Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases: A Major Public Health Issue in Todays’ World

not availableInternational Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 06 No. 01 January’22 Page: 3-5

Assessing the readiness of small cities in Ghana to tackle overweight and obesity

The rapid rise in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and the associated health problems, is an emerging challenge in Ghana, and for women in particular. This study contributes to the understanding of this emerging phenomenon in Ghana by analyzing it from a community perspective, applying the Community Readiness Model in two small cities in Ghana. A series of Key Informant Interviews were undertaken and analyzed, using the model’s scoring structure and supplementary textual analysis. We find that communities are aware of overweight and obesity as a health issue, but that it is not prioritized or championed. Furthermore, the diet counseling and keep-fit programs put the responsibility on individuals to address, rather than considering the upstream and structural causes and solutions.

Special Issue: Rare Respiratory Diseases: A Personal and Public Health Issue

In the 1970s, the term “rare disease” was coined to describe a category of inherited metabolic diseases with low prevalence and a wide range of symptoms [...]

Differential Diagnosis of Abdominal Tuberculosis in the Adult—Literature Review

Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health issue that affects mostly, but not exclusively, developing countries. Abdominal TB is difficult to detect at first, with the incidence ranging from 10% to 30% of individuals with lung TB. Symptoms are non-specific, examinations can be misleading, and biomarkers commonly linked with other diseases can also make appropriate diagnosis difficult. As a background for this literature review, the method used was to look into the main characteristics and features of abdominal tuberculosis that could help with differentiation on the PubMed, Science Direct, and Academic Oxford Journals databases. The results were grouped into three categories: A. general features (the five forms of abdominal tuberculosis: wet and dry peritonitis, lymphadenopathy, lesions at the level of the cavitary organs, lesions at the level of the solid organs), B. different intra-abdominal organs and patterns of involvement (oesophageal, gastro-duodenal, jejunal, ileal, colorectal, hepatosplenic, and pancreatic TB with calcified lymphadenopathy, also with description of extraperitoneal forms), and C. special challenges of the differential diagnosis in abdominal TB (such as diagnostic overlap, the disease in transplant candidates and transplant recipients, and zoonotic TB). The study concluded that, particularly in endemic countries, any disease manifesting with peritonitis, lymphadenopathy, or lesions at the level of the intestines or solid organs should have workups and protocols applied that can confirm/dismiss the suspicion of abdominal tuberculosis.

Causes and Management of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss, a Review

Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) is defined as two or more consecutive failed clinical pregnancies verified by ultrasound or histopathology. It is an important reproductive health issue, affecting 2%–5% of women. Up to one half of all cases of RPL have no identifiable cause. Etiology of the RPL is linked to several genetic, environmental, endocrinal, and anatomic factors which all will be discussed in this article. Treatment of RPL depends on the underlying cause behind it, and thus diagnosis and identifying of such factors plays major role into treating it. Lifestyle changes also is encouraged. Stress, smoking, drinking cessation, and weight loss can be all helpful. In this article we’ll be looking at RPL causes, and management.

Conspiracy theories and pandemic management in Africa: critical reflections on contexts, contradictions and challenges

The coronavirus pandemic, though primarily a health issue, has had significant social, economic and political implications across the world. There are reasons to believe that some of the changes occurring are likely to be permanent even in a post-pandemic world, and there are even suggestions that the world may be entering a phase in which pandemics become recurrent. Making sense of all that the pandemic has brought has by no means been easy, even for scientists who have had to review and revise their claims as new discoveries about the virus are made. One of the fallouts of the pandemic has been a proliferation of conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus, as well as efforts to contain it. Summed up, these theories of various shades allege that certain powerful forces are behind the pandemic, in pursuit of some narrow ends that range from the political to the religious. In this paper, I analyse conspiracy theories and the motivations behind them. Situating conspiracy theories within the pandemic, I argue that they are best understood not within the framework of a single theory but by an understanding of how diverse motivations generate different, even contradictory conspiratorial accounts. I argue that whereas conspiracy theories have become a feature of modern society, and have been amplified in the age of technology, they have low credibility value in explaining the pandemic, while having significant implications. I also argue that if left unchecked, conspiracy theories have the capacity to further undermine governments’ capacity to respond to big crises in Africa in the future. I conclude that conspiracy theories are best managed in a pandemic through consistent, transparent engagement rooted in trust-building between the people and governments, especially in Africa.

Hubungan Penggunaan Platform Instagram dengan Masalah Kesehatan Mental Remaja

The instagram platform is one of the most used social media by adolescents nowadays. The number of active Instagram users is also followed by several side effects such as addiction to cyber bullying. In this case, it certainly raises questions regarding the correlation between the use of Instagram platform and mental health issues in adolescents. Thus, this study aims to see whether there is a correlation between the use of Instagram platform and mental health issues in adolescents. The literature search used two database, Google Scholar and Springelink with eleven keywords including “mental health”, “use of instagram”, “adolescent”, “teenager”, “juvenile”, “kesehatan mental”, “penggunaan Instagram”, “Instagram”, “remaja”, “pemuda”, and “taruna”. There were 1253 articles found and selected using Prisma. The assessment of the quality of articles used Strobe checklist and assessment tool Risk of Bias Instrument for Cross-Sectional Surveys of Attitudes And Practices. The result of the assessment was that there were fourteen articles could be reviewed. The findings of this study show that there was no correlation between the use of Instagram platform and mental health issue in adolescents. However, the use of a problematic Instagram platform had a correlation with the mental health issue in adolescents. The correlation between the two could be in the form of direct relationship and indirect relationship. Abstrak: Platform Instagram merupakan salah satu sosial media yang paling banyak digunakan oleh remaja saat ini. Banyaknya pengguna Instagram yang aktif juga diikuti oleh beberapa efek samping, seperti kecanduan hingga perilaku cyber bullying yang marak terjadi. Hal ini tentu menimbulkan pertanyaan mengenai hubungan penggunaan platform Instagram dengan masalah kesehatan mental pada remaja. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat apakah terdapat hubungan antara penggunaan platform Instagram dengan masalah kesehatan mental pada remaja. Sementara pencarian literatur menggunakan dua database, yaitu Google Scholar dan Springerlink dengan menggunakan sebelas kata kunci yang meliputi “mental health”, “use of instagram”, “adolescent”, “teenager”, “juvenile”, “kesehatan mental”, “penggunaan Instagram”, “Instagram”, “remaja”, “pemuda”, dan “taruna”. Terdapat 1253 artikel yang ditemukan dan diseleksi menggunakan diagram PRISMA. Penilaian kualitas artikel menggunakan checklist Strobe dan assessment tool Risk of Bias Instrument for Cross-Sectional Surveys of Attitudes and Practices. Hingga akhirnya terdapat empat belas artikel yang ditinjau. Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan bahwa tidak ada hubungan antara penggunaan platform Instagram oleh remaja pada masalah kesehatan mental. Namun, penggunaan platform Instagram yang bermasalah (Problematic Instagram Use) memiliki hubungan dengan masalah kesehatan mental pada remaja. Hubungan antara keduanya dapat berupa hubungan langsung dan hubungan tak langsung.

Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions of Loneliness amongst Older Adults: A Qualitative Study

Background: Loneliness amongst older adults is linked to poor health outcomes and constitutes a public health issue worldwide. Healthcare professionals’ perceptions could influence the strategies they implement in order to prevent, detect and manage loneliness amongst older adults. The aim of this study was to describe and understand healthcare professionals’ perceptions of loneliness amongst older adults. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study. Twenty-six Spanish healthcare professionals with experience caring for older adults participated in the study. Data were collected between November 2019 and September 2020 using focus groups and in-depth interviews. Data were analysed following a content analysis method using ATLAS.ti software. Results: Healthcare professionals’ perceptions of loneliness amongst older adults is represented by three themes: (1) “when one’s personal life and social context lead to loneliness”; (2) “from abandonment to personal growth: the two faces of loneliness”; and (3) “loneliness as a health issue that needs to be addressed”. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals perceive loneliness as a multifactorial, subjective experience that can trigger different coping mechanisms and negatively affect older people’s health. Healthcare professionals consider that a greater involvement of the whole society is needed in order to fight loneliness amongst older adults as a public health issue.