Mouthwash Can Prevent Gonorrhea - Research

Regular use of common mouthwash can help curb spread of gonorrhoea infections. A commercial brand of mouthwash that is readily available from supermarkets and pharmacies can help curb the growth of the bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea, reveals preliminary research published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Daily rinsing and gargling with the product might be a cheap and easy way of helping to control the spread of the infection, suggest the researchers.

New cases of gonorrhoea among men are on the rise in many countries amid declining condom use, with the bulk of cases among gay/bisexual men, say the researchers.

Rising rates of gonorrhoea heighten the risk of the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of Neisseria gonnorhoeae, the bacteria responsible for the infection, making the need for a preventive measure that doesn't rely on condoms even more urgent.

As far back as 1879, and before the advent of antibiotics, the manufacturer of Listerine, a commercial brand of mouthwash, claimed that it could be used to cure gonorrhoea. But no published research has tested out this claim.

In a bid to rectify this, the researchers assessed whether Listerine could curb the growth of N. gonorrhoeae in laboratory tests and in sexually active gay/bisexual men in a clinical trial.

For the laboratory tests, different dilutions (up to 1:32) of Listerine Cool Mint and Total Care, both of which contain 21.6% alcohol, were applied to cultures of N. gonorrhoeae to see which of any of them might curb growth of the bacteria. By way of a comparison, a salt water (saline) solution was similarly applied to an identical set of cultures.

Listerine at dilutions of up to 1 in 4, applied for 1 minute, significantly reduced the number of N. gonorrhoeae on the culture plates, whereas the saline solution did not.

The clinical trial involved 196 gay/bisexual men who had previously tested positive for gonorrhoea in their mouths/throat, and who were returning for treatment at one sexual health clinic in Melbourne, Australia, between May 2015 and February 2016.

Almost a third (30%; 58) tested positive for the bacteria in their throat on the return visit.
Thirty three of these men were randomly assigned to a rinse and gargle with Listerine and 25 of them to a rinse and gargle with the saline solution.

After rinsing and gargling for 1 minute, the proportion of viable gonorrhoea in the throat was 52% among the men using Listerine compared with 84% among those using saline.

And the men using Listerine were 80% less likely to test positive for gonorrhoea in their throat five minutes after gargling than were the men using the saline solution.

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Lassa Fever Kills Mortuary Attendant, Nurse In Ogun State

The public has been admonished to be careful and to take issues of personal hygiene seriously as an outbreak of Lassa fever in Abeokuta, Ogun State has claimed the lives of an Assistant Chief Nursing Officer, Mrs. Abolanle Adesuyi, and a mortuary attendant, Mr. Great Okusaga.
Okusaga was said to have recently completed his one year compulsory service with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Apart from the deceased, two others, including a doctor and a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, have allegedly been infected by the dreaded disease and placed under surveillance.
The outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever came barely four months after the state was declared Lassa-free by government. The resurgence of the disease has, however, ignited panic among staff of the hospital, patients and other members of the public.
But government yesterday allayed the fears of members of the public, saying it was on top of the situation. It was learnt that the mortuary attendant died on Friday while Adesuyi died on Saturday night.
Sources said the nurse had earlier attended to the morgue attendant when he was rushed to the FMC and the tragic events which followed sparked suspicion.
The autopsy subsequently conducted on the late nurse at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, was said to have confirmed that she died of Lassa fever.
As information spread about the disease, some patients on admission were said to have asked the authorities to hurriedly discharge them for fear of contracting the disease. It was also learnt that Okusaga’s father is the consultant in charge of the morgue at the hospital.
When contacted, the FMC Public Relations Officer, Abeokuta, Segun Orisajo, confirmed the incident.
He said two other members of staff had been placed under surveillance. Orisajo said the Ministry of Health had embarked on a contact tracing exercise to ascertain the number of people who could have also contacted the disease.
He said: “They are also doing decontamination of thematic areas but the management of FMC has assured members of the public not to exercise fear because it can only be contacted only through fluid.
“Officials of the state Ministry of Health led by the Commissioner, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, was at the hospital to render their support.” But reacting, Ipaye said panic over the outbreak of Lassa fever in the state was presumptuous and unnecessary.
He promised that all those who might have had contacts with the victims had been placed under surveillance. According to him, the disease could be transmitted where there was contact with the body fluid of a victim.
The commissioner explained that government had always been proactive on issues relating to public health. He added that the state never recorded any case of Lassa fever except for the two cases imported to the state from Ebonyi and Kogi states a few months ago. Ipaye disclosed that Ministry of Health, in collaboration with FMC, would quickly set up an isolation centre at the hospital to attend to any emergency.
He said: “We are going to immediately create an isolation centre here at FMC to cater for unexpected cases and emergency on public health issues like Lassa fever to include other communicable diseases. I have sent medical officers out to confirm the root of the case.”
Ipaye, however, urged the nurses to always attend to all patients in the most hygienic and clinical manner.
The commissioner said continuous sensitisation was ongoing on the need for the public to maintain high personal hygiene, get rid of rats in and around the houses, proper food storage procedures and constant hand washing.

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Nigerian Customs Intercept 102 Bags Of Plastic Rice

The Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, of the Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted 102 bags of plastic rice branded “Beat Tomato Rice’’ with no date of manufacture.

The Customs Area Controller of  F.O.U. Comptroller Mohammed Haruna, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria yesterday in Lagos.

He said that the commodity was stored for distribution as Yuletide gifts for the public.

Haruna said that officers of the unit intercepted the plastic rice along Ikeja area on Monday, adding that a suspect was arrested in connection with the seizure.

“Before now, I thought it was a rumour that the plastic rice is all over the country but with this seizure, I have been totally convinced that such rice exists.

“We have done the preliminary analysis on the plastic rice. After boiling, it was sticky and only God knows what would have happened if people consumed it.

“I advise those economic saboteurs who see Yuletide season as a peak period for nefarious acts to desist from such illegal business.

“The unit has decided other operational modalities that will give them a run for their monies and count their losses,” NAN quoted the controller as saying.

He described smuggling as a global phenomenon, adding that such act could not be curbed entirely but could be brought to its barest minimum.

Haruna appreciated well-meaning Nigerians who provided the service with prompt information that led to the discovery of the bags of plastic rice.

The controller, however, advised the media to educate the public on the existence of plastic rice, adding that it was no longer a rumour.

Haruna assured Nigerians that the distribution point of the particular plastic rice seized by the unit had been blocked with immediate effect.

He said that investigation was still ongoing.

The controller said the unit would hand over the plastic rice to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for proper investigation.

Plastic rice is toxic to the body and can lead to a host of health issues including even death. 

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Hydrochloric Acid In The Stomach Is Strong Enough To Melt Razor Blade - New Study

In the following article, Eric Troy writes on the recent report from medical research that the Hydrochloric acid found in the stomach is strong enough to melt a razor blade.
There is a report that your stomach acid is so strong that it can dissolve a razor blade. I'd hate to be the guy to test that assumption, but it is true that the hydrochloric acid in your stomach is some strong stuff. While your blood has a pH of around 7.4, your stomach acid has a pH of 1. That means it is a strong acid indeed. But surely, if your stomach acid could dissolve the metal of a razor blade, it would dissolve itself? Surely not! It turns out, according to at least one study, that stomach acid can do a pretty good number on a razor blade.
Of course, if there was a razor blade in your stomach, it would do a lot of damage. So, researchers did not have someone ingest a razor blade to test this. Instead they studied metal corrosion by stomach acid in vitro, meaning "outside the body in a simulated environment." According to the study by Paul K. Li, et al. corrosion of razor blades occurs fairly rapidly in the normal stomach. Now, I think that this is a stretch, because a stomach with a razor blade in it probably wouldn't be a normal stomach for long, and the  oesophagus wouldn't be very happy, either. Nevertheless, according to the research, double-edged blades become fragile and easily-breakable within 24 hours, having only 63% of their original mass. You should note, however, that the stomach acid had no effect on pennies within this time-frame, nor did it cause disc batteries to spring a leak within the same amount of time.
It would be a stretch to say that stomach acid would have a large effect on a big chunk of steal within 24 hours, and of course, things do not sit in your stomach for that long. Razor blades are already very thin and flexible pieces of metal, so to corrode them enough to be brittle is perhaps not as much a feat as it seems. We do not know how long it would take to completely dissolve one.
Regardless, stomach acid, it appears, can begin to dissolve a razor blade in a reasonable time period, perhaps underscoring just how awesome our digestive system is. But if the acid is so strong, how can your stomach hold it without the acid eating right through? If you eat a steak, it will be nothing more than a liquid slurry of mushy nastiness in no time. And your stomach is, essentially, meat, right? At least, it is made of proteins. Well, the truth is that your stomach acid would happily digest your stomach if given a chance. And, when things don't go right, we get things like ulcers, which are open sores or raw areas in the stomach. When this happens, it is because a large enough amount of acid has come into contact with the stomach wall on a regular enough basis.
Normally, however, the stomach has a protective lining. This lining consists of a layer of mucosal protein (just think mucus) that is covered with molecules of sugar, held together tightly through the magic of chemical bonds. The sugars are really good at resisting the acid. You have a bunch of specialized epithelial cells that produce this mucous stuff.
It's not perfect protection, and some stomach acid gets through now and again. Now, there is a lot of blood flow in the stomach wall, so that helps to neutralize and wash away some of the acid, but it still does damage and it destroys some of the cells of the stomach. In fact, a whole lot of your stomach cells get destroyed, all the time. Thankfully, they are such busy little buggers when it comes to reproducing themselves. They do NOT take days off, at least normally. When cells are damaged, newly generated cells move up to take their place. In fact, the entire stomach lining is replaced about every three days.
When things go wrong and the mucus lining is damaged, and more acid than normal gets through, damage can occur faster than cells can be renewed, and thus a sore, or even a hole, can form. This is called an ulcer. People used to think that ulcers were caused by a bad diet. Spicy foods or fatty foods were often blamed, as well as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and just a predisposition for producing excess stomach acid. While there is not a lot of evidence that food habits or stress causes ulcers, some of these other factors may be at work. Mostly, though, these earlier beliefs about the causes of ulcers were a matter of correlation. It is true that the pain and discomfort of ulcers can get worse when we eat spicy foods, drink alcohol, or during periods of stress.
The theory now is that the most common cause of an ulcer is a bacterial infection. It usually happens when the stomach becomes infected with a bacteria called Heliobacter pylori (H. pylon). Most of us already have these bacteria in our digestive tract. These bugs can secrete an enzyme around them that protects them from the stomach acid, and then they can invade the mucosal layer, taking up residence there and weakening the stomach lining, allowing too much acid to leak through, resulting in an ulcer. That is why one of the standard treatments for ulcers, today, is an antibiotic.

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New Revolutionary Cancer Vaccine Ready For Try

The University of Helsinki, Finland, has developed a vaccine that can prevent and possibly cure cancer without any other form of treatment, including chemotherapy.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. “A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins.”
If all goes according to plan, the first human clinical trials for the vaccine will be run in South Africa, on Melanoma patients with triple negative breast cancer. Vaccine trial is considered very cheap in Africa and South Africa has remained a big industry for it.
Speaking more about the vaccine at the just-concluded Slush 2016, an annual global conference for start-ups and venture capitalists, the Director, Life Sciences, Helsinki Innovation Services, Dr. Milla Koistinaho, told The Media that the university required at least €6 million to commercialize the revolutionary drug.
She explained that about €3 million would probably come from Finnish government sources as a Research and Development (R & D) loan, while the remaining €3 million would come from equity funding.
Plans for the trial in Africa notwithstanding, there are concerns that the drug may only be affordable to the rich.
“Investors are really interested in funding the commercialisation of the vaccine. Basically, we just founded the company and now we are talking to investors globally,’’ Koistinaho said. “We have had good discussions with investors in Asia, United States, in Europe and Finland. We expect that the first seed round will happen definitely in less than two months.”
Global interest in commercialising the vaccine may not be unconnected with the fact that in 2015, there were an estimated 17.5 million cancer cases around the globe and 8.7 million deaths, according to a new report from the Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration published online by the JAMA Oncology.
Furthermore, statistics from the National Cancer Institute indicate that “The number of new cancer cases will rise to 22 million within the next two decades.
“While more than 60 per cent of the world’s new cancer cases occur in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, 70 per cent of the world’s cancer deaths also occur in these regions.”
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. The cancer cells grow and divide to create more cells and will eventually form a tumour.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide and estimates of its burden around the globe are vital for cancer control planning. There are more than 100 types of cancers. The treatment may include chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery.
Elaborating on the technological and scientific breakthrough, Koistinaho said “the vaccine was invented by a professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, the University of Helsinki. This project got its origin from an invention disclosure that the professor filed to the university two years ago.
“We first of all evaluated whether it was scientifically interesting and whether it was something that could be commercialized and the answer was yes. So we filed an application in 2014 and then attracted governmental commercialization funding for this project for two years. Now this concept has been tested in several animal models with cancer and it was discovered that the technology cured the mice of cancer, so this is really a revolutionary treatment.”
She disclosed that the vaccine has not yet been tested on human, adding that “the company has now been permitted to exploit the technology further and the intellectual property has been transferred from the university to the Spinout, and now the Spinout is fund raising to enable starting the clinical trials in humans.
“Most probably, the first indications where we will try this technology in humans will be melanoma, in triple negative breast cancer. The plan is that most probably the first clinical trials, especially in melanoma patients will be run in South Africa.”
With regard to the rate of cure, Koistinaho said: “Basically this only cured mice so far, but the rates are remarkable. Typically, we have run animal experiments where first, the mice were inoculated with melanoma (a type of malignant cancer that develops from the pigment-containing cells known as melanocytes) cells and they created melanoma tumors and then we treated them with this technology and the tumors disappeared completely.”

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Over 90 Percent Of Nigerian Female Prisoners Are Pregnant

An alarm has been raised over the poor health conditions of female inmates of Nigerian prisons.The National Council of Women’s Society (NCWS) has disclosed that 90 per cent of female prisoners in the country were either pregnant or nursing mothers.
The society’s president, Mrs. Gloria Shoda, made the disclosure a couple of days ago in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital at the inauguration of new executives.
She appealed to the Federal Government to formulate policies to protect female prisoners. She also urged the National Human Rights Commission to intervene to stop all forms of discrimination against female prisoners who are awaiting trial.
According to her, assisting women with the relevant skills could help in building a better society.She said: “It is only when women are considered as the center of development that the economy could be better developed.
“We urge government to integrate gender into its developmental agenda by including them in public policy and governance. Women and girls are facing so many unpleasant challenges in the country. Everyday, the newspapers report incidents of violence against them even in the internally displaced persons camps.”
She urged them to embrace the nationwide slogan of “change begins with me,” to support one another.
Investigations carried out by Nigeria Natural Health Online shows that these pregnant women do not have a standard prenatal attention that a normal pregnant woman should have. There are a range of adverse health effects associated with maternal under-nutrition. It can affect both the pregnant woman and developing baby in the short and long-term.
A woman’s nutritional status at the time she becomes pregnant influences her health during pregnancy and the health of her baby. It is determined largely by her nutritional intake before pregnancy. If a woman is under-nourished prior to conception because she does not eat enough, she may be malnourished and underweight at the time she conceives. This will have an ongoing effect on her nutritional status throughout the pregnancy. Her nutritional status at the time she becomes pregnant is also an important factor influencing the health of the foetus, as well as the long term health of the infant.
Women who are under-nourished (have a BMI of <18 .5kg="" m="" sup="">2

) at the time of conception are unlikely to improve their nutritional status during pregnancy, when their bodies have additional demands due to the growing baby. They may fail to gain sufficient weight during pregnancy and have a higher risk of maternal mortality (dying whilst pregnant) than normal weight women. Under-nourished women may also lack the nutritional stores required to support embryo growth. Embryo refers to a fertilised egg, before it begins to take on human characteristics (at which stage it is referred to as a foetus). In the first few days after conception the embryo exists in the woman’s womb but has not yet implanted into the lining of the womb where it will grow throughout the pregnancy. This is known as the pre-implantation period and is the period of pregnancy in which cells divide and replicate most rapidly. Maternal malnutrition can adversely affect the division and replication of cells in the embryo at this stage, impairing its development. Impaired embryo development in turn adversely effects the development of the foetus in the later stages of pregnancy.
A woman’s nutritional status at the time she becomes pregnant also influences the differentiation of cells in the embryo into foetal and placental cells. When the embryo implants into the wall of a woman’s uterus, it develops two types of cells, those that will become the foetus and those which will become the placenta (the structure which nourishes and supports the foetus during pregnancy). In undernourished women, a greater number of cells are likely to form the placenta compared to the foetus, meaning that the foetus begins its life smaller than it should do. This can lead to restricted foetal growth and increases the risk of the baby being born at a low-birth weight (<2 .5kg="" a="" associated="" birth="" in="" is="" low="" of="" range="" strong="" turn="" weight="" with="">adverse outcomes
in childhood and later in life.In the light of the above revelations, analysts who spoke with Nigeria Natural Health Online, said the federal government of Nigeria should pay attention to the alarm raised by NCWS and come to the rescue of these pregnant female prisoners.

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Under-Cooked Chicken Could Cause Paralysis

Researchers have alerted the public that undercooked chicken could trigger a potentially fatal neurological condition that makes sufferers paralysed.
The warning came ahead of public preparation for the Yuletide, a season of celebration when millions of families cherish chickens as part of the delicacy consumed to celebrate both Christmas and the coming New Year. These are the findings of a research published in the ‘Journal of Autoimmunity’.
A common bacteria, ‘campylobacter jejuni’, which lurks in the raw flesh of chickens has been found to cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, GBS, a lifethreatening disorder where the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.
Early symptoms include feeling weak and experiencing tingling sensations in the legs. ‘Campylobacter jejuni’ infects more than a million people yearly in the United States, U.S and is also known to trigger other autoimmune disorders such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Reiter’s arthritis. Scientists at Michigan State University have shown how the bacteria triggers GBS, and hope that discovery will help formulate a cure.
If chicken isn’t cooked to a proper minimum internal temperature, harmful bacteria can remain, posing a threat, the UK Edition of ‘The Sun’ reported. It is well known that some bacteria in undercooked chicken can cause a nasty bout of food poisoning.
But now, the evidence points to a far more important reason to ensure your chicken is cooked thoroughly. Reacting to the development, Lead Author of the study, Professor Linda Mansfield, said: “What our work has told us is that it takes a certain genetic makeup combined with a certain campylobacter strain to cause this disease.
“The concerning thing is that many of these strains are resistant to antibiotics and our work shows that treatment with some antibiotics could actually make the disease worse.”
GBS is the leading cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis, yet the exact cause remains a mystery to experts. Prof. Mansfield and her team have created three preclinical models of GBS that represent two different forms of the syndrome seen in humans.

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Why Syphilis May Soon Become Untreatable

Amid concerns over a new drug-resistant strain, doctors have alerted the public that Syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease (STD), could become impossible to treat with key antibiotics.
This is the findings of a new study published in the journal ‘Nature Microbiology’. Although, Syphilis was once a death sentence, the vast majority of syphilis cases today are curable with penicillin injections.
However, a new study has revealed an aggressive new strain of the infection is more widespread than previously thought – and there are limited ways to control it.
Syphilis is a highly contagious disease spread primarily by sexual activity, including oral and anal sex. Occasionally, the disease can be passed to another person through prolonged kissing or close bodily contact. Although this disease is spread from sores, the vast majority of those sores go unrecognised.
The infected person is often unaware of the disease and unknowingly passes it on to his or her sexual partner. Pregnant women with the disease can spread it to their baby. This disease, called congenital syphilis, can cause abnormalities or even death to the child. Similarly, Syphilis cannot be spread by toilet seats, door knobs, swimming pools, hot tubs, bath tubs, shared clothing, or eating utensils.
Estimates suggest that there were 10.6 million cases worldwide in 2008, with many carrying the disease unaware they are actually infected. Cases of syphilis are common among both heterosexuals and men who have sex with men – but the latter group has been more affected.
There are two common types of syphilis: Nichols and Street Strain 14 (SS14). In an analysis of syphilis samples, researchers by the University of Zurich in Switzerland, found the most common to be SS14-Ω, a subset of SS14.
Alarmingly, 90 per cent of the SS14-Ω samples they analysed were resistant to antibiotics. It was reported that although, scientists have yet to detect any penicillin- resistant strains, the discovery is an ominous sign that it is adapting to modern medicine.
Cases of the chronic bacterial infection have shot up by 71 per cent in England since 2011, according to the latest figures. Syphilis cases are also increasingly more common in the United States, with infections rising 15 per cent between 2013 and 14; and another 19 per cent from 2014 to 2015, according to data issued by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control, CDC. Data obtained from other sources indicate that the disease is also rising in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
Scientists are unsure just how many of these cases can be put down to the relatively new strain that is growing resistant to key antibiotics. But they said the emergence of a drug-resistant forms could make syphilis, a potentially fatal sexually transmitted infection, STI, even harder to treat.
A study of syphilis infections in 13 countries in 2012 to 2013 shows how a drug resistant strain of the disease is far more widespread than previously thought. SS14-Ω is particularly resistant to the class of antibiotics called macrolides, the researchers from the University of Zurich said.
The possibility that the second-line medication for the disease – used when penicillin injections are not appropriate – might lose their effectiveness has alarmed experts.
Reacting to the development, Lola Stamm, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina in the United States, said the findings should serve as a warning to doctors not to oversubscribe antibiotics. “Physicians need to be extremely wary about using macrolide drugs to treat syphilis,” she said.

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Marijuana Can Cause Blindness

Scientists have warned those who indulge in regular use of Cannabis, also known as Marijuana that it could damage eyesight. These findings are published in the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association’.
The small study in France found prolonged marijuana use could wear down retinal ganglion cells, the nerves that sit just behind the retina. A retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is a type of neuron located near the inner surface (the ganglion cell layer) of the retina of the eye.
It receives visual information from photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: bipolar cells and retina amacrine cells. These cells are key for transmitting information back to the brain in order to form an image.
The study found people who smoked weed for around six years experienced a delay in neural signals to the brain – even after giving up the drug. The finding complicates scientific understanding on the link between cannabis and vision, since previous studies have shown the drug helps patients with glaucoma, and even improves night vision.
Reacting to the development, Lead Investigator, Dr. Vincent Laprevote, of the Pole Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie du Grand Nancy in France, said: “Our findings may be important from a public health perspective since they could highlight the neurotoxic effects of cannabis use on the central nervous system as a result of how it affects retinal processing.
“Independent of debates about its legalisation, it is necessary to gain more knowledge about the different effects of cannabis so that the public can be informed.
“Future studies may shed light on the potential consequences of these retinal dysfunctions for visual cortical processing and whether these dysfunctions are permanent or disappear after cannabis withdrawal.”
The small study involved 52 participants – 28 cannabis users, 24 never users. All of the cannabis users stopped consuming the drug before the trial started, but had been regularly using it for at least six years.
The researchers used a standard electrophysiological measurement called pattern electroretinography (PERG), which involved averaging a high number of responses.
After adjustment for the number of years of education and alcohol use, there was a significant increase for cannabis users of the amount of time it took for the retina to transmit signals to the brain.
There are many known effects on the body when using marijuana. Some of these relate to the eyes while others impact other areas of the body. Studies have found that attention, memory and learning are all impaired by heavy marijuana use, even after stopping the drug for more than 24 hours. Marijuana users also exhibit impaired driving abilities, slower reaction times and difficulty concentrating. Marijuana can also impact perception, making colors appear brighter, etc. When it comes to eyesight marijuana commonly alters peripheral vision. 

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Fresh Fish, Fruit, Vegetables Improve Sperm Health - New Studies

New studies have found that sperm quality is higher among men who eat more fresh fish, fruit and vegetables  and less junk food or red meat.

The quality of sperm was also improved among those who took brisk walks, compared with those who either did little physical activity or went running.

The three papers, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in Florida, highlight the importance of the lifestyle of a prospective father as well as that of their female partner in determining hether or not they can have a baby.

In the first study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health looked at what 188 students ate and drank.

They divided their diets into a "prudent" one characterised by high intake of fish, fruit, vegetables and pulses, and a "western" one full of pizza, red and processed meat, high energy drinks and snacks.

Those with the best diet had 11 per cent more motile sperm - better at swimming towards an egg - than those with the least healthy eating habits.
Lead researcher Audrey Gaskins said: "Motility is most important for couples who want to try to conceive naturally. A small increase could lead to a small increase in fertility."
A separate study at Harvard analysed the diet of 99 men who were already attending a fertility clinic because they and their wives or girlfriends were unable to get pregnant.
Academics found that consumption of Trans Fatty Acids - previously found in many fried fast food joints but now being phased out - was linked to sperm concentration.
Men who took 1.3 per cent of their calories from trans-fats had on average 48million sperm per millilitre of semen, compared with 79m among those who had consumed just 0.7 per cent of their calories in the form of the fat.
Dr Allan Pacey, a fertility expert at the University of Sheffield, commented: "The influence of a man's diet on his semen quality has been of interest for some time.
"For example, there is now good evidence from a variety of studies that men with a higher antioxidant intake have slightly better semen quality and are more likely to become fathers than men who don't. Similarly, there are also studies showing that men who consume key nutrients, ejaculate better sperm.
"Therefore the results of this study, comparing a Western diet with one which is more 'Mediterranean', is not really a surprise and nicely illustrates that a good diet is of benefit when trying to conceive."
A third paper, carried out at the Yamaguchi University School of Medicine in Japan, compared sperm motility among 215 men after analysing how much physical activity they did in an average week.
It found that those who did moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, had better swimming sperm than both those who did little physical activity and those who did strenuous activities.
Dr Pacey said: "There are a number of studies which have examined the relationship between physical exercise and semen quality, often with contradictory results.
"Therefore we have an unclear picture about what effect exercise plays in male fertility, if any.
"We know that obesity and poor diet can reduce sperm production so perhaps in this study we are seeing the positive effects of healthy living as much as we are seeing the benefits of exercise."

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The Effect Of High Blood Pressure On Your Sex Life

High blood pressure often has no signs or symptoms. But the impact on your sex life may be obvious. Although sexual activity is unlikely to pose an immediate threat to your health — such as a heart attack — high blood pressure can affect your overall satisfaction with sex.
A link between high blood pressure and sexual problems is proved in men. For women who have decreased sexual satisfaction, it’s not yet proved that high blood pressure is to blame.
High blood pressure’s effect on sexual problems in women isn’t well-understood. But it’s possible that high blood pressure could affect a woman’s sex life.
High blood pressure can reduce blood flow to the vagina. For some women, this leads to a decrease in sexual desire or arousal, vaginal dryness, or difficulty achieving orgasm. Improving arousal and lubrication can help.
Like men, women can experience anxiety and relationship issues due to sexual dysfunction.
High blood pressure medications that can cause sexual dysfunction as a side effect include:

• Water pills (diuretics): Diuretics can decrease forceful blood flow to the penis, making it difficult to achieve an erection. They can also deplete the body of zinc, which is necessary to make the sex hormone testosterone.
• Beta blockers:These medications, especially older generation beta blockers such as propranolol (Inderal, Innopran XL), are commonly associated with sexual dysfunction.

Natural therapy is not just to lower the blood pressure but to release some biomolecues to the body which check the root cause of increasing blood pressure.  Evidence from researches and alternative medicines have shown that the root cause of high blood pressure can be reversed and consequently eliminate high blood pressure and sexual problems attached to it.

If sexual side effects persist, ask your doctor about other medication options. Some high blood pressure medications are less likely to cause sexual side effects, such as:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
• Calcium channel blockers
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers

To help your doctor select the most appropriate medication for you, tell him or her all the other medications you're taking now — including herbal supplements and over-the-counter drugs. Sometimes a particular combination of medications or supplements contributes to sexual problems.
If your doctor says it's OK, you may be able to stop taking blood pressure medications temporarily to see if your sex life improves. To make sure your blood pressure remains within a safe range, you may need frequent blood pressure readings while you're not taking the blood pressure lowering medication that may be causing your sexual difficulties. This can be done with a home blood pressure monitoring device for convenience.

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Advanced HIV Prevention Drug Now Ready For Trial

After countless years of study, scientists announced yesterday that cure for HIV/AIDS has become a reality as trial for HIV prevention drug, Truvada, received approval in England.
NHS England, an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department of Health, specifically confirmed that it would fund HIV prevention programme based around pre-exposure prophlyaxis (PrEP) with Gilead’s Truvada.
The announcement follows months of legal wrangling after NHS England axed plans for a national PreP programme, but was last month forced to reconsider after a court challenge from campaigners.
Truvada (emtricitabine+tenofovir) has been shown to have a protective effect, and can in some cases stop HIV becoming established in the body.
More than 10,000 people, most at risk of acquiring HIV will be offered a drug which prevents transmission of HIV after health officials lost a Court of Appeal battle over funding, a report said yesterday.
The report said: “After many years of studies and looking a cure, a drug has been discovered and will be given to the patients by NHS England.
“It is said to have been tried on over 10,000 people, most at risk of acquiring HIV. It will also serve as a way for them to figure out the duration in taking the drug, for them to get the right people and how popular it would be.”
Pre-exposure prophylaxis or PreP is a medicine that should be taken daily which helps in reducing HIV. Apart from saving money, it also helps to stop the infection from spreading in the body. It reduces the high risk of getting the disease from sex and can be lower with the use of condoms and methods for prevention.
The drugs – called PreP – have been described as a ‘game changer’ in the fight against AIDS but dubbed ‘promiscuity pills’ by critics, the report said.
Last month, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court ruling which said NHS England did have the power to fund the drug despite its pleas that the responsibility lay with local authorities.
Now, the organisation has announced it will fund “a large scale clinical trial” for the drug, also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, at a cost of up to £10 million.”
So far, studies suggest the anti-retroviral drug, also known as Truvada, can reduce the risk of infection by more than 90 percent.
Health officials said the large trial was needed to work out the best way to ensure take-up of the drug, examine the impact on HIV levels – and whether it increased rates of other sexually transmitted infections.
HIV/AIDS are first observed in the United States in the year 1981. The usual cases are from injection drug users, gay men with no known cause of impaired immunity, which shows symptoms of a rare opportunistic infection that occurs in a much compromised immune system.
Most of the people carrying the disease are not aware that they are infected with the virus. Sexual intercourse is the usual reason and the mode in transmitting HIV. It is present in the seminal fluid which is passed from male to female.
There are two types of HIV, HIV-1, and HIV-2. The first one is very infective that causes the majority of the infections globally. Studies show that HIV-2 is considered as the less infective one.

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Rape In IDPs Camps: Soldiers, Police Officerws, Air Force Officer, others arrested

As the quality of life continues to deteriorate amongst internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north-east part of Nigeria, revelations coming up from the camps show that uniformed officers sent to protect them are actually the ones spare heading the orgy of sexual assaults against female IDPs. For allegedly raping Internally Displaced Persons, three soldiers, two policemen and a prison official have been arrested.

Arrested alongside the soldiers and policemen for the same offence were one prison official, a member of staff, Borno Ministry of Agriculture and two members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, Borno State.

The officials were accused of involving in sexual exploitation and abuse of IDPs in the North-East.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, disclosed this yesterday, in Abuja, adding that if indicted the policemen and other security operatives involved in the alleged crime would be dismissed and prosecuted after investigation.

A Non-Governmental Organisation, Human Rights Watch, had in its report accused camp officials, vigilance groups, soldiers and policemen of engaging in sexual harassment of women and teenagers in IDP camps in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

A few of the victims told Human Rights Watch that they were drugged and raped while 37 were coerced into sex through false marriage promises, material and financial assistance.

Shocked by the allegations, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the IG and the state governments to carry out a thorough investigation into the alleged incidents.

But responding to questions shortly before the commencement of his monthly conference with senior police officers in Abuja, the IG said the police would liaise with the Army and the Air Force to make their indicted officials available for interrogation.

He said, “From the findings so far, we have succeeded in our investigation. A number of suspects have been arrested and they include two policemen, three army officers, one prison official; one Air Force officer, an employee of the Borno State Ministry of Agriculture and two members of the Civilian JTF.”

Idris stated that the force had put in mechanisms, including the deployment of female police officers to IDP camps in order to check recurrence.

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Nigerian Customs Intercept Yam Porridge, Jollof-Rice And Egusi Soup Imported From India

Despite repeated warnings by health officials on the dangers posed by imported preserved ready-to-eat foods, Nigerian importers have continued to pay deaf ears to the warnings.The Tin-Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted a 20ft container of “READY TO EAT FOODS’’ like Egusi Soup, Jollof Rice, Ogbono, Yam Porridge imported from India. The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Bashar Yusuf, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Lagos by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr Uche Ejesieme. 

Yusuf spoke with stakeholders at the SDV/SCOA Terminal while handing over the container of imported prepared foods to officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The controller described the scenario as an “aberration”, considering the fact that government granted zero duty for the importation of machinery for the packaging of agricultural products. 

“Why should indigenous menu be imported into the country at a time when investors are much sought after to boost local industries?’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Yusuf as saying. The controller told the officers to see training and re-training as a veritable tools that would sharpen their knowledge toward achieving desired results. He appreciated the Comptroller-General of Customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ali, for effectively re-positioning the service in spite of global recession. 

Many People have continued to wonder why local delicacies like yam porridge, egusi and jollof-rice should be reported into the country. Some even went further to say that India does not grow yam or melon - so how did they manage to get the raw food materials used in making those delicacies? 

In answering that question, an exporter in Apapa who pleaded anonymity, told Nigeria Natural Health Online that it is the hand work of some dubious exporters in the country.

" They export the raw food stuff to Asian countries where they make them into ready-to-eat foods which are then imported back into the country to be sold at very exorbitant prices," he told our reporter.

These foods which are laced with preservatives, according to health officials, are not save for the body. Unfortunately, most elite who live in high bro areas in Nigerian cities, tend to patronize these imported foods, preferring them to the one cooked in local restaurants.

Preservatives are chemicals used to keep food fresh. Although there are a number of different types of food preservatives, antimicrobials, antioxidants, and products that slow the natural ripening process are some of the most common. Despite their important function, preservatives can pose a number of serious health risks.

Some of the health hazard associated with preservatives include: increased risk of cancer, hyperactivity in children and reduced heart health.

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Starvation In Nigerian IDPs: Buhari Battles Foreign Agencies

Against the backdrop of media report of hunger and starvation in IDPs camps in northern Nigeria, the Presidency has accused some aid agencies providing some humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East, of raising false alarm about mass starvation in the camps.
The Presidency said though it appreciates the increasing humanitarian assistance from the aid agencies which are  complementary to the efforts of the federal and state governments in the North East, a region it acknowledges is in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, it will not tolerate any hype meant only to attract funds rather than proffer solutions.
It described the reports as uncharitable and unnecessary attempts to portray the government as doing nothing even as hundreds of people of even a million are at the risk of dying.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement said the Presidency is particularly unhappy with one of the United Nations (UN)agencies which raised the alarm that 100,000 people will die of starvation in 2017.
“We are concerned about blatant attempts to whip up a non-existent fear of mass starvation by some aid agencies, a type of hype that does not provide solution to the situation on the ground but more to do with calculations for operations financing locally and abroad.
“There can be no doubt that the effect of the Boko Haram terrorism and their occupation of communities and destruction of houses, infrastructure and means of livelihood has been manifested in the decline of socio-economic activities throughout the North-East.
“Arising from this, farming, pastoralism, trade, exchange of goods and services and social interaction among the people have negatively been impacted leading to the displacement of more than two million people, mostly women and children.
“Consequently, there is death, there is hunger and there is poor nutrition.
“The displacement pattern, as revealed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates that there are currently about two million people who are displaced.
“Only about 20 per cent of this is however in IDP camps.
This much reduced numbers are in Borno in 13 formal and 16 satellite camps; four of such camps currently operating in Adamawa and about the same number in Yobe.
“The larger number of the IDP population is living either in self-settled camps or with host communities" the statement said.
It will be recalled that a couple of weeks ago, Nigerian Natural Health Online authoritatively reported the UN's damning verdict in which it stated that the lives of children in the northern part of Nigeria are currently hanging in the balance as the organization, warned that  75,000 children risk dying in "a few months" as hunger grips the country's ravaged north-east in the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Boko Haram jihadists have laid waste to the impoverished region since taking up arms against the government in 2009, displacing millions and disrupting farming and trade.
Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari, has reclaimed territory from the Islamists but the insurgency has taken a brutal toll, with more than 20,000 people dead, 2.6 million displaced, and famine taking root.
UN humanitarian coordinator Peter Lundberg said the crisis was unfolding at "high speed".
"Our assessment is that 14 million people are identified as in need of humanitarian assistance" by 2017, Lundberg said in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Of these, 400,000 children are in critical need of assistance, while 75,000 could die "in the few months ahead of us", Lundberg said.

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One Pint Of Beer A Day Raises Risk Of Prostate Cancer

Drinking just one pint of beer every day raises the risk of contracting prostate cancer by 23 per cent, a study has found.

It means that when it comes to cancer, there is no safe threshold for drinking, researchers warned.

Only binge-drinking was thought to raise the risk of contracting the disease – the most common cancer for men.

But this misconception was based on flawed studies that gave men a false sense of security, the new analysis shows.

Research by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC at the University of Victoria in Canada and Australia's National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University analysed 26 previous scientific studies that linked the consumption of alcohol to prostate cancer.

They found that men who drank two to three units each day – equivalent to one pint of 5 per cent strength beer or two 175ml glasses of wine – raised their risk of prostate cancer by 23 per cent compared to people who had never drunk alcohol.

But even as little as half a pint a week increased the likelihood of contracting the cancer, which is a huge health problem for the NHS.

Some 47,000 British men are diagnosed with the disease each year, and 11,000 die.

The research is likely to alarm men who considered themselves moderate drinkers and therefore not in danger.

Lead researcher Tim Stockwell said: 'For cancer risk, the causal processes appear to be operating whenever we drink, and to a degree directly relate to how much we consume and with no safe threshold.' The risk was underestimated for years because many previous studies put former drinkers in the same category as teetotallers.

This created a false impression, because many former drinkers stop or cut down boozing as they age and their health declines.

As a result, the reference group of non-drinkers was unhealthier than it would have been if it only included teetotallers. So when compared with the drinkers' group, the risk from consuming alcohol appeared to be lower than it actually was.

The authors said misclassifying former drinkers as so-called abstainers 'disguised a significant association between alcohol exposure and risk of prostate cancer'. 

The way in which alcohol triggers the growth of tumours in the prostate is not fully understood. Alcoholic drinks contain carcinogens including acetaldehyde – nicknamed 'the hangover chemical' – which is formed when alcohol is broken down in the liver, and can damage cell DNA.

Dr Stockwell added: 'This study contributes to the strengthening evidence that alcohol is a risk factor for prostate cancer. Consumption will need to be factored in to future estimates of the global burden of disease.'

Co-author Dr Tanya Chikritzhs said the study – published in the journal BMC Cancer – meant previous research showing alcohol had a protective effect on health should be 'treated with caution'.

But Dr Jasmine Just, from Cancer Research UK, said: 'Alcohol has been linked to several types of cancer, including breast and bowel cancer – but it's not as clear whether alcohol increases the risk of prostate cancer.

'This study suggests there's a link between alcohol and prostate cancer, and takes into account factors that might have made this link less obvious in previous research.

'But it's too early to say for sure whether alcohol increases the risk of prostate cancer.'

However, she added: 'Alcohol causes thousands of cancers each year, so cutting down how much you drink is a good way to reduce cancer risk.'  

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Nigerian HIV/AIDS Patients Lament High Treatment Fees

These are hard times for people living with HIV/AIDS in the country.
Besides the high user fees that they are allegedly charged, the patients are lamenting the rising cases of treatment failure. Nigeria may soon witness a higher rate of deaths from the ailment if nothing is done urgently to address the situation.
Ahead of the World AIDS Day today, it was gathered that many hospitals are still charging many of the people living with HIV in Nigeria fees, sometimes as high as N7000 for monitoring tests. Chemistry and Haematology (essential laboratory) tests for PLHIV which were hitherto free in the country are now being paid for.
It was reported earlier this year reported that the United States government that had largely supported the HIV/AIDS scheme in the areas of chemistry tests and antiretroviral drugs (ARV) for the affected people through the President’s Emergency Programme for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) had officially withdrawn a substantial amount of the support.
The 2015 target for HIV treatment coverage for adults and children was not achieved while the quality of HIV services provided has also remained worrisome. “Also, we do not measure the management of HIV co-infections. Yet we are aware that in Nigeria, co-infection of HIV with tuberculosis, hepatitis and cancers are very high,” a stakeholder said.
To address the situation, stakeholders urged the Federal Ministry of Health to institute a mechanism to ensure all hospitals providing HIV treatment services, no matter the status, adhere to prescribed standards of practice.
They also want the government to remove the barriers to accessing HIV treatment.
The Executive Secretary of the Civil Society for HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN), Walter Ugwuocha said:
“As the HIV treatment programme matures, it is important that we equally look for ways to ensure the cost of programme implementation drops. One of these ways is shifting to the use of cheaper and less toxic first-line drugs. It is also important we consider generic drug production. We must recognise the value in the use of self-test kits as a tool that can help reduce the barriers to individuals determining their HIV status,” he said.
Ugwuocha also wants the national HIV treatment programme to be weaned off donor support. “The HIV treatment programme in Nigeria is heavily dependent on the support of international partners. We demand that the national government’s investment in the HIV treatment programme should increase by at least 100% by the end of 2018. One such approach is the institution of the AIDS trust fund,” he told the media.
The Resident Coordinator of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr. Bilali Camara urged the inclusion of HIV/ AIDS testing and treatment in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

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