According to a research by Herbalpro, a herbal solution company that focuses
on providing prevention and improvements to the most prevalent illnesses and
diseases through herbal products, Obesity is on the increase in Nigeria.
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Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Monday, 15 August 2016
Monday, 24 November 2014
RED ALERT: Nigeria still at risk of Ebola outbreak as road travellers dodge screening
Monday, 11 November 2013
National Pink Day – “Taking Cancer Prevention To The Grassroots” Overview
October is an International Cancer Awareness Month (ICAM), with special emphasis on breast cancer, the commonest cancer among women globally. The ICAM is an annual international campaign against the cancer pandemic. The symbolic colour for the month of October is pink.
The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria) has designated the 18th of October, every year as the National Pink Day (NPD). It is a day to mobilize Nigerians from all walks of life, including diasporans, to join as advocates, donors and volunteers in the fight for better health for Nigerians, with emphasis on cancer. The day is observed by adding a touch of pink to one’s dressing, décor, website, social media, etc.
The colour pink is not only used in relation to breast cancer, but also refers to health in general, hence the phrase ‘in the pink of health.’ Reference may be made to the healthily glowing pink cheeks of new-born babies or energetic sportsmen/sportswomen and the like. In this regard, we may note that Nigeria has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world. Most Nigerians do not live to retire, to attend their children’s graduations or weddings, to see their grandchildren, or to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Cancer is a major cause of untimely death in Nigeria.
The NPD (October 18) is a day to remind all Nigerians to take an active role in ensuring that they remain in excellent health (the pink of health), by going for regular health screening, and supporting initiatives aimed at improving the health of society at large.
The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria) hereby invites all Nigerians to support the special project aimed at “taking cancer prevention to the grassroots”.
The CECP-Nigeria is an initiative co-promoted by six of the core bodies of the Organized Private Sector in Nigeria, namely: the Institute of Directors (IoD), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and industry (LCCI), the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The purpose of the committee is to unite Nigerians to jointly tackle major societal problems. The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) was first established in the United States of America, where the committee has become a formidable force for supporting the non-profit sector through sustainable public – private – social partnership.
Each year the CECP will take advantage of the opportunity provided by the International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD) to mobilize Nigerians to unite in accomplishing one major community project. The focus for ICPD 2013 is “Taking cancer prevention to the grassroots.” The specific goal is the acquisition of 37 Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs) for the screening and early treatment of cancer in all parts of Nigeria.
The choice of cancer as the flagship cause for the CECP initiative is strategic, given the fact that cancer is not just a health issue. Cancer affects every ramification of life, all age groups and every social class. It should therefore, be a major concern to the private sector; since it has cut short the lives and careers of many gifted and talented professionals. Cancer is a catastrophic illness; a catastrophic illness is any disease that takes away more than 30% of the income of the family. Tackling cancer indirectly prevents other related social problems like school, drop-out, poverty, marital breakdown, etc.
Cancer is a global epidemic. In 2010, cancer took over from heart disease as THE No. 1 KILLER OF MANKIND. Cancer kills more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. It is now being diagnosed in one out of every three persons alive.
As if this were not bad enough, the projections for the future point to a geometric rise in the incidence of cancer. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), globally, there will be 21 million new cases of cancer every year and 13 million cancer deaths by the year 2030, while deaths from infectious diseases will reduce by 7 million every year.
Sadly, 80% of cancer deaths worldwide occur in developing countries like Nigeria. The key factors are the lack of access to information, late presentation, and inadequate treatment due to inadequate public health infrastructure. Cancer is the most expensive disease afflicting mankind, with an economic toll in 2008 of 895 billion USD, so that most people with cancer in developing countries cannot afford the treatment and do not survive.
Cancer is a major contributor to untimely death in Nigeria. Every year, over 100, 000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Nigeria out of which 80, 000 die i.e. at least 10 deaths every hour and 240 deaths every day. The gravity of this statistics can be illustrated by comparing the loss of lives from cancer to other better publicized occurrences, for example air traffic accidents. The 3rd of June, 2012, was a very sad day in Nigeria, because of the plane crash that took about 150 precious lives. However, this incident rightly precipitated a series of remedial actions and reactions at all levels of society. In contrast, scarcely any attention is paid to the fact that on that same day more than 240 Nigerians died from cancer. Most of these preventable deaths from cancer are preceded by untold suffering which the cancer victims endure for months or even years, before finally succumbing to the disease.
In Nigeria, the commonest cancers in women are breast and cervical cancer while prostate cancer is the commonest in men. Liver and colorectal cancers are common in both sexes. The commonest cancer in children is Burkit’s lymphoma. Leukaemia (blood cancer) is also a common cancer in children. The death rate of some of the common cancers in Nigeria is alarming: thirty (30) Nigerian women die every day from breast cancer; a Nigerian woman dies every hour from cervical cancer; 8900 Nigerians die from liver cancer every year; prostate cancer kills 14 Nigerian men every day; and every two hours a Nigerian dies from colorectal cancer.
Although the cancer epidemic is a global phenomenon, the situation in Nigeria is particularly sad because of the high death ratio - out of every five (5) Nigerians who have cancer, only one survives. This is the most unfavorable death ratio worldwide. The outcome of cancer today in Nigeria is worse than the situation in the United States of America sixty years ago, when, out of every three (3) Americans that had cancer, one survived. Today the survival rate of cancer in the USA has further improved to two (2) in three (3). Furthermore, the stated target of the American Cancer Society is to improve the survival rate of cancer to 100%, thus making this the last century for cancer in the United States.
The cancer situation in Nigeria is even worse when you consider specific cancers. For instance, out of every 30 Nigerians that have leukaemia, only one (1) survives. This is very unfortunate because leukaemia, a common cancer in children and young adults, is now curable. At the Tata Cancer Centre in India, out of every 100 cases of leukemia, 99 survive.
The Tata survival rate with leukaemia illustrates the fact that given our current level of medical knowledge most deaths from cancer are easily preventable. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one-third of cancers are preventable, another one-third is curable and the last third can have good quality of life with appropriate care. For example, cervical cancer is virtually 100% preventable; and yet it kills one Nigerian woman every hour. Death from prostate cancer is easily preventable if detected early; and yet it kills 14 Nigerian men every day.
There are countless cancer survivors all over the world that can testify to the fact that cancer is not a death sentence. For example, there are currently nearly 14 million cancer survivors living in the United States. Two factors are responsible for their survival: early detection and access to first-class treatment.
Some well-known examples of cancer survivors include Banky W. (Olubankole Wellington), Colin Powell, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Martina Navratilova. Ronald Reagan survived colon, skin and prostate cancers sequentially; after he was treated for the prostate cancer, he declared that he had never felt better in his life. Ruth Ginsburg, the only female judge on the bench of the US Supreme Court, survived pancreatic cancer; during her treatment, she never missed a day on the bench.
One may ask, what other countries are doing right that Nigeria could emulate. The answer is that many countries are investing a lot of funds in cancer research, screening programmes and treatment. Every sector of the society is involved in the fight against cancer in these countries.
Some developing countries that have Comprehensive Cancer Centres include India, Egypt, Zambia, Mauritania, Pakistan, South Africa etc. A Comprehensive Cancer Centre is a tertiary health institution focused exclusively on cancer care. India has over 120 Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs), mostly established with the support of the private sector. Bangalore, an Indian city with a population of 8 million has four Comprehensive Cancer Centres whilst Nigeria with a population of 167 million neither has a CCC nor a full-fledged Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs).
India’s progress is a result of innovative philanthropy by leaders of the private sector. The first Indian cancer centre was sponsored by the late Sir Dorab Tata (Chairman of the Tata Group). His wife, Lady Meherbai Tata had leukaemia (blood cancer), for which she was treated in England. Sir Dorab then determined to establish similar facilities for the treatment of Cancer in India. He successfully initiated the project and the Tata Cancer Centre, Mumbai, was commissioned in 1941. Today, the Centre treats over 70% of its patients almost entirely free of charge.
The largest cancer centre world-wide was opened in 2010. Mrs Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the main sponsor of the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre (MSCC), Bangalore, named in her honour. It has 1,400 beds and cost 150 million USD. It is the fourth cancer centre in Bangalore, a city of 8 million people. At the age of 25, Mrs Shaw created a biotech company in her garage. Today that start-up, Biocon Ltd, is a 1 billion USD operation. The MSCC treats poor patients for free in the evenings so that they can continue to work and care for their families during the day. Where are the Tatas and Mazumdars of Nigeria?
We need to borrow a leaf from other countries like India which has become a major destination for medical tourism for the teeming Nigerian cancer patients. According to the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Nigerians spend over 200 million USD on such overseas treatment. Meanwhile, it would cost 63 million USD to set up a Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Nigeria.
Already, there have been efforts to combat the cancer epidemic in Nigeria. For instance, the National Cancer Prevention Programme (NCPP), a non-governmental initiative, was launched in 2008 and became the first major national effort towards the control of cancer in Nigeria.
In spite of its limited resources, the NCPP has been carrying out nation-wide awareness/ screening/ treatment campaigns. Over 100,000 Nigerians have been directly screened/ treated so far, and through the awareness being created, the NCPP is helping to protect millions of Nigerians from the cancer scourge. These life-saving campaigns would be facilitated by using Mobile Cancer Centres, which is the focus of CECP-Nigeria for 2013/ 2014.
Ideally, we need at least one Comprehensive Cancer Centre in each of the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria, as well as Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs) to take advantage of all levels of cancer care. However, given the fact that Nigeria does not have the adequate structure on ground to take full advantage of the second and third levels of cancer care (cure and care), it is important to focus first and foremost on the first level (prevention), which is better and cheaper. For this we need 37 of MCCs, one for each State and the FCT, Abuja.
[caption id="attachment_662" align="alignleft" width="320"]
MOBILE CANCER CENTRE - exterior[/caption]A Mobile Cancer Centre (MCC) is a clinic on wheels, in which screening, follow-up and several forms of treatment (including surgeries), can take place. It includes facilities for mammography, sonology, colonoscopy. It will also contain colposcope and cryotherapy equipment for follow-up and treatment, and a side laboratory for Prostate and colorectal cancer screening and other basic tests for hepatitis, malaria, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. Thus the MCC takes care of the double burden of disease (Communicable & Non-Communicable Diseases). A surgical theatre is incorporated into the MCC, as well as facilities for telemedicine.
There are so many advantages of mobile over fixed centres; only a few can be highlighted here, namely:
•Accessibility: The mobile cancer centres will enable easier access to the remote areas of Nigeria. They are tropicalized and customized to operate in our difficult terrains.
•Equity: Unlike a fixed centre which will be utilized mainly by those in its locality, the use of mobile centres will help to ensure that no community is left out.
•Cost-Effectiveness: According to a study by the Harvard Medical School the estimated savings of mobile clinics is staggering. The study found that for every dollar invested in the operation of the mobile clinic, 36 USD was saved in terms of management of chronic illnesses, avoided hospital visits, and prevention of diseases.
•Accuracy of data and statistics: The data and statistics gathered through the MCCs will be superior to the hospital-based data available at the fixed centres.
•Tried and Tested model: The use of mobile units has been successfully tried and tested in numerous countries. There are over 2,000 mobile health clinics across the United States of America.
[caption id="attachment_663" align="alignleft" width="350"]
MOBILE CANCER CENTRE - interior[/caption]Each MCC costs ninety-five (95) million naira. Two platforms have been established for fund raising towards this project. The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) facilitated the formation of a special short code (44777) which is common to all networks. Interswitch Nigeria Ltd also established a common code (777526) for electronic donation
Anyone may contribute towards the project by sending the word ‘ACT’ to ‘44777’ (N100/sms); or via ATM or online at www.quickteller.com using the code ‘777526’. We request all Nigerians to join in publicizing these two codes – 44777 and 777526 within their spheres of influence. We need volunteers (‘Connectors’) to support this cause. Further information is available at www.cecpng.org. Let’s ACT! Attack Cancer Together! Together we can!!
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Press Release- Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria)
[caption id="attachment_655" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria)[/caption]
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria)[/caption]The Executive Secretary of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria), Dr Abia Nzelu, has called on all stakeholders to commit adequate resources towards the acquisition of Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs) across the country to facilitate cancer prevention through screening and early treatment at the grassroots.
She made this statement in Lagos while reacting to the recent deaths of some Nigerian public figures who were victims of the dreaded but preventable disease, cancer. These include: Prof Omo Omoruyi, the former Director- General of the Centre for Democratic Studies, who died of prostate cancer on the 13th of October, 2013; Mustapha Amego popularly known as Funky Mallam, one of Nigerian’s foremost entertainers and Former President of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), who died of colon cancer on the 24th of October, 2013 and Vice Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe, Former Governor of Ondo and Lagos States, former Chief of Naval Staff and former Chief of Defence Staff and President of Nigerian’s Chamber of Shipping who died of throat cancer on the 28th of October, 2013.
Dr Nzelu lamented that although all these three prominent Nigerians received treatment in the United States of America, they did not survive because of late detection. According to her, this fact should serve as a wake-up call to all Nigerians to support the move to make facilities for early detection and treatment available to all Nigerians.
In her own submission, the Convener of the CECP-Nigeria, Mrs. Margaret Rose Adetutu Adeleke, decried the way in which wealthy Nigerians have to travel abroad for cancer diagnosis and treatment and stated that such facilities should be available to all Nigerians, whether rich or poor, within the country.
She therefore enjoined families, friends, colleagues and associates of the departed Nigerians to donate Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs) in their memory as a way of stemming the tide of avoidable deaths through cancer and other common diseases in Nigeria.
It will be recalled that on the 25th of February, 2013, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP Nigeria) which is co-promoted by the core bodies of the organized private sector, adopted as its focal cause the campaign to take cancer prevention to the grassroots through the acquisition of 37 Mobile Cancer Centres (MCCs) at the cost of 95 million naira each.
Saturday, 17 August 2013
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.
40-year-old Nwankwo said he was an auxiliary doctor in a hospital in Ondo State before he moved to Lagos, where he was employed by Onyema.
But while being questioned by journalists, it turned out that he was only a non-medical employee in the unnamed hospital.
The suspect said, “I worked in a hospital in Ondo State sometime ago. I finished from a secondary school before getting a job in Care Hospital, Iba.
“I met Gabriel (Onyema) in the house where he was living in Iba and told him the house was good for a hospital. We then teamed up and entered into a partnership with another man, Dr. Abayomi.
“Gabriel later said I should start working in the hospital as a doctor as well. We undertook up to 90 deliveries. There was a delivery we started about 8 am but did not end until 4 pm. The woman lost a lot of blood. When the baby did not come out on time, we used hand to pull the baby out.”
He, however, claimed that the woman and her baby survived the operation.
Onyema said he lives mostly in Ghana “where I sell bond papers.”
Asked if the hospital was registered, he said, “Work is ongoing on the registration.”
He stated, “I don’t really know all the details of what the doctors I employed there do. They are in the best position to tell you since I was always in Ghana.”
When journalists asked if he was aware his employees perform illegal procedures in the hospital, Onyema said, “Ask me a valid question.” He refused to answer questions onwards.
Meanwhile, the police also paraded four robbery suspects who were arrested during a gun battle with a team of anti-robbery men in Okokomaiko area of Lagos.
“On July 26, 2013, the control room got a distress call that a woman was being robbed in her house in Okokomaiko. The men of the anti-robbery team under the Area ‘E’ Command were able to arrest Godwin Obinwa, who later gave a confession, which led to the arrest of other members of the gang – Nonso Mbonu, Emmanuel Andy and Duke Onugbo,” Braide said.
Source: punchng.com/news/fake-doctor-takes-delivery-of-over-90-babies
Friday, 15 March 2013
Teens who text and drive also likelier to take other risks in car
Teenagers who text while driving are also more likely to engage in other risky activities, such as riding with an intoxicated driver or not wearing a seatbelt, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found four in every nine high school students had sent or received texts while driving in the past month.
"Considering it's against the law for teens to be texting while driving in 45 states, it's a little concerning," said Emily Olsen, a health statistician in the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health and the report's lead author.
Past studies conducted in single states have found anywhere from one quarter to almost three quarters of teenagers text while driving, the study team wrote Monday in Pediatrics.
To get a more nationally representative picture, Olsen and her colleagues analyzed responses to the CDC's annual youth risk survey. On the 2011 survey, conducted in public and private schools across the country, 8,505 high school students ages 16 and older were asked about potentially dangerous driving behaviors they had engaged in over the past month.
Just under 45 percent had texted while driving at least once during that span, and close to 12 percent of teens said they texted behind the wheel every day.
Although the study team didn't measure how cell phone use may have affected safety in the car, past research shows that texting while driving can slow reaction times and impair a driver's ability to stay in one lane.
The more frequently students reported texting and driving, the more likely they were to also answer "yes" to other risky behaviors, the researchers found.
For example, 3 percent of teens who didn't text at the wheel had recently driven after drinking alcohol. That compared to 19 percent who reported texting and driving at least once in the past month and 34 percent who said they texted in the car daily.
Likewise, 19 percent of non-texters had ridden in a car with another driver who had been drinking, versus 33 percent of high school students who reported texting and driving themselves.
"It's concerning that kids are participating in these multiple behaviors, either while they're driving or while they're a passenger," Olsen said. "Each one of these things is quite dangerous (on its own)."
Jessica Mirman, who has studied teen motor vehicle cell phone use at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Injury Research and Prevention, agreed.
"That just really highlighted that as far as prevention goes, we really need something comprehensive," Mirman, who wasn't involved in the new research, said.
"It's not just about texting. It's not just about drinking."
Olsen said parents have the best chance of being able to curb unsafe activities in the car by continuing to talk with their children about safe driving even after they have their license.
Teens, she pointed out, are already more likely to get into - and have trouble getting out of - dangerous situations on the road, due to their inexperience.
"Anything that takes their attention away from the task of driving, it can wait," she said.
Parents who are worried about their teens' driving behavior should reach out to their pediatrician or a school counselor, Mirman advised, as that risk-taking might reflect other underlying problems.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found four in every nine high school students had sent or received texts while driving in the past month.
"Considering it's against the law for teens to be texting while driving in 45 states, it's a little concerning," said Emily Olsen, a health statistician in the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health and the report's lead author.
Past studies conducted in single states have found anywhere from one quarter to almost three quarters of teenagers text while driving, the study team wrote Monday in Pediatrics.
To get a more nationally representative picture, Olsen and her colleagues analyzed responses to the CDC's annual youth risk survey. On the 2011 survey, conducted in public and private schools across the country, 8,505 high school students ages 16 and older were asked about potentially dangerous driving behaviors they had engaged in over the past month.
Just under 45 percent had texted while driving at least once during that span, and close to 12 percent of teens said they texted behind the wheel every day.
Although the study team didn't measure how cell phone use may have affected safety in the car, past research shows that texting while driving can slow reaction times and impair a driver's ability to stay in one lane.
The more frequently students reported texting and driving, the more likely they were to also answer "yes" to other risky behaviors, the researchers found.
For example, 3 percent of teens who didn't text at the wheel had recently driven after drinking alcohol. That compared to 19 percent who reported texting and driving at least once in the past month and 34 percent who said they texted in the car daily.
Likewise, 19 percent of non-texters had ridden in a car with another driver who had been drinking, versus 33 percent of high school students who reported texting and driving themselves.
"It's concerning that kids are participating in these multiple behaviors, either while they're driving or while they're a passenger," Olsen said. "Each one of these things is quite dangerous (on its own)."
Jessica Mirman, who has studied teen motor vehicle cell phone use at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Injury Research and Prevention, agreed.
"That just really highlighted that as far as prevention goes, we really need something comprehensive," Mirman, who wasn't involved in the new research, said.
"It's not just about texting. It's not just about drinking."
Olsen said parents have the best chance of being able to curb unsafe activities in the car by continuing to talk with their children about safe driving even after they have their license.
Teens, she pointed out, are already more likely to get into - and have trouble getting out of - dangerous situations on the road, due to their inexperience.
"Anything that takes their attention away from the task of driving, it can wait," she said.
Parents who are worried about their teens' driving behavior should reach out to their pediatrician or a school counselor, Mirman advised, as that risk-taking might reflect other underlying problems.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Kid survives after being struck in chest by baseball
New Jersey mom Lisa McGreevey spent Sunday in the hospital, but it was still her best Mother’s Day ever.
That’s because she was at the bedside of her 8-year-old son, who nearly died after being struck in the chest by a baseball the day before but was recovering nicely.
“This is the best Mother’s Day gift ever,” said McGreevey, of Northvale, N.J., as she watched over Ian at Hackensack University Medical Center.
“We’re so thankful he’s OK,” the beaming mom said. “The woman who saved Ian was an angel. I want to thank her so much.”
Good Samaritan Maureen Renaghan, a mom from the other team, had told The Post after her amazing save that she was just “glad I could do anything to help that family and that child.”
As Ian collapsed Saturday, Renaghan, 40, sprinted from the stands over to him. She has told how he had stopped breathing and lost his pulse, with his eyes rolling back in his head.
She kneeled over the boy and started compressing his chest and blowing into his mouth until he was breathing on his own.
Renaghan, of Harrington Park, learned CPR 20 years ago for a camp-counselor job. Her husband coaches their 10-year-old son Jack’s team — which is called the Angels.
Ian was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center’s Westwood campus. Doctors there sent him by airlift to the hospital’s main Hackensack facility for further treatment.
The day after his brush with death at Highland Field in Harrington Park, Ian was watching cartoons and eating pancakes in his hospital bed, recalling his frightening ordeal.
“I was on second base, and the catcher dropped the ball,” Ian said. “So I decided to steal third. As I slid in, the ball hit my chest and lungs. Right away, I felt dizzy. It was scary.”
Meanwhile, Ian accepted an invitation to Citi Field to watch his favorite team — and player, David Wright — in action sometime soon.
That’s because she was at the bedside of her 8-year-old son, who nearly died after being struck in the chest by a baseball the day before but was recovering nicely.
“This is the best Mother’s Day gift ever,” said McGreevey, of Northvale, N.J., as she watched over Ian at Hackensack University Medical Center.
“We’re so thankful he’s OK,” the beaming mom said. “The woman who saved Ian was an angel. I want to thank her so much.”
Good Samaritan Maureen Renaghan, a mom from the other team, had told The Post after her amazing save that she was just “glad I could do anything to help that family and that child.”
As Ian collapsed Saturday, Renaghan, 40, sprinted from the stands over to him. She has told how he had stopped breathing and lost his pulse, with his eyes rolling back in his head.
She kneeled over the boy and started compressing his chest and blowing into his mouth until he was breathing on his own.
Renaghan, of Harrington Park, learned CPR 20 years ago for a camp-counselor job. Her husband coaches their 10-year-old son Jack’s team — which is called the Angels.
Ian was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center’s Westwood campus. Doctors there sent him by airlift to the hospital’s main Hackensack facility for further treatment.
The day after his brush with death at Highland Field in Harrington Park, Ian was watching cartoons and eating pancakes in his hospital bed, recalling his frightening ordeal.
“I was on second base, and the catcher dropped the ball,” Ian said. “So I decided to steal third. As I slid in, the ball hit my chest and lungs. Right away, I felt dizzy. It was scary.”
Meanwhile, Ian accepted an invitation to Citi Field to watch his favorite team — and player, David Wright — in action sometime soon.
Small amounts of formula may promote breastfeeding in some babies
Feeding newborn babies small amounts of carefully regulated formula before a mother’s milk comes in does not disrupt the child’s ability to breastfeed – and may ultimately improve breastfeeding success in the future, the New York Times reported.
In a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers examined 38 newborns who had lost 5 percent or more of their body weight in the first few days after birth. Each infant was randomly assigned to either breastfeed alone or breastfeed along with a formula supplement – administered through a syringe to avoid so-called “nipple confusion” between the mother’s nipple and the bottle’s nipple. This concept is up for debate among mothers and pediatricians. The supplement was given after a feeding, to boost the child’s hunger for the next breastfeeding.
After the first week of observation, all of the babies were still breastfeeding, but nine of the 19 infants who began exclusively with breastfeeding were now using formula. After three months, 79 percent of the babies who had been given an early formula supplement were breastfeeding exclusively, compared to 42 percent of those who had begun with just breastfeeding.
Many mothers and doctors encourage women to exclusively breastfeed their children, but this new study suggests small amounts of formula may help struggling newborns get the nutrition they need in the early stages of life.
“Most babies don’t need formula,” said the lead author, Dr. Valerie J. Flaherman, a pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, Benioff Children’s Hospital. “But some kids are at risk for weight loss, and this could be an option.”
However, Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor for FoxNews.com, said these results may confuse new parents.
"I think it’s premature to recommend this observation to parents," Alvarez said. "Breastfeeding continues to be the gold standard for parents, and we need to be encouraging more breastfeeding rather than confusing patients into trying early formula as the breast milk comes in.
"I could see where there are circumstances that may require a newborn to be fed early due to worries of small size," Alvarez continued. "However this small sample of patients does not convince me that this should be tried across the board."
In a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers examined 38 newborns who had lost 5 percent or more of their body weight in the first few days after birth. Each infant was randomly assigned to either breastfeed alone or breastfeed along with a formula supplement – administered through a syringe to avoid so-called “nipple confusion” between the mother’s nipple and the bottle’s nipple. This concept is up for debate among mothers and pediatricians. The supplement was given after a feeding, to boost the child’s hunger for the next breastfeeding.
After the first week of observation, all of the babies were still breastfeeding, but nine of the 19 infants who began exclusively with breastfeeding were now using formula. After three months, 79 percent of the babies who had been given an early formula supplement were breastfeeding exclusively, compared to 42 percent of those who had begun with just breastfeeding.
Many mothers and doctors encourage women to exclusively breastfeed their children, but this new study suggests small amounts of formula may help struggling newborns get the nutrition they need in the early stages of life.
“Most babies don’t need formula,” said the lead author, Dr. Valerie J. Flaherman, a pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, Benioff Children’s Hospital. “But some kids are at risk for weight loss, and this could be an option.”
However, Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor for FoxNews.com, said these results may confuse new parents.
"I think it’s premature to recommend this observation to parents," Alvarez said. "Breastfeeding continues to be the gold standard for parents, and we need to be encouraging more breastfeeding rather than confusing patients into trying early formula as the breast milk comes in.
"I could see where there are circumstances that may require a newborn to be fed early due to worries of small size," Alvarez continued. "However this small sample of patients does not convince me that this should be tried across the board."
6-year-old boy suffers over 100 bee stings on hiking trail
A 6-year old boy was hospitalized Sunday morning after suffering extensive bee stings on a popular hiking trail, Pima County Sheriff's deputy Tom Peine told Tucson News Now.
Peine said the boy is stable as of Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. He was stung more than a hundred times.
"Three of the victims were sitting on a rock... the father had the 6-year-old in his lap, trying to protect his face from the bees," said Robert Raterink, a Pima County Sheriff's Search and Rescue spokesman.
Golder Ranch Fire and Rescue spokesman Will Seeley said rescuers assisted four other victims just off the Linda Vista Trail east of Calle Concordia and Oracle Road.
The other four hikers all were stung more than 100 times, Seeley said.
Three of the victims were taken to the hospital by ambulance. Two others did not want medical treatment.
A caller to 9-1-1 reported a prolonged attack and that the boy and another hiker were going into shock.
Seeley said the bees were extremely aggressive and also strung rescue personnel.
Peine said the boy is stable as of Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. He was stung more than a hundred times.
"Three of the victims were sitting on a rock... the father had the 6-year-old in his lap, trying to protect his face from the bees," said Robert Raterink, a Pima County Sheriff's Search and Rescue spokesman.
Golder Ranch Fire and Rescue spokesman Will Seeley said rescuers assisted four other victims just off the Linda Vista Trail east of Calle Concordia and Oracle Road.
The other four hikers all were stung more than 100 times, Seeley said.
Three of the victims were taken to the hospital by ambulance. Two others did not want medical treatment.
A caller to 9-1-1 reported a prolonged attack and that the boy and another hiker were going into shock.
Seeley said the bees were extremely aggressive and also strung rescue personnel.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Vietnam War chemical tied to aggressive prostate cancer risk
Men who were exposed to Agent Orange chemicals used during the Vietnam War are at higher risk for life-threatening prostate cancer than unexposed veterans, researchers have found.
What's more, those who served where the herbicide was used were diagnosed with cancer about five years earlier than other men, on average, in the new study.
"This is a very, very strong predictor of lethal cancer," said urologist Dr. Mark Garzotto, who worked on the study at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.
"If you're a person who's otherwise healthy and you've been exposed to Agent Orange, that has important implications for whether you should be screened or not screened," he told Reuters Health.
But one researcher not involved in the new study said it's hard to take much away from it, given the imprecise way it measured exposure.
Agent Orange - named after the giant orange drums in which the chemicals were stored - was used by the U.S. military to destroy foliage, mainly in southern Vietnam. The herbicide was often contaminated with a type of dioxin, a potently carcinogenic chemical.
The Vietnam Red Cross Society has estimated that up to one million Vietnamese suffered disabilities or health problems as a result of Agent Orange, including children born with birth defects years after their parents were exposed.
Past research has also suggested that U.S. veterans who served where Agent Orange was used are at an increased risk of lymphoma and certain other cancers, including prostate cancer.
For the new study, researchers wanted to see whether exposure was more closely linked to slow-growing prostate cancers or aggressive tumors.
They analyzed medical records belonging to 2,720 veterans who were referred to the Portland VA for a prostate biopsy. About one in 13 of those men had been exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to their VA intake interviews.
One third of all men in the study were diagnosed with prostate cancer, about half of which were high-grade cancers - the more aggressive and fast-growing type.
When the researchers took men's age, race, weight and family history of cancer into account, they found those with Agent Orange exposure were 52 percent more likely than unexposed men to have any form of prostate cancer.
Separating out different types of tumors showed the herbicide was not linked to an increased risk of slower-growing, low-grade cancer. But it was tied to a 75 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, the study team reported Monday in the journal Cancer.
"The increase in the rate of cancers was almost exclusively driven by the potentially lethal cancers," said Garzotto, also from Oregon Health & Science University.
More research is needed to figure out exactly why that is, he said. In the meantime, Garzotto said veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange should discuss that with their doctors.
But Dr. Arnold Schecter, from the University of Texas School of Public Health's Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Program in Dallas, said there's a "big problem" with just asking veterans if they were exposed to Agent Orange or served in an area where it was sprayed.
"Of those most heavily exposed in the military as best we know, only a relatively small percentage of them had elevated dioxin from Agent Orange in their blood when tested by (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)," he told Reuters Health.
Schecter said that in Vietnam, people who have high levels of that type of dioxin in their blood live in places where the chemical has become integrated into the food supply - or were sprayed directly with Agent Orange.
Another researcher who has studied the effects of Agent Orange agreed that not having blood dioxin levels is a drawback, but said the findings are consistent with past research and general thinking about the chemical.
"Almost all studies have implicated that men with Agent Orange (exposure) either have higher-grade prostate cancer or a more aggressive clinical course," said Dr. Gregory Merrick, head of Wheeling Hospital's Schiffler Cancer Center in West Virginia, who also wasn't involved in the new research.
But, he added, as long as men are getting into the VA system and getting regular evaluations and treatment for cancer, Agent Orange exposure "is not a death sentence by any means."
What's more, those who served where the herbicide was used were diagnosed with cancer about five years earlier than other men, on average, in the new study.
"This is a very, very strong predictor of lethal cancer," said urologist Dr. Mark Garzotto, who worked on the study at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.
"If you're a person who's otherwise healthy and you've been exposed to Agent Orange, that has important implications for whether you should be screened or not screened," he told Reuters Health.
But one researcher not involved in the new study said it's hard to take much away from it, given the imprecise way it measured exposure.
Agent Orange - named after the giant orange drums in which the chemicals were stored - was used by the U.S. military to destroy foliage, mainly in southern Vietnam. The herbicide was often contaminated with a type of dioxin, a potently carcinogenic chemical.
The Vietnam Red Cross Society has estimated that up to one million Vietnamese suffered disabilities or health problems as a result of Agent Orange, including children born with birth defects years after their parents were exposed.
Past research has also suggested that U.S. veterans who served where Agent Orange was used are at an increased risk of lymphoma and certain other cancers, including prostate cancer.
For the new study, researchers wanted to see whether exposure was more closely linked to slow-growing prostate cancers or aggressive tumors.
They analyzed medical records belonging to 2,720 veterans who were referred to the Portland VA for a prostate biopsy. About one in 13 of those men had been exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to their VA intake interviews.
One third of all men in the study were diagnosed with prostate cancer, about half of which were high-grade cancers - the more aggressive and fast-growing type.
When the researchers took men's age, race, weight and family history of cancer into account, they found those with Agent Orange exposure were 52 percent more likely than unexposed men to have any form of prostate cancer.
Separating out different types of tumors showed the herbicide was not linked to an increased risk of slower-growing, low-grade cancer. But it was tied to a 75 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, the study team reported Monday in the journal Cancer.
"The increase in the rate of cancers was almost exclusively driven by the potentially lethal cancers," said Garzotto, also from Oregon Health & Science University.
More research is needed to figure out exactly why that is, he said. In the meantime, Garzotto said veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange should discuss that with their doctors.
But Dr. Arnold Schecter, from the University of Texas School of Public Health's Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Program in Dallas, said there's a "big problem" with just asking veterans if they were exposed to Agent Orange or served in an area where it was sprayed.
"Of those most heavily exposed in the military as best we know, only a relatively small percentage of them had elevated dioxin from Agent Orange in their blood when tested by (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)," he told Reuters Health.
Schecter said that in Vietnam, people who have high levels of that type of dioxin in their blood live in places where the chemical has become integrated into the food supply - or were sprayed directly with Agent Orange.
Another researcher who has studied the effects of Agent Orange agreed that not having blood dioxin levels is a drawback, but said the findings are consistent with past research and general thinking about the chemical.
"Almost all studies have implicated that men with Agent Orange (exposure) either have higher-grade prostate cancer or a more aggressive clinical course," said Dr. Gregory Merrick, head of Wheeling Hospital's Schiffler Cancer Center in West Virginia, who also wasn't involved in the new research.
But, he added, as long as men are getting into the VA system and getting regular evaluations and treatment for cancer, Agent Orange exposure "is not a death sentence by any means."
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