

“In fact, bottled water does not contain ingredients that cause cavities, such as sugar,” the IBWA said in a statement responding to a recent New York Times story about a rise in dental surgeries among tots.

But Shenkin and other dental experts say it’s actually not clear whether there’s a link between bottled water and tooth decay, mostly because the issue hasn’t been studied because of a lack of funding for oral health research.

They contend that the continued popularity of bottled water in the U.S. -- about 8.4 million gallons a year or about 27.6 gallons per person in 2009, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. -- fuels concern about kids’ consumption.

“I look at it as parents trying to do the right thing, trying to be healthy, but being healthy doesn’t prevent [cavities],” said Dye.

Fluoridation of public water supplies has been hailed as a public health victory, but in recent years, many U.S. communities have voted to stop adding it to local drinking water. Fluoride protects against tooth decay, but it also can cause tooth discoloration and bone weakness if ingested at too high levels for many years, experts agree.

Federal regulators last year proposed setting recommended fluoride levels in drinking water to the lowest end of a range that permits between 0.7 and 1.2 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water, but officials are still wrestling with finding a balance between preventing decay without harming teeth and health.

Meanwhile, inadequate brushing habits, delayed dental visits, poor choices of foods and snacks and bad beverage selection -- in addition to spotty consumption of fluoride -- all likely contribute to tooth decay, Dye said.

No matter what causes it, the problem with decay that starts early is that it often gets worse.

“When you have tooth decay in your baby teeth, you will have tooth decay in your permanent teeth,” said Dye.

The problem may be particularly worrisome in minority families, who were three times more likely than others to give their kids only bottled water, usually because of concerns about the safety or taste of their home tap water.

Kids in minority families also are more likely to have tooth decay. The CDC data showed that 55 percent of Mexican-American kids ages 2 to 11 and 43 percent of black children had cavities in their baby teeth. For white youngsters, the figure was about 37 percent.

For all families, the key is to make dental health a priority, Shenkin said. Babies should see a dentist by age 1 and brushing twice a day with a fluoride-containing toothpaste should start at age 2.

“As soon as that first tooth comes through in the mouth, it’s susceptible to decay,” he said. “If you wait until kids are 3 or 4 years of age, it’s already happened.”

For Wilson, who admits tooth brushing is a struggle with kids now aged 4, 7 and 9, awareness has been a big part of changing her family’s habits.

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Blood test could predict heart attacks: US study

Todaysgist-Lagos. Some US researchers have found oddly-shaped blood cells in heart attack patients, indicating that a blood test could help predict whether a patient is at risk of an imminent cardiac emergency.The study by the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) found that the endothelial blood cells from heart attack patients are abnormally large and misshapen, sometimes appearing with multiple nuclei.

That could make them reliable indicators of an impending heart attack, according to the study published this week in Science Translational Medicine.

"The ability to diagnose an imminent heart attack has long been considered the holy grail of cardiovascular medicine," said Eric Topol, the study's principal investigator and director of STSI.

Doctors have long been able to identify risk factors -- such as smoking, obesity and high cholesterol -- that can put patients at greater danger of heart disease, but cannot predict imminent attacks.The study involved 50 patients who showed up at emergency rooms with heart attacks at four acute care hospitals in San Diego, California, and who were found to have the unusually shaped cells.

"With some additional validation, the hope is to have this test developed for commercial use in next year or two," said researcher Raghava Gollapudi.

"This would be an ideal test to perform in an emergency room to determine if a patient is on the cusp of a heart attack or about to experience one in the next couple of weeks.

"Right now we can only test to detect if a patient is currently experiencing or has recently experienced a heart attack."

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, causing some 800,000 deaths every year, according to the Center for Disease Control.

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Posted in: Blood test could predict heart attacks: US study,heart attack detection and treatment,heart treatment news

Want An Asthma-Free Child? Get A Pet While Pregnant

Mothers who spend time with pets during their pregnancy are less likely to have children with allergies and asthma, a study has revealed.

But the race of the child - and how they were delivered - also plays a part.

Researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that babies who have indoor prenatal pet exposure have a pattern of lower levels of the antibody Immunoglobulin E, or IgE, between birth and their second birthday.

IgE is linked to the development of allergies and asthma.

Levels of the antibody were, on average, 28 per cent lower during infancy in babies who had indoor prenatal pet exposure compared to babies from pet-free homes.

However IgE levels were 33 per cent lower in those babies from European, Asian or Middle Eastern descent compared to 23 per cent in kids who were African-American.

And the levels were also lower in infants who had indoor prenatal pet exposure and were born vaginally, compared to those born by caesarean section.

Dr Christine Cole Johnson, chair of Henry Ford's Department of Public Health Sciences and senior author of the study said, “We believe having a broad, diverse exposure to a wide array of microbacteria at home and during the birthing process influences the development of a child's immune system.”

Dr Johnson added that the findings support the so-called hygiene hypothesis.

This is the theory that early childhood exposure to infectious agents affects the immune system’s development and onset of allergies and asthma.

Dr Johnson theorised that babies born through the birth canal are exposed to a higher and more diverse burden of bacteria, further boosting the immune system’s protection against allergies.

She said that ‘genetic variants’ could explain the higher levels of IgE levels in African American newborns.

She added, “Our findings may provide insight into the biological mechanisms that increase the risk for allergic disorders.”

Henry Ford researchers followed 1,187 newborns August 2003 and November 2007 and collected blood samples for measuring IgE levels at birth, six months, one year and two years.

Of the birth mothers, 62 per cent were African American and 33 per cent were European Americans.

Of the babies born, 751 were delivered vaginally and 436 were delivered cesarean.

There was at least one indoor pet in the homes of 420 mothers.

–Daily Mail, London

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Posted in: latest health news,pet gist,pregnancy news,Want An Asthma-Free Child Get A Pet While Pregnant

Eating Red Meat Linked To Premature Death

A new study links eating red meat with chronic disease, cancer and early death. It found that reducing meat consumption to just 1.5 ounces per day could prevent one in ten early deaths in men.

The study, 'Red Meat Consumption and Mortality' was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine on March 12, and is the work of researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The Telegraph reported researchers followed 100,000 people for around 28 years.

The study "found that for every serving of red meat - equivalent to 3 ounces (85 grams) - eaten each day there was an 18 per cent increased risk of dying from heart disease and a 10 per cent increased risk of dying from cancer.

For each serving of processed meat, equivalent to two slices of bacon or one hot dog, the risk of dying from heart disease rose by 21 per cent and from cancer by 16 per cent."

Research fellow An Pan is quoted by Science Daily stating "Our study adds more evidence to the health risks of eating high amounts of red meat, which has been associated with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers in other studies."

Researcher Frank Hu, who also worked on the study, said "This study provides clear evidence that regular consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, contributes substantially to premature death.

On the other hand, choosing more healthful sources of protein in place of red meat can confer significant health benefits by reducing chronic disease morbidity and mortality."

Doctor Hu advises that read meat is only consumed occasionally rather than as a regular part of the diet, advising that meat consumption should be reduced to just 1.5 ounces (42 grams) daily.

Dr Rachel Thompson, Deputy Head of Science at the World Cancer Research Fund, said the "study strengthens the body of evidence which shows a link between red meat and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The research itself seems solid and is based on two large scale cohort studies monitored over a long period of time."

However Bloomberg reported the study was deemed unreliable by the American Meat Institute Foundation which said the Harvard researchers should not "use their conclusions to accurately recommend people change their dietary habits" because "all of these studies struggle to disentangle other lifestyle and dietary habits from meat and processed meat."

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Posted in: Eating Red Meat Linked To Premature Death,latest health news,red meat gist

Losing the fight against the flab? It's your mum's fault! Research shows we are programmed to be fat while in the womb

If you can’t shift those extra pounds, no matter how hard you try, blame your mother.

Research suggests we can be programmed to be fat while still in the womb, with a mother-to-be’s lifestyle affecting the health of her baby for years to come.

It is thought that her diet, the amount she exercises, whether she smokes or drinks alcohol and even which pollutants she is exposed to can alter the DNA of her unborn child.

The changes are not to the letters of the code of life itself, but to its ‘punctuation’.

These chemical marks can activate, silence or crank up genes and their actions.

The latest evidence for the theory, which is known as epigenetics, comes from researchers at Newcastle University who analysed the genes of children aged between nine and 11.

They specifically looked for genes that had the same letters but behaved differently in children who were overweight and those who were slim.

Blood samples stored since the children’s births were then analysed.

This step showed that in many cases, youngsters who were overweight had displayed different chemical marks on their DNA at birth.

Dr Caroline Relton, who led the research, said: ‘This suggests that our DNA could be marked before birth and these marks could predict our later body composition.’

Dr Relton, whose findings are detailed in the journal PLoS Medicine, does not know why some DNA is marked in the womb.

But previous research suggests it is largely to do with the mother’s lifestyle.

However, Dr Relton added: ‘These marks are open to change. I think this puts the onus on the individual to do something about the way their genes work.’

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Posted in: It's your mum's fault Research shows we are programmed to be fat while in the womb,latest health news,Weight loss tips

Greedy gene’ that makes you eat more even when you are full is uncovered by scientists

The secret to staying slim may be all in your genes.

Scientists believe they have found the ‘gluttony gene’ which fails to tell your brain when you are full.

In tests on mice, they showed that a mutation on a single gene broke down communication in the body and led to non-stop eating and rapid weight gain.

But the good news is, they hope identifying the gene could help with treatments for obesity which affects nearly one in four adults in the UK.

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Centre in the U.S. studied variations in the Bdnf gene in mice.

Humans also have this gene and it has been linked to obesity, but the researchers say it was not clear until now exactly how it worked.

After a meal, the activity of this gene transmits chemical signals down a chain of brain cells until they reach the hypothalamus, which receives the message that you are full and suppresses the appetite.

Breakthrough? It is hoped the discovery will lead to treatments for obesity

However, in mice which had a mutation of this gene, these chemicals – leptin and insulin – were not being transmitted to their target, and they ate twice as much as those without the mutation.

Lead researcher Dr Baoki Xu said: ‘This discovery may open up novel strategies to help the brain control body weight.’

His team found the Bdnf gene has ‘short’ and ‘long’ versions which form at an early stage in the womb.

Those with the ‘long’ form successfully sent the chemical signals to say ‘I’m full’ through a ‘superhighway’ of neurons in the brain to the hypothalamus.

However in those with the short form, the signals reached some brain cells but could not be picked up by the dendrites – the branch-like ‘fingers’ coming out of the cells which pass messages on to the right place.

Dr Xu said: ‘If there is a problem with the Bdnf gene, neurons can’t talk to each other, and the leptin and insulin signals are ineffective and the appetite is not modified.’

The hypothalamus is involved in learning and memory. Previous work has shown mice without the ‘long’ version of this gene also had memory problems.

Scientists will now be looking at whether the faulty transmission line can be modified, to help prevent and treat obesity, the researchers wrote in the journal Nature Medicine (KEEP).

Dr Xu said drugs which could stimulate Bdnf activity in the brain was the next step. He said: ‘We have opened the door to both new avenues in basic research and clinical therapies, which is very exciting.’

Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum said yesterday that the researcher were ‘on the right track’ in believing that getting leptin messages to the brain could be the key to suppressing appetite.

But he said:‘Many others on the same track hoping to find the magic treatment to prevent or cure obesity.

‘Understandably Xu is excited having got as far as he has but fixing the mutation may not be plain sailing.

'Even when its fixed in mice it will be years before his solution can he be used in humans.’

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Posted in: Greedy gene’ that makes you eat more even when you are full is uncovered by scientists,latest health news

7 things you need to know to keep kids safe online

In the past ten years, the amount of time our kids spend online daily has tripled; online screen time has become a regular part of even our younger kids' lives. (Four in ten 2- to 4-year olds and half of 5- to 8-year-olds now use smartphones, video iPods or iPads). Though there are clear benefits, the Internet also poses unique parenting challenges. Fortunately, there are clues that help us monitor our cyber-kids. These seven tips will help you know what to look and listen for – and keep them safer online.

1. Tell kids you will be online and in charge

Explain to kids that you are responsible for their safety and well-being and what they post online represents your family.

What research says: When kids know their parents are monitoring their actions (online and off) they are less likely to engage in risky behavior. Studies also find that those parents who set clear Internet rules are more likely to have kids who adhere to them.

What parents can do: Tell your kids that you will be monitoring their online behavior. Just don’t tell when you will monitor, and how often. Monitoring factors and stealth power depends on your child’s age, social group, maturity and past record of responsibility.

Tip: Use the “Walk By” rule: Emphasize that if at any time you walk by and see your child covering the screen, switching screens, closing programs, quickly turning off the computer, or not adhering to your family rules, pull the plug. End of argument.

Related: Laptop shooting dad explains what he was thinking

2. Learn kid Internet slang

Recognize that kids have their own lingo and abbreviations to warn friends that parents are in the room.

What research says: 95 percent of parents don’t know common chat terms that kids use to warn friends that their parents are in the room.

What parents can do: Learn and watch for slang abbreviations. Here are a few key terms:

Live Poll

How well do you understand kid Internet slang?

ROTFLMAO: I am very knowledgable of the lingo.

LOL: I am somewhat knowledgable of the lingo.

Huh? I don't know any of the lingo.

Vote

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P911: Mom or Dad in room

PA: Parent alert

POS: Parents over shoulder

PIR: Parent in room

PAW: Parents are watching

1,2,3,4,5 (Typing the numerals 1 to 5): Parent reading the screen

3. Be where your kids are online

You can’t monitor what you’re locked out of, so insist that you know all your kids’ accounts and passwords and then set up accounts for yourself as well. Your teen needs to know you are watching (which is monitoring not spying!).

What research says: A teen survey found 56 percent of teens on Facebook gave parents full profile access; but 58 percent of parents don’t have their own profiles on Facebook.

What parents can do: Get accounts for all social networking sites your child frequents. If your kids are on Twitter, you need to be; if your kids have an email account, you must; if they have a Facebook page, so do you. Tell your teen to tell her friends -- and their parents -- that you are monitoring. (You’d be surprised how many teens and their parents appreciate that monitoring!)

Befriend each other. Ask your teen to allow you to become a friend on his or her account. Ask him to help create your page. (Hint: Do not post on your teen’s account without permission, which can be a big turn-off, and do not set up a page without your teen’s approval -- another big turnoff).

4. Keep computers/phones/tablets in public spaces of your home

You can’t monitor your child’s online activities in places you can’t see. Keep your computer in public places you can supervise such as the kitchen, family room, or living room and remove Internet access from the bedroom. You can restrict Web access by calling your carrier and ask how to block Internet access during key times you can’t supervise.

What research says: More than a quarter of teens say they have Internet access in their bedroom where parents cannot monitor and they say they continue to receive texts after lights out.

What parents can do: Set up a “Collect and Drop” space. Remove Internet access from your child’s bedroom. Have your kids and teen drop cell phones, keyboards, iPads or laptops in a designated basket each night -- out of the bedroom. Periodically review personal posts, texts, or emails. Just read enough so your teen knows you are checking. Watch your child’s reaction when you say: “It’s time to check.”

5. Check your child's virtual world

Find out your child’s “virtual persona” (which can be an eye-opener!) to ensure the page, avatar, email name and photos depict respect and may not later be something “regrettable” that could damage his or her reputation, job prospects or even college acceptance.

What research says: 38 percent of parents have never seen their teen’s online profile

What parents can do: Ask your child (and friends) if they have a Web page and watch their reaction. Stuttering, stammering, changing subject are warning signs. Do ask your child to explain her choices (whether positive or negative it’s a fabulous opportunity to find out about your child’s identity). Check your child’s email address and profile periodically together to assure that it connotes respect. If not, suggest it be changed or removed.

Google your kids. “Google” your child’s name often, as well as setting alerts for your child’s contact information. The alerts will email you when any of the searched items are recognized and acts like an early warning system to spot ways your child’s personal information may be exposed to strangers online. At least once a month open up files that your kids have downloaded. At least once a week check the history of sites your child has frequented.

6. Know signs of cyberbullying

If your child is cyber-bullied, he may not tell you due to shame or embarrassment. So know what behaviors to watch for that could indicate online safety issues.

What the research says: 49 percent of kids say they’ve been bullied at least once or twice during the school term, but only 32% of their parents believed them.

What parents can do: Watch for signs that your child may not feel safe online or is possibly engaging in inappropriate online behavior. Red flags include: child spends longer hours online and seems tense about it; suspicious phone calls, e-mails, and plain wrapped packages arrive at your home; your credit card statement lists suspicious purchases; child stops typing, covers the screen, hits delete, shuts down the computer when he knows you’re close; child suddenly stops using cell phone or email, web, social networking devices; child withdraws from friends or wants to avoid school; child is suddenly sullen or shows a marked change in personality or behavior.

7. Start early and keep talking about Internet safety

The crux of safety is communication so if there is a problem -- online or off -- your child will be more likely to talk to you about it. Today’s kids prefer texting over talking, which can cut into parent-kid communication: 11- to 14-year-olds now spend an average of 73 minutes a day texting; older teens texting habits are closer to two hours.

What the research says: A national study found that the harder kids think it is to talk to their parents about online issues, the greater the disagreement over technology, rules and online monitoring.

What parents can do: Use the 5-to-1 listening to talk ratio: Talk one minute and listen for five. Don’t just text: talk. And set up unplugged family zones (kitchen and dining room) to enhance family communication.

Fifty years of child development research shows while there are no guarantees, the best way to reduce risky kid behavior is to strengthen our relationships with our kids. Parents are their kids’ best firewall, so use your influence by monitoring your child both online and off.

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Posted in: 7 things you need to know to keep kids safe online,kids gist,latest health news

White rice may increase your risk of diabetes

Eating white rice regularly may raise your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.The results showed that people who ate three to four servings of white rice a day were more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than people who ate one to two servings a week.

And the more white rice eaten, the higher the risk of Type 2 diabetes; the authors estimated that the diabetes risk rises by 11 percent with each increased daily serving of white rice.

The study suggested an association, not a cause-and-effect link. Neither doctors nor patients should take "large-scale action" based on the findings; more work is needed to substantiate the idea that white rice increases the chances of getting Type 2 diabetes, according to Bruce Neal, a professor of medicine at the University of Sydney in Australia, who was not involved in the research but who wrote an editorial accompanying the study in the journal.

Still, "diet-related ill health is now widely believed to be the leading cause of chronic disease around the world," and more work needs to be done to find ways to prevent and treat such diseases, Neal wrote.

In the study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston looked at four previous studies examining the link between eating white rice and the risk of Type 2 diabetes — two done in Asian countries (China and Japan) and two in Western countries (the U.S. and Australia). The researchers said they were looking to see whether the link between eating white rice and developing diabetes was stronger among people in Asia, who tend to eat more white rice than Westerners.

The studies, which ranged in length from four to 22 years, included a total of about 352,000 participants; none had diabetes at the start. Over the course of the studies, 13,284 people developed diabetes.A link between increased consumption and diabetes risk was found in both Asian and Western countries, though the link was stronger among people in Asian countries. The link was also stronger in women than men, the researchers said.

The researchers said that rice has a high glycemic index, which means the body rapidly converts the carbohydrates in rice into glucose. The glycemic index of white rice is about 64, on a 100-point scale. (From comparison, ice cream has a glycemic index of 61, and orange juice rates a 50, according to data from Harvard.)

Previous work has linked diets with many high glycemic index foods with an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the researchers said.

White rice has a fewer nutrients than brown rice, the researchers noted.

The findings appeared today (March 15) in the journal BMJ.

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Posted in: White rice may increase your risk of diabetes

Fertilizer chemical linked to br*ast cancer

Ingesting higher levels of cadmium, a metal found in fertilizers, may be linked to an increased risk of br*ast cancer, a new study from Sweden suggests.The results showed that postmenopausal women with a relatively high daily dietary cadmium intake had a 21 percent increased risk of br*ast cancer.

The major sources of cadmium in the diets of women in the study were foods that are generally healthy — whole grains and vegetables. These accounted for about 40 percent of the cadmium consumed.

The reason for the link may be that cadmium can cause the same effects in the body as the female hormone estrogen, the researchers said. Estrogen fuels the development of some br*ast cancers.

Whole grains and vegetables generally protect against cancer, and people should not avoid these foods because of this study, said study researcher Agneta Åkesson, associate professor at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.The study showed an association, not a cause-and-effect link, in one population of women, and further work is needed to confirm the findings.

"Though no single observational study can be considered conclusive, this very large, prospective study of [cadmium] exposure and post-menopausal br*ast cancer makes an important contribution to what is a fairly sparse literature considering this very important topic," said Michael Bloom, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Albany, who was not involved in the study.

Cause for concern?

"It has been known for some time that cadmium is toxic and, in certain forms, carcinogenic," said study researcher Bettina Julin, of the Karolinska Institute of Environmental Medicine.

In the study, the researchers collected data from more than 55,000 women in Sweden for 12 years. The women kept a daily log of everything they ate. The researchers estimated how much cadmium the women's consumed based on the country's data on the amount of cadmium in foods, and divided the women into three equally-sized groups based on their intake.

Over the course of the study, there were 2,112 br*ast cancer cases among the women: 677 in the women in the lowest cadmium intake group, and 744 in the women in the highest cadmium intake group. Because women's risk of br*ast cancer rises with age, the researchers took the women's ages into account when calculated the increased risk seen in the high intake group.

The researchers said they are concerned that cadmium is found in foods we consider healthy. The metal is well-absorbed by farmed plants, and fertilizers used to help grow our fruits, vegetables and grains contain cadmium.

The researchers noted that whole grains and vegetables, which were found to contain the most cadmium, have many beneficial nutrients — some that likely counteract the negative effects of the toxic metal.

And the data showed that women who ate the most whole-grain foods and vegetables, even when these foods contained cadmium, were less likely to develop the cancer than women who ingested high levels of cadmium through other types of food.

The highest risk of br*ast cancer was found among women who had a high cadmium intake, but ate few whole grains and vegetables.

Potatoes, root vegetables such as carrots, and cereal grains can accumulate cadmium from fertilizer and environmental deposits. Other types of food known to have a higher cadmium content include shellfish, organ meats and sunflower seeds.

Balancing act

"A major limitation of such a large-scale study is the exposure assessment," said Alfred Bernard, of the department of medicine at Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. In other words, the researchers estimated cadmium intake, and that may not accurately reflect the actual amount consumed or the absorbed by the body.

Still, because of the high incidence of br*ast cancer, compared with other types of cancers among women, "even a modest increase in risk will stimulate a substantial public health concern," Bloom said.

Some researchers aware of the link of cadmium and cancer are taking reasonable precautions. "I have reduced my consumption of sunflower seeds considerably," Carolyn Gallagher, of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University in New York, told MyHealthNewsDaily. Sunflower seeds have a relatively high level of cadmium.

Getting enough iron may also reduce the body's uptake of dietary cadmium, which may help reduce risk, Gallagher said.

The findings are published today (March 15) in the journal Cancer Research.

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Posted in: Fertilizer chemical linked to br*ast cancer

Crazy birth control side effects.

Hormone-based birth control often comes with side effects that can range from slightly annoying to bad enough to make you switch.

You may not know what you can tolerate until you've given a couple of them a try. But here are some solutions for the most common problems.

Headache, dizziness, br*ast tenderness

Be patient.

"These side effects seem to go away after you've been taking the Pill for a while," says Hilda Hutcherson, MD, an ob-gyn professor at Columbia University, in New York. If they don't, switching brands may help.

Nausea

This reaction will probably go away in a couple of months. If it doesn't and you're using oral contraceptives, try taking them with food. If you're using the ring or the patch, you might need to switch methods.

Breakthrough bleeding

"I think this is the side effect that drives women crazier than any other side effect," says Dr. Hutcherson, because it's so unpredictable. Taking the Pill at precisely the same time every day may help. The bleeding occurs specially with shots, the mini-Pill, and the implant—the progestin-only methods—as the lining of the uterus is so thin that it sometimes sloughs off a little bit. (On the upside, this also makes your periods lighter and sometimes causes them to disappear entirely.)

Talk to your doctor if you're concerned about spotting. "You can sometimes add an anti-inflammatory such as ibuprofen, or occasionally you can add a little estrogen," says Anne Foster-Rosales, MD, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Golden Gate.

Decreased libido

Try a different formulation if you experience this side effect. "For some women, if you change the Pill to one that's more androgenic (testosterone-like), the libido comes back," says Dr. Hutcherson. If this too doesn't work, find another method altogether.

Mood swings

If it's really the birth control and not some other factor that's bringing you down, you may need to find a nonhormonal method.

"In my experience, if a woman has depression with one pill, switching (formulations) usually doesn't help," says Dr. Hutcherson.

All hormonal methods are likely to cause the same problem. For some patients who really want to stay on the Pill, Dr. Hutcherson sometimes prescribes an antidepressant as well, with good success.

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Posted in: birth control gist,Crazy birth control side effects.,latest health news

‘IVF provides 90% solution to infertility’

A senior gynecologist with the Bridge Clinic in Kaduna, Dr. Ifeju Omojuwa, in this interview said that IVF technology has taken infertility treatment to a new level in Nigeria, explaining that the ability to fertilize the egg and sperm outside the body alone has overcome problems that women have in fertility. Excerpt:-

Can you expatiate more on what IVF entails and briefly tell us the essence of Bridge Clinic forum?

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is basically an advance form of fertility treatment. The conventional fertility treatment looks at the problem, like women that do not menstruate, men with low sperm count, we try to treat but the IVF technology has taken treatment to a higher level, whereby what we do is just to get the egg and the sperm, once we get them we do what we call In vitro fertilization, that is we fertilize them outside the body, in the laboratory.

Now the ability to do that alone has overcome a lot of problems that women have in fertility in the past that could not allow the egg and the sperm to meet either because of blocked tube, low sperm count or fibroid.

Now technologies have overcome those obstacles and allowed couples achieve fertilization. Basically the final process of the IVF after fertilizing, the embryo is taken from the laboratory and passed into the womb of the woman.

The actual essence of the clinic is that the Bridge offers advance fertility. This forum allows us to explain these to our partners or stakeholders, those we feel can benefit from our services.

This forum allows them to hear from us directly because it involves advanced scientific techniques, which would enable them understand and make right decision in accessing IVF.

Is the process of passing the embryo into the womb via operation?

Not exactly, because the patient just lays down on the couch and we pass the embryo through the neck of the womb, it is just a 20 minutes procedure; in fact, a lot of our clients come from the office for the insertion and go back same day. The ability to do this alone has provided potential solution to over 90 percent of the causes of infertility in our environment.

Before the attainment of IVF, many couples simply go through ineffective treatment. Ineffective because at our level of development we just know that scientifically, most treatment for low sperm count is not effective.

Some men have undergone five or even 10 years treatment for low sperm count, taking different treatment, hoping the sperm count will increase.

The same goes for blocked tubes, once the fallopian tubes are blocked, it is either you open them up or you look for a solution that can by-pass the tube.

To open them up, people have to do tuber surgery, which the specialist themselves know better than anybody that most of the tuber surgery does not improve fertility.

Can low sperm count be treated?

Low sperm count, let me put it in this context, there are people that will say they treat low sperm count, but most times the treatment is not effective. The other problem is our culture because most people with the problem do not like to discuss it and so it is not given the necessary attention it deserves.

People just speculate on the causes of infertility especially when neighbours are unable to give birth five years after marriage, so for many people, information is based on confirmed reports or suspicion which affects the country.

In actual fact a lot of men are battling with low sperm count and using options that are not effective.

Then finally they come to a place like Bridge clinic and we show them what this technology can do. This technology does not increase the sperm count, but what it does, because of the equipment and the science we have is to take that low sperm count even if it is only two sperm available, and we achieve fertilization and pregnancy.

What are the factors responsible for low sperm count, blocked tube and infertility problems generally?

Over the years, we know that infertility in women is common because most women in their younger days might have had pelvic infections for various reasons including unprotected s*xual intercourse.

These pelvic infections may have not been properly treated. Once they don’t have pain and discharge, they feel they are safe not knowing that the damage is being done until they get married and have difficulty in bearing children.

These women then go for an X-Ray and it shows that their womb is blocked.

Another reason is tuber blockage which is quick disappearing because nowadays a lot of young women once they suffer abdominal pain, they take antibiotic even without diagnosis, that alone tends to reduce the severity and the duration of that infection. So without knowing it, many young girls escape tuber blockage.

These days more men are now coming out because they are aware of the availability of the technology, unlike before when a couple cannot get pregnant, people automatically assume it is the woman’s problem, because the men kept quiet, we now see that in actual fact, most of the times men are the ones with the problem.

As for the causes of low sperm count, s*xually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea is very common in men, it blocks the spermatic cord and there will be no way for the sperm to pass out, that is what we call obstructive to sperm.

Some men during their childhood treat testis infection in which case one testis becomes damaged known as testicular infection, these often times continuous unnoticed for years , and these men eventually find out that they cannot impregnate a woman.

For some men, low sperm count may be due to genetic disorder, you know the garment or sperms are the reproductive cells, so they contain the exact genetic components. So those that have genetic problems, it can affect their garment and it will not be effective in reproduction.

Technically, if a man’s genetic constitution is not alright, nature will not allow him to reproduce. So men with fairly low sperm counts should check their chromosomes, to check for genetic abnormalities in their chromosomes and seek treatment.

What is the duration of the IVF treatment and is it possible for a woman who accessed IVF to have a miscarriage?

After a successful treatment, that is, positive pregnancy test and confirmation with ultrasound scan, there is a period between the positive pregnancy test and the time that the baby is detected by ultra-sound scan, roughly about two weeks. What we tell our clients is that once we do an ultra-sound scan and we see the pregnancy in the womb and we see the heartbeat of the fetus, at that point, we discharge them to go and do ante-natal at any hospital of their choice and what we tell them is from that moment in time, any outcome of the pregnancy is the same as whether they had it naturally and whatever happens to the pregnancy has no bearing with the IVF.

So if anyone has miscarriage, it is not because it is due to the IVF, the miscarriage would have happened anyway.

What is the cost implication of an IVF treatment?

The simple and direct IVF treatment will cost about N900,000 that is, talking of a woman that is young with full parameters. We also have women that are older who have to use more drugs, some can’t even use their own eggs, in that case, the treatment can go up to N1.5 million, but when we are talking of costing, we put it in proper context.

One is that when people talk of the money they should put it in context vis a vis the technology they have at their finger tips. There are many people who say they are treating infertility, but use low technology, collect stipends from people without result.

How many women have conceived as a result of your services since the inception of Bridge Clinic?

We have about 50 per cent pregnancy rate of our clients who are presently doing antenatal. Our oldest client is about 50 years old and we are monitoring them and waiting for their first delivery, you know we came to Kaduna in April 2011.

Soon we will have our first batch of IVF deliveries. My advice to couples with infertility is that there is hope for them. The hope message is not just on wishful thinking, but based on the fact that we have the science, the equipment and the skills. We have sophisticated equipments in which some are even first of its kind in Nigeria.

To the less privileged, they must understand and put into context the equipments and set up we have here for advance fertility in the Bridge clinic, Kaduna is the first in the north.

We are partnering with teaching hospitals whereby the processes can be broken down by transferring some of the processes to the teaching hospitals so that it will be cheaper for them.

Everything we have here are also present in the teaching hospital except for the laboratory which is the central core of an IVF central service. So all the other aspects can be done in the teaching hospital so that when they are ready for egg collection and embryo transfer, they can come to us but quality standard has to be maintained, which is quite expensive.

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Posted in: ‘IVF provides 90% solution to infertility’,overcoming low sperm count,ways of getting pregnant