FITTING? DON'T TOUCH THAT SPOON

 

 

 I remember the first time I saw someone having a fit, it was scary, almost traumatic. I was in a reading room in med school preparing for a test, when all of a sudden, I heard a thud right behind me. Startled, I sprang out of my seat, turning back to see one of my friends on the floor, convulsing. The fit lasted a few minutes after which his friends helped him up and out of the reading room. The incident ended my reading-in that reading room- then and subsequently, for good. Being around someone having fits can be a scary experience, especially when it’s a close friend or relative. It sometimes looks like the person is about to die and nothing can be done to help.

 

Fits are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain leading to involuntary movements of the limbs with a change in the sufferer’s consciousness. Some causes in this environment include:

·   Febrile illnesses; illnesses that markedly raise body temperature for example malaria and respiratory tract infections(in which case it is known as a febrile convulsion and it’s seen in children aged 6months to 6 years)

·    Infections of the brain(encephalitis) and the brain coverings(meningitis)

·    Epilepsy; a condition in which a person has  recurrent seizures,

·    Head injury e.g. from trauma

 

One of the first things that people do when someone around them starts fitting is to look for a spoon or any other object available to put in the person's mouth. It’s believed that this will prevent the person from swallowing his tongue or biting it. This is a dangerous move as putting a spoon/any object in a fitting person's mouth can lead to injury to the persons gum, damage to the teeth and  they could even swallow the object(the spoon) leading to injury to the person’s throat and obstruct breathing. The person trying to help can also get injured in the process. Although a person convulsing, can bite the tongue, the injury caused by this is less than what happens when objects are put in their mouth.

Most seizures last for a short time(seconds to minutes), and a good way to help is to move away furniture(or any other object) that can injure the person e.g.  tables with sharp edges, chairs. Also, loosen any tight clothing around their neck and if possible, lie them on their side. Place something soft under the person's head to stop their head from hitting the floor, but do not restrain them. Finally seek medical intervention.

Don't cause more harm by trying to be helpful. Don't touch that spoon.

What you need to know about your child's diarrhoea

''Doctor, my child has been passing frequent watery, foul smelling stools for the last 3 days'' - is a very common complaint in the out patient children's clinic. Sometimes the children look well, but many times they look very ill and severly dehydrated. Children are at a greater risk of life threatening dehydration than adults when they have diarrhoea, because a larger proportion of their body weight is made up of water, and they use up water more because of their higher metabolic rate. When diarrhoea starts, children are also at risk of malnutrition, as nutrients are lost with water in stools.

According to the World Health Organisation, Diarrhoea (which is when a person passes 3 or more watery stools in a day), is the 2nd commonest cause of death among children under the age of 5years globally. It causes more deaths than malaria, AIDS and Tuberculosis combined. These deaths are caused by severe dehydration and malnutrition

Children can develop dehydration very quickly and its important to act fast to keep them hydrated and well nourished. The following is a list of home care to be given before a child gets to the hospital.

Do !

1. Give a lot of fluids

• Oral Rehydration Solution(ORS) is a prepackaged powder which contains all the electrolytes that your childs body needs to replace what is lost. It can be purchased in any local pharmacy. Mix with clean water(usually 1 litre) according to the instructions on the pack and give your child to drink. It should also be given to children who are exclusively breastfed.
• If you do not have ORS at home and cannot get it immediately, you can prepare Salt Sugar Solution. This is prepared by mixing is 6 level teaspoons of sugar, 1/2 level teaspoon of salt and 1 litre of clean water.
• Other home fluids that can be used to prevent diarrhoea are Salted yoghurt, salted chicken or vegetable soup, salted rice water or clean water.

2. Continue feeding; A lot of people stop feeding their children when they have diarrhoea, fearing that it will make it worse. Diarrhoea leads to loss of nutrients from the body and malnutrition, its outcome is also worse in children who are already malnourished. A strong and well nourished child recovers faster and better from a diarrhoeal episode.

• If your child is less than 6months of age and is being exclusively breast fed, increase frequency of breastfeeding and length of time spent breast feeding your child.
• If your child has started other meals with breast milk, continue breastfeeding as above and encourage your child to eat as often as he/she wants. Small frequent feeds can be given.

Don't !

1. Do not give anti motility drugs. A common example in this environment is Diastop. These drugs may reduce pain and reduce the volume of diarrhoea, but they delay elimination of the organism from the child's body, thus prolonging their illness and this can be harmful especially in children under the age of 1year.
2. Do not stop feeding
3. Do not give antibiotics; Do not give your child over the counter antibiotics for their diarrhoea. Its common for parents to buy flagyl and septrin for their children with diarrhoea, this is a dangerous habit. The commonest cause of acute watery diarrhoea in children is rotavirus. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics may lead to resistance and some are harmful to children. Antibiotics should be given under a doctor's guidance.
4. Do not give sweet drinks like soft drinks, sweet fruit drinks, sweet tea. Foods or drinks with a lot of sugar can worsen diarrhoea.

Other intervention methods like Zinc supplementation and Rota virus vaccination will be given in a health centre. Its important to institute these intervention methods at home as soon as diarrhoea starts and take your child to a hospital for assessment.

Reference: UNICEF/WHO, Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done, 2009

Cure for all diseases?

I have met several people who claim to have cures to different ailments. My first experience with these guys was a day in Aleshinloye market in Ibadan. I was in a shop, when a man stopped in front with a wheel barrow full of rotten donkey body parts (literally, I’m not exaggerating). I was shocked and had shivers when he started talking about all the things that could be cured with the parts, I couldn’t imagine anybody deliberately ingesting poison but the market women didn’t see it as poison; as long as someone claimed it worked, they took it hook, line and sinker. Another day in Lagos, I got on a mass transit bus, as we left the motor park, a man stood up in front of the bus and started addressing us about our health. He started bringing out powder after powder and he claimed they could cure all kinds of illnesses. He told the passengers that it wasn’t possible for anyone to be in good health and they always have to take something to live well. By the time the bus had gotten to its destination, he had sold all the ‘powder’ he had for sale in the bus.


The latest one I heard about today is people going to offices to give health talks and do a total body scan with a ‘machine’. The machine is very believable, because you’ll see your body being ‘scanned’ as they do it. After which, several diagnosis will be given and you’ll be told that to cure the ailments, you need to buy some drugs they have for sale. There are several stories that can be said, but the truth is not much thought is given to these claims a lot of times. Sometimes, it’s our friends and people close to us that give us harmful health advice, but just as you probably won’t jump into a fire because someone close to you says so, so you should be careful about things you take into your body that can be harmful . It’s very easy for anyone to make claims all in a bid to make money or become an ‘expert’ in a field or even try to be of help, but it’s important to always ask questions and not just believe anything anyone says. This is not to say that you should discard every advice given to you, but as the Holy Book says ‘test every spirit’, so in this case- test every information you’re given. Always ask questions. Ask yourself, who is saying it? What training do they have?

Is the source reliable? Can the information be verified? Is it evidence based? Check other sources, are there any conflicting reports about this information? For online health information, Is the site a reputable site? Is the information only on the site of one person promoting a product/a company that wants to push it out? Is it found anywhere else on the internet? "If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?"- Unknown

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. 'Sante' is the

french word for 'Health'. According to the World Health Organisation definition of health; Health is the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It is going to be a health related collection of thoughts, reviews and articles. You can also send questions on any health issue to gbemisolal@yahoo.com, they'll be answered here. à votre santé.