Local gin (Ogogoro) kills 70 in Nigeria

Dear ANB Readers,

It was all over the news recently that about 70 people died in Port-harcourt after having some Ogogoro(local gin) and dog meat. It was later reported by The Guardian that the deaths occurred as a result of a fatal substitution of one of the key ingredients.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

I'll try to break it down as simply as I can. The major ingredient is the Alcohol (ethanol). However in the unfortunate incident, the gin manufacturers decided to use Methanol either because it was cheaper or because they manufacturers are not usually learned so they probably assumed that its just the same thing.

 Methanol is non-drinking  type of alcohol used for industrial and automotive purposes. When consumed it gives rises to a series of symptoms and eventually leads to death. Its so dangerous and the average person cannot tell them apart.

WHAT TO DO

Sad but true, there really isn't so much you can do in Nigeria as we do not have accessible poison control centers and in most cases people don't know they have consumed methanol until they become symptomatic and start to experience blurred vision and  weakening legs.(1) If by any change you figure out that that you may have consumed methanol, gastric lavage(a tube inserted into your mouth to make you vomit) but its pretty hopeless cos its not like you have the lavage device just sitting around.

So the real good advice if you live in Nigeria is to stay away. Don't buy unregistered and tested drinks. Drink some home made Zobo instead.

ANTIDOTES
Therapeutic literature state that Ethanol(drinking alcohol) and a drug fomepizole can be used to treat ethanol poisoning but that depends on a lot of factors and the drug fomepizole is expensive and not readily available. Ethanol with is present in dilute forms as shown in the table above. However, the effectiveness of ethanol in such a case totally depends on the time between consumption of Methanol and Ethanol for instance, if you accidentally drink Methanol and within 15-20 mins you get some ethanol (Alcohol), you might be fine. However, it its been more than 30 mins, there's no guarantee that it'll make any difference.

Please stay safe and be careful what you drink.

Stay Safe,
Aunty Nurse


Reference:
Goldfrank LR, ed.Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies

WHO-World Blood Donor Day- "Thank you for saving my life"

Dear ANB Readers,

Today is  WHO-World Blood Donor day!!!! The theme is, "Thank you for saving my life". According to the WHO, there are 108 million donations every year.

Voluntarily donated blood helps save a lot of lives all over the world. You can play a part too. If you live in Lagos, Nigeria you can be a part of the process.
To be eligible to donate blood, you must be between the ages 18-65 years and be physically fit.

The then Chairman of the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee Dr.Adetoun Agbe-Davies said, "government is putting it as a policy to exempt voluntary blood donors who themselves require blood from paying screening fees. Before now they are only exempted from replacement of blood and not screening fees”

Source: www.mambaonline.com

At a blood donation exercise at LASUTH in December last year,Dr Jimi Shodipo, said that blood donation was a way of giving back to the society and saving lives. He said there was shortage of blood in the country, adding that blood donation was a way of bridging the gap.
“When you give blood, it also serves as a way of doing check up, because blood donation requires tests including blood pressure, hepatitis, HIV and other ailments.
“Also, people who donate blood reduce excess iron in the body which predisposes one to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). “Donation itself acts as a form of exercise, because if one pint is collected, one will be losing about 650 calories,“ he said.


You can donate blood at LUTH and LASUTH. Send in photos of you donating blood when you do.

Thank you for saving a life!!

Aunty Nurse

Hypertension again!

Hello Readers,

I'm revisiting the subject of hypertension(HTN)  again for the simple reason that a friends Mum suddenly passed away and the post-mortem report says she died of Hypertension. Also, my husbands colleague collapsed at the office and it was determined that he has a hemorrhagic stroke (when your blood pressure so high that is causes you to rupture/burst a blood vessel in your head). He didn't make it either. These two events happened in the space of one week.

 The WHO has stated that the life expectancy of Nigerians is from 45-50 yrs. You may want to dispute it but it is actually a fact. Hypertension is considered one of the major culprits

If you have a family history of HTN, i.e, if your parents and or grandparents have hypertension, then you are at risk of developing it.





So, here's my little of advice for you;

1. Get a health check at a Hospital/Pharmacy once every quarter at least
2. Reduce your salt intake
3. Drink water
4. Get involved in at least 20mins of high-enery of 30 mins of low-enery exercise daily
5. Eat less junk food like (meatpies, everything at kfc, coldstone etc)
6. Eat fruits
7. Dinner after 7 should exclude complex carbs like Yam, Rice,Gari, Potatoes
8.Go to bed early

May the souls of the departed Rest In Peace.

Diabetes mellitus Type 2: What you should know

Dear ANB Readers,

Today’s topic is about a very common health condition. I am discussing this topic because it has become obvious that too many people have too little information about it.

About one week ago, I was at the movies with my husband and his cousin we were at the counter to pick up popcorn and drinks when my husband’s cousin asked to have water instead of a regular soft drink. My husband and I had cups of freshly squeezed juice. We asked him why he chose to have water and he disclosed that he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes mellitus about a year ago and was on medication for it. As a result of his health condition, he has been a very restricted diet as recommended by his dietician.

Image:http://www.diabetes-article.com/images/logo.gif

Naturally, I was curious to find out what really happened. He explained that he had been a major sweet tooth all his life and immediately I remember my husband telling me stories about a cousin of his who would have ten cubes of sugar in a single cup of tea and probably have 2 cups a day.  He loved and would never say no to unhealthy desserts and sugar. He would drink several bottles of coke daily without a bother in the world. He said he had no idea, education or information on diabetes and didn't know what he was doing to himself.  The summary of our discussion bordered on the subject of public information and how much the Ministry of Health and healthcare practitioners need to work harder at educating the public on habits that could help reduce the risk of developing such preventable health conditions.

I decided right after that conversation that I’d do my best to bring this information to you.

Now let’s start from trying to define Type II Diabetes in the simplest way possible. You can be said to have diabetes mellitus Type II, if the glucose (sugar) produced from the food you eat just stays in your blood but doesn’t get to enter your body cells and give you the energy you need. This can be tested using a machine called a glucometer. The commonest glucometer on the Nigerian Market is one called Accuchek. In order to determine if a person has diabetes, there are a couple of tests that can be carried out. I will discuss just one of them which is the Fast Blood Glucose level. Prior to taking this test, you would be required have had your dinner at least 8hrs before the morning the test is to be carried out and have nothing for breakfast right before the test.

The Chart below is from the American Diabetes Association and essentially summarizes what your blood glucose levels should be after the 8hr fast or after a meal Dear ANB Readers,

  So if you use the Accuchek machine and you after a 8hr overnight fast, you should have a reading below 99mg/dl otherwise you are most likely diabetic.

There are three major signs that you might be diabetic aside from the test.

1.      Polyuria – Urinating too ofen. More often than is normal.

2.      Polydypsia- Being abnormally thirsty

3.      Polyphagia- Being so hungry all the time even after you have eaten what should normally be enough

Some people have blurred vision as well. This indicates that the elevated blood glucose levels have begun to affect your eyes adversely.

If you have any or all of these symptoms at the same time, it would be a good idea to go to a hospital or a community pharmacy to at least get a fasting blood glucose check. If it turns out that you are diabetic, it’s not a death sentence, there are so many people living with diabetes and it’s not infectious or contagious so you can’t spread it by any means.

If it turns out that you’re not, you might want to consider some lifestyle changes like

1.      Cutting down on sweets and sugar. Don’t coldstone when you can sweet kiwi

2.      Exercising daily or at least thrice a week  walking, jogging, any other physical sport

3.      Drinking water a minimum of 2 litres a day.

4.      Less processed food

With these little life style changes you reduce your risk of developing the condition or making it worse if you already have it.

Prevention is by far better than cure.

Aunty Nurse Cares