Masterclass Series — Importance of Being Healthy
Date: June 22th, 2019
Facilitator: Dr Sylvia Kama-Kieghe
Moderator: Omokaro Osariemen Collins.
Collins Profile:
Omokaro Osariemen Collins is a biochemist and an educator who has over 3 years of experience in the community development sector, focusing on Albinism Advocacy. Currently, Collins is the Assistant Coordinator of The Albino Foundation (TAF) Benin, Nigeria. He is also the Secretary of The Albino Network Association TANA, Edo State.
Collins holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry and currently a Masters Student at the University of Benin studying Public Health Education. He is the Founder of Young Transformation Initiative (YTI) - an online educational program that trains young Africans on morals and ethics for sustainable future development. He is an Alumni of Young Access Leaders Initiative, YALI, Yala Academy, Commonwealth Open Source Leadership and a certified professional on Soft Skills (Applied Program Management and Training, APMT, Dallas, United States).
Dr Sylvia Kama-Kieghe’s Profile:
Dr Sylvia Kama-Kieghe is an experienced and resourceful family medicine practitioner with two decades of work experience in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. She is an alumnus of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. Her postgraduate qualifications include Member Royal Society of General Practitioner (MRCGP) UK; Diplomas of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive health as well as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists UK, respectively; and Post Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Practice (PG Cert. Mental Health Practice). She is also a fellow of the Royal Societies of Medicine and Public Health, UK.
She is co-founder and Director at Alevyn Ltd. UK and has been the team lead developing various data-directed healthcare technology solutions including a health information platform www.AskAwayHealth.org and Konfidence, since 2014. She is also very passionate about sexual health, family planning and contraception and is presently developing a major service delivery pathway for Konfidence in Nigeria.
Summary of discussion held:
Dr Sylvia explained that to most people health means ‘not being ill’. But, it means more than this. Health is much more than absence of ill health. An individual can be free of diseases, both mental and physical but, still not be healthy. She added that the causes of mental health can be as broad as physical health though sometimes less tangible. For example, illness like psychosis - which is when someone has a abnormal perception of reality, can be caused by drugs or abnormalities in the brain. The same way anyone can be prone to physical ill health, anyone can also develop a mental illness.
She said that the third aspect of health is social health and well being. The way you interact with your environment matters. Absence of social well being also can lead to illness. One of the commonest reasons some people become unwell after retirement from a long life of service can be a lack of social interaction.
How can you achieve good health?
First, what contributes to ill-health? If we can succeed individually and collectively in controlling them - health can be promoted. She said that each of us owns our health and there are some basic things we should know. A proactive stance about health means taking an attitude of living to prevent illness happening. So many illnesses we see are preventable, some knowledge of adequate health could prevent them.
Dr Sylvia mentioned that some of the challenges in accessing health care are finance and competent care workers. Combining health information and self awareness with healthy lifestyle practices supports health. She emphasised that health insurance allows for more people to access health care and face other aspects of their life; work, school etc.
For example, someone had unprotected sexual intercourse and developed an infection as a result. Too embarrassed to seek help from a doctor at an initial stage of sexually transmitted infection, he/she may visit the chemist for help. Imagine purchasing fake drugs, it is difficult to get the right treatment the first time. There are so many things wrong with that scenario;
• Lack of knowledge - avoiding risky sexual practice.
• Lack of knowledge - deciding not to go to a doctor in the first instance.
• Cultural issues about the attitude of our health care workers - in health care there should be no room for judging or shaming people.
• System issues like fake drugs. Or people just being allowed to buy certain drugs over the counter.
We and our communities can be stronger and better off economically if we paid greater attention to health. Government has its part to play and so do we as individuals.
Question 1:
Ogunlola Joseph: Must we sleep 8 hours a day? Does much consumption of protein has effect on the body? How do we treat for pimples?
Response: Excess consumption of protein can cause problems, especially in some individuals. This link shares more information on the question: https://youtu.be/c200p_QuBTk.
Sleep is important, adults do best with 7 - 8 hours of sleep a day. You can choose to sleep the number of hours you like but, fewer hours may impact productivity and health. As for pimples or acne, combination of diet type and avoiding some types of soaps or creams for very mild cases. Avoid squeezing the face or over washing.
Question 2:
Funmilola Awosanya Boriowo:In a situation where it takes a long time for one to urinate or for urine to come out, how do one treat this?
Response: Depends on age and sex. Older men have large prostate, this may be a cause. Men and women of any age could have urinary infections - this could sometimes lead to delay in passing urine. It can also suggest an abnormality of the bladder. The key thing here is that a full medical history and examination is important to find the cause. That is why someone like this who goes to take any medicine when they have not really been well examined are doing themselves no favours.
Question 3:
Sani Usman: Why do women need to know their last menstrual period?
Response: The menstrual cycle in a woman is controlled by hormones produced in the brain and acting on the woman’s reproductive organs. When things go wrong with a cycle, we can tell from the change in the period. Knowing your LMP helps to identify changes quickly. Dr Sylvia encourages ladies to keep a diary of the pattern just as a habit. Some are very regular and know exactly when the next period comes, others are not; making it a bit more tricky to identify an abnormal situation early. Having a record you can rely on helps.
Question 4:
Sani Usman: In terms of Healthy Lifestyle - Diet, can government regulate the production of fatty foods, carbonated drinks etc for the well-being of her citizens as you have mentioned towards the end of the masterclass that government have their own part to play?
Response: The best government can do is insist that food manufacturers indicate what types of content are in the food. Like calories or fat content on wrappers, calorie content on drinks etc. Referring to her earlier statement on strengthening our systemic structures. They include;
- Regulating drugs
- Health and social infrastructure
- Water and sanitation
- Enforce general health policies etc.
Question 5:
Joy Anthony: Can the use of drug help reduce diabetes?
Response: There are different types of Diabetes based on the cause. In type1, the body has NO insulin, a hormone normally produced in the body to help us regulate food. Such people therefore must have drug treatment with insulin. The other- type 2 Diabetes; there is a little insulin, but the body can’t respond well to it. Here some people can be controlled with the diet; others will need other drugs.
How can you tell which is which? Examination and tests. It is very important for people not to take Diabetes for granted or make assumptions.
Question 6: Is urinating frequently a symptom of diabetes?
Response: It is one of the many symptoms of Diabetes. But, it could also indicate other problems. Age, gender, is there pain passing urine?, and other questions. Urine sugar and blood test are crucial to make the diagnosis. Never assume! In medicine, many symptoms happen in more than one condition, that is why we doctors ask and ask in order to get the diagnosis right.
Report written by:
Tinuola Aina
Assistant National Secretary
YALI RLC Alumni Nigeria Chapter
