By Doris Obinna
Cold, dry and dusty air is what the harmattan season is known for. The surroundings are usually dusty with outbreak of flu and dryness of skin leading to crack skin.
Most people experience cough and sore throat due to the dry dusty air inhaled from the surroundings. Also, dry skin and broken lips are common during this season.
A lot of people, both children and adults, come down with cold, cough and catarrh. Cough and catarrh are caused by viruses known as common cold viruses. These viruses can infect healthy people when someone with cough and catarrh coughs, sneezes or talks, producing droplets, which carry them in the air.
Because common cold viruses can be spread from infected people through the air, the harmattan periods are perfect for these viruses. These account for why so many have cough and catarrh during these periods. Families need to brace up during this harsh weather.
Experts said some microorganisms, which caused diseases, increased during harmattan. They have more likely effects on people with certain ailments and sickness.
Dr Sunday Olaleye said: “People with diabetes who normally suffer excess urination need to replenish the body with enough intake of water to avoid dehydration. Some of the people undergoing treatment for high blood pressure urinate more often because of the drugs they take.
“Those with allergic condition such as diabetes mellitus, peptic ulcer are also to refill the body with enough water. Diarrhoea patients should also make sure they make do with good water replacement.
“For those who suffer skin diseases like athlete’s foot, otherwise known as ringworm of the foot, should ensure they prevent their skin from cracks to avoid secondary infection.
“Harmattan blows during the dry season. It occurs during the lowest-sun months, when a high-pressure system of the subtropical ridge stays over the central Sahara Desert and when a low-pressure system of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) stays over the Gulf of Guinea.
“Harmattan brings desert-like weather conditions. It lowers the humidity, dissipates cloud cover, prevents rainfall formation and sometimes creates big clouds of dust or sand which can even result in violent dust storms or sandstorms. When the haze effect is weak, this dry wind creates beautiful sunny days with plenty of clear skies.
“It is also associated with hot, dry wind that blows from the North-East or East in the Western Sahara and is strongest in late fall and winter, late November to mid-March.
“It usually carries large amounts of dust, which it transports hundreds of kilometres out over the Atlantic Ocean. The dust often interferes with aircraft operations and settles on the decks of ships.
“Protective cloths should always come in handy for all, especially for the elderly and young to always keep them warm. People should always take fruits and drink a lot of water because of the climate change to replenish the dryness.
“Investing in body oil to retain moisture on the skin after bath is very important at this time. Do not completely dry your skin after shower. About 10 per cent of moisture is retained if you apply on damp skin.
“You can pour few drops of oil into water before bath if you prefer. Apply petroleum jelly and moisturizing cream or lotion all over your body including your under feet. Hydrating creams and lotion are best for all skin types this season.”
A Lagos doctor, Gabriel Omonaiye added: “One common feature of the season in the country is that it is often associated with some dreadful diseases. It gives discomfort to people with certain allergic conditions as well as causes infections.
“For instance, allergy respiratory situation like asthma. It is not the best of time for asthma patients. It aggravates cold as well as causes catarrh. Also, for some people the skin is usually dry with accompanying cracking of the lips; the throat gets sore; sneezing is frequent while sometimes the eyes become wet or ruddy.
“Harmattan also comes with frequent headaches, sputum in the saliva because of catarrh and over time, cough. The dry, cold and dusty wind associated with harmattan also triggers sickle cell crises in affected individuals, while sole of the feet and even the skin itself in some people.
“Asthma patients should be cautious. They tend to have more attacks because harmattan carries dust, pollen grains and other allergenic materials capable of triggering attacks so they should always take their drugs.”
Impact of harmattan on the body
Omonaiye said the skin, eyes and the respiratory tract, which directly connect with the atmosphere, the later via the nose and mouth, are most susceptible to the unpleasant effects of the season. The skin is generally dry with associated cracking of the lips, sole of the feet and even the skin itself:
“People should protect their bodies against various communicable diseases that go with harmattan period. People should wear warm clothing to minimise the likelihood of contracting these communicable diseases. It is safer sometimes to wear sunglasses to protect the eyes, where the winds are quite dusty and harsh to prevent infection.
“Parents should ensure that their windows are closed always to avoid dust, which can trigger asthma and sickle cell disorder. The weather can be cold or very hot. It is, therefore, very necessary to wear appropriate clothes, depending on the temperature.
“The skin should be well protected against the effects of harmattan. Parents should watch their children and wear them warm clothes to minimise the likelihood of having respiratory and communicable diseases.”
Hazard of harmattan
Effect caused by the dust and sand stirred by these winds is known as harmattan haze. It costs airlines a lot in cancelled and diverted flights each year. It risks public health by increasing meningitis cases.
Omonaiye disclosed: “Investigation reveals that while some people enjoy this period, some however have their reservation. For pregnant women, youths and adults, the period is welcome. The elderly and children are the vulnerable groups at this season. Some also believe that during this period injuries heal fast.
“Although it is a period that people usually feel a huge relief from the scotching heat of the sun that accompanies the previous season, but dryness of the weather and the wind that comes with dust often override its coolness. The resultant effect is dryness, what makes fire outbreaks spread easily. That is why more fire incidents are often recorded during the season.
“Harmattan, despite its adverse health effects, is not without some health benefits to man. For example, the low temperature associated with it is unfavourable for breeding of mosquitoes thus reducing the incidence of malaria.
Eating healthy
“In addition, the weather makes people susceptible to flu and cold. Although the body has adaptive mechanisms that help reduce the effects, it is only wise to take good care of oneself to prevent infections and stay healthy.
“Because of the extreme dryness of the air, it is of utmost importance to increase fluid intake this period to reduce dehydration. While going out, ensure you have a bottle of water with you at all times to increase the motility of mucus.”
Ifeoma’s column
Health issues with overindulging
The Christmas season is here again! A season when lots of people tend to do things in excesses – excess buying/spending, decorating, eating and drinking. With lots of family gatherings, end of year parties and all sorts of celebration, many temptations arise which may cause festive-over indulgence.
Most of the festive foods people tend to over indulge in are either over spiced or very high in sugar/sodium content and to say the least very fatty. The overall implication of this is an unhealthy nutrition with its accompanied health issues. Although long term health problems are not caused by one day of over eating, the Christmas season may be a trigger for pre-existing conditions. Beware of these season excesses!
As overindulging with too much food, cola drinks, wine, alcohol, etc might place you in the emergency unit of a hospital, instead of enjoying family in the warm glow of Christmas tree lights during this joyous season.
One of the commonest problems people encounter at this period of the year is tooth ache/dental emergencies, which is no fun at all. Not only does it make chewing very difficult for you, but it can mar your whole holiday. In as much, the likely source of a toothache is an infection or abscess, high levels of sugar can be contributory. The world wide average of sugar intake is around 30 kg per person each year, an amount sufficiently high to cause tooth decay.
This problem is accentuated during the festive period due the high levels of sugar in many traditional food and drink people tend to over indulge in. Research has shown that during festive periods, almost half of the population eats 1 ½ times more than normal, and a further 25 per cent eat twice as much food as usual. If you happen to fall in any of these categories, please beware of the dangers of over indulging in sugary foods. Ensure to limit your consumption of sugary foods and drinks at this time of the year.
Over 60 per cent of those who participated in the study admitted that one of the main reasons for their overeating during the festive period was as a result of indulging in sugary sweets and treats. The least you can do to protect your teeth and gums from the onslaught of sugary substances is to reinforce your dental routine and remember to brush, rinse and chew properly every day.
Apart from triggering tooth ache, high sugar intake may also cause bloating. If your digestive system is overloaded with sugar, or if you have problems processing simple sugars or glucose from carbohydrates such as pasta, rice and potatoes, this can lead to excess abdominal bloating and gas. Bloating occurs if the sugars you ingest are poorly absorbed in the small intestine and they end up entering the large intestine. At this stage these sugars/carbohydrates can act as food for gas producing (pathogenic) bacteria which reside within the intestine. The resulting gases (hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide) can then cause abdominal bloating and excessive gas or flatulence in the bowel. Abdominal bloating can sometimes cause pain and discomfort. Sufferers may also experience stomach cramps, nausea and constipation. Be sure to keep your homemade probiotics from fermented coconuts handy.
Also, certain health issues like peptic ulcer (related to acid, stomach ulcers) and gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) may be aggravated by food and alcohol consumption. Specific ulcerated areas in the stomach or generalized stomach wall irritation can be aggravated by unusual foods you may not be used to eating, like unique foods spiced unusual ways. If you have existing ulcers or gastritis, remember those festive foods or drinks can aggravate them.
Remember to have portion control, especially if you are diabetic. Having diabetes means your body is more sensitive to major deviations in routine than others might be, so why not simply avoid tempting fate? Don’t just eat what you like, and if you must, don’t overeat it. And don’t forget that high sugar content in food can cause significant variations in blood levels.
Routinely take your remedies and on schedule, the fact that it is a holiday doesn’t mean it is wise (or safe) to take a day off from managing your diabetes. Now, this does not mean diabetics aren’t allowed to enjoy the juices and all the fixings that Christmas table brings with it. Not at all! The key word here is “managing” And yes, it is very possible to manage one’s diabetes and enjoy all what the Christmas dinner menu has to offer. This may be achieved with right choices -choosing healthy versions of favorite dishes. For instance, instead of heavy festive favorite such as turkey swimming in gravy and dishes loaded with butter, creams or mayonnaise, choose skinless turkey without gravy or chicken breast. You can look for side dishes and vegetables without butter, dressing or other extra fats and sugars. Skip dishes loaded with cream, butter or cheese and anything fried. Instead look for whole grains, fruits, vegetables.
Watch the salt. Some festive dishes are made with prepared foods high in sodium. Choose fresh vegetables with no sauce to keep your sodium intake down. And don’t forget to check your blood glucose (sugar) more often than usual, especially if you get carried away with festive over indulgence. Some people may even change their schedule, and this consequently affects sugar levels.
Experts strongly believe that “all of these conditions can be avoided by not overindulging with fatty, spicy foods and too much alcohol”.
Given to the fact that over indulging in foods high in sugar, sodium, fat and alcohol may be a trigger for pre-existing health conditions, let your watch word be “moderation.”
So enjoy your Christmas and interesting foods, but exercise a bit of moderation and have an awareness of health issues that can occur if you overdo it.
News
LUTH CMD call for dedicated hospitals for children
By Henry Uche
The Chief Medical Director of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Professor Christopher Bode, has called for a dedicated hospital for children in the country as well as investment in the surgical care of children, if we must secure the future of Nigeria.
The don who made this call at his inaugural lecture held recently at University of Lagos, also empathised the need for training of health workers and proper management of and administration of same for maximum results.
While telling the story of his sojourn in the medical profession, the professor of surgery said, “There is need to promote the training of frontline healthcare workers on the early recognition and proper handling of paediatric surgical emergencies to improve on our surgical outcomes in this group.
“Investment in the surgical care of children is a wise choice to ensure a healthy future for our country. Children’s health should not be a afterthought to be grafted on the plan for adults. Nigeria needs children- specific hospitals which are fully dedicated to the care of our little ones. Surgical facilities in such centres will save the lives of many who have been denied access to and delayed surgical care in our few overburdened centres now.”
According to him, the country must decide who pays for Healthcare, noting that Healthcare remains a goldmine for investors if properly configured. “Universal coverage by the National Health Insurance Service with appropriate price structure that ensures fair pay for work done by Hospitals will allow Nigeria to retain its healthcare workforce and improve the facilities to international Standards. Government will have ample tax returns from this sector.
“Our nation must continue to invest in the training of specialists in the various speciaities of surgery and plan to absorb and nurture those we produce, rather than allow them to be lured out by richer nations which can pay more.”
Bode charged the government to boldly deregulate the funding of public University Education and limit its roles to overall policy formulation, giving grants to institutions, awarding scholarships, bursary and loans to students while enabling public educational institutions to charge fair tuition for good training.
He decried the plethora of interest groups in the country, saying, “There is too much unionism in our tertiary institutions and our Unions are still using 1970 Marxist Ideologies to dictate how schools should run. We still refer to ourselves as “Comrades” in 2022. Our unions should think out of the box and stop holding the educational and health sectors back from growing. Nothing good is free, especially in this unapologetic era of global capitalism.
“Our universities should wean themselves from government handouts and meaningfully interact with the town, industries and grants authorities for better, healthier funding. Productivity in our universities should mean more than a secure tenure while society waits for game changing leadership from the ivory tower.”
While taking the audience through his achievements in the medical world, he reiterated that his mandates were: Service, Training and Research, and would not rest on his hesitate to deliver to the fullest on his calling.
“This is what we were called to do; when others wants to run, we must be there to give service so others may live, and for me that is the most sublime reason to be a doctor, to be a health care worker,” he stressed.
Embrace artificial intelligence in drug research, NAPHARM exhorts pharmacists
Pharmacists in Nigeria have been urged to tap into Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a bid to enhance pharmaceutical research and new drug discovery.
The call was made by the President of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPHARM), Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, during the investiture of new fellows of the Academy in Lagos, on December 8, 2022.
Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi who lauded the progress being made globally in the areas of Big Data, AI and Machine Learning and the benefits therein for Nigeria, noted that there is a clear imperative for Nigerian pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and medical professionals in the field of research and development to increasingly take advantage of the revolution in the new digital phenomenon. He also called on the government to help create the right environment that makes meaningful research possible.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping to make pharmaceutical research and new drug discovery less expensive and definitely more productive. Researchers realise that in the time that it would have taken to test the efficacy of say a handful of chemical molecules manually, with AI, it is possible to test several hundreds of different chemical molecules.
“With AI, therefore, we can create better, safer and more affordable medicines within a much shorter time frame too. In addition to helping to ensure that basic facilities, including clean water and electricity, are available, government policy direction must also be such that deliberately enables AI to take root and grow,” he added.
Adelusi-Adeluyi, who is a former minister of health, also emphasised the need for Nigeria to commit to producing active manufacturing ingredients (API) for drugs manufacturing, given the vast hydrocarbon resources that it is endowed with, rather than continuous reliance on the importation of same raw materials.
Adelusi-Adeluyi also encouraged pharmacists in the country to engage the nation’s political leadership on the issue.
“Pharmacists need to enlighten the political leadership, including today’s presidential aspirants, on this issue and painstakingly interrogate them on their plans for utilising Nigeria’s oil and gas deposits. The political leadership needs to better appreciate why a petrochemical industry is critical to Nigeria and pharmacists have a role not only to continue to drive this enlightenment, but also participate actively in the electoral process,” he said.
Speaking on reforms in the health sector, while presenting a paper titled, “Advancing Pharmacy for Economic Prosperity in Nigeria,” the President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Prof. Cyril Usifoh, kicked against the step being taken to make the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) a revenue-generating agency, noting that it would cause the prices of drugs and medicines to soar.
Usifoh who commended the increased participation of pharmacists in Nigerian politics, extolled the academy and pharmacists for their dedication towards ensuring safety of lives of the citizenry and urged them to continue doing their best to reposition the pharmacy profession in the country.
Speaking on behalf of the newly inducted members, Senator Sadiq Umar, a pharmacist, said that the inductees who are drawn from different spheres of endeavour have particular responsibilities towards the academy and the pharmacy profession and urged the academy to do the best it can to reposition the profession.
He commended the academy and pharmacists in Nigeria for the major role they play in ensuring the safety of the Nigerian citizens.
The highpoint of the occasion was the formal induction of 20 leading pharmacists into the academy. Notable among them are Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Benin, Prof. Ray Ozolua; Managing Director of GSK Nigeria, Kunle Oyelana; Managing Director, Medplus Pharmacy Chain, Joke Bakare; Executive Director, the Nett Pharmacy Chain, Chris Ehimen; and Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Babashehu Ahmed.
Also, inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the Academy was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Chief Afe Babalola.
Sygen Pharma storms industry with huge investment
By Henry Uche
Sygen Pharmaceutical said it has invested $15m into the pharmaceutical industry of Nigeria since its inception in 2019.
It’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles Ogunwuyi, said the company
plans to drive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry with the aim of developing and creating access to high-quality medicines that yield successful outcomes and improve patients’ quality of life in the communities it operates.
He said: “There is need in the pharmaceutical industry to shift the focus from humans as patients to people living in thriving communities. Sygen Pharmaceutical puts this in practice with the goal of promoting communal well-being and thriving communities.
“We will redirect the focus on medicine as a function of ill health to providing a better life for communities’ altogether.
“As an innovative company, we had since inception established ourselves within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry and has gained the trust and respect of key stakeholders. We will continue to grow our product portfolio across various therapeutic areas.”
He added that Sygen Pharma was poised to make a difference in the lives of people and communities: “We will strive for continuous improvement and innovations geared toward expanding access to good-quality medicines in communities.”