BREAST FEEDING

 Things to avoid during breast feeding

1)     EXCESS ALCOHOL: excess intake of alcohol raises the blood pressure, increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, rectum and lungs. Mothers who take excess alcohol increases the risk of developing breast cancer. Other effect of excessive intake of alcohol are ulcer of the stomach and intestine, kidney damage, bladder damage, prostate gland and pancreas damage, skin rashes and sores, lowered resistance to disease and infections ( impaired immune response). Excess intake of alcohol also causes malnutrition because the more alcohol a lactating mother drinks the less likely she will eat to obtain adequate nutrition this will cause insufficient milk production by the mother for the baby. Excess intake of alcohol by breast-feeding mother cause growth retardation, cardiac defects, mental retardation and in serious cases death to the baby.

2)     AVIOD CIGARRETE SMOKING: Cigarette and other smoking is a pervasive health problem causing thousands of people top suffer from cancer and the diseases of cardiovascular and respiratory systems. A lactating mother that smokes harms her health and the health of the child because smoking decreases prolactin secretions and inhibits milk production by the mother making her to produce insufficient milk for the baby this may lead to malnutrition, poor growth and mental retardation of the baby.

3)     AVOID ILLICIT DRUGS: Drug abusers face multiple nutrition problems. Their lifestyle often lacks the regularity and routine that promotes good eating habits. Marijuana and cocaine use brings nutritional consequence and health problems. The stronger the craving for illicit drugs (cocaine), the less a drug abuser want food. Lactating mother that uses illicit drugs does not take sufficient foods this will make her to be malnourished, ill with infectious diseases and will affect milk production for the baby.

4)     AVOID INTAKE OF CAFFEINE/NICOTIN: Most chemicals from caffeine and nicotin enters the mother's milk and can affect the health of the baby. Intake of caffeine and nicotin by lactating mother affect the mental and physical growth of the baby and increased potential mortality of the baby.

SOYA BEANS

MOTHERS BEWARE OF SOYA BEANS

The recent controversy over the safety of Soya bean by a health publication is surprising and should give the health departments especially within the African sub-region a serious concern. For many decades, the legume had remained one of the world's cheapest and most useful source of protein.

Soya beans or soy, as it is called in America, is said to contain about 40 per cent protein, the highest for any known plant, compared with 18 per cent for beef and fish. Besides, the legume is hailed for its high fiber content and essential fatty acids, making Soya the ideal food for growth and healthy living.

Notwithstanding these outstanding benefits of the bean, new research findings points to high level of natural toxins or anti-nutrients in the legume, enough to warn consumers to eat the food with circumspection.

Among the natural toxin in Soya bean are powerful enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. The publication also stated that, ' Soya bean contains haemagglutin, a substance that causes red blood cells to clump together" Trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutin are said to inhibit growth.

The publication also named phytic acid, which is found in bran or hulls of all seeds, as another toxic ingredient in Soya bean. It is said that this substance can block the absorption of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestines.

From research it has been discovered that Soya bean contain high quantities of various toxic chemicals, which cannot be fully destroyed even in long cooking process. These are: phytates, which block the body's uptake of minerals; enzyme inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion; and haemagglutin, which causes red blood cells to clump together and inhibits oxygen take-up and growth.

There are over 100 research publications pointing to dangers of eating Soya beans, like reputable journals as The Lancet, the American journal of Clinical nutrition and Honolulu star-Bulletin. Some Japanese researchers had reported that consumption of as little as 30grams or two tea spoon of Soya bean per day for a month resulted in significant thyroid stimulating hormone. Diffuse goiter, hypothyroidism, fatigue and constipation were found among the subjects who ate Soya beans regularly.

Yet, in the developing countries, Soya bean has become a house hold name and used as a weaning food for children, especially among the poor population.

From the indications and implications of the health hazards above, Sweet Mother International Foundation is raising  awareness campaigns in the developing countries to sensitize the public of the dangers of the consumption of Soya bean, we also implore that you join in these crusade.

BARRENNESS

Tubal Blockage in Women

 20 SIGNS THAT A WOMAN'S TUBE IS ABOUT TO BLOCK

·        Victim feels ill and general discomfort

·         She will have lower abdominal pain, which is worse on movement.

·        There may be vomiting at the beginning of the tubal inflammation.

·        The pulse rate will rise.

·        The temperature will be raised.

·        The tongue may be dry but not usually furred.

·        Her menstrual cycle will be upset and produced irregular bleeding.

·        The menstrual loss is often heavy and is preceded by pain in the back and lower abdomen, and last through each period.

·        In addition to menstrual pain there is often continuing dull pain or aching in the lower abdomen and or the back.

·        There is difficulty or pain in coitus (during sex).

·        Pain all over her pelvis and around the hips and groin which worsens instead of subsiding after using painkiller.

·        Her appetite deteriorates.

·        She sleeps badly.

·        Rigors may occur as temperature and pulse rate continues to rise.

·        Mucous or pus discharge from vagina. Once the ends of tubes are closing or closed, in most cases pus collects in the tubes and may be discharged through the vagina.

·        Daily task becomes a burden. In chronic cases (longstanding cases), the affected person could still go about her regular work but she does not feel well and many of her ordinary daily tasks become a burden.

·        There will be nausea

·        There may be vomiting

·        There will be foul breath.

APPENDICITIS

HOW APPENDICITIS BLOCK WOMEN'S TUBE CAUSES INFERTILITY, BARRENNNESS.

Many infections other than the sexually transmitted have rendered many women barren and infertile. Such infections are those through the blood stream and those that occur after abortion (D&C) or delivery. A typical and common of such infection from the intestinal tract is that from the appendix.

The appendix (vermiform appendix) is a blind tubular structure, which springs from the beginning of the large intestine, on the right side of the abdomen. When the appendix is infected, it become inflamed, a condition called appendicitis. Infection from an inflamed appendix (appendicitis) may infect the right fallopian tube and the ovary, which can lead to infertility and barrenness if not promptly attended to. The infected tube too becomes inflamed; a condition called salpingitis, and becomes blocked in late intervention.

The inflamed tube frequently becomes occluded or blocked especially at the outer ends where the eggs enter the tube for fertilization. Once the end of the tubes is closed, in most cases pus collects in the tube and may be discharged through the vagina. The inflammation may damage the specializes inner lining of the wall of the tube, which in severe cases also bring about blockage of the tube.

When the tubes are not completely blocked, fertilization of the egg may still take place but because of the damage to the specialized inner lining                                                                       (ciliated epithelium )  of the wall of the fallopian tube, the fertilized egg may not be carried down the tube to the uterus (womb), and ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy in abnormal position) results.

Appendicitis has, unknowingly, made many women and girls barren especially if the infection from the right tube spread to involve the left tube. If it is only one tube that is blocked, a woman can still  bear children with the other unblocked tube. But if both tubes are blocked, that is a major disaster that ends in barrenness. This is because there have been no significant success so far in opening up blocked tubes. Once a woman's tube is block, the tube will be surgically removed and thrown away.

The common signs and symptoms of inflamed appendix (appendicitis) include: Sudden onset of vague central abdominal pain followed in few hours by shift of the pain to the right side where it becomes localized.

ECLAMPSIA

ECLAMPSIA - DANGEROUS HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE CAUSING COVULSION RESULTING TO DEATH IN PREGNANT WOMEN AND THEIR UNBORN CHILD CURED WITH EPSON SALT.

A simple, inexpensive therapy using hydrated magnesium sulfate (Epson Salts) can halve the chances of women developing a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy explains, The Times of London, Eclampsia, a dangerous form of high blood pressure that causes convulsions annually kills over 50,000 women and their unborn children worldwide. Although a drip or injections containing magnesium sulfate have been used for years in the United States to treat preeclampsia, which can develop into eclampsia if untreated, the therapy has not caught on in most other countries. Hence, an international team of doctors at the Institute for Health Sciences in Oxford, England "decided to test the benefits of the salts by conducting a trial on 10,000 women in 33 countries" says The Times. "After three years the… trial was stopped early when it became apparent how effective the treatment was: using magnesium sulphate on women with preeclampsia reduced their risk of having a fit by 58 per cent. It reduced their risk of dying by 45 per cent." The treatment cost only $4.50 per woman, making it…accessible to women in developing countries.