By Chima Ejimofor –
The process of oxidation in the human body damages cell membranes and other structures, including cellular proteins, lipids and DNA. When oxygen is metabolised, it creates unstable molecules called “free radicals”, which steal electrons from other molecules, causing damage to DNA and other cells.
The body can cope with some free radicals and needs them to function effectively. However, the damage caused by an overload of free radicals over time (oxidative stress), may become irreversible and lead to certain diseases (including heart and liver disease) and some cancers (such as oral, oesophageal, stomach and bowel cancers).
Oxidation can be accelerated by stress, cigarette smoking, alcohol, sunlight, pollution and other factors.
Antioxidants and free radicals
Antioxidants are found in certain foods and may prevent or slow down some of the damage caused by free radicals by neutralising them. These include the nutrient antioxidants, vitamins A, C and E, and the minerals copper, zinc and selenium.
Other dietary food compounds, such as the phytochemicals in plants, are believed to have greater antioxidant effects than vitamins or minerals. These are called the non-nutrient antioxidants and include phytochemicals (such as lycopenes in tomatoes and anthocyanins found in cranberries). These plant-based antioxidants are a kind of phytonutrient and called exogenous source.
Antioxidants are called “free radical scavengers”. They mop up or fight free radicals in the body. Free radicals are also called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Antioxidants can be sourced naturally in brightly coloured fruits like pomegranates, pineapple etc. or through nutritional supplements. The body also produces some antioxidants, such as glutathione, lipoic acid, bilirubin, ferritin, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, among others. These are called endogenous antioxidants.
Factors that increase the production of free radicals in the body can be internal, such as Inflammation; or external, for example, pollution, UV rays exposure, cigarette smoke, car and industrial fumes. Other factors which predispose us to oxidative stress include:
High fat diets
Excessive red meat
High levels of stress (busy executives)
Chemicals and preservatives in food
Processed and fast foods
Alcohol
Dairy products
Artificially ripened fruits
White flour and pastry products
Water pollution
Toxic wastes
Refined Sugar
Some conditions caused by free radicals include:
Deterioration of the eye lens, which contributes to vision loss.
Inflammation of the joints (arthritis).
Damage to nerve cells in the brain, which contributes to conditions such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.
Acceleration of the ageing process.
Increased risk of coronary heart disease, since free radicals encourage low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to stick to artery walls.
Certain cancers triggered by damaged cell DNA.
The benefits of taking antioxidants, especially through organic nutritional supplements include the following:
Proper nutrition at cellular level.
The WHO recommends five daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Most people today cannot do this).
Supports kidney function
Maintains good dental health
Improves reproductive function
Improves nervous system functioning
Have anti-aging effects
Supports the immune system and improves defence power of the body
Protects the liver
Reduces obesity
Maintains healthy vision
Offers protection against digestive disorders
Improves quality of sleep
Supports the respiratory system.
Excellent nutritional supplements that can be recommended include the following products, all from the stable of the Aloe Vera Company. These are Aloe Vera Gel, Berry Nectar, Bits n Peaches, Pomesteen Power, Aloe Blossom Tea, SuperGreens, Daily, Ginchia, iVision, Vitolize Men and Women, Garlic Thyme, Immublend, Lycium Plus, Infinite Complex, Absorbent C and Argi Plus, just to mention a few.
Health insurance underway for senior citizens, retirees – Omokaro
The National Senior Citizens Centre is packaging a health insurance scheme, to cater for the health needs of senior citizens in the country.
The Director-General of the centre, Dr Emem Omokaro, made the announcement in Abuja on Sunday at an interview session our Correspondent
Omokaro said that the management of the centre was working currently to enlist stakeholders, who would sponsor the scheme for the benefit of the senior folks.
“Access to a health care is free in some developed countries because someone has paid for it.
“The challenge in Nigeria is not to say that this is free. It is who is paying for the service and how sustainable can the payment be?”
She disclosed that the Federal Government had set up a committee to revise the National Social Protection Policy, to take special care of senior citizens.
“The 2017 National Social Protection Policy has been undergoing revision for nearly a year.
“We have identified all categories of older persons and we have noticed that the policy did not have an implementation working document and there was no cost attached to it.
“It was just a guiding document that the present administration picked and then identified some pillar programmes and embarked on.
“Right now as I speak, the final draft of the policy has been brought to an inter-ministerial committee for review.’’
The director-general pointed out that in some societies senior citizens were given near free medical care, noting however, that whatever that was given free to the senior folks must have been paid for by some sponsors.
Omokaro advised that while doing a comparison of countries one should try to determine if the care provided was by legislation or via a trust fund.
“What is the basic health package? Have they paid for you when you can approach the hospital and ask: can I have surgery, can I check my heart and do full body-check?
“What is the content of the healthcare that is free? So we thank this administration for now embarking on revising the policy.’’
The director-general assured that health insurance, which senior citizens and retirees were not enjoying would soon become a thing of the past.
“After you have retired now, you will realize how much you have over-worked your body and how your body will start demanding something from you. That is when you need your health.”
Omokaro revealed that the ministerial committee, which she was a member of before her current appointment as director-general did a good job of appraising the issues – relating to who pays for healthcare?
“All these questions have been answered in the report which is going to be submitted to the Federal Government soon.
“I know that with the political commitment of this administration, older persons and anybody who retires will soon get the service.’’
She described older citizens as a diverse segment of the population, who should deserve health benefits as their dividend for being citizens of the nation.
Dementia not witchcraft, but old age condition — NSCC
Dr Emem Omokaro, the Director-General, National Senior Citizens Centre, has said that ageing is a blessing and that the society should not see dementia associated with it as witchcraft.
Omokaro disclosed this in an interview with our Correspondent on Sunday in Abuja.
She said that the centre is carrying out programmes on advocacy to disabuse the minds of the people that dementia is not witchcraft.
“A lot of older persons are going through abuse, stigmatisation, isolation and maltreatment based on their dementia condition.
“There is a case of a female professor in the South-South Region of the country that was stripped naked, humiliated and shamed because of her dementia situation. This is a former commissioner. It is that bad.
“There are a lot of similar cases in all parts of the country where older persons with dementia are being abused on false notions that they are either witches or wizards.
“We are going to take action on dementia. People should know that ageing is a condition of living and it is a blessing to be ageing, because many people die at young age.
“Ageing is an opportunity, when someone is ageing, it means he or she is living. So, we need to dignify and respect them.
”There is need to add value to ageing and that is what the NSCC is all about. Don’t despise an older person, they have a lot to offer the younger ones,” Omokaro stressed.
On the involvement of young people in the activities of the centre, Omokaro said the youths would also be carried along.
“We will get the youths to understand via advocacy and inter-generational livelihood forum that ageing is a population; give yourself 20 to 30 years, that is where you are.
“We will also reorient the youths to be able to know that ageing is a great blessing and they should respect older persons, because, it is not easy to grow old. They should be celebrated.
“In most of our programmes, we try to create linkage between senior citizens and youths. For instance, in the centre we need the youths to come in as volunteers and update their digital skills and capacity.
“Both the youths and older persons would volunteer to work for the centre and get paid. Thus, carrying the youth along,” she stressed.
Study links cannabis use disorder to higher risk of heart attack
A new research has found that at the time of increasing legalization of marijuana, a growing number of people under 50 diagnosed with cannabis use disorder were later hospitalised for a heart attack.
The study, peer-reviewed and published in the Canadian Medical Association, found that cannabis consumers between the ages of 18 and 44 had a 1.3 per cent chance of experiencing a heart attack, up from 0.8 per cent among the same age group who did not use cannabis.
The study included data on 33,173 young adults. Of those, 4,610, said they were recent cannabis users, about 17.5 per cent. Myocardial infarction or heart attack, was associated more highly with those who used cannabis at least four times per month, regardless of consumption method — though smoking was the primary method observed in the study.
“Increasing cannabis use in an at-risk population could have negative implications for cardiovascular health,” the study concluded.
Previous research has shown an increased health risk for people with cardiovascular disease from smoking marijuana.
Dr Karim Ladha, co-author of the study and an anesthesiologist St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto in Canada, told CNN the increased risk of heart attack could be due to a “mismatch of oxygen supply and demand.”
When the heart rate becomes irregular, the heart requires more oxygen, but marijuana can limit the amount of oxygen delivered to the heart, Ladha added.
Nonetheless, cannabis use appears to be beneficial in alleviating symptoms of conditions such as epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer. Its medical use is legal in 37 states.
Many health benefits of cannabis use have not been proven, and experts agree that more research is needed on health outcomes.
