Health
Fruits And their Healing Powers
Watermelon:
Has a phytochemicals that helps clean the kidneys. It’s a
cooling fruit- meaning that it helps clear heat in the body.
In addition, it has nutrients that helps boosts sex. Taking watermelon for a long time is aphrodisiac.
Pineapple
This fruit has a lot of bromelain, a pain killer. But that is not all. Pineapple helps digestion, especially proteins in the body. It has lots of fibre to clean the stomach as well. The stalk and leaves of pineapple have high concentration of bromelain. If you have ulcer you need to be cautious with pineapple.
Cucumber
The dry season is not season for cucumber hence its always expensive this period. But if you feel hot as usual, then go for cucumber, since it helps to cool the body.
Cucumber helps the kidneys as well, but its power resides in its ability to soften stool. Thus it helps in clearing constipation. This fruit is ideal for those with high blood sugar problems.
Carrots
I love carrots. Its a multipurpose vegetable. Carrot is not fruit, but then many see it as fruit. Carrots are good for those with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and is packed with Vitamin A. The carotene in carrots is ideal for eye problems. Carotene is also good for skin cleansing. Many cosmetics now have carotene. It clears and skin and smoothens it. However, be careful of its high sugar, if you are diabetic.
Avocado Pear:
The season of Avocado pear is almost close, just before the heavy rains. This fruit is packed with polysaturated but healthy fat. Its ideal for those seeking to reduce fat. Many don’t know that to burn body fat, you need to use fat. It has vitamin A for eyes, as well and is good for stomach, ulcer healing and stooling- constipation. Its a skin blemish remover. Some women use it together with turmeric to clear black spots on the face and neck.
Orange
This fruit is feared by those with Ulcer. Orange has lots of flavonoids that boosts immunity. I love eating oranges with their fibre. I peal it and eat all aside the green cover. And this helps me to stool smoothly. It has lots of Vitamin C and is good for teeth, especially half ripe oranges.
Banana
Sometime last year, I told a friend who has high blood pressure to be eating banana daily, and the response was lovely. Banana has high content of pottasium. This phytochemical is good for calming nerves. Besides, banana has high carbohydrate for energy boost too. The downside of banana is its high sugar, not good for diabetics and the sugar is not good for teeth. Nonetheless, the inside peel of banana is good to heal wounds from insect bites.
Guava
This fruit has many species. There are ones that are hard, green, red, yellow and soft.
Fortunately, guava has seeds that are hard to digest and this provides the stomach with cellulose to help clear stool. On the other hand, If you eat unripe guava, it hardens your stool.
The leaves of guava are medicinal. It helps cure diarrhea and when it is boiled and drank as tea, it helps clear the system of cholesterol. And that is why its ideal for reducing weight.
Grapes
Grapes are rear in this part, but there is a specie that is common in Africa and Nigeria. This specie is good for weight control as well. The magnesium in grape makes it effective against headaches, especially migraine.
Lemon
Among the citrus fruits, Lemon has high usage than other ones like orange, lime and grapes.
Lemon has high vitamin C, which is effective for boosting immunity, curing fever and cleansing the lymph cells.
It also has cosmetic usage. For instance, lemon fluid can be used to clear black spots and pimples when mixed with turmeric dried powder. Lemon helps the gums as well to cure scurvy or bleeding gums.
Lime
This little oranges are usually green. But the ripe ones are also good and effective, even though with lesser power.
The use of lime against intestinal worms have been used for ages. But lime is good for stomach pains. It helps control internal bleeding as well.
However, using lime for a long time can destroy intestinal walls and worsen ulcer. So if you have ulcer, then go for lemon. Lime is antiseptic, use it to clean sores. Press the fluid into warm water and wash sores.
11.Apples…
This is most respected of all fruits. It has lots ofpottasium, magnesium, and vitamin C.
Apple is ideal to boost immunity, reduce high blood pressure and the total body system. The mucilage in apple is good for the stomach. Remember “an apple a day keeps away the doctor”.
12..Apricot…
In local parlance, some call it “ajireejaa”, “ipapa” among the Ibo’s and ijaws.. It has high carotene due to its yellow colour with Vitamin A. Its effective for eyes. The mucilage is good for stomach. The vitamin C strengthens your body.
13. Pawpaw…carica papaya”
This pod of fruit with black hot seeds is an economic fruit- all its part are medicinal. The seeds are good to remove intestinal worms. The whitish fluid of pawpaw tree heals wounds. The fruit which is either red or yellow is packed with lots of vitamins, but its effective against constipation.
14. Tomatoes…
Tomatoes is a vegetable. But it looks more like fruit. It’s red and full of lycopene, a nutrient that fights ailments as cancer, helps build immunity. Men who have prostrate cancer are advised to chew lots of tomatoes. The cover of tomatoes is very good to remove hard stools from the stomach. The seeds are high in roughage for easy stooling.
Tomatoes is also good for controlling high blood pressure. The phyto nutrients help dilate the blood vessels so as to bring down blood pressure
By: 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.