RAT PRINTS IN THE SAND!

As humans leave their foot prints in the sands of time, so do RATS. These rodents of various species have superseded us on the wall of lifetime achievements (as early as 1347 AD - Black death (plague) and 2009 - Lassa Fever). They have a shorter life span than we do but are more efficient in leaving a trail. Yes, A trail! These cosmopolitan rats migrated decades ago from the wilds to the cities where they join humans in creating viable businesses for themselves.

I would like to believe however that they are unaware of the disaster they leave on their trail. Such disasters include disease carriage, property destruction and food contamination to mention a few. Diseases contacted from these rodents depending on the specie include Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Leptospirosis, Eosinophilic meningitis and Lassa fever to mention just a few. Some of these diseases are deadly and are easily contacted through consumption of food and water contaminated by the rat’s urine, droppings and saliva.

The Lassa fever which is one of the most recently occurring diseases in Nigeria is particularly worrisome. Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic disease caused by the mutlimammate rat otherwise known as the Black Rat. Infection of Lassa fever may pass unnoticed in some people who come in contact with the virus, but in others, symptoms start from fever, to increased body weakness, headache, sore throat, chest pain, to diarrhoea, breathing problems and ultimately bleeding from every opening in the body. You might find the Black rat in dirty, overcrowded communities. The saddest part about this Lassa fever issue is that there are no vaccines for prevention but drugs exist for treatment at an early stage of detection.

It is expedient then that we keep our environment clean to prevent these diseases. If you have a rat problem in your home, I urge you to use all the method that you can think of to get rid of them. There are different catchers such as the gum board, metal trapper which have proven effective over the years. However, you must agree with me that these rats update their knowledge on technologies humans use to trap them so I press further that you use rat poisons too (but keep away from children. When you have done your best, you can be assured that the rat prints in the sand will disappear gradually and you can be healthy enough to put your own foot prints in the same of time.

My Heart, Your Heart!

The official shape of the heart is the love shape albeit when you look at anatomy textbooks you’ll see something close to an upside down pear. The love shape of the heart makes us have romantic views about it. The pumping of the heart and its overdrive is often misconstrued as a display of emotion to the one the heart cares about. On the other hand you also feel your heart in motion when you have done something you shouldn’t have done and you are about to get caught – albeit some people don’t. Between working for love and slaving to hide your guilt, the heart works effortlessly and tirelessly. In an average lifetime, the heart beats more than two and a half billion times and only stops when we die. Like a pumping machine, the heart provides the power needed for life.

This 300grams lifesaver does a lot of work for you. It keeps you going day and night, holds you together during good and bad times and what do you give back to your heart? What is the composition of that mix you call a meal? Cholesterol? Did I hear someone say salt? Healthy meat? I do not mean to come across as being harsh but it is expedient that I drive a point here. That point is this: Garbage in, Garbage out. Before you put your fork filled with a sumptuous diet into your mouth, please pause to look at it for a second and ask yourself these questions, ‘Is this morsel of food good for my heart?, does it contain a lot of cholesterol and fat? Is it high in salt? And other things bad for the heart?’, then put your morsel into your mouth and swallow. Your questions shouldn’t stop there; ask yourself ‘Am I eating grains, fruits and vegetables? Am I doing some exercises? ‘These are things that are good for the heart. They will help to keep you in top shape and keep you generally healthy. I must warn that if you have had a problem with your heart in the past consult a physician before you embark on any form of exercise. It might save you an early trip to the world beyond. Do you also engage in filling your lungs with smoky nicotine? You could cut down the number of sticks till they are down to zero. This might be hard to do but the future of your heart, your life, might be at risk because of the cigarettes.

The products of incorporating these healthy behaviours into our daily routine are
1. We get to be healthy
2. We get to let our heart run into over drive when we see our loved ones without having to check our pacemaker
3. We get to live better and freer from illnesses generally because these rules apply to a lot of other diseases such as cancer.

In all, there are lots of benefits attached to eating healthy and doing exercises. The heart, whether love or pear shaped, would always do its duty, which is to give you 72 wonderful beats every minute of your life to keep blood flowing through your wonderfully crafted veins and arteries that keep you logged on to reality. I implore you to eat, flex and live well.