By Anesta Henry

Cow-itch vines growing on empty lots have been creating major headaches for some schools across the island and President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell wants landowners to have the offending lots cleared and maintained.

He has complained that cow-itch is becoming a “nuisance” as several schools have been affected already for this school term. One teacher who had a serious allergic reaction, was  ordered by her doctor not to return to the school to which she was assigned.

Lovell charged that some of the offensive lands may even be owned by the State.

“This is a serious matter. The Barbados Union of Teachers is imploring, begging, beseeching, whatever word you want to use, landowners who have lands adjacent to schools that are harbouring cow-itch to clear the lands. This is becoming a nuisance and several schools have been affected. This term alone, Daryl Jordan Secondary, Grantley Adams Secondary, Gordon Greenidge Primary have been affected. 

“Now I am getting complaints from Mount Tabor Primary, I am getting complaints from Blackman and Gollop Primary, from Thelma Berry Nursery, and this is just to name a few,” Lovell said.

He said that the Ministry of Education has been working to address the vexing issue, but admitted that they could only do “so much”.

When contacted, Minister of Environment and National Beautification, Adrian Forde, told Barbados TODAY he would be contacting the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to investigate the environmental concern being reported by the BUT.

“I would talk to the Minister of Education and find out what the concerns are. I know the Environmental Health offices under the Ministry of Health can also activate certain legislation under the Health Services Regulations as it relates to properties. So it would be a collective effort,” Forde said.

Meanwhile, Lovell said the union believes that landowners have a social responsibility to ensure that their lands do not pose any threat to persons in surrounding areas. The president said this is why the BUT is encouraging landowners who know that their properties are overgrown with bush, to clear the lots.

He said it is unfair to students, teachers and ancillary staff who occupy school plants, to have to be exposed to “this nuisance called cow-itch”.

“And even though we may ask the Ministry of Education to intervene at times, the Ministry of Education can only close the schools. And even after the schools are reopened, in some cases, the lands are not really cleared to the extent that the cow-itch has been totally removed. So we are asking the landowners to do what they are supposed to do by maintaining their properties.

“I know in some cases, schools have been reaching out to the landowners. But the thing is that this is an annual problem. We know that around this time of the year cow-itch grows. Why wait until it impacts or affects the occupants of the schools to then come and clear the fields? Why not be proactive as a landowner and seek to remove the cow-itch from the properties? I received calls on a daily basis with regards to cow-itch, it is a total nuisance,” Lovell said.

The BUT president also indicated that he has been getting multiple complaints from teachers that they have been experiencing allergic reactions as a result of the hazard. 

Forde said he agreed 100 per cent with Lovell’s plea, and revealed that the Government was currently working on legislation that would address landowners being forced to either clear their lots or be subjected to penalties if they refuse to do so.

“The school of thought is that landowners who are not complying to have those persons be given a period of time to do the remedial work.” 

He said if this fails, the Government would do the cleaning and bill the charges to the landowner whether it is through the land tax bill or by some other means. 

“The legislation hasn’t been drafted yet but there are definitely plans to deal with this issue. Really and truly this is not how we should be operating as Barbadians, this is not who we are as a people,” Minister Forde said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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The official assured that the ministry’s and the community’s joint interventions, vaccination, house-to-house visits, and the epidemiological fence will be maintained.

“Thank God, many of these cases that appear are mild, which is why hospitalization remains well controlled and low,” he said, adding that this does not mean that the disease’s overall situation has been resolved. “We’re not going to say it’s under control; that’s impossible,” the minister declared. Rivera stated that “it depends on people washing their hands before and after going to the bathroom, and before each meal, cooking food well because many of the people we have detected with cholera consumed poorly cooked food or in inadequate outlets in order to achieve control levels”.

“We’re doing well, the population is cooperating with vaccination,” he said. The goal is to have 24 thousand doses applied by the end of this week. The official reiterated that it is “an individual decision” and praised those who “take care of cleanliness and hygiene in their homes.”

The consequences of having an unsafe abortion, whether because the woman ingested pills or another substance or because it was induced by another person, can range from emotional consequences to permanent anemia, mutilations, irreversible damage to the uterus, and even death.

This is how Dr. César López, president of the Dominican Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, explains it, noting that in cases like this, where a woman’s life is put in danger, especially if she is an adolescent, no one is innocent, and there are responsibilities from all sectors, including a lack of sexual education in schools and the family itself. “Provoking or inducing an abortion will always be dangerous, and even more so if all the conditions that must be met, such as asepsis, correct anesthesia, and the expertise of the doctor who performs it, are not met,” he explained.

However, recent studies have shown that abortions are safe if performed between 70 days of gestation. Abortions are considered safe when they are “performed using a method recommended by WHO that is appropriate to the pregnancy duration and the person providing or supporting the abortion is trained,” according to experts such as Fathalla. “The WHO definition recognizes that the people, skills, and medical standards considered safe in the provision of induced abortions are different for medical abortion (which is performed with drugs alone), and surgical abortion (which is performed with a manual or electric aspirator), and that skills and medical standards required for safe abortion also vary depending upon the duration of the pregnancy and evolving scientific advances”.

The same studies state that abortions are considered less safe if they meet either the method or the provider criterion but not both. As a result, abortion is considered less safe when performed using outdated methods such as sharp curettage, even if the provider is trained, or when women using tablets lack access to proper information or a trained person if they require assistance.

14, 2021) – Doctor Alejandro Cambiaso, president of the Dominican Association of Health Tourism (ADTS), and Amelia Reyes Mora, president of AF Comunicación Estratégica, announced the celebration of the most important medical tourism event in Central America and the Caribbean, the “VI International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress,” which will be held on November 1 and 2 of this year, at the JW Marriott Hotel, in Santo Domingo.

“The activity features important conferences and panels with renowned national and international speakers, aimed at the top players of the sector, such as health centers, dentistry, clinical and pharmaceutical laboratories, hotels, insurers, banks, investment funds, investment, airlines, medical facilitators, government, transportation, legal advisors, accreditors, among others,” said Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso.

Medical tourism annually mobilizes more than 21 million people worldwide, presenting an annual growth rate of approximately 20%, constituting a market that oscillates between 74 and 92 billion dollars, according to Patients Beyond Borders.

“This international congress constitutes a platform for multi-sector integration, innovation, networking, business development, and investment opportunities, and public-private synergies at a local and international level,” expressed Amelia Reyes Mora.

The 2020-2021 Medical Tourism Index, the top ranking of the sector, included nine Latin American nations among the 46 most attractive countries for Americans to receive health services: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Panama, Jamaica, Mexico, and Guatemala, which motivates us to draw up joint strategies to strengthen our regional positioning.

This prominent event, which was organized by the ADTS and the Communication and Public Relations firm, AF Comunicación Estratégica, has brought together in its last two recent editions more than 800 participants and around 70 local exhibitors, Canada, Costa Rica, the United States, India, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, Spain, Colombia and Caribbean islands and more than 110 sponsors.

For more information about the event, registrations, and sponsorships, access the web portal: https://congresoadts.com/  (809) 567-2663.

About the Dominican Health Tourism Association (ADTS, for its acronym in Spanish): The Dominican Health Tourism Association is a non-profit organization that promotes the Dominican Republic as an ideal place for health tourism, because of its high-quality, cost-effective medical, dental, and wellness services, hospitality conditions, attractive geographical position, and climate.

“Using evidence and stories of real young people, the campaign will encourage Caribbean youth to be agents of climate change for action”

View the full post CCCCC #Betterclimate4MyHealth campaign on NOW Grenada.

Patients who get sepsis while hospitalized are 43% more likely to return to the hospital for a stroke or any cardiac event, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. 

The risk rises to 51% for heart failure alone.

The study included more than 2.2 million patients who spent at least two nights in the hospital during a 10-year span — 800,000 of them were diagnosed with sepsis. 

SEPSIS, THE 'HIDDEN KILLER,' MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR 1 IN 5 DEATHS WORLDWIDE, STUDY SHOWS

The patients ranged in age from 19 to 87 years old, with an average age of 64.

Sepsis is "the body’s extreme response to an infection" and is considered a "life-threatening medical emergency," according to the CDC.

The condition occurs when an existing infection spreads throughout the body. 

If it’s not caught and treated early, sepsis can damage tissues and cause organs to shut down. 

Of the 1.7 million adults who develop sepsis in America each year, more than 20% will die in the hospital or go into hospice care, per CDC data.

Dr. Jacob C. Jentzer, director of the cardiac intensive care research unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, led the new study. He explained that all participants had prior cardiac disease or cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, kidney disease or diabetes. 

5 SIMPLE WAYS TO HELP PREVENT HEART DISEASE THIS YEAR

They knew the risk level was already fairly consistent before considering the added effect of sepsis.

"Patients who survive sepsis are at a substantially higher risk of death and hospitalization for all outcomes, but the risk for cardiovascular events is particularly high," Dr. Jentzer told Fox News Digital. 

Given that cardiovascular disease is still one of the biggest causes of potentially preventable deaths in Americans, he said he sees the sepsis diagnosis as a helpful warning sign.

The doctor expected to find a higher risk among sepsis patients, but one finding did surprise him. 

CARE ABOUT YOUR HEART? TRY GETTING BETTER SLEEP, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS

"It was a bit unexpected that some of the lower-risk groups were the ones that had the strongest effect from sepsis," he said.

"If you have patients who are fairly high-risk already and the risk goes up a little bit, that's obviously bad — but not quite as bad as having someone who otherwise might do well, and then seeing that they have a much higher risk," Dr. Jentzer said.

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The key takeaway, he said, is awareness and prevention. 

Even after full recovery, someone who survived sepsis should take steps to minimize other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. 

"The fact that these patients survived sepsis makes it at least as important, if not more important, to monitor those factors," Dr. Jentzer noted. 

"It's key that they have all the essential medicines and make sure all the different components of cardiovascular risk — like blood pressure and lipids and other things — are very well-controlled," he said. 

Burnout is a state of exhaustion and physical fatigue an employee can experience while at work, which has been caused by work-related stress. The reality is that workplace stress will always exist, but what is pertinent is how we handle and manage this stress for our employees, so it does not lead to burnout. As managers, the onus rests on us to acknowledge the presence or existence of stress, address it, and rectify it, to ensure and foster a positive workplace culture. This new year affords us the opportunity to combat burnout for the sake of our employees and our businesses. This article will discuss the causes of burnout in the workplace, its symptoms, and how to prevent or mitigate it.

Root causes of burnout 

Sometimes employees can inflict work-related stress upon themselves when they have poor time management, a poor work ethic, or undertake too many responsibilities. Even though this is not caused by management, it is still something that requires our attention as it can affect productivity or the employee’s health. Unfortunately, failure to offer any assistance or solution creates an organisational issue, as it then points to poor management or leadership. 

However, something that appears to be prevalent or common amongst several organisations is that, even though burnout can be caused by the employee, many times, burnout is still attributable to the  organisation. As employers, we remember that “perspective” goes a long way and is very critical to positive continuity. Viewing things from the perspective of an employee creates the necessary balance between human leadership and making good operational decisions. Failure to create this balance will result in missing the critical organisational issues which can lead to burnout. 

 It is very important that we assess and analyse certain factors, not just from an operational standpoint, but from a people standpoint as well, to determine the long-term outcome or effect. The onus rests on us as leaders to put strategies in place to mitigate or prevent burnout where and when reasonably practicable to do so. The below causes are primarily linked to the  organisation: 

Unsupportive managers 

It may be a hard pill to swallow, but the reality is that some employees do not leave their job because they dislike their job, but they leave their job because of their manager and the environment their manager has created. The behaviour and leadership skills of management are very critical aspects of preventing burnout as direct managers are the primary source of support and contact for employees daily. Employees need to feel comfortable that they can talk and address any issues with their managers and receive the help which is required or necessary feedback. 

Unmanageable workload

An employee can experience an unmanageable workload when it feels like they have too much to do or complete, especially within a certain timeframe. This problem can stem either from the overload of duties and responsibilities on the job description, inadequate staff training to carry out the duties and responsibilities effectively and efficiently, or even having insufficient personnel to carry out the required functions. As employers, it is crucial that we detect the problem and intervene before it leads to burnout or resignation.

Unfair treatment at work

Unfair treatment in the workplace might take the form of discrimination, harassment, or the denial of equal opportunities. When identifying unfair treatment as an employer, whether through observation or complaints submitted through the grievance procedure, it is vital that these issues be handled immediately. Failure to do such can have negative effects on culture and the health and wellness of employees. 

Poor communication throughout the  organisation 

Communication is one of the primary contributors to employee engagement in the workplace. Not only does communication matter but also the quality of such communication, as communication can affect both efficiency and culture. When inefficient, it can increase factors such as workload, leading to unwarranted burnout.

Mitigating factors

To help you recognise burnout and learn how to prevent or lessen it, please see the table below, which is not exhaustive:

Conclusion 

In conclusion, burnout can be about your workplace and when it is about your workplace, there are ways in which it can be rectified and mitigated. When identified, the causes of organisational burnout can cost your business or company money, so it is critical for the causes to be addressed swiftly and effectively. Yes, employee burnout can happen at the fault of the employee when resources, etc. are not managed or utilised properly. However, since it affects the workplace and environment, it is still important for employers to take action to remedy the situation. Together, with the right strategies and action plans, we can prevent both employee and employer-caused burnout in the workplace.

Katriel Pile, Attorney-at-Law and Human Resources Specialist

Dylan Downes, Group Human Resources Manager

The post #PeopleMatters – Can burnout be about your workplace… not your employees? appeared first on Barbados Today.

Health (WHO).nIn his weekly press conference, the first in three years in which he did not mention covid-19 in his initial presentation, CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that 23 countries in the world are currently suffering from outbreaks (Haiti being one of the most affected).

Tedros gave the example of Syria, where 85,000 cases of a disease have been detected which makes the situation even more difficult in a country also hit by more than a decade of civil war and this week by the serious earthquake in the north of its territory.

The director general recalled that cholera is transmitted especially through contaminated water, so the supply of clean drinking water is urgent wherever outbreaks are detected. “Countries at risk must increase surveillance, so that possible cases are identified and treated as soon as possible,” said the Ethiopian expert.

By Kimberley Cummins 

It was a normal warm afternoon in Barbados, but inside the auditorium at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) the temperature couldn’t be more inconsistent. 

Many people experience cold chills when they are suddenly flush with nervousness and Dr Sabeehah Nana was no different as she braced herself. The nerves almost eclipsed the pride that enveloped her body as in a few short minutes, before teachers, fellow interns, parents, donors and members of the media, she would  accept the 2021-2022 Intern of the Year award.

“I’m not used to public speaking,” she explained with a nervous laugh recounting the events during an interview with Barbados TODAY.

Luckily for her, preparation seldom fails, and she had no mishaps while delivering her acceptance speech. Her mum Salma Nana was present with a broad smile etched on her face as she stood quietly to the side watching with much satisfaction at her daughter’s achievement.

Though Dr Nana’s husband, Abdul Hameed Manjra, had mentioned more than once throughout the year about the possibility that she could win the coveted award, never in her wildest dreams did Dr Nana envision that such a moment would ever become true.

“It came as a very pleasant surprise. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and to be recognised after putting in the work required. It’s an honour to receive this award. Nothing worth having comes easy,” Dr Nana said. 

Indeed, it was far from easy. As a matter of a fact, it was a full year of hitting the books, learning medical foundation, clinical techniques, long days and lots of sleepless nights. A wild ride full of ups and downs, to say the least, with various emotions being triggered.

You may think – why would any sane person voluntarily sign on for this kind of life? And admittedly a few short years earlier, Dr Nana might very well have asked the same question. Granted, she had several relatives who are doctors with rewarding careers: her cousins Dr F Nana and Dr M Nana, her late uncle Dr MSY Nagdee and his son, Dr Yusuf Nagdee, from whom she sought guidance and encouragement when needed. But rewinding the earlier years, this 25-year-old would be the first to tell you she did not want to be among the doctors in her family.

Her journey began as a student at Queen’s College. There she enjoyed studying science subjects. With this interest, she knew the opportunities were endless. For one, she thought the idea of building an aspiring career, with which she could eventually help other people, would have led her to pursue dentistry. But that aspiration ultimately drove her in this present direction.

“Initially, I was conflicted between dentistry and medicine. My plan after graduating from QC was to take a gap year to figure myself out. However, my mum’s uncle, the late Dr Nagdee, encouraged me to start medical school. I started with hopes to possibly switch during the preclinical aspect of the programme. However, as I progressed through the years as a student, I became more interested and, as fate would have it, here I am as a doctor today,” she said.

During the period as a medical student, a spark ignited within the Wanstead, St. James resident. Yet, the passion to pursue medicine was a case of crawling before you could walk, and the internship year, which ran between September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022, was the proverbial crawl. 

The group of interns comprised some 36 doctors, and each was given the opportunity to rotate throughout the four major fields of medicine. These are: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Dr Nana explained that this system allowed them to work three months in each department over the course of the
year. 

Being on a team with doctors and mentors that she could count on for guidance whenever needed really helped along this journey. 

She continued: “Internship was not a walk in the park which I could manage alone. Having a strong support system at home, at work, a good work ethic and dedication was key to making it through the year.”

For her though, most important along this voyage was strong family support, both physically and emotionally. And from the onset, her family has delivered just that. “An ear to listen to when I simply needed someone to speak with, when I thought I didn’t have it in me to move forward, proved to be the difference in keeping strong and remembering my goal,” Dr Nana stressed.

On what’s upcoming, the doctor said she is still in the midst of determining her next steps. “Let’s see what the future holds and God willing, you will hear from me soon,” Dr Nana maintained. (KC)

The post QEH Intern of the Year thankful for the honour appeared first on Barbados Today.

Beyond creating difficulty in opening jars, turning doorknobs or even shaking someone's hand, a lack of grip strength could be a warning sign of a shorter life, according to a new study published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.

It's been shown that after age 60, grip strength can decline by up to 25%. Dr. Mark Peterson, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, was curious about the relationship between grip strength and the aging process.

AGING FASTER IN ADULTHOOD LINKED TO HEALTH CONDITIONS IN ADOLESCENCE

"There have been many studies showing that people with muscle weakness are at a higher risk for diseases and tend to die earlier than stronger people, but until now, there hasn’t been a great explanation for that link — aside from assuming that people who lead healthier lives are known to live longer," Peterson told Fox News Digital. 

"We were interested in exploring a cellular biological link between the measure of strength and the negative consequences that arise during aging."

For the study, researchers evaluated 43,000 men and women who were at least 51 years old, with an average age of 70. 

Every other year during an eight-year span, the participants visited a research lab to squeeze a muscle strength testing tool called a dynamometer, which measures grip strength in pounds.

The study found that those with weaker grips demonstrated "DNA methylation age acceleration" — which means they showed signs of aging faster than did those with stronger grips.

Peterson said he expected to see this link between weakness and faster aging — but he was a bit surprised by how strong the association was. 

"We’ve been using the new tagline, ‘Weakness is the new smoking,’" he said. 

LONELINESS AND UNHAPPINESS CAN AGE US FASTER THAN SMOKING

"It sounds like an exaggeration, but it's really not. There’s enough data to back up that claim."

Ideally, Dr. Peterson said doctors should do grip testing during routine office visits as a measure of functional strength.

If someone already has a weak grip, working on making those muscles stronger won’t magically add years to their life, Peterson said.

In other words, weak grip strength is an indicator of accelerated aging — but doesn’t cause it.

As the doctor explained, grip strength is correlated to overall body strength — so if your grip is strong, there’s a good chance your arms, legs, stomach and other body parts are also strong.

Conversely, a person with a weak grip likely has weakness in other areas.

"If somebody has weak grip strength, it should be a red flag that they have a high risk for age-related chronic diseases," Dr. Peterson said. 

"I won’t claim that if you improve your grip strength, you’ll also improve your health, because that is definitely not true," he said. "The solution is not to improve grip strength, but to do all the things in life that are important for improving the overall robustness of the body."

That means focusing on things such as healthy nutrition and regular physical activity. 

FRESH VEGETABLES AND OTHER FRESH FOOD CAN BE YOURS AT HOME WITH PLANNING, PURPOSE

Strength training is particularly important for middle-aged and older adults, as they tend to have less lean muscle mass. 

"Overall strength is a very powerful way to ward off functional decline with age, which is highly associated with things like osteoporosis, falls, fractures, dementia, cardiovascular disease and diabetes," Dr. Peterson added. 

"Your biology ages slower with healthy behaviors," he said.

While grip strength exercises might not be a guaranteed health booster, they can make daily life easier and more enjoyable. 

If a weak grip is keeping you from doing the activities you need or want to do — whether it’s golfing, carrying a child or shoveling snow — there are things you can do to bolster those muscles.

Brittany Ferri, Ph.D., an occupational therapist outside Rochester, New York, notes that grip strength is especially important for older people who need to use mobility devices like walkers, wheelchairs or canes.

"Grip strength can mean the difference between propelling a wheelchair on your own and requiring a caregiver to do it for you, which is a huge step between independence or dependence for somebody whose mobility is severely limited," Ferri told Fox News Digital.

To strengthen one's grip, Ferri recommends squeezing a stress ball throughout the day. She prefers the kind with some sand in them, as they offer a bit of resistance.

Therapy putty is another option. 

"It looks pretty similar to play dough, but has a much tougher texture and offers more resistance," Ferri explained. "You can squeeze it, stretch it out, roll it into a ball, separate it into two pieces — all of that will help with grip strength."

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In a pinch, a tight rubber band can also help work the hand muscles. 

Place the band around all fingers on both hands and then spread the hands and fingers apart as wide as possible.

For most healthy adults, Ferri recommends doing grip-strengthening exercises at least a couple of times per week or as often as once a day.