History made as DELSUTH performs first kidney transplant

The Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara has recorded what is still considered a rare feat in the medical field in Nigeria with a successful kidney transplant.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, a Medical Doctor who was among the medical team in the theatre during the operation, had last year assured Deltans shortly after a pace maker implantation that there will be kidney transplant in the hospital this year.

Speaking to journalists in Oghara Monday, Governor Uduaghan expressed satisfaction that the transplant was a success stating that it was another medical breakthrough for the hospital.

"This is a happy day for me as we are able to provide this service," the Governor said, adding, "I know we were well prepared for this surgery and we also have a good post-surgery team."

Woman Died In Hospital Not My Office, Says Gov Aliyu

Niger State governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has denied reports that a woman died in his office.

The governor on Tuesday said that 46- year -old Hajiya Belkisu Mahmoud died at the Minna General Hospital almost half an hour after she was rushed out of his office on Monday.

“The woman came into my office panting, initially I thought it was because of the staircase she climbed but she told me that she was sick and has a heart problem.

“She came to complain on some issues in the state and as she was speaking, she started coughing and at a point she requested that her bag which contains her drugs, but left in the waiting room be brought for her.

Why I Donated My Kidney To Save OJB's Life –– Mabel

In a recent interview, veteran producer OJB Jezreel and his first wife, Mabel talked about their marriage and why she gave him a kidney.

Excerpts;

How long have you been married?

OJB: We have been married for 20 years.

When and how did you meet?

OJB: We met in church. The church just opened in the area and she came with her younger sister who was my friend. The sister was the matchmaker. To a large extent then, I think I was looking for a partner. As with everybody, you get to a stage where you feel you have to make your life more grounded and I was looking in the direction of marriage.

Zamfara Govt. Sacks 400 Nurses and Midwives Over Strike

The Zamfara State Government has announced the sack of over 400 nurses and midwives, who went on strike over pay, accusing them of leaving their duty posts without permission,

The Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Birnin Magaji, announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday in Gusau.

The health workers had been on an indefinite strike since last Wednesday, over non-implementation of CONHESS by the state government.

Mr. Birnin Magaji dismissed the claim by the health workers, saying that the government had approved the implementation of the new salary effective from December1.

According to him, the decision to terminate the appointments is in line with Civil Service Rules.

Nigerian Men Have Poor Sperm Quality – Prof Nicholas Zech

The sperm of Nigerian men is said to be of a poor quality which accounts for an increasing rate of infertility amongst married couples who want to have their own biological children.

This statement was made by Professor Nicholas Zech of the IVF Centres Prof Zech, Austria, the World's first International Standards Organisation (ISO) certified In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centre at the opening of the new state of the art Hospital at G.R.A, Ikeja.

"This is just an observation we made over the last couple of years since our collaboration with the Bridge clinic and I can trust in the data because we set the standards of how the sperm is analysed and interestingly, compared to the European countries. The sperm we see of patients coming into the centre are lower, the quality is lower," he said.

14-year-old Girl Dies After Using a Tampon for the first time

An aspiring West End star was killed after using her first tampon and suffering toxic shock syndrome, her distraught family has revealed.

Talented 14-year-old Natasha Scott-Falber died on Valentine's Day just a few days after using the product for the first time.

Before now, her horrified relatives believed she died as a result of blood poisoning, but following a post-mortem and toxic tests, medical investigations recently revealed Natasha died as a direct result of toxic shock syndrome.

Toxic shock syndrome is a bacterial infection caused when usually harmless Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus bacteria, which live on the skin, invade the bloodstream and produce dangerous toxins. The infection causes a sudden high fever and a massive drop in blood pressure.

Scientists unravel biggest mystery of HIV

Scientists have finally found a way to outsmart the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or rather, its ability to hide from the antibodies and immune cells. This is the quality that makes HIV so dangerous. However, researchers were able to find a way to create an effective cure for AIDS using the substance tacrolimus and finally win over the dangerous disease.

The main difficulty against the human immunodeficiency virus (responsible for such a scary disease as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is that this malicious virus is completely elusive for human immune system. One gets the impression that it has some kind of invisibility power where antibodies cannot recognize it. A fairly strong variability of the HIV protein is to blame. This is precisely why the immune system is unable to develop antibodies that could "identify and detain" the virus exiting the cell.

22 Lagos Pupils Fall Unconscious After Inhaling Gaseous Substance

There was confusion at Ogba Junior Grammar School, Lagos, on Thursday after about 22 pupils fell unconscious.

Punch Metro learnt that the incident was caused by a gaseous substance emitting from a neighbouring laboratory, close to the school. The chemical was said to have engulfed the entire school.

When our correspondent visited the school premises, it was deserted. However, a security guard, who did not identify himself, said the incident occurred around 1pm.

He said, “I was just by the gate when I perceived this offensive smell. I quickly ran to a corner and covered my nose with my shirt.

“Pupils came running, saying some of their colleagues had fainted. When the smell subsided, teachers rallied around and rushed them to a hospital.

Three confirmed dead after cholera outbreak in Lagos

The Government of Lagos state has confirmed the outbreak of cholera in the state.

The sad and shocking development was made known yesterday by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris.

According to him, three persons have been confirmed dead out of the 13 cases reported to the Ministry.

He specifically named the worst affected areas as Ajeromi, Apapa, Lagos Island, Oshodi-Isolo, and Surulere local government.

Idris said contaminated wells, local food and uwashed hands were the most probable sources and causes of the epidemic.

Nigeria records two new polio cases

Nigeria has for the first time gone eleven months without recording any incidence of type three Wild Polio Virus (WPV3), even as she continues to report type one WPV (WPV1) with two new cases last week.

According to the latest edition of the Weekly Polio Update published yesterday by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), two new WPV cases were reported last week from two previously infected districts, one from Bauchi Local Council in Bauchi State and one from Bichi Council in Kano State. The total number of WPV cases for 2013 is now 49 (all WPV1s). The most recent WPV1 case in the country, from Kano, had onset of paralysis on September 10, 2013.

The GPEI report noted that no WPV3 has been detected in Nigeria since November 2012 and no new Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus type two (cVDPV2) cases were reported in the past week.

Marijuana, safer than painkillers — STUDY

Believe it or not, but you could be safer ingesting marijuana - the most used illegal drug on Earth – than a prescription pain killer drug. Findings by a brand new first-of-its-kind global study conducted at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, USA, showed that prescription pain killers, though legal, could be the deadliest drug of all.

A publication in The Lancet, revealed that marijuana, though often preferred to other illicit drugs of addiction such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines are responsible for killing fewer persons than addictive painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodinbe.

Of a total of 78,000 drug deaths, prescription pain pills accounted for more than half. The study does not mention why marijuana has become the most popular drug, controversy over the legalisation of cannabis in some US states rages on.

UI, OAU to Award Degrees in Trado Medicine Practice

Pmnews: The Federal Government has certified some federal universities to award degree certificates in traditional medicine practice.

The National President, National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners, NANTMP, His Royal Highness, Omon Oleabhiele, made this disclosure in Benin City, capital of Edo State, at a retreat organized by NANTMP, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC and other national and global health organizations.

According to him, the University of Ibadan, UI, and Obafemi Awolowo, OAU, Ile Ife, have already been approved by the Federal Government to award such degrees, adding that “the body that is to draw the curriculum for the syllabus has already been inaugurated in Abuja by the Federal Ministry of Health.”

Fake doctor takes delivery of over 90 babies

A man who holds a secondary school certificate, Stephen Nwankwo, but worked as a doctor in a fake hospital has been arrested alongside the owner of the hospital.

Nwankwo said they took delivery of over 90 babies within the two years he worked in the hospital established by 39-year-old Gabriel Onyema, another secondary school leaver, who lives in Ghana and sells paper.

The suspects spoke with journalists while being paraded on Friday at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja.

Spokesperson for the police command, Ngozi Braide, said Nwankwo and Onyema were arrested by officers of Area ‘E’ Police Command, FESTAC Town, after a pregnant woman, who had gone to the hospital, died during labour.

NMA arrests 12 quack doctors, shuts four hospitals in Rivers

The Nigerian Medical Association, Rivers State chapter, said on Wednesday that it arrested 12 suspected quack medical doctors and shut down four illegal hospitals in the state.

Chairman of the state NMA, Dr. Ibitrokoemi Krukrubo in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Port Harcourt, said the suspects had been handed over to the police.

Krukrubo said the suspects were not qualified to practice medicine and did not have the requisite skills and knowledge to treat patients.

He said the arrest was part of its drive to rid the state of quack doctors so as to restore sanity and regain the public confidence in the medical profession in the state.

He said, “We have shut down about four clinics and we are still investigating others.

US-based Nigerian named Physician of the Year

U.S-based National Medical Association, NMA, has selected a Nigerian, Prof. Samuel Dagogo–Jack, as the NMA Internal Medicine Section Physician of the year.

Dagogo-Jack, a Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, and Director, Clinical Research Centre at the University of Tennessee Health Science Centre, Memphis, U.S.A., was selected based on his work in pathology of pre-diabetes and diabetes.

The letter conveying his selection read: “You have been selected to receive this honour based on your work and research in pathology of pre-diabetes and diabetes and your continued dedication to the NMA Internal Medicine Section.

Zimbabwe hospital charges women $5 for each scream during childbirth

A Transparency International report claims that a hospital in Zimbabwe charged women $5 for each scream during childbirth as a way of stopping them from "raising false alarm."

According to the Transparency International report on corruption in Zimbabwe, one of the poorest countries in Africa, women who are unable to pay the "screaming fee" in addition to a delivery fee of $50 could be detained at the hospital and charged interest until they are able to pay.

The NGO said the corrupt hospital was pushing mothers to give birth at home in a country where eight women die in childbirth every day, according to UN figures.

Woman Delivers Monkey-like Baby In Kaduna

The latest assertion to the popular saying, “Wonders never end,” has just been recorded in Kaduna State where a young Fulani woman gave birth to a baby with a monkey-like face.

The woman, an indigene of SabonIceh village, gave birth to the monkey-like creature Monday morning at the General hospital Kagarko, Kagarko local government, after several hours of labour.

One of the nurses, who attended to the woman on arrival, told LEADERSHIP that, “the pregnant woman was rushed to the hospital at about 7:30 am, Monday. And we immediately took her into the labour room.”

“The woman came in through the out-patient department (OPD) after seeing the doctor on call and I decided to rupture her because the cervix was fully dilated. After I ruptured her, fluid measuring about 26 litres gushed out after which she started bleeding. All this time, the baby was still in the womb.”

Every celebrity has his/her own responsibilities - Juliet Ibrahim Speaks on OJB Kidney Transplant Fundraising

Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim has a word for those who feel celebrites are not doing enough to help in raising fund to cater for OJB Jezreel’s Kidney Transplant.

“First of all, every celebrity has his/her own responsibilities and family to take care of”, she said.

Besides, the light skinned actress believes kidney transplant should not cost more than $50,000 and also suggested cheaper alternatives.

Check out her Instagram post:

NAFDAC impounds drugs worth millions of naira imported by Ekiti state senator

Officers of the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, over the weekend impounded drugs worth millions of Naira ordered by Senator Babafemi Ojudu which he said he planned to distribute to ailing members of his constituency.

The Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Senate said no reason has been proven for the action of NAFDAC operators.

“I have contacted the NAFDAC boss, Dr. Paul Orhii, to intervene and I am sure, the little hitch is commanding his attention,” he said.

During the free medical service, which was flagged off at the palace of the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, on Moday, it was disclosed that foreign doctors imported by the senators would carry out various tests, treat and administer drugs to patients free of charge.

The senator said the project was aimed at complementing Governor Kayode Fayemi’s health care programme.

Pregnant women can drink up to seven glasses of alcohol without having adverse affect on children – study

A new study has found that pregnant women can drink between three and seven glasses of alcohol without adversely affecting their unborn babies.

The research published in the British Medical Journal examined 14,000 children born in the UK between 1992 and 1993.

It found that up to the age of ten, no harm was caused to the children of mothers who drank moderately during pregnancy with one drink the equivalent of a half pint or a UK pub measure of wine.

Tests carried out on the children included their ability to balance.

Source: Irishexaminer