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Brain tumour has no age barrier – Expert

Brain tumour has no age barrier – Expert
By Ummul Idris
Brain
Abuja, May 25, 2019 (NAN) Dr Adebayo Shefiu, a Medical Practitioner, says brain tumour has no age barrier as it can also affect children.
Shefiu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
He said that brain tumour could affect any age including children, but noted that it often tended to be more common in older adults than children.
He said that early detection would suffice which, according to him, could come with severe and persistent headache, unexplained persistent nausea and vomiting.
Others, he said, included seizures, progressive one sided body weakness, speech difficulties and vision problem.
According to him, tumour simply means cancer which is an abnormal uncoordinated excessive growth of cells in the body.
“A lot of people are suffering in silence from the excruciating pain of cancer, they are helpless, crying every day for a life full of anguish and agony because life is leaving them slowly and they’re counting days,” he said.
He said that over 200 cancers were afflicting human, adding that it is not a respecter of age, sex, ethnicity or socio-economic status.
The medical practitioner said that prevention remained the best medicine, adding that early diagnosis up to 75 per cent of cancer deaths can be prevented.
According to him, you can protect yourself and family through regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight, reduce obesity, eat fruits and vegetables, reduce your consumption of saturated fat and red meat.
The expert also advised that risky behaviours should be avoided along with tobacco smoking in all its forms and excessive alcohol consumption.
Besides, Shefiu recommended regular medical care and check-ups, among others, to preventive a measure. (NAN)
UMD/CHOM/MST
Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

80 per cent of TB patients in Plateau aged between 15 and 54 – official

NAN-H-1
Tuberculosis

Jos, April 4, 2017(NAN) Eighty per cent of people infected with Tuberculosis in Plateau fall within the productive age group of 15 and 54, Dr. Kuden Deyin, Commissioner for Health, said on Tuesday in Jos.

Deyin told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the figure was based on a survey conducted by the ministry in 2016.

“Out of 2,493 cases recorded in 2016, 1,998 of the patients, which constitute 80 per cent, were within the productive age group of 15 to 54 years; this is a great threat to the economic growth of the state,” he said.

He said that the disease, if not controlled, would bring the the Plateau economy to its knees “in the next few years”.

The commissioner said that Plateau had consistently paid its counterpart funds to secure free treatment for  Tuberculosis patients, but regretted that some issues had made the control of the diseases rather difficult.

He identified the issues to include inadequate equipment and manpower to clinically ascertain the correct status of suspected cases.

Another impediment is the difficulty in accessing certain terrains, where some patients, believed to be infected with the disease, reside.

The official suggested that the treatment and diagnosis of Tuberculosis be integrated into the main stream of the health care delivery system so that every clinic, no matter how remote, should be able to detect the micro-organism that causes the disease.

“Such clinic should also be able to administer treatment as it is absolutely free,” he said.

He also suggested that traditional healers and patent medicine vendors should be trained to identify the basic symptoms of the disease, pointing out that those groups were usually the first medics visited by patients in the rural areas.

“Training the traditional healers and patent medicine dealers on how to identify the symptoms of Tuberculosis and referring them to the nearest hospital or clinic, where they can access treatment, is very fundamental to saving lives,” he said.

The commissioner listed symptoms of the disease to include night sweat, fever, loss of weight, chest pain, difficulty in breathing and blood in the mucus, while coughing.

Deyin advised people with such symptoms to visit the nearest hospital for prompt attention.

He also advised patients to complete their medication to avoid complications that could result into multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis. (NAN)

UBO/ETS

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Ephraims Sheyin