NIGERIAN TV PROGRAMMES...AN APPRAISAL AND MEDICAL IMPLICATIONS

Programme ....Nkan Mbe, created by Kolawole Olawuyi....now deceased. Tends to adduce a spiritual connotation to all life events.
Station ....Lagos Television, LTV, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Date ......19th of October, 2014.....a Sunday.
Starring ....Mama Nurse.
Theme .....Spiritual attack....

A Brief Account......
Mama Nurse, a middle-aged lady deserted her first husband after 25 years of marriage. The union produced 4 children. She then remarried to a polygamous man....agreeing to be his 4th wife. She claims that her pant was pinched by one of the senior wives....as "confirmed" by a "Babalawo", a traditional diviner. Her photos were also "pinched" but "returned" 4 months later.....so the story goes.
She admits that she did 4 abortions as requested by her new spouse during their courtship days....but is unable to conceive again....now that she craves a child for her new man.....for her menses has ceased! Her menses has stopped for 3 years.
An account by her stepson....sired by the accused...reveals that she is an alcoholic. Mama Nurse projects the image of a typical auxiliary nurse.... Her mien....posture....body language....impulsiveness....sheer ignorance....

An Analysis.
If Mama Nurse went into her first marriage even at age 20 and stayed put for 25 years, that puts her current age at about 45 years. If her menses has ceased for 3 years, then amenorrhoea started at age 42. Differential: menopause even if early....alcoholism a potent culprit in the causation of ovarian failure and shutdown. Recall her love of alcohol!
Her uterus (womb) risked being traumatised during the numerous criminal abortions she underwent....especially if carried out by her peers.....quacks....a plausibility! Cervical stenosis, outright cervical blockade, uterine synechiae are all possibilities here....singularly or in combination! And she was definitely prone to infection from the abortions, thus the possibility of tubal blockade....causing infertility.

Summary of differential diagnoses.
So the differential diagnoses range from Early Menopause through Ovarian Shutdown to Cervical Stenosis/ Blockade and Intra-Uterine Adhessions. Alcoholism and Pelvic Infections complete the picture. Stress is a remote possibility.

My Counsel.
Mama Nurse should book an appointment to see a doctor, especially a gynaecologist....who after obtaining her history and performing a clinical exam, would order lab tests (a hormone profile, an hvs for mcs), an hsg, a pelvis uss and counsel her against guzzling alcohol....or even recommend rehab! Less stress for the doctor to probe if she is merely menopausal! Appropriate treatment would then be instituted. That is the way of medicine....so long as it is not infiltrated by chalatans and rogues!

Conclusion.
Mama Nurse is a prototype Nigerian auxiliary nurse. These are the crops of individuals one commonly finds doubling as Traditional Birth Attendants, TBAs. They conduct most deliveries....a tragedy! Our govt ratifies their blunders by according them recognition in our legal statutes! No less admonition must be directed at the producers of Nigerian movies and TV programmes who by their wierd adherence to superstitious themes concretize such beliefs in the citizenry!

Post Script.
Same programme also featured another lady supine on the ground. Her distended (swollen) abdomen was ascribed to an 8-year long pregnancy! Yet the fact that she is amenorrhoeic does not make it any strange spiritually-tied pregnancy. Time and wisdom had indicated that such cases are due to Uterine fibroids or Ovarian cysts....or both! Consulting with a doctor should unravel the mystery!

Dr Tosin Akindele is a Lagos-based Medical Practitioner, a former Secretary of AGPMPN Ikorodu zone, a former Secretary of the Quackery Committee of AGPMPN Lagos State Branch, founder of Analytical Minds, a good health advocate and social critic.