Ask Doctor Michael

Pus Pus is a thick, milky, yellowish or greenish fluid that forms in an infected area of your body. This could be on your skin or inner body tissues and organs.  Acne is an example of a skin condition which usually contains pus. When you "pop a pimple", it is common to see pus as its content.  Pus is made up of dead white blood cells, bacteria, debris from your body tissues and serum. White blood cells fight off bacteria and in the process, some of the white blood cells are killed.  During this fight (which can also be called inflammation) between your white blood cells and bacteria, some of your organ cells are destroyed, these cells are the tissue debris.  When inflammation is ongoing, your blood vessel becomes permeable allowing more immune cells (fighting cells) to reach the area of combat (area of infection). This permeability of your blood vessels also allow nutrient and clear fluids from your blood to reach the area of infection. Nutrients help in regeneration...

1- DO NOT POP OFF THE BOTTLE TOP WITH YOUR TEETH. Your teeth is the hardest structure in your body but this feature serves a purpose other than removing bottle tops.  This is a significant cause of cracks, chipping and even fracture of the tooth.  People may be impressed by your trick but certainly not a dentist.  2- DO NOT BITE YOUR FINGERNAILS WITH YOUR TEETH. Biting your fingernails will wear off that area of your tooth over time. It will also introduce bacteria in your mouth.  Underneath the edges of your nails is a breeding ground for bacteria.  3- DO NOT IGNORE ANY TOOTH PAIN. Ignoring tooth pain may eventually lead to the removal of that tooth. Do not use dental powders to treat tooth pain. These products cause more harm with time.  If the pain comes back or persists after taking your normal pain relief pills, talk to a dentist.  If you find this post useful, kindly comment below and share. Thanks for reading

FOOD POISONING (FOODBORNE ILLNESS)  It is the illness that occures when you take in food or drink that is contaminated with parasites, viruses, harmful chemicals, bacteria and/or their toxins.  When you take in these contaminated foods, your intestine becomes infected and irritated producing the discomfort you may feel. The exposed garden eggs, vegetables, cucumber, pineapple you buy can easily get contaminated, requiring proper washing before eating because you don't cook them.  CONTAMINATION OF FOOD CAN OCCUR DURING: Production Growing Harvesting Processing Storage Shipping Preparation and eating SYMPTOMS: Symptoms can start within hours or days after you have eaten the food. The symptoms can resolve on its own but sometimes you may need medical attention.  Some of the symptoms are: Diarrhea which may be bloody Nausea Vomiting Abdominal cramps  Fever Headache  Muscle pain  Joint pain  Painful and urgent need to pass little or no stoo...

Swallowing of air can be a habit or a medical condition and t's called aerophagy or aerophagia.  Swallowing air voluntarily or involuntarily from foods and drinks won't make your fart smell. It will be odorless. Some of the air is released by mouth (when you belch), some are absorbed into your blood while you release some as fart and they won't smell. Your fart smells when you ingest certain foods that may undergo putrefaction in your large intestine. Some of the bacteria in your intestine ( which is normal) acts on these foods producing sulfur or compounds that has sulfur. Sulfur is fowl smelling. Some of these foods or substances are beans, egg, milk, garlic, alcohol, onions, fish, chicken, cabbage to mention a few. Many of them contain sulfur. Some are high fiber containing foods so will take long to break down creating enough time for bacteria to ferment them. Some high fiber foods are Avocado, popcorn, banana, almonds, sweet potatoes etc. NEXT TIME YOU WANNA FART...

GYMNASTICS Gymnastics is a form of physical exercise that involves series of movements which requires mental energy, physical strength, balance, endurance and coordination to achieve a desirable physique or body state. BENEFITS: Increases your flexibility and agility Promotes good bone health Builds your self-esteem Builds your confidence Prevent diseases like diabetes Builds endurance Promotes self discipline Builds your strength Helps in learning and improves concentration Motor skill development Promotes healthy lifestyle Builds your focus If you find this post useful, kindly comment below and share. Thanks for reading

Headache is simply a painful sensation inside the head or the face.  Generally, pain can be: 1- Sharp 2- Dull 3- Pulling 4- Stabbing 5- Pricking 6- Burning 7- Throbbing (Pounding or pulsating)  Headache is usually throbbing, sharp or dull.  COMMON CAUSES: 1- Stress /anxiety 2- Dehydration 3- Starvation/hunger 4- Light 5- Caffeine (in coffee)  6- Lack of sleep/sleep disturbances 7- Poor posture 8- Infections  9- Tumor inside the skull cavity( inside the head)  10- Head Injury 11- some medications TYPES OF HEADACHE:   1- Primary 2- Secondary   PRIMARY HEADACHES 1- Tension-type headache 2- Migraine 3- Cluster headache 4- Exertional SECONDARY HEADACHES 1- Systemic infection 2- Head Injury 3- Vascular disorders (Bleeding/ ischemia as in stroke)  4-  Brain tumors REMEDY : 1- Paracetamol 2- Aspirin (Not for people with heart or kidney failure)  3- Ibuprofen (Not for people with heart or kidney failure)  4- Dim lights 5- Sleep  6-...

Dysmenorrhea (Menstrual or period pain)  Dysmenorrhea is a painful sensation felt usually at the lower abdomen by females in reproductive age before and/or during a menstrual period.  It is the cramping pain you feel when you are on your period.  It usually begin after your ovulation and can be mild or severe.  4 out of 5 ladies in reproductive age are said to have cramps.  How does it happen?  Your uterus (womb) releases a hormone-like substance called prostaglandin from it's lining.  During your menstruation, the prostaglandin mediates the contraction and relaxation of the muscles of your uterus so that it will expel unwanted tissues and blood from it's lining.  Excess of prostaglandin causes a more serious contraction which will reduce blood flow to that area of your uterus. By doing this, oxygen (which is carried in the blood) to that area is reduced causing pain.  When cramps is from menstruation, it is called primary dysmenorrhea. When ...

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's)  These are group of drugs that provide analgesic (Pain relieve), antipyretic (Fever reduction), and in high doses, anti-inflammatory effects.  Commonly used ones are: Aspirin (Ace ty salicylic acid)  Ibuprofen Napoxen Indomethacin Piroxicam Diclofenac Meloxicam Celecoxib Indications (medical uses): Dymenorrhoea (menstrual pain)  Migraine and headache Acute gout Metastatic bone pain Osteoarthritis Rheumatoid arthritis Pyrexia (fever)  Ileus Renal colic Coagulation disorders - Aspirin is used in this condition  Tennis elbow  Post operative pain Inflammatory arthropaties like ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis etc In neonates to close a patent doctus arteriosus Contraindications: They should be avoided by ; Pregnant women especially those in third trimester  People with peptic ulcer People with uncontrolled hypertension  People who have had  a history of stroke or transient ischaemic at...

COMMON CAUSES OF CHEST PAIN. The feeling of pain on your chest can have various possible causes. Medically, these causes can be called "differential diagnosis". You may have experienced pain on your chest many a time and sometime it disappears on it's own.  However, chest pain can be so disturbing that it is referred to another area of your body. It can as well be troubling in a way that limits your usual activities.  These are the common causes of chest pain; Cardiac (Heart) origin: Myocardial ischemia (Angina pectoris)  Myocardial infarction Pericarditis  Heart valves dysfunction  Respiratory (lungs) rigin: Pneumonia Bronchospasm Pulmonary infarction Tuberculosis Pulmonary embolism Pneumotborax Tracheitis Cancer  (Malignancy)  Musculoskeletal origin: Rib injury/ fracture  Osteoarthritis Exercise like weight lifting  Costochondritis  Epidermic myalgia  Chest muscle injury Neurological origin Herpes zoster Intervatebral disc prolaps...

ALLERGY  Allergy is your body's reaction to a normally harmless substance(s) called allergens. Yes, these substances are harmless to your body but your body has become hypersensitive to them.  This means that when you come in contact with them, your body evokes serious immune responses to them so as to eliminate them.  This developes over time as exposures are frequent and because of the severity of the immune response on  these substances, your systems can be implicated. Allergic reactions can as well be hereditary. This means that it can be inherited and can run in families.  In a normal allergy condition, you react by itching, swelling on the area of contact, runny nose, sneezing, peeling of skin and flaking COMMON ALLERGENS IN OUR ENVIRONMENT ARE: 1- POLLEN 2- DANDER  3- MOLD 4- DUST MITES 5- DRUGS 6- FOOD 5- INSECT STINGS 6- LATEX 7- HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AND COSMETICS LIKE SOAPS, DETERGENT, PERFUMES, BODY SPRAYS AND CREAMS.  POLLEN Pollen is a powdery ...

Anaphylaxis is an extreme and severe form of allergy or allergic reaction . It is usually life-threatening.  Not everyone gets allergies but if you have the tendency to get it from genetics of frequent exposure to allergens , you can develop anaphylaxis. This means that allergy is a risk factor for anaphylaxis but not everyone with allergy experience anaphylaxis.  When you get stung by a bee, the area gets inflammed. It becomes painful, red in color, warm and swollen. It may also itch. These reactions are known as inflammatory reactions and they are triggered by chemicals like histamine, prostagladin and bradykinin which are released by cells in that area so as to fight the offending substance and improve healing.  In anaphylaxis, these chemicals are released in large amount into the bloodstream. They flood your bloodstream and the result of this can be fatal as you can go into shock. You may find it difficult breathing and your blood pressure will drop.  SIGNS AND S...

INTRODUCTION Edema is the swelling that occurs when your body traps excess fluid especially in the skin. This fluid is known as tissue fluid or interstitial fluid (ISF).  The interstitial fluid is defined as the fluid which fills the spaces between cells. It helps to exchange materials between cells, between blood (plasma) and tissue cells and waste removal.  PLASMA IS THE LIQUID PART OF THE BLOOD. THE SOLID PART OF THE BLOOD IS COMPOSED OF CELLS .  The interstitial fluid and plasma are kept in a physiological balance state to maintain their functions but in some disease conditions this balance is altered and if positive on the interstitial fluid, it results to edema.   NOTABLE CAUSES INCLUDE:  Allergy, inflammation, trauma, sitting or standing for a long time, medications, starvation, malnutrition, pregnancy, organ failures, vascular obstructions, poor drainage of a body area are known to cause edema.  FLUID EXCHANG...

INTRODUCTION The daily experience of stress in our lives can't be abolished. Stress perhaps can be emotional or physical. A limb supporting the body is said to be on stress. Lifting a load with your hands puts your hands on stress and as you exercise, your muscles are stressed. However there's "good stress" which is usually moderate or described as "low-level". This is a healthy form of stress as it has beneficial impact on us. Bad stress or chronic stress on the other hand is a condition that throws your psychology and physiology in turmoil.  Stressors are conditions or events that stresses and organism and a stresse is an organism under stress.  As living organisms, we are built to adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions, challenges and demands but when these becomes overwhelming, we are said to be stressed and this is evident by some precipitating symptoms.  Furthermore, our daily usage of the word stress usually denotes negativity but t...

Introduction As humans, we are equipped with abilities to handle demands and challenging situations. When these demands are overwhelming, we are said to be stressed.  Stress is not anxiety, fear or cause of a disease but contributes to some disease development. It is the body's reaction to demands, a state of severe physiological and psychological tension and preparation for fight-or-flight. Fight-or-flight response is the body's biological response to danger. This simply means "battle it out or run ". During fight-or-flight, your heart rate and blood flow to large muscles increase so you can run faster or fight harder, blood vessels under the skin constricts to prevent blood loss in injury, pupils get dilated to see well. Blood sugar goes up in an attempt to have more energy.   At the same time, body processes not essential to immediate survival are suppressed. The digestive and reproductive systems slow down, growth hormones are inhibited and the immune...

MGBEOKWERE CHIBUIKE MICHAEL You might be wondering how obesity really causes diabetes, the relationship between the two. Obesity is just excess fat and diabetes is as a result of excess sugar so what could be the relationship. Why is it that people who have obesity are always advised to exercise, burn those fats and remain healthy?  Well, in this article you'll understand what obesity really is, what overweight is, how to check them and their role in diabetes.  At least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese and in 2008, over 40 million preschool children were overweight worldwide.  In 2016,more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight and 650 million were obese.  WHAT IS OBESITY?  Obesity is accumulation of fat in your body at a level that exposes you to health and psychosocial problems. Similar definition is given to "overweight " but the difference is gotten from checking the body mass index(BMI).  Body mass index (BMI) ...

                                                       The importance of television in our homes cannot be overemphasized. Watching news, sports, films, religious programs, historical events, academic programs, documentaries, wild and domestic life, music videos, reality shows, animations, cartoons, skill acquisition programs etc. It's obviously very important to have such gadget in your home. But what happens when this is abused or misused? What happens when there's addiction especially from the kids?  What happens when pleasure dominates over morality and necessity? Do you get rid of your tv or lock it up in a room or a place far from the children's reach?  It is agreeable that the psychology of an adult and a child isn't the same. As an adult you are expected to be moral, know when to stop, know what to do and wh...