I wrote this today for the Carnegie Council in honour of Dr. Halfdan Mahler, former WHO Director General, who led the successful fight against smallpox, and convened the 1978 Alma Ata conference. Dr Mahler died 17 days ago at the age of 93 years:
http://www.globalethicsnetwork.org/profiles/blogs/nationalism-version-2-0-is-congruent-with-globalization?xg_source=msg_appr_blogpost
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Friday, December 23, 2016
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Talcum Powder and Possible link to Ovarian Cancer
By
DR. MUKTAR A. GADANYA, MBBS, MSc, FMCPH, MFR
Cumulative
medical researchers suggest that there is a link between use of talcum powder
for intimate feminine hygiene and development of ovarian cancer.
Even though
talcum powder is an essential item in many homes and nurseries across the
world, linkage between its use for female perineal hygiene and increased
ovarian cancer risk has being on the radar for decades.
In 1971, researchers
drew attention to a probable connection between the dusting of female perineum with
talcum powder and development of ovarian cancer. They postulated that talc powder
enters a woman’s body through the vagina and travels through the cervix to the
uterus, before finally reaching the ovaries, where it continuously irritate
them and cause cancer.
The world
reputable medical journal, The Lancelet, reported
that a majority of ovarian tumors had particles of talc intensely entrenched in
them.
The Lancet study was followed by a subsequent
research published in 1982 in the famous journal, Cancer, which provided important data linking the powder and
ovarian cancer. Since then, about 20 researches have showed similar findings.
Three years
ago, in June 2013, a study was published by the highly ranked journal Cancer Prevention Research. Their conclusion
was that there is risk increase of 20 and 30 percent for women who used talcum
powder for perineal hygiene. This research validated the results of an earlier
publication by the journal Anticancer
Research in 2003, which concluded that use of talcum powder on female
genitals increased risk of ovarian cancer by almost 30 percent. The authors
arrived at that conclusion after comparing data from 16 separate research works.
In 2013 a
woman in the United States who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after 30 years
of using talcum powder, sued the manufacture and won the case based on a
decision of a jury.
Brief
information about the author
Dr. Muktar Gadanya MFR was awarded the
National Honour of Member of the Order of Federal Republic (MFR) at the age of
29 years. Muktar is a Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of
Nigeria, where he won the prestigious Professor Adetokubo O. Lucas and Dr J.D
Soleye Prizes for the Best Graduating Fellow, and Best Public Health
Dissertation. He has the Masters degree (MSc) of University of London, United
Kingdom, in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research. He was trained on
Intervention Mapping for HIV Prevention at the University of Maastricht in the
Netherlands. He was the 2nd prize winner in The Higher Education
Academy Essay competition for postgraduate students in the United Kingdom in
2010. He is a Fellow of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR), and is a member of the International Consortium for Research
and Action against Health Related Stigma (ICRAaS). He has published in learned
peer-reviewed academic journals locally and internationally.
On our fortnightly HSE Bulletin this week, we bring you a Q&A Session with an expert, Dr. Muktar A. Gadanya, on Job-related Stress.
Dr. Gadanya, MFR is a Public Health Physician and a Lecturer at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital/Bayero University, Kano. He has variously provided health promotion services to organizations, and the general public, through media houses like BBC, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, NTA and Freedom Radio. He is a member of the Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II Committee on Health. He is a Member of the Order of Federal Republic, Global Youth Actionnet Fellow and an Associate Fellow of Nigeria Leadership Initiative.
Enjoy the Interview
Q: What is job related stress?
A: These are stretches (real or perceived) beyond the physical and mental resilience (coping ability) of workers that arise from work and work demands, and can bring about changes in their performance, well being, mood and general health. Moderate stress has some benefits in enhancing performance and reaching deadlines; however, when stress is excessive, it leads to job related stress, which has effect on performance, inter-personal relationship, general health and job-related accidents and injuries.
Q: What are the causes of job related stress?
A: The most widely recognized causes of Job-related stress are
a. Improper planning: this can arise from inadequate time allocation for the job, or delay in commencement of activity due to procrastination that leads to excessive accumulation of workload towards the deadline.
b. poor ergonomics that leads to physical and mental drain on workers
c. improper fit between assigned tasks and skills of the worker
d. difficult interpersonal relationship between co-workers
e. extreme environmental factors like fringes of temperature (too hot or too cold, too humid or too dry etc)
f. background physical and mental health of the worker
g. looming deadlines
Q: What are the signs and symptoms of work-related stress?
A: The signs and symptoms can be varied and are often multiple, and can include:
- Excessive tempers that leads to clashes with co-workers and customers/clients
- Recurrent medical ailment and work absenteeism
- Being prone to accidents and job related-injuries
- Declining productivity and performance, leading to loss of job or lack of career progress
- Personal and family problems
- Can lead to drug abuse
- Can lead to anxiety and depression
- A worker can experience declining appetite, poor sleep, persistence feeling of impending crisis (arising from anxiety), lack of concentration, inability to meet set targets, feeling of being persecuted and being unliked, excessive tiredness, feeling of worthlessness, unexplained body pains, lack of satisfaction with job and excessive tendency to resort to "chemical crutches" like sleeping pills and drugs to increase arousal during day time.
Q. How can job related stress be prevented?
A. Prevention is by
1. careful planning and allocation of time to tasks not leaving a job undone until the last minute
2. proper fit of task and skills by workers
3. improved interface between workplace, tools and workers (ergonomics)
4. Regular medical check-up and early seeking of medical care
5. Improving work and social life balance
6. Increased physical activity especially for those with sedentary lifestyle and sedentary work; this is most important for senior managers and executives
7. Regular and balanced meals, as low glucose level in the blood (i.e. hypoglycemia) can lead to poor performance, accident proneness and tension with co-workers
8. Optimizing one's weight as obesity is linked to poor sleep and difficulty performing work task during the day
9. continuous self development and learning on the skills required for the job
Q. How can this be treated?
A: The best methods of treatment for Job-related stress are
- Health Education of workers about the causes, effects and ways to address job related stress
- getting adequate exercise, rest and nutrition
- Early seeking of help for stress related problems
- Treating underlying cause of the job related stress- like physical or mental ill health
- Creating good balance between work and leisure
- Interpersonal communication training of workers to engender smooth social working environment
Monday, December 19, 2016
Friday, December 16, 2016
Thursday, December 15, 2016
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