Symptoms That Shouldn't Be Ignored

There is no doubt that seeking medical attention early is a great way
of detecting and preventing many fatal conditions. Not all can afford
periodic medical checkup that's why paying close attention to our body
for new sensations is highly necessary.

While there are some ailments that can be solved ourselves like minor
aches and cold, certain symptoms indicates the need of urgent medical
attention. These symptoms might seem harmless but could be
catastrophic if not evaluated and treated quickly.

1.)Chest Pains

Whether sudden or persistence shouldn't be ignored especially
accompanied by sweating, pressure and shortness of breath, should be
evaluated by a medical professional. It doesnt automatically means
something is terribly wrong but in this case, it is always better case
than sorry as it could be an indicator of heart attack or even a blood
clot.

2.)Unexplainable Weight loss

This should never be over looked. A weight loss of 5% or more over a
relatively short period of time is a serious problem as this is one of
the biggest symptom of cancer. Other possibilities include diabetes,
depression, liver disease, overactive thyroid or malabsorption
disorders.

3.)Sudden Onset of extreme pain in your head

Particularly if it feels worse than any headaches you've had before.
It could mean different things.

4.)Sudden Confusion, inability to concentrate or behaviour changes

Medical attention is definately needed. It could be an indicator of a
brain tumor, bleeding in brain, stroke or at the very least be a sign
of low blood sugar or dehydration.

5.)Shortness of breath

Some factors like extreme physical activity can cause this. If you
can't catch your breath for extended period of time especially if
accompanied with chest pain or gasping requires urgent medical
attention. It could be a sign of a blood clot or pulmonary disease.

6.)Persistent Fever or one that is abnormally high

Any fever more than 103 degree(103F or 39.4C) is very high. Fever
tells that your body is battling some kind of infection. A persistent
fever indicate a hidden infection. Possibilities include urinary tract
infection, meningitis or types of cancer like lymphomas or leukemia.

7.)Seeing flashes of light or oddities in your vision

Flashes could be presence of a large amount of floaters in your vision
which could be a sign of a detached retina. It could also be migraine.
It should be checked to avoid permanent loss of vision.

8.)Pelvis Pain

It could be sudden or sharp pain. Anyhow, you arent supposed to feel
any pain. This pain could be a sign of appendicitis, kidney infection,
hernia, nerve condition or possible broken pelvis incase of an injury.

9.)Excessive Urination

This could be a sign of diabetes, both type 1 and 2 or urinary tract
infection. It should be checked by a physician sooner than later.

10.)Unexplained changes in bowel habits.

Persistent diarrhea or constipation, bloody or black coloured stools,
etc, could be a signal of bacterial, viral or parasitic infection. It
could also be a sign of colon cancer.

11.)Serious and sudden pain in your stomach

It could be blood flows issues. If accompanied by nausea and vomiting,
could be a sign of painful gallstone. It must be examined by a medical
professional.

12.)Persistent Cough

We all get this once in a while but one that doesnt seem to go away
could be a kind of respiratory problem.

13.)Lots of Fatigue and always lossing your balance

Always feeling tired no matter how much sleep you get isn't normal.
Falling and lossing your balance unnecessarily could be a neurological
problem. Medical attention should be sought.

Ghana begins fuel exports to Nigeria, others

Ghana has started exporting fuel and gas oil to the landlocked
countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali from the Bolgatanga
Petroleum Depot.

The state-owned Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST)
Limited, is also supplying petroleum products from the same depot to
Benin Republic and Nigeria.

Ghana's Minister of Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, who made
this known at the meet-the-press series in Accra, said there were
plans to extend the exports to Liberia in the coming months.

The minister said the vision of the government was to make Ghana the
hub for the distribution of petroleum products in the West African
sub-region.

The Bolgatanga Petroleum Depot, with a capacity of 46 million litres
of refined gasoline and gas oil, was re-inaugurated in August 2015.

Buah said Ghana had been ushered into a new gas era that would
guarantee its energy security for the next two decades.

"Despite the global downturn in the oil industry, we have managed to
increase production.

"Ghanaians have been empowered to be at the forefront of the industry
and a liberalised petroleum downstream sector with strong private
sector participation where product availability, competition, better
customer service and lower prices are making Ghana the preferred
destination for doing business in the sub-region," he said.

He said the Ghana Gas Company (Ghana Gas) had completed the extension
of its pipeline to the battery limit of the West Africa Gas Pipeline
Company's (WAPCo's) Regulatory and Metering Station at Aboadze and
indicated that Ghana Gas was awaiting WAPCo to interconnect.

"In the long term, a 290-km onshore pipeline to ensure gas supply
reliability and downstream infrastructure expandability is planned.

"Additional volumes will, in the long term, provide the opportunity
for Ghana to realise its vision to utilise gas for the other
industrial uses, beyond power generation, such as fertiliser and
petrochemicals," he said.

Buah said Ghana's strategic stock was at an all-time high, with about
one million metric tonnes of petroleum products imported from January
to June 2016.

He said the feat was chalked up following the restructuring of BOST,
which had been successful in ensuring the availability of petroleum
products in the country.

"The restructuring of BOST has resulted in a turnaround in the
performance of this strategic national asset which is now successfully
fulfilling its mandate of ensuring the availability of petroleum
products," he said.

--Vanguard

Suicidal Man Lies On The Road In Imo (Photo)

An Imo State resident, Chidozie Anyanwu, has said he is ready to die
if the standard of living in the state does not improve.

Anyanwu, who was seen lying on MCC/Uratta Road, Owerri, on Monday,
refused to leave the road despite entreaties that he could be crushed
to death by vehicles.

He was, however, carefully avoided by motorists, including tricycle
riders, plying the road.

He told PUNCH Metro that his mother died recently and was put in the
mortuary, adding that she had yet to be buried due to lack of funds.

Anyanwu, who is married with three children, said it was difficult for
him to feed his family due to the harsh economy.

He said, "My wife is a civil servant and her salary does not come as
and when due. And when it comes, the bank collects all and still
debits her account because of a loan she took. The provision shop she
opened with the loan is not growing because Imo people don't have
money. People, who used to patronise the shop, are no longer coming
and when she calls them, they always say there is no money."

He said since the last three months, nobody had patronised his shop,
adding that his children ate only once in a day.

Punch correspondent gathered that Anyanwu later left the road after
some residents prevailed on him not to kill himself.

--ThePUNCH

Scientists find HIV-AIDs full cure

A British man with HIV undergoing a pioneering treatment to cure him
of the disease has shown "remarkable" progress, doctors have told a
newspaper.

Scientists treating the 44-year-old patient are now hopeful of a
breakthrough in what has been described as "one of the first serious
attempts at a full cure for HIV".

Results showed the man's most recent blood test showed no detectable
HIV was present.

Results showed the man's most recent blood test showed no detectable
HIV was present.

The man, who has remained anonymous, is the first of 50 people to
complete a trial using the two-stage attack on the deadly virus.

The research is being carried out by a collaboration of five of
Britain's top universities organised by the National Health Service.

Mark Samuels, managing director of the National Institute for Health
Research Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure, told the Sunday
Times: "This is one of the first serious attempts at a full cure for
HIV. We are exploring the real possibility of curing HIV.

"This is a huge challenge and it's still early days but the progress
has been remarkable."

The trial patient told the newspaper that recent blood tests showed no
detectable HIV virus was present, although it was too early to confirm
that the treatment had worked.

The new therapy aims to overcome a major barrier to clearing the virus
from a sufferer's body that has challenged researchers for decades.

Current methods using antiretroviral therapies (Art) fall short of
ridding patients of HIV, as the virus can hide out of the drugs' reach
in the immune system's T-cells.

By sheltering in dormant T-cells the virus can later take over its
host and use it to produce thousands of copies of itself, should Art
no longer work.

The research by Oxford and Cambridge universities, Imperial College
London, University College London, and King's College London, is
testing a "kick and kill" technique to first expose, then destroy the
virus.

First a vaccine helps the body find infected T-cells. This is then
followed by a course of the drug Vorinostat that awakens the dormant
T-cells, which then begin producing HIV proteins that act as a homing
beacon to the immune system.

Imperial College London consultant physician Professor Sarah Fidler
said the treatment worked in the laboratory and there was "good
evidence" it will work in patients.

However she added: "We must stress we are still a long way from any
actual therapy."

--BBC

Imo State Imposes N3,000 Development Levy On Indigenes

The Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has imposed a N3,000
development levy on all taxable adults in the twenty-seven local
councils in the state, this he said is necessary in order to replicate
development in all the 637 communities.

Okorocha gave the directive at the weekend while inaugurating the
state's Development Council and presenting adult registers to
government representatives in Owerri.

He enjoined the people to face current challenges and pay for their
benefits, adding that every taxable adult must register.

Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Acho Ihim, who was also
present reminded the audience of the Imo State Traditional Rulers and
Autonomous Law which mandates that a community must have a minimum
population of 2,000 for it to be recognized by government.

The Commissioner for Community Government, Culture and Traditional
Affairs, Innocent Eke, said the Community Government Council (CGC),
put in place by the current administration, had decentralized power
and empowered communities, as the people now participate in the
management of their affairs.

The chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Sam Ohiri, assured
execution of the order.

--InformationNigeria

Facebook launches ‘Marketplace’ for members

Facebook on Monday launched a new online "Marketplace" allowing
members of the huge social network to buy and sell with each other.

The new feature puts Facebook squarely in competition with local
online selling platforms led by Craigslist.

--AFP

Banks Reject Cheque Issuance To Savings Account Users

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are yet to comply with the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) directive that they allow cheques payments into savings
accounts.

The apex bank instructed the lenders that savings account customers
with Bank Verification Number (BVN) should be allowed to deposit
cheques not more than N2 million in value, per customer per day, into
their accounts.

But two months after, the lenders claimed they were still upgrading
their systems to enable them comply with the directive.

Adebola Oloye, a customer of one of the deposit money banks, told The
Nation that his lender rejected a cheque of N200,000 he wanted to
lodge into his savings account, outright.

"The banks are not complying with the CBN's directive. The apex bank
has to compel them to do the needful because I believe the policy will
help to boost confidence in the banking system," he said.

CBN Director, Banking and Payment System Department, 'Dipo Fatokun,
had said the decision to allow cheques in savings accounts is in
furtherance of its efforts at strengthening the Nigerian payments
system.

The apex bank removed fixed interest rate on credit cards and
discontinued the actual address verification in account opening, for
customers with BVN. It also asked banks to begin to embed BVN
biometric data in payment cards issued henceforth, to facilitate
off-line BVN verification and biometric-based customer authentication
on such payment devices as Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of
Sale (PoS), kiosks, among others.

Former Keystone Bank Executive Director, Richard Obire, said the banks
had no reason not to comply. He said: "The CBN needs to wake the banks
up by setting a compliance deadline for them otherwise, the objective
of the policy shift will not be achieved."

He added: "In the past, they asked their customers to get two
references before cheques are acceptable into the accounts. I
understand they are taking precautions as accepting cheques can expose
them to risks, but with the BVN and registered mobile phone details, I
think they should comply without further delay".

Obire explained that accepting cheques into savings accounts would
boost financial inclusion and create opportunity for low income
earners to pay their dividend warrants and other cheque-related
instruments into their accounts, until such accounts can be credited
directly through the e-dividend platform.

-TheNation