Tips for asthmatics when in an unfriendly environment

Dust mask

I have seen cases of known asthmatics dying in the market, dusty areas etc because of the allergens that they inhaled in the environment.
We always teach known asthmatics about the triggers of  asthma, preventions etc. Patient education is very important for any type of disease. It helps the patient understand the nature of the disease, the causes, its complications, prognosis etc.
Asthma is basically a chronic airway disease that involves airway inflammation, intermittent airflow obstruction leading to breathing difficulties like cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness etc

These are the tips that can help you

• Use dust mask when in dusty places like the market where they grind cereals,pepper, legumes  that releases dust in the air.The dust mask covers the nose and the mouth there by keeping dust from being inhaled. Buy them and keep in your car, at home and your bag as well.
• Always have your inhaler handy when you are going to be in such an unfriendly environment
• Avoid staying close to people that spoke in clubs, gardens etc
• Do not stay close to areas where fumes are released either from a generator or smoke from barbeque or burning woods. 
•  Do not stay in very cold areas where you can not control the temperature  especially in public places like the lobby, office etc . Do not sit directly opposite the air conditioners .
• Use dust mask if you work with woods that releases dust in air when sawing it .Painters, poultry farm workers, or any occupation  that may increase the triggers  should also wear dust mask or paint mask when at work.
• Always wind up when driving past a dusty road.
• Cover up your self if you are going to be out in the cold during work, prayers,or any religious activities that will make stay outside in the cold for a long time.

In all the above situations always have your inhaler handy in case you notice any symptoms and always visit the hospital in cases that can't be controlled using the inhaler.
Patients keep saying I know what caused it . You see , we went for this church programme that we had to stay outside praying for days and I forgot to go with my drugs.
When you are going to travel or be in such situations always go with your medications.
Stay healthy guys and thanks for visiting

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Find out the medical conditions that could make you loose your erection as a man.

Patient ; Good morning doc

Doc; Good morning sir how are you today? 

Patient ; Am fine doc

Doc ; Are you here for your follow up visit? You are a known diabetic and hypertensive,from the records am seeing here you have not visited the clinic in the past 2 years. What happened?  Did you stop your drugs?

Patient; Yes doc. I travelled out of town for an assignment. I couldn't get the drugs in my area after the last one I had was exhausted.I came because my penis is weak and can't stand like it used to.

Doctor; When did you notice it?

Patient;2 months now. Is putting a lot of strain on my marriage . My wife is complaining.

Doctor; We educated you on the complications of the disease the first time we saw you at the clinic.  Your blood glucose and blood pressure control are  poor and you are not compliant with  your drugs.

Patient ; Is there a solution to it? Right now this is my major problem. 

Doctor ; We have to refer you to our urology clinic. Is a clinic where the doctor you will see  is specialized in cases like this. The urologist will take it up from there . Please continue your oral drugs for the diabetes and your hypertension to control your blood glucose level and blood pressure.

Patients always give excuses why they discontinued their drugs, is either because of faith, financial constraint, depression, proximity to the hospital. Always discuss with your doctor when you have challenges. There will always be a solution to that.

This is a case of Erectile dysfunction. What then is Erectile dysfunction?   It can be defined as the inability to achieve or maintain erection long enough to engage in sexual intercourse.  It can also be caused by the following;

•  Hypertension
• Dyslipidemia
• Medications
• Atherosclerosis
• Smoking 
• Sickle cell disease
• Depression 
• Trauma 
• Diabetes etc

The causes of ED  is endless. ED is what is known as poor or weak erection in lay man's language. Most of the patients we see at the clinic we counsel and educate them on what the disease is all about, the complications and never to abandon their drugs. Evidence indicates that a good glycemic control or blood pressure can minimize the risk as the case may be. We have seen cases of ED causing friction in the marriage. Please always take your drugs , be regular for your follow up. If you are going to be absent for  a long time always discuss with your doctor to advice you on what to do.

I also advise that we do a regular check up like checking our blood glucose, cholesterol level, blood pressure etc. I wrote a post on that. Read HERE

Always stay healthy guys. Share your thoughts and please do ask questions.

Thanks for visiting. 

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Keep those items out of reach of children

 This post was inspired by what happened to a paediatric patient some time ago at the hospital. The mother rushed the child to the hospital crying and a history of iron tablet ingestion was gotten. The mother was pregnant and placed her routine antenatal drugs at the reach of the child. The child ingested a lot of of the iron drugs making his health condition bad.
 Children are difficult to control, this minute they are here, the other minute they are there. They could ingest harmful liquids, swallow solids that could obstruct their intestines or stuff them in the nose or ears, fight with sharp objects, suffocate themselves with plastic bags etc
  This is commonly seen in children who stay in few rooms (or what we call 'face me, I face you apartments) because is difficult for items to be placed in the right places. You could see containers with kerosene, fuel, bleach placed under the beds or just by the side of the door. These children could ingest them if there are no adults with them.
  There are wipes that come in a plastic container and for me I usually use them for other things once the wipes are exhausted, to store items at home and keep them away from the children. Am sure mothers will know what I am talking about. We use it to clean babies butts, face etc. I label them and stow them on the shelf or in the cabinets. There are also storage containers and jars in the market you could also use them and label them properly.

Neatly labelled storage containers

Hair beads used for the little girls 

Piggy bank

Shelf

Kitchen Cabinet

You could do them the following ways

• Stationeries :like Pencils, Erasers, Pencil sharpeners, Crayons, etc
• Hair accessories : Hair clips, Beads etc
• Sewing tools/materials; Needles, Pins,Hook and eye, Thimble, Buttons, Scissors, Razor blades etc
• Nail tools/materials; Nail removers, Nail polish, Nail clippers,Nail file etc
• Piggy bank ; Some people travel out of the country and bring back coins, you could put them there. 
• Drugs; Put them in a cabinet 
• Knives ; Put them high up in the kitchen cabinet or shelf

Please for the kerosene,fuel and bleach keep them above their heights like putting them on a shelf. This goes for any other item not mentioned here in the post that you feel is harmful to children please put them high up out of their reach.

 We have carpenters in our areas that can do any of the shelf or cabinet for you at a very cheap price.

Always remember that prevention is better than cure .

Thanks for visiting my blog, please do visit again.

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