MedEx-Care

12/02/2024

Epilepsy Awareness Week

The campaign kickstarts on the 12 to 18 February with International Epilepsy Day falling on the 12th of February .

The campaign aims to raise awareness and address the ongoing stigma around epilepsy.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 50 million people worldwide live with Epilepsy, and around 50 percent experience some form of stigma.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender or race .Like many neurological conditions, it remains an unseen disability that often leads to serious health consequences or even loss of life.

The warning signs may include:
* Staring.
* Jerking movements of the arms and legs.
* Stiffening of the body.
* Loss of consciousness.
* Breathing problems or breathing stops.
* Loss of bowel or bladder control.
* Falling suddenly for no apparent reason, especially when associated with loss of consciousness.

People with epilepsy can live normal lives though it can be challenging for the patient as well as family and friends. However, with treatment and awareness of the ways to manage a seizure, most people suffering from epilepsy can go on to live normal lives.

Having a single seizure doesn't mean you have epilepsy. Epilepsy is diagnosed if you've had at least two unprovoked seizures at least 24 hours apart. Unprovoked seizures don't have a clear cause.

Here are some First Aid tips to help if someone is having a seizure.
•Do not panic
•Turn on their side and start timing the seizure
•Stay with child, do not restrain,
•Place something soft under head
•Do NOT put anything in mouth
•Call emergency services if seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes.

Seek immediate medical help if any of the following occurs with a seizure:
* The seizure lasts more than five minutes.
* Breathing or consciousness doesn't return after the seizure stops.
* A second seizure follows immediately.
* You have a high fever.
* You're pregnant.
* You have diabetes.
* You've injured yourself during the seizure.
* If you have a seizure for the first time, seek medical advice.

Stay informed and save lives. ❤️

09/02/2024

National Pregnancy Awareness Week

South Africa has committed itself in terms of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 to,
• reduce maternal mortality.
• end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age.
• reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one third and
• ensure universal access to reproductive healthcare services.

The National Department of Health has dedicated 6 to 10 February 2024 for the purpose of pregnancy awareness.

As we wrap up National Pregnancy Week which started on Tuesday, here's are a few tips we would like to share with you

Pregnancy awareness week aims to improve education about pregnancy with the objective of promoting healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood.

Ideally, antenatal care should start at the time pregnancy is diagnosed. Antenatal care ensures early detection and interventions for a healthy outcome for mother and child.

Antenatal care is where early monitoring and screening occur to identify a potential risk to the health of the mother and unborn child. This includes screening and testing for, among others, iron deficiency, infections, diabetes and hypertension amongst others. Early antenatal care can assist in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

It is important for women to present themselves as early as possible in their pregnancy to a primary healthcare facility near them to begin antenatal care.

07/02/2024

February is Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Month/ Reproductive Health Month.

Stay on the lookout for posts that will help you live a healthy lifestyle.

24/01/2024

Here’s where you can find us

•Mamelodi Branch: 14319 Tsamaya Ave, Pretoria, 0122

•Mabopane Branch: 1704 Molefe Makinta Highway UX Mabopane (opposite Mabopane square)

•Hammanskraal Branch: 1809, Rockville, Temba, Hammanskraal.

Website

We are dedicated to providing the best individual healthcare available. Our goal is to maximize the health, independence, and comfort of our patients and their families. We take our time to listen to our patients and to listen to our patients and to provide individual treatment that suits their need...

30/01/2023

Comprehensive Abortion Care.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) ,there are nearly over 120 million unintended pregnancies every year, 60% of those end in abortion . 1 out of 2 abortion is unsafe, putting millions of women at risk of complications and death.

South Africa suffers from the health burden challenge , however abortion was legalised in 1996, during the nation's transition from apartheid to independence and democracy, under the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOPA) yet society still frowns upon women who choose to have an abortion.

Often it is vulnerable women who are most at risk due to inequality and lack of basic health services . Abortion care is health care, as is access to effective contraception and timely care for complications through post abortion care .

Women should always have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies and health.While this is fundamental women’s rights continue to come under threat. Access to abortion can save lives and yet it remains a stigmatised health issue.

A combination of widespread anti-abortion religious and cultural beliefs in South Africa fuels a strong stigma around abortion, affecting women who are seeking to have an abortion. Service providers are known for rebuking clients, especially minors, for being s*xually active at an early age and being irresponsible for choosing to terminate the pregnancy.

Termination of pregnancy is also associated with social ills such as drug abuse and promiscuity. These stigma associated with providing abortions can result in service provider resistance to be trained in providing termination of pregnancies, thereby limiting service provider capacity to meet the growing demand for abortions in the country. The absence of ongoing values clarification for health care workers also leads to insensitivity, isolation and stigmatisation of abortion service providers in the work place.

Barriers to abortion do not reduce the number of procedures ,instead restrictions drive women and girls to perform unsafe abortions. This is increases the number of deaths associated with pregnancy and increasing the maternal mortality ratio which is a indicator for poor health outcomes in the country.There is convincing evidence that comprehensive s*x education helps young people to protect their health and the health of others . Abortion care is an essential part of s*xual and reproductive healthcare and the decision to have an abortion should be entirely up to the individual, without fear of being shamed or stimatised.

Get in touch :

We are dedicated to providing the best individual healthcare available. Our goal is to maximize the health, independence, and comfort of our patients and their families. We take our time to listen to our patients and to listen to our patients and to provide individual treatment that suits their need...

17/11/2022

17/11/2022

Lets raise awareness 🙏🏽

31/05/2022

World No To***co Day Oupa Senamela Kgotlello Kgotlello Bridgy MkwambiNelson Ghettofreak Mokonyana

31/05/2022

World No To***co Day is observed on May 31 to raise awareness about the damage caused by consuming to***co. To***co kills over 8 million people every year and destroys our environment but besides the human cost, consuming to***co also causes the environment to degrade. These annual celebrations focus on the dangers of using to***co, what people around the world can do to protect the right to health and healthy living for themselves and for future generations and the business practices of to***co companies amongst other things.

Since 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) has used this day to highlight the harmful effects of ci******es and other to***co products on a person’s overall health. This year, WHO is focusing on preventing youth to***co product use and the to***co industry’s attempts to attract youth.

To***co consumption can lead to lung cancer, which mostly hits those with a prolonged cigarette smoking history. Around 80 to 90 percent people diagnosed with lung cancer have a history of to***co smoking. To***co is the leading cause of death for men and the second leading cause when both men and women.

Another initiative that is offering support to help people quit smoking was brought forward by the CANSA online eKickbutt support programme giving helpful tools to quit. CANSA further works together with other stakeholders in South Africa, South African Medical Research Council, The National Council Against Smoking and international partners, Campaign for To***co Free Kids, to provide the scientific evidence to drive the development of effective to***co control policies to assist in reducing to***co use and lower cancer risk .

25/05/2022

Monkeypox

Just as we thought things are slowly going back to the normal since the first COVID 19 case and we would be out of the woods soon, another virus outbreak. This time , a Monkeypox virus.There has been several cases around the world of Monkeypox which is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients .The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), confirms that there are currently no monkeypox cases in South Africa yet but we should be vigilant.
At least 92 cases have been confirmed across the world and 28 suspected cases are being investigated but there see no reports of fatalities so far.
The first case in the current outbreak was a traveller who returned to the United Kingdom from Nigeria, a monkeypox endemic area, on 4th May 2022. Tests were conducted and three days later it was confirmed that the patient has monkeypox .

While it is important to be vigilant around any health outbreak in order to monitor the spread, South Africans are urged not to panic but to look out for flu-like symptoms ,swollen lymph nodes , headache ,backache and fatigue. The virus enters the body through broken skin (even if not visible), respiratory tract, or through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Human-to-human transmission happens through large respiratory droplets that are produced when coughing or sneezing which generally cannot travel more than a metre so the very same precautionary measures we took with COVID 19 will also apply with this virus. Monkeypox can also be transmitted from an infected animal to a person or with material contaminated with the virus.

Children and people with underlying immune deficiencies may have more severe cases, but monkeypox is rarely fatal. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Monkeypox can kill 1 in 10 people. The World Health Organization said that the vaccine used to prevent smallpox appears to be about 85% effective in guarding against monkeypox in observational research in Africa but the vaccines aren’t widely available so it’s important to reserve them for populations that are most at risk.

What could put our hearts at ease is the fact that this virus is not new so it should be easier to control with vaccines that has been around unlike Covid-19.

15/03/2022

Kindly visit our website on www.medexcare.co.za to book an appointment.