Health Essentials
Acute Hemorrhagic Conjunctivitis (Apollo/Pink Eye)
An appollo infected eye
We are seeing a number of people in some clinics with red eyes with discomfort and a sudden increase in num¬ber of people wearing protective glasses. This week I am excited to introduce Dr. Nana Kofi Osei who has been doing a terrific job of helping people manage these conditions as well as teaching groups of people how to reduce one’s risk or prevent infection.
….and he writes;
Acute hemorrhagic conjunc¬tivitis (AHC) is a severe form of viral pink eye that could cause eyelid swelling, eye discharge, and bleeding. There’s no cure, but treatments can help you man¬age the symptoms until the virus clears.
HOW IS IT TRANSMITTED?
Conjunctivitis is highly contagious.
AHC is usually transmitted through hand-to-eye contact, meaning you touch an infected surface or object and then touch your eye. You can also contract the infection by using an object that carries the virus on your eyes, such as a towel or makeup tool.
The infection can also be spread to others through close contact, such as a handshake, hug, or kiss. Coughing and sneez¬ing can also spread the infection.
You are at increased risk for pink eye if you wear contact lens¬es, especially if they are extend¬ed-wear lenses. That’s because bacteria can live and grow on the lenses.
Additionally, adenoviruses can spread through infected parti¬cles in the air that can land on or around your eyes.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS?
Symptoms of AHC usually come on suddenly.
Common symptoms of AHC include:
• a feeling that something is in your eye
• watery eyes
• swollen eyelids
• fluid-filled, blister-like growths on top of the eye surface (che¬mosis)
• bleeding from blood vessels below the eye surface (sub conjunctival hemorrhage)
• blurring of vision or difficulty seeing
• sensitivity to light (photopho¬bia)
• fever
The earliest symptoms of AHC may be mild. But symptoms such as chemosis and hemorrhaging can become very painful and cause your eye to look bloodshot or com¬pletely red as blood leaks into the tissues under the eye’s surface.
HOW LONG DOES ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS LAST?
Most cases of AHC last five to seven days before symptoms start to go away.
However, the virus can still be contagious even after your symp¬toms subside.
WHAT IS THE TREATMENT FOR ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS?
There’s no cure for AHC, so most treatments aim to relieve the symptoms while the infection runs its course. Treatment options include:
• cold compresses to relieve pain and swelling
• eye drops to help lubricate the eye and promote tears that can help reduce the concentration of infectious material
• medications to reduce pain, such as ibuprofen
A doctor may warn against using any over-the-counter or prescription treatments, such as topical corticosteroids, that oth¬erwise might be used to treat pink eye. This is because steroids can cause super infections to develop on the eye’s surface, which need separate treatment with antibiot¬ics or antifungal medications.
HOW CAN I PREVENT ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS?
Here are some tips to help prevent yourself from getting AHC and spreading it to others if you have an active infection:
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Try not to touch or rub your eyes unless you’ve washed your hands.
• Don’t share towels, makeup tools, exercise equipment, or other commonly shared ob¬jects with someone who has an infection or if you have an infection.
• Throw away any mascara or eyeliner that may be contami¬nated.
• Avoid swimming in public pools or using shared hot tubs or steam rooms, where infectious particles can easily spread.
• Clean your glasses regularly to avoid transferring infectious material from your eyes to your glasses.
• Don’t wear contact lenses while you have an infection.
• Avoid reusing contact lenses. Consider switching to single-use lenses if you don’t already use them.
• Once your infection has gone away, wash all bedding that you came into contact with while you had the infection.
AHC is a form of viral conjunc¬tivitis that can cause more severe pain and redness than most oth¬er forms of pink eye. Symptoms come on quickly but typically go away on their own within a week.
Most cases of AHC go away without any treatment, but you should visit an eye doctor or pri¬mary care specialist if you have a fever or experience pain that disrupts your life.
Written / Compiled by;
Dr. Nana Kofi Osei
Health Essentials Limited
(BSC Biochemistry, MBChB, GMC certified)
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)
Thought for the week – “If you plan to live to a ripe old age, make those golden years healthy ones and not bedridden years.”
Health Essentials
Do you want to be happy?
Don’t we all dream of a life that is filled with laughter? That may be a reason for chasing big bucks, which like the Golden Fleece eludes the majority of us.
Financial Wellness is extremely important but there are other factors that make us happy and healthy and eventually wealthy.
I will introduce a few everyday activities that are guaranteed to make you happy if you continue practising them.
You definitely do not need to live in Finland to experience happiness even though many people agree that is the “headquarters” of happiness.
1. Wake-Up Ritual
a. Say to yourself that today will be a beautiful day or a great day!
b. Ask God what He has in store for you. Use me Lord (if not a Christian what you believe in will be useful as well.
c. Remind yourself of your purpose in life and get out of bed.
d. Do Not grab your phone as the first thing for the day.
2. Pray
a. Talking to God has a way of calming our nerves. It brings about unexplained peace and when we add praise and worship then the floodgates open. That is how to win battles against unhappiness.
3. Smile
a. Definitely floods your body with feel good hormones and insulates you from stress.
b. Smiling is infectious so the more you smile the better and you set off a smiling OR happiness domino effect.
4. Meditate
a. Extremely good for your brain and an easy way to start is to do deep-breathing and just focus on your “breath” excluding all others. That is what some will prefer to call mindfulness. Being in the moment has immense benefits. Things you never knew existed suddenly spring up.
5. Exercise
a. That wonder drug that trumps virtually all others. Like smiling it does pour out feel good hormones. Strength training even goes an extra mile causing our muscles to act as “pharmacies” that pour out life-changing signals every time they contract.
6. Be kind to yourself & to others
a. We are often too harsh on ourselves. Give yourself a break. Self-care is the real deal!!
b. Being harsh to others has no benefits.
7. Spend some time doing nothing!
a. We need to re-set from time to time. Spend about 10 minutes a day doing absolutely nothing. There is happiness and innovation in “idling”. Do not abuse idling though.
8. Spend time with loved ones.
a. This is another powerful happiness “hack”. You have to make time and be intentional about this; talk on phone, send messages, arrange to meet for a drink or meal. Social Wellness ranks very high on the happiness index and it’s fairly easy to plug into it.
b. While spending time together remember that your choice of food and drinks also impacts on how happy or sad or anxious you may feel.
9. Indulge in a hobby.
a. Our bodies and brain love variety. Do you have a hobby? Get one
10. Write in your gratitude diary.
a. That is all it takes – keep doing it regularly.
11. Get a pet.
This list is not exhaustive but definitely a good start. Share your happiness hacks with me via email and together we can keep the world smiling and happy.
At the end of each day ask yourself if you did better than the previous day. That is all it takes. Doing better than the previous day for 365 days, for 5 years, 10 years… How amazing that will be!!!
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/ Medics Clinic
(dressel@healthessentialsgh. com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist 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 – “There is no magic formula to being happy but making a conscious effort to be happy goes a long way.” – Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
By Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials
Measure your blood pressure accurately, control it, live longer
May 17 is World Hypertension Day and please do not panic. This is not a stress-filled day that aims at increasing your blood pressure but rather it’s a day set aside to increase awareness of a serial yet silent killer. That is exactly what Hypertension it; its killing the young and old at an alarming rate yet in most instances people with high blood pressure may feel absolutely well.
The theme for this year is “Measure your blood pressure accurately, control it, live longer”
Do these when you take your blood pressure since the accuracy of the reading matters:
• If you have been walking or running rest for at least 5 to 10 minutes
• No caffeinated drinks or alcohol two or three hours before checking blood pressure
• Sit (sometime you may need to stand or lay in bed) comfortably with your back rested/supported and your arm for the cuff resting on a table of firm surface
• Have your feet flat on the floor and not legs crossed
• Ensure the cuff is the right size for your arm
• If using an electronic monitor ensure battery is working well
• If clothing covering arm is thick remove
• Loosen your neck-tie or belt if uncomfortable
• If you are not conversant with checking blood pressure, get the appropriate training
Global statistics show that only 50 per cent of those with hypertension are actually aware and that awareness in some areas may be as low as 10 per cent while awareness may exceed 75 per cent in a few areas.
The bitter truth is some people do not have enough information about the condition, a significant number do not have easy access to measuring their blood pressure and a few stubborn ones think it is better not to know if something is going wrong.
What do we need to understand about our blood pressure numbers? There are ALWAYS two numbers in a blood pressure reading such as 120/80mmHg. The top figure represents the force of the blood against the artery (blood vessel) walls as your heart beats and the lower value represents the force on the walls in between beats or while the heart rests. Both numbers are important.
Essentially when your blood pressure is higher than it should normally be all organs in the body are exposed to elevated pressures since arteries supply blood to every part of the body. These sustained high pressures will be causing harm gradually every minute of the day.
Prevention of high blood pressure is based mainly on adopting the appropriate lifestyle, while having regular medical check-ups to pick up conditions that can may lead to hypertension if not tackled early. Management of hypertension on the other hand requires a three-pronged attack in most situations;
• Lifestyle modifications
• Regular medical checks to pick up other conditions that be worsen our hypertension or general wellbeing
• Use of appropriate physician prescribed medication
Age and our genes may have a way of increasing our blood pressure or predisposing us to hypertension, but since we have no control over the choice of our family and years rolling by, it may be worth focusing on the above three that we can control to a large extent.
Lifestyle Modification
• Exercise adequately
• Do not smoke
• Limit or avoid alcohol
• Aim at fat (weight) loss
• Manage stress appropriately
• If you have sleep apnoea (intermittent snoring during sleep and feeling tired and sleepy on waking up) seek medical intervention
• Adopt the DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) diet; low sodium (salt), increased potassium from fruits and vegetables, low or no saturated fats and increased fibre.
• Control conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol challenges and kidney disease.
Exercise need not be rushing to the gym to sweat out only, but taking walks, gardening, cleaning your home, using the stairs and many others. Exercise increases heart function and lowers blood pressure but there is a little hitch: the benefits of exercise on blood pressure do not last beyond 72 hours.
In short frequency is the watch word. Do not be a once a week or once a month exercise fan. The effect of exercise on the heart does not rely on past glory so if you were an athlete years ago but you have now become one with your sofa, I am sorry to disappoint you but you need to get moving NOW!
All types of exercises will benefit you and lower your blood pressure but a word of caution here;
• When your blood pressure is not controlled DO NOT lift weights above your head
• Do not overdo exercises of the upper body but lower body exercises such s squatting will enhance lowering of your blood pressure.
• Breathe properly especially while you train with weights; breathe out during the exertion phase as you lift a weight and breathe in while you relax.
• Of course brisk walking, swimming, use of the treadmill and other exercises that target heart function are also a must
When all is said and done, you can never know our blood pressure without measuring or checking it. Take a few minutes to check your blood pressure and ensure at least one other person checks their blood pressure before the end of the month.
Associations, companies and all identifiable groups should ensure they check their blood pressure and go an extra mile and as a corporate social responsibility help to check the blood pressure of hundreds or even thousands of people. You will be saving lives.
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/ Mobissel
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
