Healthy-Pink

Photo credit: Sandra James. A lot of people in our society are stressed. This plays out in different ways - inability to sleep at nights, digestive problems, constant headaches and other physical symptoms that may not be traced to an organic cause. Stress is a physiological response that occurs when someone is going through life issues and/or events and feels unable to cope. It is normal to feel stressed at times but when it becomes sustained and is affecting ability to perform normal roles and responsibilities it becomes a problem and may lead to mental breakdown, causing conditions like depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Everyone goes through stressful conditions at times. People's ability to handle stress however, differs. Some people function better under pressure while others may breakdown. Some events that can lead to stress include: Pressure at work Caring for a new born baby. A housewife caring for the home and children without help. Loss of a loved one. Lo...

Happy Father's Day! It is the season to appreciate all the wonderful men in our lives and though Father's day is typically set aside to honour the father figures in our lives, I would like to put a spotlight on all the men out there. Our fathers, brothers, sons, uncles, boyfriends and husbands. Did you know that men usually die quicker and younger than women? Think about it. There are more widows than widowers. This is not just me saying it, it is the reality, supported by facts and figures. A contributing factor is the fact that men are more likely to pick risky jobs like being a soldier, security personnel, sailor, fire-fighter and the likes. As well as engage in more strenous physical work like farming and mining. Also, health wise, men are more likely to engage in risky health behaviour like smoking, excessive drinking of alcohol, indiscriminate sex with or without protection and so on. Statistics show that men are 40 per cent more likely than women to die from ca...

Hello Beautiful People, How have we been? I hope we enjoyed the weekend? Here in Nigeria, it's the rainy season and it is raining cats and dogs in most places everyday. Along with the rains, seem to be an increase in people coming down with colds. So today, I would like to talk about colds and how to manage them. A cold is a viral infection of the nose and throat. It may be caused by over 200 different viruses and commonly affects children. The immune system of children are often times still developing so they tend to easily come down with a cold and may have up to 12 episodes in a year. But as they age and develop immunity, they have less colds. Some of the symptoms of a cold include: Runny or stuffy Nose. Sneezing. Cough. Fever. Sore throat. Red eyes. Ways to manage a cold at home This depends on the symptom you're having. Generally, you can do the following: Drink plenty of fluids. Take paracetamol if having fever. For a child with runny or stuffy n...

Hello Everyone, Happy Ramadan to our muslim brothers and sisters currently engaging in the spiritual exercise. Amidst other things, one of the requirements of ramadan is intensive fasting from dusk to dawn. Also, our christian brothers and sisters just recently completed lent which also involves fasting. This goes to show that most world religions see fasting as an important exercise to improve physical and spiritual clarity. Medically also, fasting has been used for thousands of years as a medical therapy to help the body detoxify and rejuvenate from various health problems. Photo Credit: pinterest. Medical benefits of Fasting. Fasting gives the body time to rest - a great amount of energy is needed for digesting food. During fasting, The digestive organs have a break from this function and can save this extra energy. Helps body to heal and regenerate : the extra energy saved resting from digestion can be channeled to healing and regenerating the body. Helps prevent ex...

Meet Bisola, a 30 year old, single parent of a beautiful 5 year old daughter - Pearl. Once a successful banker, she lost her job in the recent recession plaguing Nigeria. Since then, it has not been easy making ends meet. Every new month seems to bring bills, bills, bills. The last straw was when Pearl was tossed out of school for not paying her school fees. Since then, she just seemed to be going on a downward spiral. Her head hurts everyday, she sleeps for barely 2 hours in the night, if she manages to fall asleep at all and always wakes up feeling as though she ran a marathon all night. The day is no better as nothing seems to interest her. Even food seems like sand in her mouth. Of late, she's just so tired of life and wonders if it's not just better to die as nothing seems to be working for her on earth anymore. To make matters worse, her mum has'nt been picking her calls and her friends seem so distant. No one has a clue of what she's going through. Can you g...

Hello People, Happy Post-democracy day! I've been so busy... while everyone was having a nice bank holiday celebrating Nigeria's growing democracy, I was working over the weekend.  Was so busy I hardly had time even to post. This is toasting to a bright, beautiful future for Nigeria where everyone lives in peace, prosperity and health. Amidst all the work, I had some time to do some socialising. My friend Toke Akande, became Mrs Aiyeola over the weekend. Here's wishing her and her husband a Happy married Life. Image: Toke Akande Aiyeola (looking pretty on her wedding day) Image: Toke and Olalekan Aiyeola. Also, had a couple of social events which I'll share with you guys. Yesterday, Mayfair Gardens Estate Organised a health event for her residents. There was free health screenings for Hypertension, diabetes and eye tests. There was also supposed to be a health talk which I was supposed to give but did'nt as it did'nt hold anymore. Thumbs up to Mayfai...

Hello Everyone, I trust we are all doing well? So, I have a lot of pregnant friends right now and people asking me all sorts of questions relating to pregnancy. Like what food is good to eat, and what to avoid, activities that should be limited in pregnancy and health tips generally that ensure a healthy baby and mother. Pregnancy is a joyful period but it is also very uncomfortable for lots of women and the body of a pregnant woman is subjected to a high level of stress.  The stress in pregnancy is usually due to hormonal changes, higher nutritional demand or the pressure placed on bones and internal organs by the growing child. The following tips will contribute to a healthy and safe pregnancy:  Go for Antenatal Care: Antenatal care is very important as it helps to care for the mother and baby and ensure a healthy outcome for both parties. So if you are pregnant, the most important tip is to go for regular antenatal care. Try not to miss your appointment and fol...

In Nigeria, a lot of women are scared of C/S. If by any chance they are told by their doctor that they have to give birth by C/S, their first reaction is "God Forbid". Most women want to deliver "like the hebrew women" of the bible and they think to do this, it has to be by vaginal delivery. On the other extreme, though this is less common, there are women that opt out of vaginal delivery completely. They do not want the pain and stress associated with Vaginal delivery. However, it is necessary for every woman to be informed about the pros and cons of each route of delivery and make an informed decision from a place of knowledge and not fear or cultural beliefs. Also every woman and baby's circumstance is different and this informs choice of delivery. The ultimate goal is to give birth to a healthy baby, safely and this should be the main factor in deciding route of delivery. Comparison of C/S and Vaginal Delivery. C/S is a surgical operation to deli...

Hello Everyone, How are we doing today? Thanks to everyone that has been reading my posts and following me generally. I spoke about intimate partner violence about 5 days ago, when I introduced it and talked on physical abuse and some of the signs and symptoms. I really liked the feedback.  We started a discussion on whatsapp about it and ladies gave their own perspective of the issue. They however wanted to know what could be done and how women in abusive relationships could protect themselves and how we could help a friend or loved one being abused. I did some research and found some websites that deal with intimate partner violence. First of all, we should all find out if our relationships are healthy by clicking the link below and answering the following relationship questions. http://www.loveisrespect.org/for-someone-else/is-my-relationship-healthy-quiz/ If your relationship is not healthy then what can you do? Experts talk on creating a safety plan. A safety plan is pr...