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EATING DISORDERS

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.             Photo by//University of Rochester  What are eating disorders? Eating disorders are serious health conditions that involve problems in how one thinks about food, eating ,body weight, shape and eating behaviour which later affects physical and mental health. What causes eating disorders? The exact cause of eating disorders is not known but there might be different causes such as genetics where people may have genes that increase risk of developing eating disorder and biological factors. What are the eating disorders? According to Mayo Clinic Family Health Book the eating disorders include Anorexia, ,Bulimia, Binge-eating disorder and restrictive food intake disorder. What is Anorexia? This is an eating disorder which involves using extreme efforts to control weight, shape, and severely limiting calories or cutting out certain kinds of food or food groups. What is Bulimia? This is an eating disorder which is life threatening as it involves episodes of bingeing co
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FLESH-EATING DISEASE

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                          Photo//Quora Necrotizing fasciitis affects tissue beneath the skin(fascia). This is known as the flesh-eating disease as it is a bacterial infection that affects one's skin and spreads quickly in the body. It is an  uncommon disease but not quite rare and very fatal as it causes death easily.  "0.3 to 15 people per 100,000  people get infected with necrotizing fasciitis and one in three people die,"stated the statistics from Ministry of Health. According to Cleveland clinic  one gets necrotizing fasciitis when bacteria invades your body through cuts,insect bites,surgery,wounds from needles and it mostly affects people with cuts,diabetics,obesity,alcoholism,cancer,pregnancy and people with low immunity. Cleveland clinic noted that early signs of this disease are diarrhea,vomiting,swelling of affected area,body aches,fever,rashes and extreme signs when the infection has spread include dizziness,confusion,tissue death(necrosis),organ fai
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TOBACCO-RELATED DISEASES

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.                    Photo by//freepik Tobacco-related deaths are increasing over the years in the world. Apart from tobacco being a medicinal plant,when abused,causes addiction as 70 out of the 5000 chemicals contained in the tobacco are carcinogenic. Tobacco-related diseases kill more than any other preventable cause of death in the world and they are majorly non-communicable diseases(NCDs) which include cancer,heart disease,lung disease,diabetes,stroke,tuberculosis,hearing loss,vision loss and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) like chronic bronchitis. One in six deaths by NCDs are related to tobacco hence this is a major risk factor for NCDs. "Non communicable diseases are on the rise due to increased consumption of tobacco,"said Dorcas Kiptui,Head Tobacco Control Ministry of Health. The World Health Organization(WHO) has said that over 8million people die  per year due to tobacc- related diseases in the world,7.4 million being due to direct smoking a
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CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN KENYA.

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.              Photo by//9jaloud Forums One out of ten people in the country are suffering from Cholera. Cholera is a waterborne disease caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water with symptoms of acute watery diarrhoea which causes dehydration. According to the Ministry of Health cholera outbreak began last year October at a wedding in Kiambu county where 31 people were infected and later spread to other counties like Nairobi,Uasin Gishu,Nakuru,Muranga and Kajiado. The Ministry of Health did a survey which showed that between 2015 and 2019 there was a total of 25992 cases and 479 deaths,2015 having the highest cases and 2016 having the least. The survey also shows that in 2023 the outbreak has spread rampantly with over 7800 cases confirmed and 122 deaths in mostly the Northern region due to the lack of rains which was triggered by impact of a prolonged and severe drought. According to the Kenya Health Authorities,the first ever cholera vaccination drive was launche
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POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS

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.     Photo courtesy/ Office on women's health  Over 10% of new mothers suffer from postpartum psychosis which results from postpartum depression. Postpartum psychosis is a mental illness that affects new mothers after giving birth. According to Nyambura Gathumbi,a psychotherapist,postpartum psychosis develops from postpartum depression which has not been treated after a woman gives birth and starts showing signs of  the depression. "80-85% of women show signs of postpartum blues which is normal in the first five days and between one and four weeks some show signs of postpartum depression which include fatigue,no sleep,no mood and suicidal thoughts,"said Nyambura. The psychotherapist added that postpartum depression could have began while one was still pregnant and continue even after giving birth. "Child birth is trauma,"siad Nyambura. Nyambura has furthur said that according to research done by the doctors postpartum psychosis could have been due t
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INFLUENZA OUTBREAK SUSPECTED IN KENYA.

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 A good number of people in the country have been complaining of flu-like(influenza) symptoms which include headaches,watery eyes,high fever,sour throat and cough for the past few weeks. According to Dr.Kalebi,an independent consultant pathologist, cold weather worsens upper respiratory tract infections in humans hence a lot of people will be complaining about flu-like symptoms and Kenyans should brace themselves for high flu cases. "We know from our long term studies in Kenya that influenza viruses circulate all year so you can expect a certain number of people to have the flu at any given time,"said Dr.Kalebi. Dr.Kalebi added that the flu cases in the country went down during the covid 19 pandemic because of masking and high hygiene which included washing of hands and sanitizing which also helped control the influenza outbreak. Dr.Otieno,a leading pediatrician in Western Kenya has said that a large number of children are the ones mostly suffering from flu-like s
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