Why Mental Disorders Is Becoming More Common

A new study has concluded that living alone is linked to common mental disorders. The authors have also identified the main driver of this worrying relationship.

Some common mental disorders (CMDs) include mood disorders, anxiety, and substance use disorders.

According to some studies, almost one-third of people will experience a CMD in their lifetime.

These conditions can have a significant impact on the individual, of course, but due to their high prevalence, they also affect society at large. Due to the widespread influence of CMDs, scientists are keen to understand the full range of risk factors that feed into mental health.

In recent years, scientists have investigated whether living alone might be one such risk factor.

A new study, the results of which now appear in the journal PLOS ONE, takes a fresh look at this question. The study authors conclude that there is a link between living alone and CMDs. They also find that it affects all age groups and sexes, and that primarily, loneliness is the driver.

The number of people living alone is steadily growing throughout much of the Western world; this is due to a number of reasons, including the aging population, people tending to get married at an older age, and increased divorce rates.

Researchers have already looked at the relationship between CMDs and living alone, but most have focused on older adults, so their findings may not apply to other age groups.

A recent study has confirmed that loneliness is linked to a higher risk of developing dementia.

Also, a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), United States, study has found evidence that children under three years old are most the vulnerable to the effects of adversity – experiences including poverty, family and financial instability, and abuse – on their epigenetic profiles, chemical tags that alter gene expression and may have consequences for future mental health. Their report appearing in the May 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry, which has been published online, finds that the timing of adverse experiences has more powerful effects than the number of such experiences or whether they took place recently.

“One of the major unanswered questions in child psychiatry has been ‘How do the stressors children experience in the world make them more vulnerable to mental health problems in the future?’,” says Erin Dunn, ScD, MPH, of the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit in the MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, corresponding author of the report.

“These findings suggest that the first three years of life may be an especially important period for shaping biological processes that ultimately give rise to mental health conditions. If these results are replicated, they imply that prioritizing policies and interventions to children who experienced adversity during those years may help reduce the long-term risk for problems like depression.”

Also, a survey of thousands of people suggests that mystical experiences positively affect a person’s mental health, regardless of whether they are naturally occurring or a result of psychedelic drugs.

Religion may have a wide range of health benefits, research suggests.

For instance, a study that appeared last year found that religious believers tend to live four years longer, on average, while another study found that attending religious ceremonies slashes the risk of premature death among seniors.

Emerging research is also looking into the mental health benefits of various psychedelic substances.

For example, several studies have shown that psilocybin — the psychoactive compound in so-called magic mushrooms — has the potential to treat severe depression without the side effects of conventional antidepressants.

Now, a new study is bringing these research topics together, as a team of psychologists sets out to examine the effects of naturally occurring and drug-induced mystical experiences on mental health.

Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, led the team to look at the effects of spontaneous and chemically induced religious experiences among thousands of participants.

Prof. Griffiths and colleagues published their findings in the journal PLOS One.

Also, earlier studies generally focused on just one mental condition: depression. This might not provide the full picture.

Previous work has also not quantified how other factors influence this relationship; for instance, people who live alone are more likely to be overweight, smoke, use drugs, and lack social support. So which of these, if any, is the main driver of CMDs?

The authors of the new study aimed to fill in some of these gaps. They looked for links between living alone and CMDs in general, and they investigated which factors seemed to be influencing the relationship.

To investigate, scientists from the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France analyzed data from 20,503 adults, ages 16–74, living in England. The data came from three National Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys that experts conducted in 1993, 2000, and 2007.

Participants completed Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised questionnaires, which assessed whether they had experienced neurotic symptoms during the previous week.

The surveys also collated data on a range of variables, including height and weight, level of education, employment status, alcohol and drug use, social support, and feelings of loneliness.

As expected, the authors found that the number of people living alone has steadily grown. In 1993, 8.8 per cent lived alone. This is compared with 9.8 per cent in 2000 and 10.7 per cent in 2007.

Their analysis also showed that across all age groups and sexes, there was a significant association between living alone and having a CMD. The size of this relationship was fairly similar across the three surveys.

CMDs were more common in those living alone than those not living alone.

When the scientists delved deeper into the relationship between CMDs and living alone, they found that loneliness explained 84 per cent of the association.

Earlier studies had shown that loneliness is linked with depression and anxiety. Others still had investigated whether loneliness might increase mortality risk.

During what some experts call a “loneliness epidemic,” this finding is particularly important. Similarly, because ill mental health is a growing concern, understanding the risk factors associated with CMDs might help turn the tide.

Of course, not everyone who lives alone is lonely. However, for those who are, interventions to tackle loneliness are available. These may include talking therapies, social care provisions, and animal-based interventions.

The next and most challenging step is to find ways to ensure that people in need get access to these tools.

The researchers acknowledge certain limitations to the study. For instance, this was a cross-sectional study, meaning that it looked at a snapshot of people at one point in time. The authors call for longitudinal studies to ascertain how this relationship might play out over time.

As with any study of this nature, assessing cause and effect is not possible: Did a person develop a CMD because they lived alone, or did they develop a CMD and then decide to live alone?

Or, perhaps, someone with a predisposition for CMDs is more likely to want to live alone. As ever, scientists will need to carry out more work to fill in the gaps.

Earlier findings back up these results, but the new findings also go a few steps further; they show that the relationship between mental health and living alone is stable across time, that the link is not restricted to older adults, and that loneliness plays a pivotal role.

Meanwhile, studies conducted in both animals and humans have found that adverse experiences early in life can have lasting effects on epigenetics, the process by which chemical tags added to a Deoxy ribonucleic Acid (DNA)/genetic material sequence control whether or not a gene is expressed. These studies reported differences in DNA methylation, which can either silence or enhance gene expression, between individuals who were and were not exposed to early-life stressors.

The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that there are sensitive periods during which adversity is associated with even greater changes in DNA methylation.

The investigators also compared that model to an accumulation hypothesis, in which the effects of adversity increase with the number of events, and a recent hypothesis, that the effects of adversity are stronger when events happened more recently.

They gathered data from participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a U.K.-based study that has been following a group of families since the early 1990s.

Participating parents report regularly on many aspects of the health and life experiences of their children, who were enrolled in the study before they were born.

The current investigation analyzed data from a subgroup of more than 1,000 randomly selected mother/child pairs from which DNA methylation profiles had been run for the children at birth and at age seven.

The children’s exposure to adversity before the age of seven was based on whether parents reported their child’s repeated experience of seven stressors: abuse by a parent or other caregiver, abuse by anyone, a mother’s mental illness, living in a single-adult household, family instability, family financial stress, and neighborhood disadvantage or poverty.

The investigators recorded the number of exposures to each adversity, whether or not they were experienced at specific developmental stages and how close they occurred to the age at which blood samples were taken for the second methylation profile.

The analysis identified 38 DNA methylation sites at which adverse experiences were associated with changes in methylation, most of which were associated with when the stressful experience had taken place.

Adversity before the age of three had a significantly greater impact on methylation than did adversity at ages three to five or five to seven.

Exposure to adversity was typically associated with increased methylation, which would reduce the expression of specific genes; and neighborhood disadvantage appeared to have the greatest impact, followed by family financial stress, sexual or physical abuse, and single-adult households.

Although early-childhood experiences had the greatest effects, adversity at older ages was not without an impact. And while the results provide the strongest evidence for the sensitive or “vulnerable” period model, they do not totally rule out any effect related to the accumulation or recency hypotheses. In fact, two of the sites at which methylation appeared to be changed by adversity were associated with either the number of adverse experiences or how recent they had been.

“These additive effects may work together with the timing of exposure, so it would be interesting to examine more complex mechanisms in future studies with larger groups of participants,” says Dunn, an assistant professor of Psychology in the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry.

“Our results need to be replicated by other investigators, and we also need to determine whether these changes in DNA methylation patterns are associated with subsequent mental health problems. Only then will we be able to really understand the links between childhood adversity, DNA methylation and the risk of mental health problems; and that understanding could guide us to better ways of preventing those problems from developing.”

Meanwhile, studying religious and mystical experience, researchers asked 4,285 study participants to answer a survey in which they had to describe their “God encounter experiences and mystical experiences.”

The surveys asked the participants about their experiences with the “God of [their] understanding,” a “Higher Power, Ultimate Reality, or an Aspect or Emissary of God (example, an angel).” The survey also inquired about how the participants felt after the experience and how it changed their lives, if at all.

Approximately 69 per cent of the participants were male, aged 38 years on average, and the vast majority of the respondents were white. The study looked at mystical experiences that occurred both naturally and as a result of taking psychedelics, using two different surveys.

A total of 3,476 participants answered the psychedelics survey, and 809 answered the non-drug survey.

Specifically, in the former group, 1,184 participants took “magic mushrooms,” 1,251 took lysergic acid (LSD), 435 took ayahuasca, and 606 reported taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

“Most participants reported vivid memories of the encounter experience, which frequently involved communication with something having the attributes of being conscious, benevolent, intelligent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing,” report the researchers.

Overall, the study found that most participants who had “God encounter experiences” reported positive effects on their mental health.

Namely, the mystical experiences improved their life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning, and these positive changes lasted for decades after the experience.

In fact, about 75 per cent of all respondents (in both the drugs and no-drugs groups) said the experience was “among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant lifetime experiences, with moderate to strong persisting positive changes” to their mental health.

Furthermore, 70 per cent of participants in the drugs group said they had a decreased fear of death as a result of the experiences, whereas 57 per cent of the non-drug participants reported the same feeling.

Approximately 15 per cent of the participants in both groups said the experience was “the single most psychologically challenging experience of their lifetime.”

In the non-drug group, 59 per cent of the respondents described their experience as meeting “God” or “an emissary of God,” whereas 55 per cent of the psychedelics users chose to describe it as an “ultimate reality.”

The lead researcher comments on the findings, saying, “Experiences that people describe as encounters with God or a representative of God have been reported for thousands of years, and they likely form the basis of many of the world’s religions.

“Although modern Western medicine doesn’t typically consider ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ experiences as one of the tools in the arsenal against sickness, our findings suggest that these encounters often lead to improvements in mental health.”

The researcher stresses the fact that their research says nothing about the existence of a higher being. “We want to be clear that our study looks at personal experiences and says nothing about the existence or nonexistence of God.”

Furthermore, the scientists caution that people should not use psychedelic drugs without professional guidance, as there are various psychological dangers to misusing these substances, in addition to legal risks.

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Why Chewing Sticks, Herbal Toothpaste Prevent Tooth Decay Better Than Chemical Toothpastes - Experts

Though, the modern chemical-based toothpaste and mouthwash have been effective in combating germs that cause tooth decay, the major challenge is the resistance of these germs to some commonly used antibiotics and other antimicrobial chemicals.

Now, experts have formulated a herbal toothpaste that can reduce, control and prevent various types of dental diseases from edible and medicinal plants. These are Syzygium aromaticum, Dennettia tripetala, and Jatropha curcas latex.

The researchers, who tested the extracts of these medicinal plants on disease causing germs, said the formulated kinds of toothpaste have better and significant antimicrobial effect when compared to commercial toothpaste.

The tested disease-causing organisms included Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mitis and Candida albicans that have been implicated in dental diseases.

For the study, toothpastes of various compositions were formulated using the ethanolic extracts of pepper fruit seeds, buds of S. aromaticum with J. curcas latex as the active ingredients and other non-bioactive ingredients.

The 2019 study published in the AMB Express involved Olugbenga Oludayo Oluwasina; Ifunanya Vivian Ezenwosu; Clement Olusola Ogidi and Victor Olusegun Oyetayo.

Commercial antibiotics such as flucloxacillin and ketoconazole were used as positive control for bacteria and yeast respectively, while sterile distilled water was used as the negative control.

All the formulated kinds of toothpaste exhibited antimicrobial property against all the tested microorganisms. Formulated toothpaste with only S. aromaticum extract seems to be much more active among the three bioactive materials used for the formulation. But, commercially produced toothpaste without any herb product has no inhibition against tested microorganisms.

They, therefore, suggested that the chemical substances in these plant extracts and latex could be useful raw material in producing toothpaste that may reduce the occurrence of microbial pathogens associated with dental diseases.

According to them, the use of medicinal and edible plants for the formulation of toothpaste should be of interest in oral care products due to the presence of compounds that are capable of inhibiting the growth of microorganisms causing oral infection.

“The adoption of herbal toothpaste by consumers and dentists will safeguard the side effect of oral care products containing synthetic compounds and reduce the cost of treatment,” they stated.

Syzygium aromaticum is commonly called clove. It is used in preparing Nigerian pepper soup with meats and fishes. Dennettia tripetala is pepper fruit. Jatropha curcas has been used as a traditional toothbrush in some places and used for various trado-medicines.

Meanwhile, Nigerian researchers have also demonstrated that three local chewing sticks performed better than fluoride-based and conventional kinds of toothpaste in preventing tooth decay.

The study, published in British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research was entitled “A Study of the Anticaries Activity of Three Common Chewing Sticks and Two Brands of Toothpaste in South West Nigeria”.

It included Odeleye Olubola Florence; Okunye Olufemi Lionel; Kesi Christopher; and Abatan Temitope Olubunmi, all from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State,

The researchers evaluated three common chewing sticks – Fagara zanthoxyloides, Vernonia amygdalina and Massularia accuminata- and two brands of toothpaste in southwest Nigeria for the ability to control caries-causing bacteria.

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Fagara zanthoxyloides) is called orin ata in Yoruba. Veronica amygdaline commonly called bitter leaf. Commonly called Chewing stick, Massularia acuminata is called pako-ijebu, orin-ijebu in Yoruba and atu uhie in Igbo.

The results showed that the ethanol extracts of Fagara zanthoxyloides showed the highest anti-caries activity followed by Vernonia amygdalina (VA) and then Massularia acuminata (MA).

They concluded: “The chewing sticks used in this study showed good antimicrobial activity against the isolates and could provide better care than fluoride kinds of toothpaste. The active compounds if isolated would be good caries-controlling components of herbal kinds of toothpaste.

”The active constituents in the ethanol extracts of the chewing sticks will be useful as anti-caries components of herbal kinds of toothpaste which are becoming common in the market.”

The use of chewing stick is still being practised in some part of the world such as Africa, South Asia, an isolated area in America and Southern United State, owing to some unique characteristics such as foaminess, hardness and bitterness.

Some of these chewing sticks have been shown to possess varying degrees of antimicrobial activity against germs that cause dental diseases. This indicates, therefore, that the chewing sticks, in addition to providing mechanical stimulation of the gums, also destroy microbes, a feature which is absent in the common toothpaste and brush method. This advantage of the chewing sticks over the conventional toothpaste and brush could explain why many Africans have strong teeth.

Some African chewing sticks have also been reported to contain fluoride ions, silicon, tannic acid, sodium bicarbonate and other natural plaque-inhibiting substances that can reduce bacterial colonisation and plaque formation.

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8 Ways To Get A Younger Looking Neck

Article From Penelope Andersan

The skin on our necks is thinner than the skin on our faces and it’s exposed to the same wear and tear. So what are you doing about your neck?

You have your anti-aging skincare routine down to a science, you never leave the house without wearing vitamin c serum and sunscreen, and at night you refuse to let your face touch the pillow without applying under-eye treatment and moisturizer. But what are you doing about your neck?

Americans spend so much effort preventing signs of aging like creasing and wrinkling in the space between their chins and foreheads. In reality, the neck often starts to look older long before crow’s feet enter the picture. The skin on our necks is thinner than the skin on our faces and it’s exposed to the same wear and tear. Unfortunately, it also tends to get a lot less TLC, if any at all.

“Over time, skin loses collagen and elastin,” says New York City plastic surgeon Benjamin Paul, MD. Dr. Paul explains smoking and sun damage can also further accelerate aging of the skin on the neck. Those aren't the only causes of neck aging. As we get older, laxity in the neck occurs due to a loss of support from connective tissue and muscle. This leads to what we commonly call a “waddle” or “turkey neck" and looks like loose skin under our chin.

The appearance of sagging skin on the neck can affect everyone. Repeated pulling of the platysma muscle, which is the muscle men often flex while shaving, tugs on the overlying skin and causes it to wrinkle over time. According to Dr. Paul, thyroid or neck surgery also loosens the neck and can contribute to an older appearance.

While there’s not much we can do about getting older, it is possible to slow down the physical signs of aging. Here are some ways you can prevent future sagging skin and promote a younger-looking neck.

Protect Your Skin From the Sun

It’s common knowledge that sun exposure causes major damage to your skin. This includes the delicate skin on your neck, which is one of the first places the signs of aging can take hold. According to Dr. Paul, the single best thing you can do to preserve a youthful neck and prevent sagging skin, age spots, and fine lines is to wear sunscreen.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends an SPF of at least 30 because it blocks 97 percent of the sun’s damaging UVB rays. Apply sunscreen to your face and neck every morning before putting on your makeup, whether you’re spending the day indoors or outside. Remember to reapply every few hours to make sure your skin is always protected.

Add a Retinoid To Your Skincare Routine

If you’re an anti-aging veteran, your medicine cabinet is likely stocked with skincare products that promise to reduce wrinkles and give you a smooth, tight complexion. There is a huge variety of creams, for instance, that help moisturize the neck. Do they actually work? “In my experience,” says Dr. Paul, “the benefit of neck creams is quite limited.” Unless it contains a retinoid.

Retinoids, a class of ingredients that includes retinol, retinyl palmitate, and retinoic acid, can repair sun damage by reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, smoothing the skin texture, and evening the skin tone. They do it by boosting collagen production and stimulating cell turnover deep within the skin.

“Retinoids are potent, but they may be irritating,” says Dr. Paul. To minimize irritation, apply a retinoid to clean skin at night and wait a few minutes before layering on moisturizer. Because the skin on the neck is thinner than it is on the face, start with a small amount of retinoid and build up slowly. If you've never used one, a dermatologist can guide you in selecting the right product.

Shrink Your Double Chin

If you’re worried about a double chin, a non-invasive treatment called Kybella® could help restore the youthful neck you desire. Kybella® is a non-surgical treatment that involves a series of deoxycholic acid injections which target and destroy fat cells in the chin. There are no incisions with Kybella® and most patients experience minimal downtime.

While the acid in Kybella® does destroy fat cells, which are metabolized and eliminated by the body naturally, it won’t help with turkey neck. “Kybella® does not change the skin of the neck or laxity that may be present in the platysma,” Dr. Paul explains. To remove sagging skin after Kybella® treatment, a skin-tightening or surgical procedure may be necessary.

Reduce Wrinkles Caused By Aging and Sun Damage

We know Botox® works to reduce lines and wrinkles on the face. Similarly, Botox® can be injected into the submental area and jawline to give a “lift” to an aging neck. “Botox® may reduce vertical cording or banding on the neck that is caused by platysma muscle contraction,” says Dr. Paul. The treatment promotes a more youthful neck by relaxing the muscles that pull on the overlying skin and create wrinkles. The results of Botox® last between four and six months, and the treatment can be performed in as little as 15 minutes. It's best on vertical lines, though. Botox® will have little, if any, effect on horizontal lines which are formed on the neck through skin creasing.

Embrace Technology to Improve Sagging Skin

It can be challenging to treat sagging skin with topical products alone. At the same time, many patients are hesitant to go under the knife to correct loose neck skin. Luckily there are several professional skin tightening options that can give them the results they desire without surgery.

“Radiofrequency and ultrasound devices aim to tighten the neck with energy,” says Dr. Paul. The treatments have been shown to tighten loose neck skin by using energy to heat the skin and boosts the production of collagen and important proteins. However, Dr. Paul cautions that the effects of these devices is limited and patients may need multiple treatments to see results.

Go Under the Laser, Not the Knife

We know lasers can reduce unwanted hair and remove tattoos, but these incredible devices can also be used to rejuvenate the skin and promote a more youthful look. Laser resurfacing involves directing short, concentrated, pulsating beams of light at the face or neck to remove damaged skin layer by layer.

With laser resurfacing, “the goal is to improve lines, texture, and surface irregularities,” says Dr. Paul. There are two types of lasers commonly used in skin resurfacing: ablative CO2 lasers and non-ablative (fraxel) lasers. “There is more tightening with ablative lasers, though there is a higher risk of neck scarring,” Dr. Paul cautions. “Choose your laser doctor carefully.”

Try Intense Pulsed Light Therapy For Dark Spots

If you have dark spots on your neck, you’re looking at the results of sun damage. Luckily, you don’t have to live with age spots forever. Intense pulsed light therapy (IPL) is similar to a laser treatment in that it uses energy to treat wrinkles, dark spots, and sun damage. But it’s different because it releases many different wavelengths of light, so is more scattered and less targeted. During an IPL treatment, pigment in the skin absorbs the light, which is converted to heat. The heat then destroys the unwanted pigment to fade the appearance of red and brown spots. According to Dr. Paul, it may take between three and five IPL treatments to see results.

When Surgery is The Best Option

Non-invasive treatments can dramatically improve the appearance of a double chin and wrinkles, age spots, and fine lines on the neck. If you have loose or sagging skin, however, you might be best treated with surgery. Options for cosmetic neck surgery include liposuction of the neck to reduce fat or a neck lift to tighten the skin and muscle (platysmaplasty).

According to Dr. Paul, a neck lift in conjunction with a deep plane facelift is the gold standard in restoring a youthful neck and jawline. In this procedure, the deep tissues of the neck are dissected and supported to lift sagging skin on the neck and jowls. A deep plane face and neck lift is performed under general anesthesia in an operating room. The results are natural looking and can last up to 10 to 12 years.

Penelope Andersan is from the Content Partnerships Team of The AEDITION, an online publication created by new, aesthetic enhancement platform AEDIT. AEDIT is a next-generation, go-to source for anyone looking to continue or begin their medial aesthetic journey.

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How Sleep Disorder Could Lead To Musculoskeletal Pain

A physiotherapist, Dr. Adegoke Akinfeleye, has said that sleep disorder or unstable sleep pattern can lead to musculoskeletal pain in the body. He said that lack of physical exercise, bad diet, and poor sleeping surface are major drivers of sleep disorders.

Akinfeleye made the remarks recently at a press conference and media tour of Mouka Foam industry Lagos, citing that scientific evidence has been able to link sleep disorder and pain.

He said: “it is also known that not having enough sleep develops pains because a person with sleep disorder becomes more pain sensitive. The major cause of difficulty in sleeping is sleeping on the wrong surface. People must learn to sleep on an appropriate bed and know when to change their mattresses and pillows.”

To avoid unnecessary pains and compounded problem the expert urged the populace to pay attention to how and when they sleep and to ensure good sleep hygiene.

He continued: “There many things that can determine sleep ethics. People who have low back pain are likely to have sleep disorders; it is also known that people who have sleep disorders have low back pain. There is a reciprocal association between sleep and pain.”

Akinfeleye said an adult should sleep between seven to nine hours in a day in other to wake up refreshed and energised

The physiotherapist said that it is not good to sleep too much and also not good to sleep for a shorter period because it affects human memory.

He noted that irregular sleep pattern is a huge problem, “Sometimes we sleep at 9 pm, another day at 11 pm. It is advisable to have a regular sleep routine and also sleep in a comfortable environment,” he said.

Akinfeleye continued: “When you do not sleep for the duration of hours ought to, it affects the memory, the endocrine system and for every activity. In an experiment when animals are deprived of sleep, they die. If such is replicated in a man, he will cease to live. It is important we sleep like we eat and drink.

The Managing Director, Mouka Foam, Mr. Raymond Murphy, said that Mouka foam would maintain its stand as the number one producers of healthy mattresses and pillows for quality sleep.

“Mouka foam has for 60 years now become a household name in Nigeria and will continue to ensure its products attain reasonable customer satisfaction,” he added.

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People Who Are Susceptible To Asthma Should Avoid Cats, Cockroaches

As Nigeria joins other nations of the world to mark the World Asthma Day on yesterday, experts have cautioned people susceptible to Asthma to shun trigger of the disease such as cockroaches, cats, and smoke.

President, Nigerian Society for Asthmatics, UCH branch, Professor Olusoji Ige spoke at a market rally in Ibadan to commemorate the day and to sensitize on proper asthma management.

The don stated that anything that gives aerosol such as smoke from kerosine stove, dust mites, strong smells, and fryings can cause trouble for asthmatics.

The consultant chest physician declared avoiding such triggers and adequate use of their medications will ensure they live free of asthma symptoms such as wheezing, chest tightness and frequent hospital visits as well as to attain a good quality of life.

Professor Ige stated that asthma prevalence in Nigeria varies from North to South and on the average, about 10.7 percent of Nigerians has asthma.

He added “About 300 million suffer from asthma globally. There is an estimated 250,000 annual worldwide death from asthma. These deaths which occur in those older than 45years old are largely preventable.”

The expert, however, lamented that government was not doing much to support people living with asthma.

“The country is not really taking care of people who are asthmatic. The inhalers are very expensive and many asthmatics are old. About 20 percent of asthmatics are able to cope with the cost of their medications.”

Mrs Grace Adekoya, an assistant director, public health nursing officer at UCH, Ibadan stressed the need to keep substances with a strong smell like detergents away from the living area to prevent asthmatic attacks.

She urged people to dissuade with symptoms of asthma such as wheezing, difficulty breathing and tightness of chest to visit the hospital early for treatment.

Mrs Adekoya added, “it is not about taking drugs for asthma, it also requires that asthmatics understand the disease and to avoid things that trigger asthma attacks in them so that the disease does not affect their day to day living.”

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Poisonous Ponmo In The Market: Six People Arrested In Lagos

Policemen attached to the Lagos State Police Command have arrested six suspects in possession of poisonous cow skin (ponmo).

The spokesperson, Lagos State Police Command, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Sunday in Lagos that the suspects were arrested following a police tip-off.

“On May 5, at about 5 a.m, acting on the strength of information from a credible source that a truckload of cow skins, popularly called ‘ponmo’, suspected to be poisonous were heaped in a warehouse at No. 9, College Road, Igando.

“A team of Police officers led by the Divisional Police Officer Igando, mobilised to the scene.

“The huge pillage and pyramid of poisonous ponmo and the chemicals used in the preservation of the cow skins were recovered.

“One TATA Truck with registration number AKD-375-XB which was used in conveying the goods was impounded.

“Officials of Lagos State Ministry of Health were contacted and after due examination, the cow skins were confirmed to be poisonous and not fit for human consumption.

“Six suspects Adelowo Yinka 50, Olawumi Onabanjo 40, Omowumi Wasiu 43, Adeshokan Taiwo 43, Iyabo Oluwa 38 and Taye Kazeem 40yrs were arrested in connection with the case.’’

The Commissioner of Police Lagos State Command assured Lagosians that the Command will continue to protect life and property of the people.

Mr Muazu also assured that the command would ensure the preservation of public health and safety as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Earlier, the Lagos State Government had alerted residents of the state to the circulation of “poisonous ponmo" in some markets in the state.

A statement by Adeola Salako, Director of Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Health, noted that the government had so far arrested three person involved in the selling of the “poisonous ponmo”.

Ponmo, as it is popularly known in Nigeria, is cow skin, specially prepared for consumption.

He revealed that the suspects were arrested at Ojo and Iba Local Government Areas of the state with large quantities of ponmo and that the seized ponmo have been sent to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in order for tests to be carried out to check if they are okay for consumption.

The statement read: “The Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who disclosed this in his office today (Sunday) while reviewing report of preliminary investigation and enforcement carried out on the sale of the toxic ponmo in the areas, stated that the three persons involved had been charged to court, while samples of the confiscated ponmohad been sent to the NAFDAC laboratory for suitability test analysis for human consumption."

The commissioner further said the traders engaged in the sale of these poisonous products do business at odd hours in various locations in two Local Government Areas.

“Preliminary investigations and suspects tracing revealed that the traders were very active between 4am and 6am at various locations such as Volkswagen bus stop, Iyana Iba, Afolabi Ege Markets, all within the Ojo local government and Iba local council areas of the state.

“Furthermore, a company said to be located at the Ijedodo area of Iba LCDA was indicted as the source of supply of this toxic ponmo and has subsequently been put under surveillance."

Salako went on to urge the public to be careful and not hesitate to report to environmental health officers in their nearest local government or to the ministry of health any sale of foods and foods products that are not up to required standard.

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Malaria Trial Vaccine: Nigerians Anxiously Waiting For Result

The Federal Government says it is anxiously waiting for the result of pilot RTSS/ASO1, the World’s first anti-malaria vaccine, recently introduced in Malawi.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, revealed this at the commemoration of 2019 World Malaria Day (WMD) in Abuja yesterday.

Adewole said that the success of the vaccine would catalyze global efforts at eliminating malaria.

He noted that Nigeria was responsible for 25 percent of the global malaria burden and 19 per cent of global deaths from malaria.

He further said that despite waiting for the success of the trial vaccine, more commitments were being made by the country with the help of its development partners to eliminate the scourge.

“We are fully committed to malaria elimination. We have developed innovative programmes that will increase access to funds for malaria programme implementation.

“Some of these include the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, the Save One Million Lives Project, and we are also soliciting for additional funding support for malaria programme,” he said.

He said that every Nigerian has a role to play in the effort to end the scourge of malaria, from the artisan on the street to the Chief Executive in the office.

“There are simple things that we can do like keeping our environment clean, sleep inside the Long lasting Insecticidal Nets, when feverish please go for a test and if positive ensure that you are treated with Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT).

“Malaria is still a public health challenge. According to the World Malaria Report, Nigeria still accounts for 25 per cent of the global malaria burden.

“We also account for 19 per cent of deaths from malaria. Though funding for malaria control has remained relatively stable since 2010.

“We need to improve on the level of our investment to achieve a reduction of at least 40 per cent in malaria case incidence and mortality rates globally by 2020.”

Adewole noted that the WMD celebration provides the opportunity to review our strategies and up the tempo with a view to reducing significantly the burden of malaria in our country.

“Let me inform you that we are fully committed to malaria elimination. We have developed innovative programmes that will increase access to funds for malaria programme implementation.

“Some of which include the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, the Save One Million Lives Project and we are also soliciting for additional funding support for malaria programme.

“In 2018, President Mohammadu Buhari approved an incentive funding of $18.5 million for procurement of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLIN). We carried out LLINs replacement campaigns in eight States.

“In order to ensure malaria commodities availability, a national quantification exercise was conducted in conjunction with states and other partners,” he added.

Adewole also noted that the federal government was in the process of setting up an expert group comprising of researchers in the field of malaria to provide guidance on country strategies for malaria elimination.

According to him, the process of Malaria Programme Review (MPR), a holistic review of malaria programme implementation in the country is on-going and the outcome would inform changes in strategies and interventions where necessary.

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The Link Between Obesity And Infertility In Women

By Oladapo Ashiru

The World Health Organisation, convened a Global Summit on Safety and Access to Fertility Care between December 4 and 6, 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. At the event, we made several recommendations on fertility that were of great value to the public and the entire nation. They range from underscoring the fact that infertility is a disease, like any other one, the de-stigmatisation of infertility and its management up to the most current technologies. I will use this medium to explain them to the public. Today I will consider the issue of obesity and infertility.

A WHO evaluation of Demographic and Health Surveys data from 2004 estimated that more than 186 million never- pregnant married women of reproductive age in developing countries were infertile, translating into one in every four couples between the ages 15 and 49.

The science of getting pregnant and having healthy babies is such a complex process that those who get pregnant and bear live healthy babies with ease are, indeed, lucky. Being in good health, with balanced and synchronised hormones, minerals and vitamins, organs and systems, is essential to achieving pregnancy, carrying the pregnancy to term and giving birth to live and healthy babies.

Getting pregnant is not so easy, even for couples who have normal physiological parameters. For example, a couple that has no medical abnormalities including normal weight with a body mass index (BMI of 19-25 kg/m2), has only 80 percent chance of getting pregnant within one year of having unprotected sex.  It gives an insight into how being overweight or obese can decrease your chances of getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy safely for nine months without complications.

In this article, we will discuss the effect of obesity on fundamental reproductive mechanisms and its relationship with fertility treatment.

Obese women experience impaired fertility in both natural and assisted conception cycles. The mechanism through which obesity affects fertility is, however, controversial. Obesity is characterised by excess fat storage. Definitions of obesity can vary, but the most widely accepted definition is that of the World Health Organisation’s body mass index criteria. A person is obese if his or her BMI is more than or equal to 30 kilogrammes per meter.

There are degrees of obesity: Class 1 (30.0-34.9 kg/m2), Class 2 (35.0-39.9 kg/m2) and Class 3 (more than or equal to 40 kg/m2). Alternatively, although less commonly used, the parameters for the assessment of obesity include waist circumference and waist to hip ratio.

A waist circumference of more than 80 centimetres in women is an accepted indicator of abdominal fat accumulation and also referred to as central obesity. A high body mass index is associated with reduced fertility and an increased risk of complications in pregnancy. The likelihood of pregnancy declines with increasing BMI.  In some countries, fertility treatment is denied to obese persons.

According to the Europe Pub Med Journal, a study of 26,638 women aged between 20 and 40 was conducted to determine the association between obesity, menstrual abnormalities and infertility. It was found that women with anovulatory cycles, or irregular cycles greater than 36 days, and hirsutism (male-like hair growth) were more than 30 pounds (13.6 kg) heavier than women with no menstrual abnormalities after adjusting for height and age.

The study also concluded that the more overweight or obese a woman is, the more likely that she would have anovulatory cycles. Women with a single menstrual abnormality, including cycles greater than 36 days, irregular cycles, virile hair growth with facial hair, or heavy flow were also significantly more substantial than women with typical values for these factors. A longer duration of obesity was associated with facial hair.

Another analysis found that teenage obesity was more significant for never-pregnant married women than for previously pregnant married women, and for women having ovarian surgery for polycystic ovaries than for women having ovarian surgery for other reasons. This also supports an association of obesity with anovulatory cycles. These findings showing evidence of abnormal ovulation, menstrual abnormalities and excess hair growth in obese women may be explained by other recent studies demonstrating an association between obesity and hormonal imbalances.

The American Journal of the National Institute of Health corroborates this when it reports that fertility can be negatively affected by obesity. In women, early onset of obesity favours the development of menses irregularities, chronic oligo-anovulation (reduced to absent ovulation) and infertility in the adult age.

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Global Beauty Trends: The Perception Of Beauty Around The World

Article From Penelope Andersan 

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What one person sees as attractive is often completely different from what someone else thinks. This is especially true when comparing the specific ideals of female beauty across different countries. The beauty standards set by the society we live in have tremendous influence on the styles and trends we are drawn to.

Here is an interesting example: In America, we see tan skin as beautiful. We strip down and have our bodies sprayed and contoured to get a golden glow. By comparison, a creamy complexion is considered beautiful in many parts of Asia. Japanese women often wear long sleeves and hats to the beach to keep their skin fair. When we are inundated with images of bronzed celebrities and ads for self-tanning products, it is easy to forget the same trend might not be as popular in other parts of the world.

In the past few years there have been some fascinating experiments done to see how the rest of the globe interprets beauty. In one, a journalist sent a photo of her face to freelancers in over 25 countries and asked them to make her look beautiful. A similar experiment had female graphic designers in 18 different countries Photoshop the image of a woman into the “ideal” body type according to the beauty standards where they live. In both experiments, all of the photos look vastly different from one another.

Comparisons like these fuel our fascination with global beauty trends. Why is plastic surgery so popular in South Korea? How do French women pull off an effortlessly gorgeous look? Here is a peek at how beauty is perceived and what cosmetic procedures are trending in six different parts of the world.

South Korea
The desire for a milky, smooth complexion is also popular in other parts of Asia, including South Korea. While pale skin was originally a signifier of wealth and prestige, the desire for white skin is now associated with youthfulness. The first signs of aging on Asian skin is pigmentation, not wrinkles, so men and women use beauty products with whitening agents to appear as light and ageless as possible.
These beauty products, known as K-beauty in the global market, are focused on health and hydration (we can thank South Korea for sheet face masks). It is about nourishing your skin so you look incredible with little to no makeup. Korean beauty consumers favor a dewy, glowing complexion with textured, yet natural eyebrows. Beauty trends lean towards soft, earth toned eyeshadow and natural lips with lightly tinted color.

In South Korea, having big, wide eyes is also considered beautiful. Every year, thousands of young people undergo double eyelid surgery to make their eyes appear larger. The procedure was the third most popular cosmetic surgery worldwide in 2016, when more than 1.3 million operations were reported.

When it comes to going under the knife, nowhere in Asia is plastic surgery more popular than South Korea. The research company Gallup Korea found that roughly one in three Korean women between the ages of 19 and 29 said they had cosmetic surgery. In addition to double eyelid surgery, jaw reduction is another popular procedure and is used to slim the chin and create the highly desired “V” face shape. In Korean culture, it is not uncommon for women to undergo rhinoplasty to make the nose bridge appear higher and more pronounced.

Despite the prevalence of plastic surgery in South Korea, the desired aesthetic is not to appear overly “done.” Rather, a woman undergoes a series of small and subtle operations to look different from everyone else – a more beautiful version of herself.

France
French ideals of beauty are imperfect, laid-back, and undone. In France, women believe the notion of beauty should be pleasing to oneself above all, and that the most beautiful women are the ones who look effortlessly gorgeous. Rather than using irritating skincare products, crash dieting, and plastic surgery to make themselves feel beautiful, women in Paris prioritize pleasure and love their bodies as they are.

When it comes to maintaining a flawless complexion, the French base their beauty routines on prevention, rather than quick fixes. Women take care of their skin from a young age using beauty routines and secrets passed down from their mothers and grandmothers. However, the French’s unfussy attitude towards beauty does not mean plastic surgery is off the table.

According to the most recent Global Aesthetic Survey released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), breast augmentation is the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure in France. Eyelid surgery is also common, listed as the number one facial cosmetic operation. Hyaluronic acid and Botulinum Toxin (BOTOX®) are the most common non-surgical procedures among French women.

Brazil
When we think about Brazilian beauty standards, the Brazilian Butt Lift and barely-there waxes are the first things that come to mind. This South American country is obsessed with beauty and being attractive is perceived as crucial to getting a job and finding a partner. In fact, beauty is such a central part of life in Brazil that plastic surgery is free or low-cost in public hospitals. This intense longing to be beautiful has made Brazil the second most popular country for plastic surgery with more than 2.5 million procedures performed in 2016.

The most popular plastic surgery in Brazil is liposuction, which is closely followed by breast augmentation. Abdominoplasty (also known as tummy tuck) and breast lift round out the top procedures in the country. The popularity of these body-sculpting surgeries is telling. Brazilians feel extreme pressure to have a perfect figure they can flaunt in a bikini. Women are even going as far as to have liposuction of the toes in pursuit of a flawless body.

When it comes to cosmetics, Brazilian women take a more natural approach. Brazil is a tropical country – it is hot and humid all year round – so a full face of makeup would instantly melt off. Brazilian beauty is based on a personal care routine that puts skincare front and center. Sunscreen is a must, as are beauty products with natural ingredients like coconut oil.

United States
It is somewhat hard to pinpoint the beauty standards in America since there is such a variety of cultures and races. And, what is considered beautiful has changed dramatically over the past few decades. In the ‘90s, the beauty standards were to be tall, thin, and fair-skinned. Beauty brands had complete control over what defined beauty. However, according to research by Mintel, the beauty industry is changing. Men and women are starting to embrace their imperfections and take control of how beauty is defined. Today, the confidence that comes from accepting and loving one’s body is considered beautiful.

While the body-positive movement is gaining momentum, there is still pressure to achieve the perfect figure. The Kardashians have set the bar high with tiny waists, voluptuous curves, and full lips – beauty trends that are unattainable for most women without cosmetic procedures. Perhaps that is part of the reason why the United States racked up the most plastic surgeries out of every country in the world. From New York to Los Angeles, a whopping 4.2 million operations were performed in 2016.

Breast augmentation is the most popular plastic surgery in the U.S., followed by liposuction. More than 1.1 million Americans received BOTOX® to decrease the appearance of wrinkles and prevent future signs of aging.

Spain
If you walk through the streets of Madrid or Barcelona, it is obvious that beauty is a central part of the culture in Spain. As in other European countries, the beauty standards are high – women considered attractive have a slim figure, light complexions, and are impeccably dressed. Hair care is important in Spain; attractive women have long, thick, silky brunette locks. Spanish women also take great care of their skin. They wear makeup every day, though it is very subtle and natural.

Plastic surgery is not as popular in Spain as it is elsewhere. Those who are opting to go under the knife are most likely getting breast augmentation and liposuction.

India
India has strict beauty standards girls are held to from a young age. There is a considerable amount of pressure from a woman’s family and neighbors to look a certain way. In India, beauty ideals include long, lustrous black hair, almond-shaped eyes, natural lips, dark eyebrows, thick eyelashes, and a straight, pointed nose.
Perhaps the most significant indicator of beauty in India is fair skin. The biggest Bollywood actors and actresses endorse beauty products that contain whitening agents that promise a lighter complexion. There are countless beauty brands to choose from, as well as DIY tutorials on social media that offer skin whitening tips and tricks. In India, the link between fair skin and beauty is undeniable.

India is an emerging market when it comes to plastic surgery. Rhinoplasty is the most popular facial procedure, while liposuction and abdominoplasty are the most requested body sculpting operations. A surprising number of men are also undergoing plastic surgery in India. There were thousands of hair transplants and gynecomastia surgeries (also known as male breast reduction) performed in 2016.

This article was sent in from AEDITION

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Acute Hunger Forces IDP Children In Nigeria To Feed On Onion Leaves

Intense hunger due to inadequate food items in an Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camp at the outskirts of Bauchi State, has forced children to feed on onion leaves for survival.

Reporters, who visited the camp, located about two km from Rindebin community in Bauchi Local Government Area, noted that the children, between the ages of three and five, looked pitiful as they consume the leaves.

Meanwhile, the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday lamented the pathetic situation in IDP camps in Bauchi and several others across the nation, saying that shows the level the ugly state the Nigerian human life has been degraded to.

Director of Legal and Public Affairs, CAN, Mr Samuel Kwankur said recent gestures by CAN and other public spirited organisations should only be regarded as attempts to cushion the hardship suffered by these Nigerians..

Similarly, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has called for investigation into allegations that IDPs have resorted to eating onion leaves to survive.

Secretary General of the forum, Anthony Sani in an interview with Vanguard, said journalists should also pay more attention to the plight of internally displaced persons.

We Are Helpless - Parents 

Some of the parents of the children interviewed said there was not enough food, as such, they had to ‘improvise’ ways of tackling hunger. They said they believed onion leaves were nutritious and would also protect their children from hunger and diseases.

One of the parents, Aisha Musa, said that for the past one year, children and adults in the camp had been struggling to survive, with little or no assistance from all quarters.

Another parent, Ajidda Ahmed, said the hardship being encountered were enormous, adding that most of them had given up any hope of living a normal life.

“Both adults and children suffer from hunger; this has resulted in forcing us to eat raw onion leaves from sellers that come into the camp.

“Rainy season is about to set in and another fear is the outbreak of childhood diseases. Because for the past year, our children were not immunised and there are no water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

“We defecate in the bush and the rainwater will soon wash our faeces back to the stream, where we source for water to drink,” she lamented.

It was also observed that children under two years in the camp were showing signs of malnutrition.

Commenting on the situation, the leader of the IDP camp, Bulama Gojja, said that there were over 200 people of the Shuwa-Arab stock from Marte, Marfa and Jere local governments of Borno State. He said they were forced to relocate to the camp last year as a result of the activities of ‘Boko-Haram’ insurgents.

Gojja enumerated their challenges to include insufficiency of food items, lack of potable water, health facility and education for their children.

He said that in 2018, no fewer than 20 pregnant women delivered in the camp without the required medical attention, expressing fears that the off-springs might develop health challenges due to lack of immunization.

He lamented that in spite of their efforts at drawing sympathy over their plight, assistance was not forthcoming from any quarters.

The leader, therefore, solicited for assistance from both government and non-governmental organisations, particularly in the areas of health, education, potable water and agriculture inputs like fertiliser, seed and herbicides to enable them engage in farming.

When contacted yesterday for comment, the Bauchi State Government, through one of its senior officials, said a visit had been scheduled for the IDP camp today, and they will react accordingly after the visit.

Similarly, an official of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, who spoke for the agency, said they will react after a visit to the camp today.

CAN Laments the Situation in IDP Camps 

Meanwhile, CAN, speaking through Kwankur remarked: “It’s the responsibility of government to take charge of the day-to-day upkeep of the displaced persons at the camp.  It’s unfortunate that today, human life has been reduced to despicable level and people are now being treated with so much disdain.

“If any disaster happens outside the country, the authorities are quick to respond and sometimes rush relief materials to the affected nations, but disasters in our backyard here are treated with so much levity and the victims are often abandoned for days.

“It has gotten to the extent when agencies have clamped down on certain electronic media, warning them to refrain from showing horrifying pictures on their networks.”

Kwankur, however, appealed to the Federal Government to rise up to the challenge of adequately feeding internally displaced persons because it’s not by choice that they find themselves in such places.

“It’s indeed disheartening that there are IDPs in Bauchi. If they are fall-outs from crises in other states, government should make haste to resettle them in their places of abode,” he stated.

ACF on IDP Crisis 

ACF reacting through Anthony Sani, said: “If the reports are true that the IDP camp in Bauchi is being starved of food, then the media should investigate and draw the attention of government and those in charge to the situation.

“Because of paucity of funds, it is hard for governments to do enough. What one can say is to submit that if they cannot increase the resources at their disposal, they should increase the yield through effective and efficient management practices,” he said.

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