Chioma Umeha

*Unveils Agilent High Performance Liquid Chromatography By Chioma Umeha National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Tuesday, procured the latest model of 1260 series of Agilent High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) as part of efforts to boost its capacity in tracking circulation of fake products. The equipment donated by the Bank of Industry (BOI) will avail the agency opportunity to work with high output and sensitive instrument with multiple detectors. The Agilent HPLC, which can handle all products, is also designed to improve timelines of analysis of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, veterinary and other NAFDAC regulated products. At the presentation of the equipment in Lagos, Acting Director-General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni said the new equipment will assist the agency to detect substandard and falsified medical products as well as unwholesome foods. According to Oni, the agency is dedicated to ensuring that only the ri

By Chioma Umeha Steps To Improve Chances Of Getting Pregnant Irregular periods can indicate that you are ovulating inconsistently or, in some cases, not at all. As you already know, it is impossible to conceive without an egg, so the less you ovulate the less opportunities you have to conceive. So here is a guide to improving your chances of getting pregnant if you have irregular periods. Firstly, it will be important to try to restore some regularity to your cycle and increase the frequency of ovulation. Lifestyle changes can help you improve the balance of your hormones and help to make your periods more regular: •   Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet: Try to incorporate more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoid foods that are high in refined carbohydrates and fat. •   Attain a healthy weight: If you are overweight, losing a few pounds through a moderate calorie restriction and moderate exercise can be very beneficial, especially if you have b

By Chioma Umeha With increasing pollution levels in the country and dust particles in the environment, it is no secret that the number of people suffering from asthma is rapidly increasing, especially in urban areas. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) there are millions of asthmatics present worldwide. Not just asthma, the increasing air pollution is also adding to the people complaining of breathlessness, unexplained coughing, tightening in the chest and wheezing. Asthma is a chronic breathing condition where your airways, or bronchial tubes become inflamed and narrow and thus, make it difficult for you to breathe. The difficulty for the air to move in and out of lungs triggers symptoms like coughing, shortness of breathe, tightening of chest and wheezing. The symptoms are also triggered in response to some kind of allergens like dust, cigarette smoke, pollution, infection, pollens or hypersensitivity. Due to plenty of allergens in the atmosphere

By Chioma Umeha In an effort to curb the alarming rate of malaria infection in the country, Fidson Healthcare Plc has called on all Nigerians to embark on nationwide preventive actions against the menace of malaria. The pharmaceutical company which made the call in commemoration of this year’s World Malaria advised Nigerians to prevent malaria infection through the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS). The company said improved sanitation and avoidance of stagnant water are also other veritable means of controlling malaria. The company call is coming at the backdrop 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey reports on statistics credited to the National Malaria Elimination Programme, Federal Ministry of Health, which estimated that about 110 million clinically diagnosed cases of malaria and nearly 300,000 malaria-related childhood deaths occur each year. It also indicated that in Nigeria, malaria is responsible fo

By Chioma Umeha Nigeria needs N 2.87 trillion, an equivalent of $912 million to tackle the scourge of child malnutrition which is presently ravaging the country. Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu of the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, disclosed this at a two-day Media Dialogue on “Leveraging Resources for Child Malnutrition in Nigeria” held on Thursday and Friday, April 28 and 29, 2017, in Enugu. Dr. Isokpunwu, who spoke on “Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria: What Will It Cost?”, described child malnutrition as a major challenge in the country. He lamented that there are currently about 2.5 million severely malnourished children in the country. The medical expert quoted Federal Ministry of Health figures as showing that not less than $912 million is required to tackle child malnutrition in the country over the next five years if the problem is not to get worse. Painting a graphic picture of the crisis, he pointed out that the national budget provided only N2.4 milli

PATA Charts Way Forward By Chioma Umeha Worried by the increasing death toll among adolescents living with HIV/AIDS (ALHIV) stakeholders in Nigeria ranging from government, international partners, media and civil society organisation have been urged to work in synergy in order to curb the ugly trend. Expressing this concern were experts who gathered at a forum organised by Positive Action for Treatment Access (PATA) recently in Lagos. According to them, collaboration among stakeholders will ensure that adolescents living with HIV/AIDS have improved quality of life, health status and better living condition. In her welcome address, Dr. Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, member, board of directors of PATA pointed that HIV infection and AIDS is on the increase among adolescents. “It is common knowledge for we stakeholders not only in Nigeria that HIV infection and AIDS is increasing among adolescents. And not only HIV/AIDS, several things related to having sex, HIV is one of

By Chioma Umeha While sunscreens are known to protect against skin cancer, they may be inadvertently making you deficient in Vitamin D, causing muscle weakness and bone fractures, researchers warned. According to the study, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, nearly one billion people worldwide may be having deficient or insufficient levels of Vitamin D due to inadequate sun exposure related to sunscreen use. “People are spending less time outside and, when they do go out, they’re typically wearing sunscreen, which essentially nullifies the body’s ability to produce Vitamin D,” said Kim Pfotenhauer, Assistant Professor at Touro University in California. “While we want people to protect themselves against skin cancer, there are healthy, moderate levels of unprotected sun exposure that can be very helpful in boosting Vitamin D,” Pfotenhauer said. In addition, the study also showed that chronic diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and th