The Effects Of Sleep Paralysis

You suddenly find it difficult waking up, you try to open your mouth and call for help but no sound is coming out. Its as if someone is pressing you down with some evil power. Eventually you succeed in waking up with terror and fear spread across your face. You spend the next minutes "binding" and "casting" the devil. But, is it really the devil? more often than not, it is not a spiritual issue but a medical condition called sleep paralysis. Researchers conclude that, in most cases, sleep paralysis is simply a sign that your body is not moving smoothly through the stages of sleep. Rarely is sleep paralysis linked to deep underlying psychiatric problems.
Over the centuries, symptoms of sleep paralysis have been described in many ways and often attributed to an "evil" presence: unseen night demons in ancient times, the old hag in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and alien abductors. Almost every culture throughout history has had stories of shadowy evil creatures that terrify helpless humans at night. People have long sought explanations for this mysterious sleep-time paralysis and the accompanying feelings of terror.

Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a sense of choking. Sleep paralysis may accompany other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is an over powering need to sleep caused by a problem with the brain's ability to regulate sleep.

Sleep paralysis usually occurs at one of two times. If it occurs while you are falling asleep, it's called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. If it happens as you are waking up, it's called hypnopompic or postdormital sleep paralysis.

As you fall asleep, your body slowly relaxes. Usually you become less aware, so you do not notice the change. However, if you remain or become aware while falling asleep, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.

During sleep, your body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. One cycle of REM and NREM sleep lasts about 90 minutes. NREM sleep occurs first and takes up to 75% of your overall sleep time. During NREM sleep, your body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, your sleep shifts to REM. Your eyes move quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of your body remains very relaxed. Your muscles are "turned off" during REM sleep. If you become aware before the REM cycle has finished, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.

Up to as many as four out of every 10 people may have sleep paralysis. This common condition is often first noticed in the teen years. But men and women of any age can have it. Sleep paralysis may run in families. Other factors that may be linked to sleep paralysis include:

• Lack of sleep
• Sleep schedule that changes
• Mental conditions such as stress or bipolar disorder
• Sleeping on the back
• Other sleep problems such as narcolepsy or nighttime leg cramps
• Use of certain medications, such as those for ADHD
• Substance abuse

So, when next you try to wake up and it looks as if someone is pressing you down, it is not witches or any other demons but sleep paralysis. So instead of "binding" and "casting", it is time to see your health provider.

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Painkillers Kill More Than Cocaine

A scientist has raised the alarm about the danger prescription painkillers pose to consumers’ health, saying they are killing more people than heroin and cocaine.
According to the State Pathologist for Northern Ireland, Professor Jack Crane, who raised the alarm, Tramadol is ‘claiming more lives than any other drug’ and should be upgraded to the Class A category. Tramadol is currently classified as a Class C drug – among the least harmful.
Although, Tramadol, an opioid pain medication, is used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain, Crane warned that they could be deadly when mixed with other medication or alcohol. Serious side effects may include seizures, increased risk of serotonin syndrome, decreased alertness, and drug addiction while common side effects include constipation, itchiness and nausea, among others. A change in dosage may be recommended in those with kidney or liver problems.
It is not recommended in those who are at risk of suicide.
While not recommended in women who are breastfeeding, Tramadol’s use in pregnancy is generally avoided as it may cause some reversible withdrawal effects in the newborn.
A small prospective study in France found that, while there was an increased risk of miscarriages, there were no major malformations reported in the newborn.
Its use during lactation is also generally advised against but a small trial found that infants breastfed by mothers taking Tramadol were exposed to about 2.88 per cent of the dose the mothers were taking.
There was no evidence of this dose having a harmful effect on the newborn.
The pathologist said although, they are taken by thousands of people each day to rid them of pain, Tramadol can be deadly when mixed with other medication or alcohol. But experts said the painkiller doesn’t cause any harm so long as it is taken correctly.
However, Crane said : ‘I don’t think that people realise how potentially risky taking Tramadol is'.
Even though the use of  Tramadol is not as widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, compared to its competitions like Panadol and Paracetamol, There is fear that these other pain killers could as well be deadly. But, there is no confirmation for these.

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The Difference Between Pure And Adulterated Honey

If you want to enjoy most of the benefits derived from honey, its purity is what you should consider before buying. Most of the honey in the grocery stores isn’t exactly what the bees produce but fake and impure honey. Without distinguishing the difference between pure and fake honey, you will end up buying bad products. There are a lot of adulteration of honey, which makes it not real yet sold as the real thing. Because of the high demand for pure honey resulting from its medicinal and nutrient value individuals and companies have taken advantage of this (high demand) in a move to make an extra buck by selling fake honey.
As you would expect, real honey should not come from a factory but from bees. The most common references to real and pure honey are organic and natural honey. By just looking at packaged honey on the shelves, it is almost impossible to tell whether the honey is fake or real. 
If you want to enjoy most of the benefits derived from honey, its purity is what you should consider before buying. There are some simple tests and experiments that can be performed at home, to verify the purity of honey.
Before carrying out any of tests, one basic and extremely simple “how to check the purity of honey” method is to read the label on the jar of honey, prior to its purchase. Manufacturers are required to mention the additives and additional substances that have been added to the produced honey. So you can make out, if it is organic or extra sweet or artificial flavorings have been added, simply by scrutinizing the label. If you are buying honey straight from a beekeeper, then the honey is of a raw and unprocessed quality as you are purchasing it straight from the source. We recommend you to learn the difference between fake and pure honey before doing tests.

In order to check the purity of honey at home, here’s what to do:
Thumb Test
Here’s the procedure to do a thumb test:

• Put a small drop of the honey you have on your thumb
• Check to see if it spills or spreads around
• If it does, it is not pure
• Pure honey will stay intact on your thumb

The Water Test to Spot Fake Honey
Here’s how to do the water test:

• Fill a glass with water
• Add one tablespoon of honey into the glass
• Adulterated or artificial honey will dissolve in water and you will see it around the glass
• Pure honey on the other hand will settle right at the bottom of your glass

The Flame Test to Know Pure Honey
Did you know that organic honey is flammable? Here’s a test to know 100% pure organic honey.

• Take a dry matchstick
• Dip its tip right into the honey
• Strike the stick on the matchbox as if to light it
• If the honey is pure, the matchstick will light with ease
• The flame will also keep burning off the honey
• However, if it is with impurities, it will not light because fake honey contains moisture as one of the impurities

These are some of the simple and common ways to test pure honey at home. Another common method to tell the difference is as follows: add some water and 2-3 drops of vinegar essence into the honey and mix well. If the solution becomes foamy, that is definitely adulterated honey.
Drop honey on blotting paper or a paper towel
If honey has been diluted with water, it may be absorbed or leave a wet mark on an absorbent material such as blotting paper. Pure honey should not be absorbed, but unfortunately neither will honey diluted with most sugar syrups.
There are also other ways to test for honey's purity but they have raised  debates. One major  test  that is controversial is the “ant test”. A group of individuals argues that ants are attracted to fake honey due to its sugar content but not attracted to pure honey due to a component that is a natural pest repellent. Not a lot of information exists to support this test and in addition there is no known reason why the little creatures (ants) would favor processed sugar over real honey not forgetting  the ants may not always be “available” at all places for a honey assessment. The reason why a sweet liquid is more attractive than another for the ants could also be due to other factors such as liquid density, flavors which vary depending on the floral types.
To get pure natural honey straight from the farm to your door-step, call +2347031040178.

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IVF Babies Can Inherit Father's Infertility

Researchers have found that boys born using a common In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) fertility technique could be inheriting their father’s infertility.
The results, published yesterday in the journal Human Reproduction, showed that male children conceived via Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) had half the sperm count and half the number of well-moving sperm, compared with those conceived naturally.
ICSI involves injecting the sperm directly into the egg. A normal cycle of IVF follows, with embryos being transferred to the womb.
ICSI is used in more than half of all fertility treatments in Nigeria with over 10,000 babies born as a result.
Tests on the first group of men born using ICSI have now shown that they too suffer from low sperm counts and poor-moving sperm.
Researchers said a ‘degree of sub-fertility’ had been passed on to them from fathers unable to conceive naturally.
The study was conducted by the Belgian pioneers of ICSI, on 54 men who had been born in the first years of the technique between 1992 and 1996.
The participants, aged between 18 and 22, agreed to have their sperm tested.
The samples were compared with those of 57 men of a similar age, who had been conceived naturally.
The study, led by the Centre for Reproductive Medicine at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, also showed that male children born from ICSI were almost three times more likely to have sperm concentrations below 15 million per millilitre of semen, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) definition of healthy semen.
Study leader Prof. Andre Van Steirteghem said his team had always known that their sons might inherit the problems that had caused the father’s infertility, usually genetic factors.
He said: “These findings are not unexpected. Before ICSI was carried out, prospective parents were informed that it may well be that their sons may have impaired sperm and semen like their fathers.
“For all the parents this information was not a reason to abstain from ICSI because, as they said, “If this happens, ICSI can then also be a solution for our sons.”

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How I Enrich My Skin Naturally - Omotola

Using natural means to achieve a beautiful look is one that most Nigerian celebrities are now adopting. Nollywood leading diva, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde recently took to her social media pages to reveal the secrets on how she keeps her skin to glow. The actress is known as one of the beautiful faces in Nollywood. In 1996, Omotola married Captain Matthew Ekeinde. The couple later held a white ceremony on board a Dash 7 aircraft while flying from Lagos to Benin in 2001, with close family and friends present. Omotola gave birth to her first daughter on 30 March 1997. Together, they have four children, Princess, M.J, Merairah and Michael.Despite having these children, the star actress has continued to look younger and younger every day. In apparent response to frequent inquires by fans on how she is able to keep her skin glowing, Omotola revealed her secrets. 

“Many asking how I keep my skin glow. 1. I drink a lot of water 2. When I fall asleep , I really sleep 3. I drink a lot of fresh fruit juice 4. I only use baby lotions and moisturizers ( my mum’s secret) 5. Peace of mind … hope at least one tip helps…” she said.

Omotola's recipe is a fundamental aspect of healthy living. Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.
"Through the posterior pituitary gland, your brain communicates with your kidneys and tells it how much water to excrete as urine or hold onto for reserves," says Guest, an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University.
When you're low on fluids, the brain triggers the body's thirst mechanism. And unless you are taking medications that make you thirsty, Guest says, you should listen to those cues and get yourself a drink of water, juice, milk, coffee -- anything but alcohol.
Sleeping is also a very health therapy. Most experts recommend that one should have atleast eight hours sleep everyday.
The issue of fruits and vegetables is also note-worthy as these contain  anti-oxidants that help to fight against diseases. And even though Omotola says she takes fruits juice instead of the real fruits itself, the nutrients present in those juice also contribute toward a healthy well being.

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Marijuana Can Lead To Lower IQ

People who were exposed to marijuana from a young age can have highly abnormal brain functioning and lower intelligent quotient, IQ. This is the findings in a study published in the journal ‘Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica’.
The research was conducted by scientists in London and Ontario in Canada. Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in the world.
Previous studies have suggested that frequent marijuana users, especially those who begin at a young age, are at a higher risk for cognitive dysfunction and psychiatric illness, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The use of marijuana did not correct the brain function deficits of depression, and in some regions made them worse.
“The study suggest that using marijuana does not correct the brain abnormalities or symptoms of depression and using it from an early age may have an abnormal effect not only on brain function, but also on IQ,” said Elizabeth Osuch from Lawson Health Research Institute, in Ontario, Canada.
“Many youth in our program use marijuana heavily and, despite past research, believe it improves their psychiatric conditions because it makes them feel better momentarily,” added Osuch, who is also the Medical Director of the First Episode Mood and Anxiety Program (FEMAP) at London Health Sciences Centre.
“For this reason, we decided to study the effects of marijuana and depression on psychiatric symptoms, brain function and cognitive function.”
Dr. Osuch and her team recruited youth in four groups: those with depression who were not marijuana users; those with depression who were frequent marijuana users; frequent marijuana users without depression; and healthy individuals who were not marijuana users.
In addition, participants were later divided into youth who started using marijuana before the age of 17 and those who began using it later or not at all. Participants underwent psychiatric, cognitive and IQ testing as well as brain scanning.
The study found no evidence that marijuana use improved depressive symptoms; there was no difference in psychiatric symptoms between those with depression who used marijuana and those with depression who did not use marijuana.
With past research suggesting a genetic role between marijuana use and depression, Dr. Osuch and her collaborators at Western University’s Robarts Research Institute also conducted genetic testing on participants.

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Toxins Form Cigarette Smoke Can Affect Non-Smokers Six Months After

Toxins from tobacco smoke have been shown to persist in smokers’ homes for at least six months after they quit and remain a threat to non-smoking residents. According to the findings in a study published in the journal ‘Tobacco Control’, even six months after smokers quit, non smokers in the same home still had detectable levels of a mark of tobacco exposure in their urine.
The United States’ National Cancer Institute, NCI, has affirmed that tobacco smoke contains many chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and non-smokers. “Breathing even a little tobacco smoke can be harmful,” the NCI states on its website.
“Of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. “Also, among the 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 69 can cause cancer.”
To establish that tobacco smoke linger in homes months after smokers quit, the research team studied 65 smokers who quit smoking and discovered that tiny particles from burning tobacco get into surfaces such as carpets, wallpaper, ceiling, tiles, upholstery, clothes, blankets and pillows and were still present long after a smoker quit. There were large immediate declines in nicotine on surfaces and in dust, which then leveled off and remained the same, but still detectable, by the end of the study period.
Smoking has been found to harm nearly every bodily organ and organ system in the body and diminishes a person’s overall health. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, smoking is a leading cause of cancer and death from cancer.
Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard causing more than 41,000 deaths per year. It can cause or make worse a wide range of damaging health effects in children and adults, including lung cancer, respiratory infections and asthma.

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Owerri Now World's Dirtiest City

The capital of Imo State, Owerri, was noted for its well paved roads and clean streets. But that is now in the past as heaps of refuse has thrown the city into one of the dirtiest around. STEVE UZOECHI writes from Owerri

Under the administration of the late former Governor of Imo State, Chief Sam Mbakwe, Imo State was adjudged the cleanest state in Nigeria. Owerri, the state capital earned the state that status. But present realities in the heartland state of Imo, leaves so much to be desired. Under the circumstance, if no decisive action is taken by relevant authorities in Imo State, Owerri the state capital, may soon find its way into the Guiness Book of World Records, as the city in the world harbouring the largest heap of refuse found in one street.
What started as small pockets of refuse soon became piles of slimy dirt and today is aggressively growing into a mountain of garbage at different parts of the city. As repugnant as the sight is to the eyes and as putrid as its stench is to the nose, the Imo State government has yet, found no compulsion to evacuate the refuse.
Old Owerri city centre is made up of five major roads: Wetheral road, Douglas road, Tetlow road, Royce road and the Okigwe road that goes all the way up to Assumpta road. The busiest of all the roads and of greatest strategic economic importance is the Douglas road, which leads to the largest market in the Imo State capital, Ekeukwu Owerri Main Market.
Douglas road runs a straight course to Bank road, making it easy for traders and business men to drive straight or enter just one short drop to the bank to lodge their trade dividends. In spite of the key roles of that road and the fact that the road and Douglas House, the Imo seat of power, derive their names from the same source, the road has suffered gradually and systematic neglect from the present administration leading to massive degradation and dilapidation of the short stretch called Douglas Road.
Pot holes and dirty puddles,which have been left unattended to by the government have degenerated into near gullies at sensitive sections of the road. Despite the outcries of traders and indigenes of the area, nothing substantial has been done to ameliorate the plight of traders and road users. In recent times however, the complaints over bad road and flood-sensitive state of Douglas road paled into insignificance with the seeming invasion of the road by garbage.
Before now, the pattern was for the traders and residents of adjoining streets to bag their disposables and dump them at select locations on Douglas road for pick-up by sanitation workers the next day. This was the case until recently when the efforts of the refuse disposal outfit started going slack.
Their pick-up frequency reduced and became irregular to the point that small bags of refuse were seen ‘on parade’ from one end of Douglas road to the other. Today, there is clearly no more pick-up runs of the refuse disposal unit with about 70 per cent of Douglas road now covered with refuse and still rising.
Beyond the negative economic impacts on the market and residents, there is also the looming threat of epidemic outbreak in Owerri, following the size and stench of the now completely fetid mound of rubbish along Douglas road, which is dangerously in close proximity to business offices and residential homes. For more than one week now, the massive dump site called Douglas Road has put Owerri in the map of regions of the world under serious threat of an epidemic.
Yet, the implications of that reality and its consequences on the life of Imo residents seem not to worry the state government in the least. This is more worrisome when the State Commissioner for Health, who should have since raised a red flag and called the attention of the Governor to such life-threatening issue that runs deeper than politics, is a lawyer and not in any way a health worker.
When contacted, Hon. Jeff Nwoha, the General Manager of the Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRACO) in charge of evacuating refuse from the city, snubbed efforts to get his reactions on the reason for the non-evacuation of the Douglas road refuse heap.

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Early Morning Sex Is Best For Health

A Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Ilorin, Musa Toyin Yakubu said early morning sex is not only good for love life, but very beneficial to a couple’s health.

Yakubu., who made the observation in his inaugural lecture titled “Knocking Down the Barriers to Four O’clock Activities and Reproductive Inadequacies”, expressed concern over the rate of erectile dysfunction among men and advocated regular screening/check-ups by individuals.

His words:  “Four O’clock activity denotes early morning sex or early morning penile-vaginal intercourse. Although legitimate sex can be performed at any time of the day, the best time to have sexual intercourse is not in the dark night hours but early in the morning between 3am to 5am which typically is 4am, hence the term, Four O’Clock”.

He recalled several divorce cases reported in the newspapers, tracing most of them to sexual inadequacies. He said: “Having sex first thing in the morning and a minimum of three to four times a week is not only good for love life, but also beneficial health-wise.”

He listed the benefits of early morning sex to include: lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart attack by releasing oestrogen in women and protecting against heart diseases and prostate cancer; boosting the immune system by stimulating the body’s first line of defence, immunoglobulin A, against cold and fever; regulating menstruation by influencing the levels of lutenizing hormones that control menstrual period in women and help sleep better; releasing the feel-good chemical, oxytocin, that enhances closeness with ones’ partner and makes people happier for a longer period of time and as a form of exercise, it reduces weight.

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Federal Government Confirms Existence Of Poisonous Rice In Nigerian Market

The Federal Government yesterday, confirmed the existence of poisonous rice in Nigerian markets.
It vowed to check its smuggling by deploying its various agencies such as Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kebbi State government and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who would be working as a team to halt further infiltration of expired rice via various land borders.
The agencies at a joint media briefing yesterday in Abuja, said intelligence report revealed that rice contaminated by dirty waters of the creeks have been smuggled into various markets. The expired poisonous rice said to be dangerous to health are capable of causing chronic ailments.
Addressing the media, chairman of Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, Dahiru Ado Kurawa, said that President Muhammadu Buhari on realizing that Nigeria was capable of producing enough rice, made him to impose ban on the product.

Nigeria Nature Health Online's investigations reveal that these poisonous rice are toxic and hazardous to health. A bad bout of food poisoning can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps and put you out of action often for 24 hours. NHS Choices said other symptoms can include a lack of energy, loss of appetite, a high temperature, chills and aching muscles. In some extreme cases, the symptoms can also lead to dehydration and even death.
A 2014 report by the The Food Standards Agency showed 500,000 people got food poisoning - attributable to 13 different types of pathogens, or bacteria including E. coli, campylobacter and salmonella.

The BBC reports that around 100 people each year - mainly the young and the very old - get food poisoning so badly they can die from it.
Although some people believe the biggest food poisoning risks come from meat, people can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice.
However, experts suggest it is not the reheating that’s the cause of food poisoning - it is the way it is stored before it goes into the market.
The FSA said: “Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacteria that can cause food poisoning.“When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will multiply and may produce poisons that cause vomiting or diarrhoea.
“Reheating the rice won't get rid of these poisons.
“So, the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that poisons produced could stop the rice being safe to eat. A couple of weeks ago some cities in Nigeria, including Lagos, recorded an outbreak of diarrhea and cholerah which claimed many lives. Even though initial reports suggested that the outbreak could have come from unhygienic "Abacha" salad, many people are now beginning to suspect that it could have been due to the existence of these poisonous rice in the market.

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