Basic facts about malaria

1. Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium.

2. The disease results from the multiplication of malaria parasites within red blood cells causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache in severe cases progressing to coma and death.

3. Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of inexpensive Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of inexpensive mosquito nets and insect repellent, or by mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides inside houses and draining standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs.

4. Symptoms of malaria include fever, shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), vomiting, anemia (caused by hemolysis), hemoglobinuria, retinal damage, and convulsions. The classic symptom of malaria is cyclical occurrence of sudden coldness followed by rigor and then fever and sweating lasting four to six hours, occurring every two days in P. vivax and P. ovale infections, while every three days for P. malariae. P. falciparum can have recurrent fever every 36–48 hours or a less pronounced and almost continuous fever. For reasons that are poorly understood, but that may be related to high intracranial pressure, children with malaria frequently exhibit abnormal posturing, a sign indicating severe brain damage. Malaria has been found to cause cognitive impairments, especially in children. It causes widespread anemia during a period of rapid brain development and also direct brain damage. This neurologic damage results from cerebral malaria to which children are more vulnerable. Cerebral malaria is associated with retinal whitening, which may be a useful clinical sign in distinguishing malaria from other causes of fever.
Severe malaria is almost exclusively caused by P. falciparum infection, and usually arises 6–14 days after infection. Consequences of severe malaria include coma and death if untreated—young children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable. Splenomegaly (enlarged spleen), severe headache, cerebral ischemai, hepatomegaly (enlarged liver), hypoglycemia , and hemoglobinuria with renal failure may occur. Renal failure is a feature of blackwater fever, where hemoglobin from lysed red blood cells leaks into the urine. Severe malaria can progress extremely rapidly and cause death within hours or days. In the most severe cases of the disease, fatality rates can exceed 20%, even with intensive care and treatment. In endemic areas, treatment is often less satisfactory and the overall fatality rate for all cases of malaria can be as high as one in ten. Over the longer term, developmental impairments have been documented in children who have suffered episodes of severe malaria.

5. Methods used in order to prevent the spread of disease, or to protect individuals in areas where malaria is endemic, include prophylactic drugs, mosquito eradication and the prevention of mosquito bites.
The continued existence of malaria in an area requires a combination of high human population density, high mosquito population density and high rates of transmission from humans to mosquitoes and from mosquitoes to humans. If any of these is lowered sufficiently, the parasite will sooner or later disappear from that area.

6. Mosquito nets help keep mosquitoes away from people and greatly reduce the infection and transmission of malaria. The nets are not a perfect barrier and they are often treated with an insecticide designed to kill the mosquito before it has time to search for a way past the net. Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are estimated to be twice as effective as untreated nets and offer greater than 70% protection compared with no net.

7. Education in recognizing the symptoms of malaria has reduced the number of cases in some areas of the developing world by as much as 20%. Recognizing the disease in the early stages can also stop the disease from becoming a killer. Education can also inform people to cover over areas of stagnant, still water e.g. Water Tanks which are ideal breeding grounds for the parasite and mosquito, thus cutting down the risk of the transmission between people. This is most put in practice in urban areas where there are large centers of population in a confined space and transmission would be most likely in these areas.

the health benefit of water

Benefit of Drinking Water
Discover why Drinking Water is
so important for your life and
health...
The reason you need to drink
water appears obvious, but do
you know the details? Let's take
a closer look inside your body:
Benefit of Drinking Water for
the Human Body
Every part of your body is made
up of cells.
Protoplasm, the basic material of
living cells, is made of fats,
carbohydrates, proteins, salts,
and similar elements combined
with water.
Water acts as a solvent,
transporting, combining, and
chemically breaking down these
substances.
A cell exchanges elements with
the rest of the body by
electrolysis, and in a normal case,
minerals and micro elements
pass through the cell membrane
to the nucleus by electro-
osmosis.
The body needs electrolytes
(minerals like sodium, potassium,
chloride, and bicarbonate) for its
basic functions.
In case of water shortage, the
electrolyzes cannot happen and
our cells dry out and die.
Therefore, in order to keep our
cells hydrated, our body's
electrochemical balance and stay
alive we need water and salt.

HEALTH TIPS

To many of us, living a HEALTHY LIFE is not an easy thing to do especially when there are lots of beautiful adverts of products that make us go in search of the real things, yet we do not see them easily. Not that I am criticizing those products or any one of at all, what I’m trying to say is we ought to know what is GOOD for OUR HEALTH as some of these fancy products contain toxins that poison our systems making Us worse than we were in the first place or worse still killing Us without our knowledge. We have to go back to our first love (the days of our fathers) when all they have is FRUITS, VEGETABLES, ROOTS, HERBS, NON-FAT ANIMALS, and the likes of which we have unintentionally neglected.
The secret to GOOD HEALTH lies within all these and more….. So come along and join me in the intriguing world of GOOD HEALTH.