How To Save Yourself From Having Kidney Problems

How can you prevent kidney disease? This is one question making the rounds as more people are falling to the disease without knowing what led to it. Now, more than ever, Nigerians are becoming more conscious about protecting and preserving their kidneys.

Every year, several Nigerians suffer kidney problems and thousands die or require regular dialysis or kidney transplants. Factors ranging from bad diet choices and habits like smoking and obesity, among others are linked to an increased risk for kidney disease.

Experts note that there may still be time to slow down the progression to kidney failure. Indeed medical care with early intervention can change the course of chronic kidney disease and prevent the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. Here are simple tips to prevent or delay common kidney problems.

Understand the symptoms

The key to prevention or delay of severe kidney disease is early detection and aggressive intervention — Early detection is the first step in treating chronic kidney disease.

The symptoms of kidney disease may include: nausea and vomiting, passing only small amounts of urine, swelling, particularly of the ankles, and puffiness around the eyes. Other symptoms are unpleasant taste in the mouth and urine-like odour to the breath, persistent fatigue or shortness of breath, Loss of appetite Increasingly higher blood pressure Muscle cramps, especially in the legs Pale skin Excessively dryness, etc.

Know your risks
Since diabetes and high blood pressure put you at risk of kidney disease, know where you stand with these risks. If you can, find out if diabetes, hypertension, or kidney disease runs in your family.

Get tested regularly
Get checked at least once within the year. Get tests of your urine, blood pressure reading, fasting blood glucose test, and your average blood glucose level over the past two to three months. Ask for a creatinine test that measures the amount of waste from muscle activity. When the kidneys are not working properly, the creatinine rises.

Control diabetes
If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar levels under the best possible control.

Control high blood pressure
If you have high blood pressure, get your blood pressure within target ranges.

Give up processed food
Say bye-bye to potato or plantain chips, crackers, cheese and deli-meats, etc., because they are processed foods high in phosphorus additives and sodium – both of which can have a damaging effect on the kidneys.

Reduce sugar intake
Consuming too much sugar can result in diabetes or obesity – both linked to kidney disease

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SEE Why Nigerian Celebs Are Going Naked

With the likes of singer Maheeda and Dencia, actress Afrocandy, model Ify Jones, Iyanya, Peter Okoye of Psquare and others leading the trend, celebs have found a way to take advantage of every opportunity to show off some skin, be it on the red carpets or on Instagram photos.

This trend has gotten many the much-needed attention that they crave to forge ahead in their careers as musicians, actors or models. It starts with a little show of cleavage and then other major body parts begin to follow in the raunchiest of photos.

When asked in an interview why she takes pleasure in posting her nude photos online, the controversial singer Maheeda stated that, ‘It is deliberate. I know what I am doing. The pictures are not targeted at anything. It is all about attention and there is no mistake about it. This business of music is called show business and I am convinced I am on the right track. I owe no apologies. I just realised this way will be a faster hit than any other way. The pictures are working for me’.
While the ladies strut around displaying their boobs, the guys on the other hand are always eager to show off their six packs and abs, and most times not afraid to strip on stage revealing a crotch. As in several cases that we have witnessed, sometimes, the lady fans are allowed to get a feel of their crotch in some show of sexuality and appeal.
Celebs  getting naked isn’t exactly a new phenomenon but the last year saw more of them shedding their clothes in the name of promotion. Celebrity nude photos inspire instant fascination from a lot of fans, most of who hardly care but even wish for full disclosure.
With phrases like ‘nudity and sex sells’ and ‘sexy is the new cool’, we seem have come to an era where showing some skin seems to be the in thing and sometimes termed the new definition of sexy.
Like many will say in defense of their actions, ‘if you have it, flaunt it’.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/57276.html

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Catholic Nun Gives Birth, Names Baby After Pope

What is happening? Another shocking scandal has been recorded in the heart of the Catholic church...

A nun who said she had no idea she was pregnant gave birth in Italy this week after she felt stomach cramps in her convent and was rushed to hospital for proper treatment, Italian media reported on Friday.

The 31-year-old nun and her baby boy, who weighs 3.5 kilogrammes (nine pounds), are doing well and some new mothers in Rieti hospital have begun collecting clothes and donations for her, the reports said.

“I did not know I was pregnant. I only felt a stomach pain,”
The Salvadorean nun was quoted as saying at the hospital. La Republica said she gave birth on Wednesday.

ANSA said the nun had named her baby Francesco (Francis) — which is the new pope’s chosen title and one of the most popular names in Italy, where St Francis of Assisi is the much-loved national patron saint.

The nun, who is yet to name the man who impregnated her, belongs to the “Little Disciples of Jesus” convent in Campomoro near Rieti, which manages an old people’s home and reports said she would keep the baby.

Her fellow nuns say they were “very surprised” by what has happened.

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APC To Federal Govt: You’re Incompetent

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as “a cruel irony” the accusation of inconsistency and double standards levelled against its leaders by the presidency, saying an incompetent and flip flopping administration has no moral authority to point an accusing finger at anyone, least of all the patriotic and respectable APC leadership.
‘’The Presidency is behaving like a punch-drunk boxer who, clearly dazed by a barrage of right-on-target punches from the opponent, ran to the ropes and started punching the air, when he should be thinking of a comeback strategy,’’ the party said in a statement in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
‘’This presidency is definitely dazed from its own failings, the collapse of the party that sired it and the opprobrium being poured on it daily by Nigerians who are grossly disappointed at its woeful performance and clear lack of direction. We are therefore not surprised that in addition to incompetence and cluelessness, it has now resorted to twisting facts,’’ it said.
APC challenged the Presidency to tell Nigerians when the party called on President Jonathan to respond to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s scorching letter, as claimed by the Presidency on Monday. ‘’What we said, in our press release dated December 13, 2013 and titled: ‘APC to Jonathan: Don’t take Nigeria back to Abacha days’, was that President Jonathan should address the allegations that he has put 1,000 Nigerians on a ‘political watch-list’, in addition to training snipers at the same facility where Abacha’s killer squad was trained.
’Even then, our grouse about the President’s letter is not that he should not have responded, but that he should have exhibited a high level of decorum in his response, bearing in mind that the Presidency is an institution that should not be dragged into the mud, while the President is only a tenant.
‘’In order to show clearly that the Presidency either did not understand our subsequent press statement on the lettergate or has decided to distort our stand, we hereby reproduce the relevant part of the second statement we issued on December 26, 2013, on the basis of which the Presidency has misfired: ‘The party said while it is not interested in joining the fray over the issues contained in the letters written by both men, the decision by the President to go personal in his reaction crossed the threshold of decency and brought the Presidency – and indeed the country – into disrepute.
‘’’It said in other climes, the President would have simply issued a terse response to such a letter denying the allegations that border on national security, if any; as well as saying the former President’s observations have been noted, and that the government would study them and then engage with the former President in private, while assuring that the ship of state is on course’.’’ On the accusation of inconsistency and double standards leveled against its leaders, the APC said the Presidency was simply shooting the breeze.
‘’The problem with this Presidency is that it still cannot get over the fact that our leaders, including Chief Bisi Akande, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have decided to put their differences aside and make personal sacrifices to rescue Nigeria from the PDP death grip. The Presidency cannot understand why the permutations of its fake political consultants, that personality clashes between Buhari and Asiwaju will not let the APC see the light of day, have failed.
‘’Also, they have been gripped with mortal fear that the leadership of the APC has reached out to all Nigerians, irrespective of their political leanings. They cannot understand that those who are genuinely committed to rebuilding a nation that has been made so fractious by a bungling ruling party must be flexible and accommodating, while holding on tight to their principles,’’ the party said.
It urged the Jonathan presidency to expend its energy on telling Nigerians why it should not be voted out in 2015 for running the most incompetent administration yet in our country’s history. It should explain to Nigerians why billions of naira have been squirreled away under its watch.
It should tell Nigerians why they spent their Christmas and New Year holidays in darkness; why most of our qualified youth are unemployed, and why the government’s contrived economic growth has yet to result in economic development (that’s hoping they know the difference). ‘’These are the issues that should bother this clueless presidency, not whether the APC asked President Jonathan to respond to a letter or not. We are for issue-based engagements, not frivolity-based exchanges,’’ APC said.

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GOOD NEWS: French Priest Kidnapped by Boko Haram in Cameroon Regains Freedom

French President Francois Hollande made an official statement which said that a French Catholic priest kidnapped in Cameroon by the suspected Boko Haram members on November 13, 2013, has been released.

A 42-year-old Georges Vandenbeusch (in the photo) was kidnapped by gunmen in northern Cameroon, close to the border with Nigeria.

Boko Haram Islamist group later said it was behind the kidnap.

President Hollande thanked the authorities in Cameroon and Nigeria for their help in getting the priest released.

His message also expressed special thanks to Cameroon's President Paul Biya.

A French diplomat quoted by the AFP news agency said the priest was released in the early hours of December 31, 2013, Tuesday in northern Cameroon.

“He is now on a plane with the Cameroonian army and will be handed over to the French ambassador in Cameroon,” the source said.

There was no further explanation about his release.

It would be recalled that earlier this year, seven members of a French family called Moulin-Fournier, four of them children, were kidnapped by Boko Haram in northern Cameroon and held hostage for two months.

Boko Haram was allegedly paid more than $3m (N520,000,000) before releasing the family, according to a confidential Nigerian government report which has been seen by Reuters news agency. There was no official confirmation of that ransom.

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SO SAD: 20 Children Die In Road Traffic Accidents - FRSC

Twenty children died in road traffic accidents between Dec. 19 and Dec. 28, while 75 others sustained injuries from the crashes, the Federal Road Safety Commission, said on Monday.
This information is contained in a statement issued by Mr Jonas Agwu, the FRSC’s Public Education Officer.
The statement said that 144 children of the 239 children involved in road accidents during the period were rescued unhurt.
It would be recalled that the FRSC on Dec. 19 began a Special Patrol for the Christmas and New Year celebration tagged “Operation Zero Tolerance’’.
The commission deployed 34,000 personnel and equipment in critical and major highways across the country as well as four helicopters for aerial surveillance.
The FRSC had said on Dec. 24 that 107 died and 1,398 persons were in 214 road accidents between Dec. 19 and Dec. 23.
It said that the figures represented a reduction in the number of deaths and injured when compared to 156 deaths and 1,882 injured persons in 236 accidents in the corresponding period of 2012.
The statement, therefore, advised parents and drivers to ensure that children were “appropriately restrained’’ in vehicles during travels.
It added that those under 12 years should be restrained in the rear seats in line with the provisions of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2012.
This, it said was necessary because air bags could injure or kill young children travelling in front seats in the event of  accident.
“One of the most effective measures to protect occupants from injury in the event of a crash is the fitment and use of seat-belts and child restraints.
“’Restraints save lives and reduce injury severity – all vehicle occupants should be appropriately restrained when travelling,” it said.
The statement said statistics indicate that seat belt usage reduce the risk of fatality among front seat passengers by 40 per cent to 50 per cent.
It said that the use of the belt could also reduce risk of fatality for rear seat passengers by between 25 per cent and 75 per cent.
The statement said that Child restraints reduce deaths among infants by approximately 70 per cent and deaths among small children by between 54 per cent and 80 per cent.’’
It said that FRSC had mandated its commanding officers to intensify enforcement of traffic rules bothering on child safety during the ongoing special patrol, which will end on Jan. 12, 2014.
The statement directed the officers to conduct routine checks on vehicles conveying children to ensure that they are properly positioned through restraints.

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PHOTOS: Check Out Top 12 Embarrassing Things That Happened In 2013

It was definitely an eventful year in the Nigerian entertainment scene. While a lot of celebrities did us proud back home and abroad, a few others didn’t just quite get the memo.

NET presents the 12 flops of 2013 – the embarrassing list.
Maheeda's nude gallery on instagram
Caroline ‘Maheeda’ Sam made sexy look stupid in 2013 with her constant nude ‘selfies’ on Instagram. We guess she was trying to impress us but the Pop singer-turned-Gospel act just looked real thirsty for fame. Then she went on to claim she was just trying to make young women feel more aware of their bodies. We’ll just call that the ‘Gospel according to Maheeda‘.

Tonto Dike
We don’t know why Tonto Dike irritates many; maybe it’s her croaking voice on those songs she released this year, her queer Twitter vocab, the way she flaunts the use of illegal drugs or the absolute ‘I-don’t-give-a f@ck-what-you-think-about-me’ attitude she goes about with.

Beverly Osu
Nigerians expressed disgust and disappointment when thier representative to the last Big Brother Africa reality show, Beverly Osu had sex in the house. Until her, no Nigerian housemate had been that physical in the house.

Oga at the Top
The (former) Lagos State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) Shem Obafaiye subjected himself and his organization to global ridicule when he could not mention the organization’s official website during a heated live Channels interview.

Adams Oshiomole's 'Go and die' statement
The Edo State Governor received serious backlash on social media after outrightly telling a widow to ‘Go and die‘ for selling her goods on the roadside during sanitation in Benin. No amount of money or cups of tea can wipe that silly remark from memories of his rule.

Losing Saka to MTN
Telecoms giant MTN snatched actor Saka from Etisalat to become its ambassador in its mobile number portability campaign. This move was viewed in the corporate world as a major blow to Etisalat; with great lessons for brand managers and their agencies.

Open Letters
When former president Olusegun Obasanjo wrote president Goodluck Jonathan blaming him for the woes of the country, he wasn’t prepared for another counter letter allegedly written by his daughter Iyabo criticizing him too. Copies of these controversial letters somehow found their way to the streets of Abuja where they were being sold. Have you finished reading the one from GEJ?

Impromptu concerts at celebrity weddings
While we were glad to see our favourite celebs get married this year, we wonder why the ceremonies became impromptu concerts. Why for example was Phyno allowed to perform ‘Ghost mode‘ at Peter Okoye‘s wedding? WHY?!

Funke Akindele's marriage collapse
Funke Akindele’s marriage to Almaroof Oloyede, a hitherto married man ended abruptly after a little over a year owing to cases of infidelity and irreconcilable difference. And the accusations and counter-accusations that followed were messy, to put it mildly.

Sam Sodje
The ex-Super Eagles footballer in December claimed he got paid £70,000 just to get sent off in a February 2013 match. Arrested already, he’ll be getting more than a red card if this matter gets to court.

Don Jazzy and Wande Coal petty Twitter war
Who would think almighty Don Jazzy and teddy bear-looking Wande Coal would stoop so low as to engage themselves in a petty Twitter fight? Not us too! The pair threw caution to the wind after the Mavin boss accused his former protege of not giving him the right credits to his ‘Baby face’ song.

Stella Oduah’s bullet proof vehicles
Our dear Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah ordered for two BMW bulletproof cars worth N255M #LikeaBoss and got the whole country upset. Inconsiderate as that was, we still have to give her props for not busting a sweat under her lace wig.

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Why I Benched Mikel - Mourinho

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has explained his exclussion of Super Eagles midfielder Mikel Jon Obi from the starting line up, saying the player was down with flu.
The battling midfielder later came on in the second half to replace Frank Lampard as Chelsea looked to keep their 2-1 lead safe.
He said: “Mikel had started the last two games during the holiday period and he also had flu,” explained Mourinho after the hard-fought win over Liverpool.
Mourinho also said he expected Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o to adapt quicker to the fast pace of the EPL. “The sooner he adapts, the better. I have told him so,” said the coach while defending some late tackles by the striker against Liverpool.
Eto’o scored the match winner for ‘The Blues’ on Sunday, but TV replays showed he gave away a penalty for a cynical charge on Luis Suarez right inside the Chelsea box, which referee Howard Web did not award.
Chelsea with 40 points from 19 matches are two points behind leaders Arsenal, while Liverpool drop to fifth place.

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WHY 'Nollywood' Has to be Renamed to 'Naiwood'

The controversies that trailed Nollywood’s 20-year-anniversary are still not over.

Some of the stakeholders have continued to question the name ‘Nollywood’ and the 20 years tag put as the life span of the now nose-diving industry.

The release of after a movie, Living In Bondage, on VHS, 20 years ago has changed the face of the Nigeria movie industry and gave it a big bang.

Many veterans, especially those in the Yoruba genre, have rejected the claim that the industry is only 20 years old when the likes of Hubert Ogunde, Ade Love, Baba Sala and others had been in the industry as far back in the 50s.

In this regard, a group of progressive members of the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (ANTP), led by Yomi Fabiyi, is seeking renaming of the industry to ‘Naiwood’.

The group claims that this name will truly represent all the stakeholders, and will be devoid of tribal dichotomy, which the group said the present ‘Nollywood’ encourages and represents.

In his message to Nigeriafilms, Yomi said:

“If the acronym for their movie industry means they started two decades ago, perhaps there was no one producing (movies) amongst them in the last 21 years.

“We inherited film making, we had legendary filmmakers in Nigeria before then. [We] can't fold our arms and watch then sweep under the carpet [the effort of our veterans] with an acronym (Nollywood).

“That acronym NOLLYWOOD is not acceptable by us, if it represents 20 years. We've films shot in Nigeria 60, 50 and 40 years ago on celluloid (the biggest filming standard in the world before digital celluloid) irrespective of the quantity then.

“Home video is just another means of distributing films. In an unjust society where inequality, tribalism, sentiment is the order of the day, SILENCE IS A SIN.

“We wish to set the record straight, film making started in Nigeria 70 years ago.

“NAIJA (Nigeria) is a film, football and oil country. Nigerian movie industry - NAIWOOD, is the right name for the right naija film history.

“We the Progressives in ANTP of the movie industry, irrespective of tribe and religion, wish to be referred with that acronym henceforth, and we mean every word of it.

Signed YOMI FABIYI.”

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"Forget National Confab" - Nyako Urges Jonathan

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, yesterday, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to perish the thought of national conference and pay more attention to giving Nigerians good governance.
Nyako, who spoke to Vanguard in an interview, said the planned confab amounted to waste of time and scare resources, which could have been used to provide social amenities.
According to the governor, Nigerians need concrete development projects that could enhance their life expectancy and not talk shops that add no real value to life.
The governor pointed out that the country also needed serious development plans backed by an implementable time frame and the political will to move the nation forward.
Nyako, who is the second governor to oppose the impending confab, said his Ebonyi State counterpart, Chief Martins Elechi, who was the first to kick against the conference, was absolutely right and should be commen-ded for his forthrightness.
Nyako said:”Governor Elechi is absolutely right. What we need now is a development programme and not national conference or dialogue.
“We need critical infrastructure, we need ports and railway system, functional and compulsory education for Nigerians and not talk shops that cannot take us to anywhere.
“We need primary schools that can be described as the best in the world. We do not need too much grammar about develo-ping Nigeria, but concrete efforts and the political will by the government to translate talks into reality for the overall benefit of Nigerians.”

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