Blood Thinning Foods To Keep The Heart Healthy 

In a world where the rhythm of life often takes precedence, the health of our hearts can sometimes be overlooked. However, as we navigate the intricate journey of daily existence, it becomes too important to pay attention to the very organ that keeps our life’s symphony in motion, the heart. Enter the realm of superfoods, a category of nutrient-packed wonders that have taken centre stage in promoting overall health. In this exploration, we turn our focus specifically to the heart, unravelling the extraordinary potential of superfoods in fostering cardiovascular well-being. Highlighted below are some foods that help keep the heart healthy:

WHO Certifies Cape Verde As Malaria-Free

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday officially certified Cape Verge as a malaria-free country in a significant achievement for global health. This is a substantial victory especially given that the mosquito-borne disease continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people on the continent, said the WHO. Cape Verde is the third country in the WHO African region to attain this status, following Mauritius and Algeria, certified in 1973 and 2019, respectively. Globally, only 43 nations have been certified as Malaria-free by the WHO. This feat has therefore placed Cape Verde among the elite group that has received such certification from the WHO. For this certification, a country has to prove that the domestic chain of transmission has been broken for at least three consecutive years.

Lassa Fever: Cases Surge, Fatality Rate Declines

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC has noted a raise in Lassa fever cases in the last weeks of 2023 with lower casualties contrast to previous year.

FEC Restores Funding For 13 National Health Regulators

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has restored funding for 13 national health regulators, which were initially not captured in the 2024 budget. This was disclosed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Ali Pate on Wednesday after the FEC meeting, which was held in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Recall that in June 2023, the Budget Office of the Federation, in a memo stated that 30 agencies would no longer be funded as decided by the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS).

Diphtheria, Tetanus Threatening Pregnant Women - NPHCDA

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has revealed that diphtheria and tetanus are threatening pregnant women. The Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Muyi Aina, made the revelation on Tuesday in an interview with journalists in Abuja. Aina, who emphasized that timely immunisation was urgently recommended for the safety of pregnant women and their babies said recent cases have shown a direct correlation between these infections and the loss of unborn babies prompting a call for urgent action. Tetanus is a fatal bacterial infection caused by clostridium tetani bacterium. It typically enters the body through wounds or cuts and produces a toxin that affects the nervous system. Tetanus is characterised by muscle stiffness and spasms, often starting in the jaw, hence the term “lockjaw”, and spreading to other muscles.

Adding Salt To Foods Linked To Higher Risk Of Chronic Kidney Disease

It is well known that adding salt regularly to your food raises the risk of hypertension and the resultant risks of heart attacks and strokes. But now, researchers in New Orleans, USA, have found that it also significantly increases the danger of triggering Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). The study, which involved 465,288 participants, showed that a higher self-reported frequency of adding salt to foods, a common eating behaviour shaped by a person’s long-term preference for salty taste in foods and habitual salt intake, was significantly associated with an increased risk of CKD. In the paper, published in JAMA Network, the team found that people who added salt to their foods were also more likely than those who did not add salt to their foods to be current smokers and have diabetes or CKD at baseline.