1HEGlWUlIAN,ThUooa~ )u1y26,2012
iOENCE HfAlJH 143
Experts, patients endorse new heartburn remedy By Wole 0)'IbIde
EARTBURN or gastriC Rflw: disorder affects H many in {he populace with
little medica] re.medy. The disorder does nOI kill but
causes discomfort and reduces quality of Ufe. Mrs. Kerni Adetona. 28, suf· fm recurring hearrburn throughout her pregnancy trimesters. Accordfng to her. heartburn usually occurs when she eats late at nlghl and the pain leads
t'O
sl~pless
nlghu. Cumntly on her second
pregnancy, she said: -I'ye been having heartburn.s again and again. The pain Is just so much and anything that will bring relief is wel~
(orne:
Another
patient,
Emmanuel Olawale, 29, has been having heartburns in the Uppt'f alx:lomen of his
stomach since his school days. "It has continued, at kaSl, twice In a month
since I graduat'rd, usua lly occurring after rakIng pep: pered fOod or bottles of beer among others. "'The pelln affects myactivides as an e ntertiliner .md several medical prescriptions have nOI given the relief that I wanted: Olawale said. Adetona and Olawale. who shared their experiences at the Gaviscon Grand uunch meeting In ugos, are among about 20 per cent of Nlgerfans having cases of reflux disorder. Consultant Gastroenterologist. College of Medicine University of ugos (CMUL). Dr. funmllayo wi nOled that heartburn Is usually associ· aled with regurgitation of gastric acid (gastnc renux). which Is the major symptom of ganroesophagral reflux diseasr (GI:RD). It, however, may ,<11.50 be a symptom of Ischemic hean disease.
Heanburn Is a burning sensation In lhe chest, just behind the breastbone or In the epigastrium. The pelin often rises In the chest and mOloY radiate to the ned. throat. or angle of the law. lesl [Old parridpantS at the meeting that heartburn is common glo bally and thl' burden Is as high as <14 pe.r cem in thl' United States (US, While there Is paudty of dara in Nigeria, shl!' noted thai studies conducted in Enugu o n 4 00 medical Stu· dents who use coffee and cola nuts rnea led 26.] per rem heanburn prevalenL Another study among 688 people In Mushin, ugos. revealed 15.5 per cen! of at least o nce In thrtt months Incldem of heartburn. lesl's colleague at ugos State University (lASU)' Dr. Charles OnyekWere added thai due to lhe compliGilied nature of lh@ disorder.
management Is a major problem for doctors, who must also guard against wrong diagnOSis of the disorder. "When recognized however. the aim olthe trearment Is to relle.f the symptoms. We therefore need an agent that is very active and abl~ 10 protect t h e patient longer. The cornerstone In treatment is antacids. to ensure redualo n In Intra· gaStric acid lO PH<4 and he.al the wounds'Gavlscon Brand Manager, Und.a Uwaoma said it was
A NnTOBACCO campaign L"lgroups havt' urged the NIgerian medl.J to fnrenslfy ellOru at ensunng that the National ToI»cco ContrOl Bill (NTCB) becomes law and promOfe public health In the room", The campaign group under lhe aegis ofcam~ fo. Tobacco-11ft Kids ( .and Environmental ght Aaivirul friend of the Eanh Nigeria (ERAJFoEN) noted th.at th@mtdlahad.a duty to hold publk officials account· able to the health of Nigerians and ~ the rising incidence of "tobaccorefated diseases, dl$ilbJlities and deaths.~ The international advocacy group, CTFK. expressed carr cern that desplle the central
role thai Nigeria ocruples in
the lObacco<onuol cam· ~gn in Africa., ~ra1 "prof· u--hil2d folU5" had p~iled against Ih@ pdSSo1g@ of Ihe NTCB into law DiIt'ctor of CTFJ( programmes in Africa. Joshua KyalJo said In Lagos .al a roundGible meeting with the media lhal tobacco-related sidmes.s Will' already an epld@mkaround the work! and six million people die from tobacco-related diseases )'I!'ar·
'"
"1n the couple of )'I!'ars to come. eight million people will dlel!'YefYyear from these tobacco-relined diseases. Eighty per cent of these will come Ciom the less devdoped economies; most of them
ventioo. His words: 'We haVl!! an opportunity to aa now .and prevent it from becoming an epidemic. Our kar is If [his becomes another epidemic we do not have the ~rces for all lhe work we have todo to deal WIth iL
R; releases Vitamin A
maize to improve nutrition Frum Jab Abnmu, Abuja
A S pan of effom; to scak up l'1die nUDlents in sraple foodS. the Federal Government has Riease<ilWOlleWmaizehybnds that GIll [)(tI'Iide more Vitamin ~ In thedieu:ofNtgmans. Thehybrkts, whiCh arew first generation vit<lmln ...... rich maize. were rdeased rettntty by the National Variety Release CommlUee as If~ ffiiIi~yb .J and Jfe l11iliZrhyb 4. A maiu brffdu wilb tbe Internatlon.al lru[jru~ of Tropical AgrlculNR' (urAl Dr. Abebe Menldr~ who led the development 01' the new mab:r bybrids, said t~ey.aR recog· nized.as IIL\ hybrk1s A09OS-28 andAlJ905-32.~
Ri1Ising opcimlsm.about stemming tile menace of vitamin A defldency in the )NtS ahead,
6pecialfy among childnn, pregnant women, and m0thers.. he said the f'ro.\Ittamin A is con~td by the body inm 'litltmin A. when the maI7z is eaten. Menldr saki the hybrids are: a product ol nrariy a decade or breedmg for enbatxed JeoJels of pnwlI:amln A, addmg that lbe hybnds outperformed local
checki with yields rangmg from 6 to 9 tons pI!r heCt:aR compared with 2 tons per h«taR recorded on most !"armm'fiekls. The 'litamln A h~rids ~ devl:!loptd by lilA in parmer· ship with the Institute of Agriculrural Researrn &0 ltalnill8 (1AR&1) using COfIYeIltlonal breeding In a pro}ect funded by the 1iaM:st. Plus-a Challenge Program of the CGWt. .as pan stralegx'!5 to addRss the prevalence of \.'I"GminAdefldency
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Include the lrutfrute for Agrtculrural Rfiearch (lARl Zaria; UnIYl!lllty of MaklultWi; Inlematiorla.l Maize and Wheai. wter (aMMYJ), UnMntty of Illinois, and Um~n;lty of
meet the COnsumErs' need for faS! and Instant relief, "a safe solution that sUP'pre.sses backw.ud flow of add. bile ar.d pt'psin for at least four h.mr5. Sh'! added: ·G.avlscon fonns i strong. long lasting raft 10 the stomach. effec· tlve.ly suppressing reflux Into tile oe!phagu.$.. It npIdly Sliothes the burning pafn of heanbum in thref: minut!S and IastJng n.>..Ilef for up to (o ur hours. It Is safe In pregnancy and breastfeedlng women: Uwaoraa said:
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Anti-tobacco groups task media on control bill possibly from AfriCOl,· he said. Noting that there are other continen[$ where tobaccorelated Illnesses .are much higher than Is the Ci!Se In Africa, Kyallo lherefore saki thilt Afnca has one unique opportunity on epidemk pre-
in the light of the burden in Nigeria that Reckln Bencldser organized Gaviscon Gnnd !..lunch to discuss the therapeutic ch.tlleng~ of reflux disease and optimizing the control of reflux In Nlgena. Consultants 1n lhe an~a of gastroenterology, family medldne. phannactsts and other spedalties attended th@ Gaviscon (heartburn remedy) launch. Uwaoma not~d that though there are other treatment optiOns, Gaviscon was designed to
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~;;raC>"L£:I2ce.s' HEALTH RESOiLJR ES " " A N A G E " " E N T C O ..... RSIE
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that In Nigeria. 'lit:amln A defi. deocy afflICts .about 30 per- cent
of chlldren below five )'l':MS ol • • .almost 20 per cent 0( pfeg: mnt women, 01000 D IJeC emt vi nursing mothers. Vlt:a.mln A defldency lowers Immunity and Impairs vlskm, whkh an lead (0 blindness and ewon dooth.
To assist partldpants acquire the necessary knowledge and skHl! J"eolulrE:d for the modern management of health Instructions and programmes. COURSE CONTENTS: Wlll Indude, but not I1mited to: Princfples and appllcaUon In Slra;eglc Planning In Health, Health Policy FormulatiOn and evaluation, Health Resources M Jblia.aUCln, Health
Resource Allocation, Human Resources Management, Anand!!1 14anagement, Matenal Resources Management:. Quality Resourcesln Health and Equltyln Health. EXPECTED PARTICIPANTS: Medical 00d:0f5 preparing for the Rnal (PART ll) Fellowship E~millations of the National College In all spedalties, Medical Doctors In, Of aspIrhg to leadefshlp positions in Federal, State and local Government Health DepaI'trT"lUnt!"., Ge-\eral and
Teaching Hospitals as well as those in private practice.
8S.lij·LiJHf.. =N=40,OQO per participant, to rover course materials, lu'ches csnd light refreshments. A certificate will be issued to candIdates who rul Y Jankipate In the
programme. the National Postgraduate l'lEdlol College or Nigeria bank account numbers: 0014338511 @ GTB Pic. I':Ii Ardba, Lagos or oo07375160 @UnionBankPlc"Idi-Araba, Lagos. Fees are payable directly into
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t .. £Dcuriwl Diredar/Chlef uac:ulfve OffIcer (CEO) tktiGnaJ Prim.uy Heahh Care Dev8lopmenl AlIIIICY (NPHCOA),
Or. Mel GAna Mullammad (left); CNm- Medical OIrec1ot (CMD) TudIIn, Hospital Gwagwaiada, Dr. Pster AIabI; and 0ir1IC'!1If, PmIary Heallll CallI SyslatII CleveIOpmerlll1 NPHCDA.. Dr. Muhammad Abdullallll' the dosin&cer...,. of CompnNnsIye £m~.~ ~~~ ear. rrWninr (CEMOC) In AhuJa
Dept. ofCommunfty Health O1UL. Idi-Araba, Lagos.
Monday 13th August - Friday 24th August, 20 t 2. Prof. Akin Oslbogun. FMCPH C~
do Ikpt.
Coodinata'"
or Comm. HaaIth CMUL
Prof. E.O.Anlla-Obong FlotC"'"-d R.gl.I~'
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