Health
Healing Powers Of Honey
Almost everyone knows about honey. One way or the other, you must have consumed honey either as an adult or youngster. The truth these days is that it is difficult to get good honey in the market. Since honey is sweet and excites our taste buds, a lot of adulterated honey abound in the market now. But that should not deter one from enjoying and benefiting from medicinal properties of this natural sweetener and food. Indeed honey is a natural food. It contains sugar and is sweeter than sugar as well. It contains cell building and tissue-revitalising minerals such as silica, manganese, potassium, iron and other trace elements.
Honey also contains vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin and Vitamin C which help stimulate nerve function and also regulate hormonal balance.
In Switzerland, amazing experiments have been conducted in using honey as food and medicine, to correct body conditions of ailing children. It was found that two tablespoons of honey per day helped improve the blood of the youngsters, provided a natural energy and also brought about speedier healing.
Honey And Wounds
The healing power of honey stems from its antiseptic properties. Honey has a way of causing an antiseptic action in the internal organs. Bacteria and other micro-organisms cannot live in honey because the natural food absorbs moisture from anything with which it comes into contact. Moisture is necessary for maintenance of life and this includes bacteria or fungi. But since honey does readily absorb moisture, it is a natural antiseptic.
Honey also represents a medium of osmotic pressure. This phenomenon of osmosis is a natural way of extracting moisture from living things and causing a tissue cleansing action. Honey therefore , influences this process and creates this antiseptic washing of the organs and glandular systems.
If you have athlete’s foot or a similar condition, for quick healing-use honey(unpasteurised). Dip some cotton into honey and place it between your toes or the site of infection. The itching sensation usually disappears in two or three hours. Sore or raw areas should be healed within single day.
Honey cleanses sores and ulcers, softens hard ulcers of lips and brings them to a point, as well as helps heal carbuncles and running sores.
Honey And The Heart
Honey is effective against heart problems. In cases of symptoms of heart weakness, pure honey given at regular intervals will also help greatly to strengthen this often abused organ. Honey has abundance of blood and vascular feeding minerals that help strengthen the heart. It should be used as sweetening agent in place of bleached and devitalised sugar.
Honey Treats Insomnia
Honey is a natural soother. If one consumes honey for over a long period, it helps drive away sleeplessness(insomnia). Honey is a flu-killer and makes good nutritional sense. Hot lemon juice mixed with honey strengthens and purifies the blood and the heart
On a closing note, please beware of adulterated honey. Some are sold along the roads and in the market. Note that honey colour differs according to the environment or bush it is produced. So some honey can be dark brown, others can be light yellowish but the most important thing that honey does not easily dissipate in water. So check well before you buy your honey.
By Kevin Nengia
Two United States scientists who unraveled the human micro RNA have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the coveted prize for their work on microRNA as their discoveries help explain how complex life emerged on earth and how the human body is made up of a wide variety of different tissues.
MicroRNAs influence how genes – the instructions for life – are controlled inside organisms, including humans.
Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.
However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.
The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood.
The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.
So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.
The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.
The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
“It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun acting to curb effects of antibiotic pollution.
The new guidance on wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing sheds light on this important but neglected challenge ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) taking place on 26 September 2024.
The emergence and spread of AMR caused by antibiotic pollution could undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics globally, including the medicines produced at the manufacturing sites responsible for the pollution.
Despite high antibiotic pollution levels being widely documented, the issue is largely unregulated and quality assurance criteria typically do not address environmental emissions. In addition, once distributed, there is a lack of information provided to consumers on how to dispose of antibiotics when they are not used, for example, when they expire or when a course is finished but there is still antibiotic left over.
“Pharmaceutical waste from antibiotic manufacturing can facilitate the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria, which can spread globally and threaten our health. Controlling pollution from antibiotic production contributes to keeping these life-saving medicines effective for everyone,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for AMR ad interim.
Globally, there is a lack of accessible information on the environmental damage caused by manufacturing of medicines.
“The guidance provides an independent and impartial scientific basis for regulators, procurers, inspectors, and industry themselves to include robust antibiotic pollution control in their standards,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, WHO. “Critically, the strong focus on transparency will equip buyers, investors and the general public to make decisions that account for manufacturers’ efforts to control antibiotic pollution.”
In a concerted effort to curb brain drain, the Kebbi State Government has harmonised medical doctors’ salaries to be at par with their colleagues in the federal government’s tertiary health facilities.
Kebbi State Commissioner for Health, Musa Inusa-Isma’il, disclosed this at the handing over of ambulances to the state-owned health facilities at the Ministry of Health in Birnin Kebbi yesterday.
Inusa Isma’il, according to a statement by Ahmed Idris, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the essence of the harmonisation was to retain the existing medical doctors and attract more to the services of the state.
According to him, the doctors across the state had already started enjoying the new salaries from August 2024.
He said the release of the vehicles was in fulfilment of Governor Nasir Idris’ promise to uplift health care services in the state.
“His Excellency said I should inform you, the beneficiaries of this gesture, that the vehicle should be strictly used for the intended purpose. It should not be used for anything else.
“If there is no referral case, each of the vehicles must be parked at the hospital by 6 pm. The governor said you should warn your drivers against reckless driving as well as violating the instructions.
“We should also do everything possible to reciprocate the gesture by working according to the terms and conditions attached,” he advised.
The benefiting health facilities included Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi; State Teaching Hospital, Kalgo; General Hospital, Argungu; General Hospital, Yauri; General Hospital, Zuru; and General Hospital, Bunza.
In his speech, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Shehu Koko, recalled that the ambulances were handed over to the ministry last Friday by the governor for the onward handover to the benefiting hospitals.
He observed that the ambulances would go a long way in improving the referral system in the state, adding that delays in reaching the secondary and tertiary facilities would be eliminated.
The permanent secretary attributed the high rate of maternal mortality in the country to delays in getting to the health facilities for proper medical care.
“We believe with the provision of these ambulances, part of the gaps we have in our referral system will be addressed, whereby patients who require secondary healthcare could be easily transported to secondary and tertiary health centres, where they can get such help,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Commissioner for Information and Culture Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed expressed gratitude to the governor for the support he has given to the ministry to excel.
While advising the beneficiaries to use the vehicles judiciously, the commissioner advised that services and maintenance of the vehicles must be prompt to derive the maximum benefits from the vehicles.
The commissioner also highlighted some achievements recorded by the government in the last year, including beautification of the state capital, completion of a multimillion-naira ultramodern state secretariat, road construction, construction and renovation of classrooms and upgrading of some health facilities, among others.
