Knowledge Corner - St. Anne's Care Foundation

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MALARIA

DIABETES

PRACTICAL HEALTH TIPS

Malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes. It is mostly found in tropical countries. It is preventable and curable.

The infection is caused by a parasite and does not spread from person to person.
Symptoms can be mild or life-threatening. Mild symptoms are fever, chills and headache. Severe symptoms include fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty breathing.
Infants, children under 5 years, pregnant women, travelers and people with HIV or AIDS are at higher risk of severe infection.
Malaria can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites and with medicines. Treatments can stop mild cases from getting worse.

Malaria remains a significant health challenge in Nigeria. However, not every symptom of sickness mean that the sick person is suffering from malaria fever or typhoid as many errorneously believe.

DIABETES:

Another common disease is diabetes. There are two types of diabetes - Type 1 and Type 2

Are you wondering if you have diabetes: The reality is, anyone can develop this disease. That is why it is so important to be aware of signs and symptoms.
When you think about diabetes symptoms, drinking and peeing comes to mind. But there are other symptoms that can indicate a need to get checked for type 1 diabetes

What is Type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s pancreas to stop producing insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood. While it can be diagnosed in people who are over 40 years old, this is very rare.

There are both signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes: symptoms are experienced by the person affected by the disease; signs can be detected by someone other than the person affected by the disease.
Symptoms of Type 1 diabetes:
The most common symptoms of type 1 diabetes are frequent urination and excessive thirst. Urinating is the body’s way of trying to get rid of extra glucose in the blood. As a result of urinating very frequently, people can become very dehydrated and feel the need to drink more fluids than normal.

Other symptoms of type 1 diabetes include:

Irritabilityand mood swings: any non-specific mood changes or increase in irritability, including general moodiness or crying, may be an early sign of diabetes.

Tiredness and weakness: increased fatigue, or needing more sleep/naps than usual may be an early sign of the disease.

Fruity odour on the breath: this is caused by high ketones in the blood, and is something that is detectable when having a conversation with someone.

Signs of Type 1 Diabetes: The signs of diabetes include:
High blood sugar levels: this would be detected by a doctor, through a blood test.

Unexplained weight loss: new-onset weight loss that occurs even when you are eating normally and feel hungry, can be an early sign of diabetes.
A fast heart rate: this may or may not be something that you can feel, but is usually first detected by a doctor during a physical examination of heart rate.

We shall be dealing with Type 2 diabetes in our next issue. Watch out for it.

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