Features
Shift work and brain damage
What do we know about the inner workings of the human brain? Everything that humans do is based on the unit structures of the human brain-the Neurons.
Neurons are the building blocks of the human brain. Just as an ant cannot build an ant hill, a single Neuron cannot create an idea to remedy a situation or condition.
Neurons must be networked to each other and by so doing create a unique platform for ideas to be formed to solve issues, develop ideas, invent and innovate, etc. There is absolutely nothing that you can do without the help of these neurons.
When the brain is affected by disease or injury, a lot is affected. Getting the children off to school in the morning and cooking dinner in the afternoon goes from normal to an oddity. Keeping up with to-do lists with important meetings and your little one’s training time table becomes impossible.
It might be difficult to do your job. It might be difficult to keep track of your body. It might affect the loved ones and what you love the most. It can change your life and your lifestyle. It can shorten your life. Therefore, we need a brain health strategy on how to best prevent disease and injury, and how to best investigate and treat them.
How we can best help patients and their families to cope with disease and injuries that affect the brain. Society benefits hugely from preventing brain diseases on improving the health services for those affected. Active and equal participation from users is vital to create better brain health within the population.
Prevention of brain diseases, good and equal treatment, follow up and rehabilitation, as well as increased research and expertise, is a good social investment and an investment in the individual.
SHIFT WORK AND SLEEP
In today’s competitive economy, an increasing number of U.S. businesses operate to meet customer demand for 24/7 services. These around-the-clock operations are required in order to maintain a place in the global market where transactions with clients, suppliers, and colleagues can span multiple time zones.
Consequently, for many men and women, the workday no longer fits the traditional 9-to-5 model. They may clock in at midnight and out at 8:00 in the morning, or they may follow a rotating shift work schedule consisting periodic day shifts, evening shifts, and night shifts.
Since our body clocks typically are set for a routine of daytime activity and night time sleep, working irregular shifts or night hours can be associated with disrupted or insufficient sleep.
In turn, drowsiness, fatigue, and circadian rhythm disruption from too little sleep or interrupted sleep are associated with risks for dysfunction of the immune system, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic health problems.
As non-traditional schedules become more common, it becomes increasingly important to understand who may be at risk of unintended job-related outcomes, and why. From that knowledge, employers, workers, and practitioners can better craft practical, effective interventions.
Scientists are extremely slow in their endeavours and know little about the prevalence of sleep disorders broadly in the U.S. workforce because, to date, most studies have been limited to selected occupational groups, geographic areas, and types of sleep disorders.
In a study published on-line earlier this month in the peer reviewed journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, we designed a larger investigation that would not be subject to those limitations.
We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted by the National Centre for Health Statistics, one of our partner centres in the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ours was the first-ever study using a nationally representative sample of the U.S. working population to examine the role of shift work in sleep quality, sleep-related activities of daily living, and insomnia.
Our nationally representative sample included 6,338 adults, 18 years of age and older. They were asked to complete a survey questionnaire covering sleep duration, sleep disorders, sleep quality, impairment of sleep-related activities of daily living (ADL), and insomnia.
To determine the shift schedule worked by each individual, they were asked which choice best described the hours they usually worked: regular daytime (any hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.), regular evening shift (any hours between 4 p.m. and midnight), regular night shift (any hours between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.), rotating shift, or another schedule.
Based on a recommendation by the National Sleep Foundation that adults should sleep seven to nine hours per night, we created two categories of sleep duration for the study: either less than seven hours referred to as short sleep duration, or seven or more hours.
From our study of this large, nationally representative sample, we concluded that sleep-related problems were common among workers, especially among night-shift workers who had the highest risks for sleep problems.
Moreover, these risks among night-shift workers persisted even after we adjusted for potentially confounding factors, such as long working hours, socio-demographic characteristics, and health/lifestyle/work factors.
to be continued
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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