It's SteeTime!

The death of Gary Speed left the football world baffled and devastated yesterday. The 42-year-old Welsh national manager was found hanged by his wife Louise, according to the Times, just after 7am in the garage of their £1.5million mansion. The couple have two teenage sons. Only hours earlier, he had appeared happy and optimistic on BBC1’s Football Focus programme. He talked enthusiastically about his team’s improving fortunes and his hopes for success in World Cup qualifying matches next year. Speed began his career at Leeds United and was part of the side that won the old First Division title in 1992.     I had a poster of Gary Speed as a child. How does a man who seemingly has everything reach the point of giving up on life and how come no one saw the signs?   Baffled and Devastated. Those words describe the emotions which go through relatives and friends of victims of suicide.   It is hard to know if a person is thinking about com...

Doctors in Kenya have threatened to paralyse services in health institutions on December 5, to push for a 300 per cent wage increase . The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) over the last couple of months have successfully organized themselves on social networks and led largely by young doctors are now in negotiations with the government for pay increase. This is not an uncommon story in Africa. Health-care systems on the continent are crippled by mass exodus of health-care workers to Namibia, Botswana and South Africa and consultants to practice abroad. Those countries are said to offer better scheme of services and do better because of augmented labour-force from neighbouring countires such as Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda. It is a vicious cycle. I came across a blog yesterday from a young medical doctor working in Kenya which summarised the plight of the African Doctor quite impressively. It struck a chord with me, as a young doctor my...

RealAge, Inc. is an American media corporation that provides health information to consumers. The company’s stated mission is to encourage consumers to maximize their health and wellness by making their "RealAge" younger. It was founded by media medic, Michael Roizen , currently the chief wellness officer at The Cleveland Clinic . log on to realage.com So basically its a website which asks you a bunch of questions then it tells you what age you really are. It will ask you things like from 'how much do you drink' to 'how many orgasms do you have a week' and so on. It is a long quiz. Apparently since it started in 1999, 27 million people have taken the test. Guess everyone wants to live life to the youngest! So of course I took the test..and I am not revealing my real age. I was appalled to say the least! And now they are sending me all sorts of suggestions about how I can 'regain my youth' e.g:   Burn More Fat with These Breakfa...

In the last couple of weeks Southern Africa has been experiencing extremely hot weather with temperatures as high as 44'C in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. It has affected everyday life and comfort and concerns for health safety have come up. The Heat is On Risks from hot weather include: DEHYDRATION - Under normal circumstances the sweat we produce when we get hot keeps us cool when it evaporates from the surface of our skin. However, on extremely hot days, when we become dehydrated, or when we over-exert ourselves, this system can fail, and body temperature can start to climb to dangerous levels. This leads to heat stroke or exhaustion. HEAT STROKE   - This can cause headaches, dizziness and muscle cramps, but it can also be life-threatening. Heat stroke is particularly dangerous because symptoms can come on very rapidly, and - unless you are watching for the signs - with very little warning. BURNING OF THE SKIN - Not only is sunburn painful, it can accelerate the a...

I wasn't going to blog today because I really had nothing to say. But this afternoon some representatives from Danone, an Infant Nutrition Company came to talk to us at the hospital about their Cows-and-Gates Infant Formula. Actually they tricked us into that talk. The notice said it was a Continuous Medical Education about 'Preterm Feeding'. Me, being in Paediatrics Department was quite interested in attending such a teaching...but noooo, it was just some suited up Sales-reps telling us why Danone is better than Nestle. It reminded me of the movie 'Love and Other Drugs'. It is a hopelessly romantic movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway set in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Gyllenhaal plays the charming, lady's man drug rep and he is really good at his job. Instant success strikes when he is given the wonder-drug 'Viagra' to sell. You can imagine how it ends. The DVD cover The Pharmaceutical Industry develops, produces, ...

This morning there was a grenade attack in a Nairobi discotheque by suspected Al Shabaab militants. This was in response to Kenyan Militia invading Somalia after kidnappings of tourists to Kenya in the recent past. This is not the first terrorist attack in East Africa and certainly not the first worldwide as attacks of this nature have become a common tactic in today's war-torn world. Bomb Blast Victim in Hospital I don’t like to dwell on politics, but whether we like it or not when the elephants fight the grass will suffer. Bombings and explosion incidents directed against innocent civilians are the primary instrument of global terror. What should you know about bomb blasts? Is there anything you should do if involved in one which could aid your survival or people injured around you? The extent and pattern of injuries produced by an explosion are a direct result of several factors including : ·          the amount and composition of...

The perk of being a Media Medic (me) is that there is so much interesting content to blog about. I usually choose topics related to things which I have personally come across, something trending in social media related to health, something a friend or patient is stressed about or whatever Dr Oz is talking about! So, as you can imagine, I had reservations about doing yet another cancer post. It is Breast Cancer month though so I have to mention that recently one of my favourite E! presenters and reality stars Giuliana Rancic admitted on TV of suffering of breast cancer. Wow. Just comes to show, it can happen to anyone. Take Home Message: Monthly self-breast exams are important! On to something else, over the weekend I witnessed some people getting totally sloshed (cool talk for inebriated). And the following day instead of acting like normal hungover people they just began drinking again that morning till the next morning! Names and location will remain confidential of course. I wil...

Cancer seems to be coming up a lot in the last few weeks. Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai and Apple CEO Steve Jobs both battled cancer till their recent demise. So obviously, no matter how much money you have or how educated you are, it can still get you. The cancer ribbon colors represent A little depressing, huh? No, it doesn't have to be. Commencing this October 2011, as part of the Cancer month activities, The Nairobi Hospital will be holding Cancer Walk on 15th October 2011 in Nairobi and be subsequently holding similar walks in Mombasa Kisumu and Nyeri in the same month. The theme of the walks is ‘ Taking Strides Against Cancer ’ and the walk’s objective is to create awareness on the importance of early detection as the best prevention of cancer. A cancer cell Cancer Signs and Symptoms Cancer gives most people no symptoms or signs that exclusively indicate the disease. Unfortunately, every complaint or symptom of cancer can be explained by ...

RIP STEVE JOBS 1955-2011 We woke up to the sad news that Apple Icon Steve Jobs had passed away. Inventor of the iPod (music in your pocket), iPhone (cool phone) and iPad (really cool computer thing in your hands). He died after battling Pancreatic Cancer for some time. A friend of mine asked me how you get this cancer and I decided to blog about it so that you may look out for the symptoms and avoid the risk factors.   Pancreatic Cancer Causes The main recognized risk factors for pancreatic cancer include the following: Smoking Advanced age Male sex - The male-to-female ratio of pancreatic cancer is 1.3:1. Chronic pancreatitis - Inflammation of the pancreas, usually from excessive alcohol intake or gallstones Diabetes mellitus Family history of pancreatic cancer Pancreatic Cancer Symptoms The main symptoms of pancreatic cancer include the following: Pain in the abdomen, the back, or both Weight loss , often associated with the fol...

IELTS (pronounced alternatively by people as EYE-Elts and EYE-Lets) is the standardized international English test from the UK and Australia, equivalent to Toefl for the US. I had to do it for a myriad of reasons but mainly to prove to the aforesaid 'Commonwealthers' that I can indeed communicate in English. Disgruntled but excited I booked my test for this past Saturday and pictured myself getting 98% because ‘I even have a blog-o!’ How good must my English be? Woke up at the crack of dawn!   I had received warnings of non-refundable expulsion for late-comers so my senses were acutely aware of my alarm clock. Thinking I was too early, I arrived to find a horde (word I used in my speaking test) of anxious-looking people already waiting outside the British Council building. I immediately befriended the most cheerful face sitting at the end of the line who was to become my friend for the whole day. Payal had carried 5 pens, 5 pencils, several rubbers and a sparkling sharpener...

I avoid weighing scales. Period. Atrocious behavior for a health care professional, I know, but the last time I weighed myself a while ago I was so shocked I employed some radical action. That included not weighing myself until after my hardcore exercise programme, until my jeans stopped being so tight and of course after the ‘final diet’. The diet that is supposed to be the diet of all diets. The one which will finally work. The elusive food regimen which would shed the kilograms once and for all. Ha, wishful thinking! I, like many women, have been dieting on and off for as long as I can remember. My yoyo-dieting started at the age of eleven when I suddenly realized that my thighs were bigger than most girls in my class. Of course then, puberty had not been explained fully especially the part that girls reach it at different times. Then of course there is the love-to-hate body part that comes in and out of my life. It’s usually the only thing you...