Health Essentials
Independence comes with responsibility
Sixty-four years of life in a human is quite an achievement especially when you find yourself in a part of the world where you are LUCKY to be born in a hospital, electricity and water are available during your birth and you have a pliable road connecting you to a hospital with a doctor and a nurse.
In those 64 years you would have had bitter exchanges with mosquitoes and you may even have flirted with typhoid and cholera. You will even consider yourself fortunate if you have access to medication whenever you fall ill and count yourself among the privileged few if the medicine you use is affordable.
In many instances God cures us so the healthcare professionals can take the credit. If you have managed to live this long in the midst of herbal concoctions that can cure virtually every disease and whose representatives artfully ply their trade on buses, bus stations and even in the open without fear then I congratulate you on being alive and healthy.
For obvious reasons many of these “pushers” have disappeared or don’t appear to have answer to COVID. Hmmm just when we needed their magic the most.
Sixty-four years on the other hand in the life of a country may not be that long but it is long enough to provide its citizens with the basic necessities of life; food, shelter, clothing, education, health, electricity and water among others.
64 years for a country is also long enough for leaders and citizens to lovingly neglect their conscience to the extent that a country that may have started fairly well will be found on its knees or maybe even have its face in the mud.
Who is willing to sacrifice for mother Ghana where George Orwell’s Animal Farm seems to be enacted on a daily basis? INDEPENDENCE comes with responsibility and sacrifice and as Ghanaians we have to come to the realization that the places that we admire so much were once like ours or even worse; we need to sacrifice, take pride in our own, treat everyone fairly and ALL of us have to put in our very best to save our motherland.
These past few days I have been thinking about being responsible as individuals.
Acting responsibly will go a long way to bring order, make us more efficient in all aspects, reduce corruption and make us healthy and wealthy as a nation, and then a few things caught my attention;
Throwing Safety to the dogs
It appears we just do not care about human life. From throwing people in jail without trial to creating death traps with the semblance of hospitals. Road construction is a major area of concern. Walking or driving in town during the day is dangerous but attempting to do the same at night is simply suicidal.
Last weekend as I walked along a pavement, I was totally shocked to find open drains, planks with nails jutting out, slabs not properly fixed and all these had no warning signs. How careless can we get?
In the situation above warning signs should have been all over the place and should have started over 50 metres from the construction site. I am sure someone is in charge of the work going on there and even those directly working on the site can be a little bit responsible. This is the norm rather than an isolated case.
Turning our roads into battlefields
If you are like me and many other Ghanaians you must be fed-up with the “important” people who instead of setting out early for an appointment like the rest of us do, would rather cut it close to the time and resort to blaring their horns, flashing their headlights and quite often may even be escorted by a peace officer. Really aren’t the rest of us who are painfully trudging along while we see the minutes tick away equally important and don’t we often have to work so money can be generated to construct more roads and purchase more cars that will push us off the roads?
Then you have to contend with commercial bus drivers who believe they are masters of the steering wheel and they also can’t afford to waste 30 seconds for their turn.
Can you imagine how annoying it is to see motor and bicycle riders jump the red-light with impunity and deliver unprintable words in your direction when you dare to complain?
Nobody seems to care when an ambulance with a critically ill person tries to make its way through traffic. Maybe people are tired of giving way only to find out the ambulance is carrying a corpse or is on its way to the market.
It’s almost a fight on the road; morning, afternoon and evening. You are drained by the time you arrive at work and I daresay your best bet is to take it easy and smile in the midst of all the confusion.
Abusing our children in unimaginable ways
The time has come when at the very least all teachers and healthcare professionals should be on the lookout when they come into contact with a child. Our children are suffering not only from sexual abuse but physical as well as verbal ones. Let us look out for tell-tale signs; an extra quiet child, unexplained marks on a child, a child who appears to be scared for no reason.
The boy-child is equally at risk when it comes to sexual abuse. We often make it appear only the females should be protected but there have been stories of ordeals that the male-child goes through. The boy-child in Ghana is slowly becoming an endangered species even when it comes to education. It is time to learn from the experience of the African-American male.
Fix our healthcare system else we perish together
Nature has a way of warning us years ahead. So COVID-19 made us aware that there can be a time when all borders may be closed and no matter how connected or wealthy you may be you cannot have access to healthcare except what you have grown at home; let us do the needful.
In our current state we can’t even start handpicking any sector or area, we must go for a complete overhaul of every part of our dear country. Fortunately there will be no march past, no speeches and no fanfare this year. Hopefully we will spend all the time reflecting on what we can do for mother Ghana and not the usual what can Ghana do for me or what can I steal from Ghana. Enough is enough.
On Independence Day, I salute all Ghanaians and may we all remember that just us OUR HEALTH IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY, INDEPENDENCE ALSO COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd/ St Andrews Clinic
Dr. Essel is a medical doctor, holds an MBA and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy, fitness nutrition and corrective exercise.
Thought for the week – “Our Independence is meaningless unless we take responsibility for everything we do and we all have a common goal of working tirelessly to ensure the prosperity of our nation.”
The conventional wisdom has always been that we should all strive to keep our blood pressure low. Even though this is true, having really low blood pressure can be dangerous, as it can impair your body’s ability to absorb oxygen, resulting in damage to the heart and brain.
Low blood pressure is when your blood pressure reading is lower than 90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) for the top number (systolic) or 60 mm Hg for the bottom number (diastolic).
Low blood pressure (also known as hypotension) can occur in anyone, though it may be more common depending on your age or other risk factors: genetic makeup, taking certain medications, and having certain diseases (diabetes, heart conditions).
The cause of low blood pressure isn’t always clear. However, it may be associated with the following:
- pregnancy
- hormonal problems
- some over-the-counter and prescription medications
- heart failure
- abnormal heart rhythms
- widening or dilation of the blood vessels
- heatstroke
- liver disease
- loss of blood from bleeding
- low or high body temperature
- a severe blood infection
- severe dehydration from vomiting, diarrhea, burns or fever
- a reaction to medication or alcohol
A sudden drop in blood pressure robs the brain of adequate blood supply. This can lead to dizziness or lightheadedness. Other symptoms include fainting, blurred vision, nausea, fatigue, lack of concentration, and in extreme conditions shock.
If you experience any of the above symptoms, seek emergency medical attention as it is important to determine the cause of low blood pressure so appropriate treatment can be given.
Some people are known to take alcohol in an attempt to increase their blood pressure but that is a path I will not recommend. Others opt for caffeinated drinks like coffee and tea. Caffeine can increase blood pressure due to peripheral pooling of blood and may cause complications.
Dr Kojo Essel often recommends that one engages in exercise, which is your best “weapon to normalise blood pressure.”
Quite often when one has low blood pressure, standing still for long periods of time can cause a further drop. In such people, Dr Essel highly recommends taking several steps even if standing in one place to help maintain blood pressure at a safe level.
Other ways of managing low blood pressure are:
- adding a little salt to food (do this with caution to avoid excesses and downsides of increased salt intake)
- increase water (other fluids) intake to increase blood volume
- may need to wear compression stockings in extreme situations
- some may require medication
- pay attention to body positions; do not move quickly from sitting to standing position for instance
- eat small portions of food at a time
- exercise should be a combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise that increases heart rate
As always: laugh often, ensure hygiene, walk and pray every day, and remember it’s a priceless gift to know your numbers (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI).
Source:
Maureen Masopeh, Content Creator (Health Essentials Ltd)
References:
- Dr Kojo Cobba Essel; Unravelling the Essentials of Health and Wealth
- Mayoclinic; Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension)
- WebMD
By Dr Kojo Cobba Essel
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IF you truly love yourself, you had better read this piece while standing!
The other “inactivity” that rivals sitting for long periods when it comes to poor health and untimely death is LONLINESS! Sitting and Loneliness are the new Smoking.
It is often common to hear a parent tell a child, “Sit quietly and watch television and I will make a quick dash to town.” Well, this harmless and well-meaning statement is now being vilified. That parent could have said “smoke a few sticks of cigarettes while I dash off to town.” Yes “sitting is the “new” smoking.”
Scientists: they keep coming up with many weird findings and unfortunately, we realise after much ado that they may be right. People with sitting jobs have twice the rate of cardiovascular (heart & blood vessel) diseases as those with standing jobs – the bankers are cringing in their seats I bet.
It appears that compared to sitting,
• Sitting continuously brings similar challenges that smoking poses a gossip team. After an hour of sitting, if you walk for a minute or two.
Standing is hard work. Imagine that you need to engage many muscles to stand upright, and this burns energy. Sitting on the other hand is extremely relaxing.
When we sit, the “physiology of inactivity” kicks in and when we think we are relaxing in a chair made from heaven, our body instead rewards us with many bad things; enzymes that break down fat may drop by about 90 per cent calorie burning drops to frightening low levels and soon good cholesterol that protects us also drops. If you sit long enough even your insulin effectiveness drops and you will be courting diabetes in the long run.
I sincerely believe in getting a workout during the day, but you should not think that it gives you a license to sit at your desk for hours on end. We should ensure that we get up from our desk to walk briefly or even stretch. I am not giving you an excuse for loitering around your office or forming ings. When you have a meeting with a handful of people you could lace your boots and start walking while you talk. Who knows being out of a box (office etc) could help you think “out of the box” or even think like “there is no box”. The best aspect of such a meeting is people are more attentive since they are unable to fidget with their smart phones and other gadgets.
All lectures and classes (children are really suffering in school these days) should have a “Heart Preserving” five-minute break after every hour. Spend that time walking and stretching.
All long movies should have commercial breaks that should be used to at least stand
Whenever in doubt, at least stand for a while.
Well some people are trying innovative ways of even having small treadmills at their desk that keeps them moving, others are adopting a new chair design that essentially makes you stand at your desk, a few others sit on exercise balls that forces them to adjust their positions all the time but for the rest of us simply taking breaks and using every opportunity to move is just what the doctor prescribed.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERY DAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials/Medics Clinic
(www.healthessentialsgh.com)
Dr. Essel is a medical doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is ISSA certified in exercise therapy, fitness nutrition and corrective exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – For good heart health; exercise often, eat healthy, do not smoke, minimise alcohol and sit less
By Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
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