Category: Health

  • Scientists discover why waistlines expand in middle age

    Scientists discover why waistlines expand in middle age

    It’s no secret that waistlines often expand in middle-age, but the problem isn’t strictly cosmetic. Belly fat accelerates aging and slows down metabolism, increasing risk for developing diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases.

    Now preclinical research by City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research centre for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, has uncovered the cellular culprit behind age-related abdominal fat, providing new insights into why midsections widen with middle age. Published in Science, the findings suggest a novel target for future therapies to prevent belly flab and extend our healthy lifespans.

    “People often lose muscle and gain body fat as they age — even when their body weight remains the same,” said Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Ph.D., the study’s co-corresponding authour and an associate professor of molecular and cellular endocrinology at City of Hope’s Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute.

    “We discovered aging triggers the arrival of a new type of adult stem cell and enhances the body’s massive production of new fat cells, especially around the belly.”

    In collaboration with the UCLA laboratory co-corresponding author Xia Yang, the scientists conducted a series of mouse experiments later validated on human cells. Wang and her colleagues focused on white adipose tissue (WAT), the fatty tissue responsible for age-related weight gain.

    While it’s well-known that fat cells grow larger with age, the scientists suspected that WAT also expanded by producing new fat cells, meaning it may have an unlimited potential to grow.

    To test their hypothesis, the researchers focused on adipocyte progenitor cells (APCs), a group of stem cells in WAT that evolve into fat cells. The City of Hope team first transplanted APCs from young and older mice into a second group of young mice.

    The APCs from the older animals rapidly generated a colossal amount of fat cells. When the team transplanted APCs from young mice into the older mice, however, the stem cells did not manufacture many new fat cells. The results confirmed that older APCs are equipped to independently make new fat cells, regardless of their host’s age.

    Using single-cell RNA sequencing, the scientists next compared APC gene activity in young and older mice. While barely active in young mice, APCs woke up with a vengeance in middle-aged mice and began pumping out new fat cells.

    “While most adult stem cells’ capacity to grow wanes with age, the opposite holds true with APCs — aging unlocks these cells’ power to evolve and spread,” said Adolfo Garcia-Ocana, the Ruth B. & Robert K. Lanman Endowed Chair in Gene Regulation & Drug Discovery Research and chair of the Department of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology at City of Hope.

    “This is the first evidence that our bellies expand with age due to the APCs’ high output of new fat cells.”

    Aging also transformed the APCs into a new type of stem cell called committed preadipocytes, age-specific (CP-As). Arising in middle age, CP-A cells actively churn out new fat cells, explaining why older mice gain more weight. A signaling pathway called leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) proved critical for promoting these CP-A cells to multiply and evolve into fat cells.

    “We discovered that the body’s fat-making process is driven by LIFR. While young mice don’t require this signal to make fat, older mice do. Our research indicates that LIFR plays a crucial role in triggering CP-As to create new fat cells and expand belly fat in older mice.”

    Using single-cell RNA sequencing on samples from people of various ages, Wang and her colleagues next studied APCs from human tissue in the lab.

    Again, the team also identified similar CP-A cells that had an increased number in middle-aged people’s tissue. Their discovery also illustrates that CP-As in humans have high capacity in creating new fat cells.

    “Our findings highlight the importance of controlling new fat-cell formation to address age-related obesity. Understanding the role of CP-As in metabolic disorders and how these cells emerge during aging could lead to new medical solutions for reducing belly fat and improving health and longevity,” said Wang.

    Future research will focus on tracking CP-A cells in animal models, observing CP-A cells in humans and developing new strategies that eliminate or block the cells to prevent age-related fat gain.

  • PROF délé jẹ́gẹ́dẹ́ @ 80: We should be concerned with quality of life, not age – délé jẹ́gẹ́dẹ́

    PROF délé jẹ́gẹ́dẹ́ @ 80: We should be concerned with quality of life, not age – délé jẹ́gẹ́dẹ́

    Prof. Dele Jegede is a Nigerian-American painter, art historian, cartoonist, curator, art critic, art administrator and teacher.

    He was born 1945 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. Jegede earned his first degree in Fine Arts (with First Class Hons, majoring in Painting) from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, in 1973.

    From 1979 to 1983, he studied art history under Roy Sieber at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, where he received his MA and PhD degrees. He was a Senior Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, (1995). He taught at Spelman College, Atlanta as Visiting Fulbright Scholar (1987–1988), when he curated the exhibition, ‘Art by Metamorphosis’.

    Listed in Kelly and Stanley’s “Nigerian Artists: A Who’s Who & Bibliography”, Jegede was Professor and Chair of the Department of Art, Indiana State University, Terre Haute (2002–2005) and Professor of Art at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (2005–2010). He retired as Professor Emeritus in May 2015.

    Prof. Jegede is recipient of the Distinguished Africanist Award of the University of Texas. He is currently the Chairman, board of trustees of the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria (CARTAN).

    In this interview to celebrate his 80th birthday, Prof Jegede speaks with OSA MBONU-AMADI on broad issues pertaining to his art, philosophy and career as an artist and academic:

    Everyone prays to live long, but nobody likes old age. At 80, do you feel such conflicting desires? What philosophy have you for resolution of such conflict?

    Permit me to question the premise of your question. The notion that everyone prays to live long remains just that: a prayer, which is not often granted to all supplicants. Similarly, the thesis that nobody likes old age is contentious. I for one do. Never mind that your legs may not always agree with your body’s plans on occasions. And senior moments—those occasions when you must jolt your temporarily frozen brain into action—may become more frequent. Paradoxical as it may be, living and dying are two parts of the same coin. They constitute the dualism of existence. All humans are designed to, and certainly will, die at some point. This is part of the cycle of life, from the cradle to the grave. Thus, when you analyze things critically, you’ll find no conflict. While many may pray to live long, not everybody will. Most cultures in Africa ascribe wisdom to old age. Most cultures revere old age and accord respect to the elderly. But these cultures also accommodate the inevitability of premature death. So, inexorably, the beginning is joined to the end of this cycle. The renowned poet, T. S. Eliot, simplifies all I’ve been laboring to say in one of his poems, “In my beginning is my end.”

    Unfortunately, it is beyond my capacity as a mere mortal to propose ways to resolve this paradox. And I doubt that anyone has a solution to such an existential dichotomy. What we should be concerned with is the quality of life that is our lot. Why, for example, is Nigeria still mired in the quagmire of poverty more than two generations after independence? Why do our growth indices continue to decline? Life expectancy in Nigeria today is a mere 55 years, nearly ten years below the African average. Successive administrations in Nigeria since independence have yet to find the right blend of democratic panacea for the assortment of ailments sickening the nation. Nigerian politicians (bless their wily, mischievous, and gluttonous hearts) seem to specialize in conjuring the most septic form of government for its people. In the Second Republic, did they not travel abroad to find solutions to—ahem—mosquito infestations in their domains? Ultimately, they realized that it was much easier and much more profitable to their deep pockets to bring Americana to Nigeria: why not run the American presidential system? There! We imported the frills and fanfare of Americanism but circumvented its ethos and disciplinary tropes. Instead of solid guardrails to promote honesty and integrity, and disincentivize corruption, we installed spurious flails. We even invented fallacious “doctrines”—of necessity, immunity, and imperviousness—to boot. The results today are unmistakable. All you need do is check EFCC’s list of former governors and political operatives whose cases are still pending. The bone tied around the political dog is no longer a forbidden meal; the dog has procured the services of other dogs and they have found a way to crack and savor the proverbial bone.

    Every artist has thematic preoccupation – a recurring or central theme or set of themes the artist consistently focuses on or is deeply concerned with in his work. What would you say is your thematic preoccupation as an artist?

    Conscientious artists are driven by their internal clocks and muses. There is an impulsiveness to continue honing their craft. Observers or critics may perceive a thematic strain in the oeuvre of such artists over time. But this does not mean that the artists began with a slate of specious themes or hackneyed memes. This is not to deny that through introspection and research, artists do come up with themes that best represent their creative guts.  Oftentimes, though, it is an artist’s style and idiosyncrasies that serve as unmistakable gestures synonymizing such an artist. Here are a few examples. For those who are familiar with her, the work of Nike Okundaye instantly brings up fields of blue àdìrẹ with geometric patterns. At the mention of Bruce Onobrakpeya, your mind’s eye shifts to bedazzling prints and bas-relief installations. With this formula, you can try figuring out what impressions are invoked by the works of Yusuf Grillo or Kolade Oshinowo, for example. Try to extend this to Van Gogh. And Picasso. Alberto Giacometti. You got the drift. In all these instances, it is not the theme or subject matter, but the style, that represents the artists. This formula also holds up when applied to music. A Sunny Ade; an Ebenezer Obey; a Fela Anikulapo-Kuti; a Davido; Miles Davis; Herb Alpert; Louis Armstrong: name them. Once you are familiar with the work or music of an artist, you will most likely figure them out even if you have never seen or heard the work. That is style for you.

    So, by way of answering your question about my thematic preoccupation as an artist, I provided you with the code and principles that you could apply to my work as a painter. Now, let me give you the last clue to the code: familiarity. All this matters only if you are familiar with the works of the artists under consideration.

    In a recent interview, you spoke about the Chibok Girls imbroglio, Boko Haram, and Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria, which are some of the issues you addressed in your 2016 solo exhibition at Terra Kulture. Those of us who still live in Nigeria know that 2016 Nigeria is far better than the Nigeria of today. At 80, have you retired from addressing the problems of your homeland through art, even at a time you’re needed most?

    The simple answer here is no. The artist fails the percipience test who refuses to commit his or her art to a purpose. Art is a vehicle. What’s your destination? What do you communicate with it?

    You also spoke about your recent body of thematized work that deals with protestations triggered by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. That was during the first coming of Donald Trump, and we all know Trump’s attitude towards the murder of Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests. On January 6, 2021, Trump facilitated an insurrection in the U.S that almost ditched democracy. Could you have imagined then that Trump would be returned to power by Americans, and how are you responding to this development with your art?

    Your question reminds me of the quaint saying credited to the famous American baseball player, Yogi Berra: “The future ain’t what it used to be.” As recently as a decade ago, civility and deference were a normative component of politicking in the U.S. The proclivity to reject election results even before any ballots were cast (which is the specialty of the Nigerian political class) was a rare feature in the American electoral process. When we cast our ballots during the 2000 election cycle, we were optimistic that our candidate, Al Gore, would be the next president. The Supreme Court ruled otherwise and Al Gore conceded, all within five weeks. And the nation’s interrupted programs resumed; things went on as usual. A memorable moment that highlighted the spirited competitiveness in American politics came during the McCain-Obama campaign in 2008 when McCain had to defend the identity and integrity of Obama by telling an ill-informed supporter during a campaign stop that Obama was not an Arab. Parenthetically, American campaigns never fail to throw up hordes of nincompoops. Somebody wearing a red MAGA hat might be quick to tell you to “go back to where you came from.” The only problem is that you are from the American state called Hawaii, which the T-shirt you are wearing is celebrating. But poor Karen, she has no idea where Hawaii is, or what its flag looks like. So, she concludes that you must be an “illegal alien.”

    Politically, the Obama era represented the American future that Yogi Berra lamented. The incursion of Trump into the political arena in 2016 marked the beginning of a new, disruptive strain of politics in America, the like of which left rational human beings, regardless of party affiliation, flummoxed. For Democrats, in particular, Trump’s first coming was traumatic. All you needed to know about the character of the new president-to-be—crudity, sauciness, misogyny, vulgarity, irreverence, braggadocio, and unprecedented brazenness at fabricating lies and peddling falsehood—all this and more was on display during his debate with Hilary Clinton. Yet, he won. And no one went to court. Clinton conceded. But when Trump lost his re-election bid in 2020, he took the nation to the pits of hell, culminating in the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, an unmistakable coup attempt.

    How, then, did Americans decide to bring him back for what promises to be a much more grandiose rehash of Trump 1.0? That is the ugliness of democracy. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. That is the case with America. Those who think democracy is without its pangs and national hemorrhaging should ask the thousands of federal workers who Trump summarily fired; they should talk to the leadership of universities whose federal funding has been canceled. How about USAID, Gaza, Greenland, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which has become the bugbear of the new administration’s unhidden racism? Ah! I almost forgot the new buzzword in the global arena: tariff!  While he did not cause it, his handling of COVID-19 during his first presidency highlighted the degree of prebendal political gamesmanship that Trump personifies. Here was a person who never missed a chance to stoke the fractured lines of hate and national acrimony.

    As an artist, these are the putrid streams that I have aestheticized. After my 2016 exhibition at Terra Kulture in Lagos, I determined that although Nigeria will never cease to excite my imagination as a conscientious artist, I have more than enough in my locale to animate my canvases. From the daylight murder of George Floyd in Minnesota and the sprawling throngs of protesters on public squares, streets, and intersections, to the January 6, 2021 attack on lawmakers by Trump’s MAGA crowd, there is a surfeit of incidents and events clamoring to be memorialized in my art.

    Prof Sir, would it be correct to interpret as abstract paintings, your statement that ‘currently, (you’re) fixated on non-figurative aesthetics: exploring the properties of color to create non-particularistic images that inspire hope’?

    Yes, indeed. An abstract art, regardless of the medium—sculpture, painting, photography, print, textiles, ceramics, photography, or the materials deployed in producing these, be they oil, acrylic, watercolor, and others—is an art that does not represent reality. Abstract art is also known as non-objective, non-representational, or non-figurative. All of this simply means that such an art may be a deliberate visual distortion of known reality or work that is fully independent of any objective reality.

    Digital art and the advent of Artificial Intelligence have revolutionized creativity and caused a lot of disruptions and concerns in the world today as well as amongst artists. What future do you think conventional artists like you have amid these disruptive technologies — AI and digital art?

    I can say here that concerning the rumored disruptions that AI will unleash on art, I have seen the future of art, and it is bright. Let’s put it this way: technology and art have always had this coquettish relationship. It is a relationship that has also provoked a mixture of adversarial and celebratory reactions in equal measure among their supporters. But in the end, the relationship between art and technology has historically turned out to be beneficial for humanity. The operational word here is adaptation. Remember when photography first made its debut in mid-19th century France? Well, it provoked uncomplimentary reactions from some artists of the time, particularly painters, who believed that photography posed an unwelcome challenge. But it was Felix Nadar, a cartoonist, who embraced the new art of photography and elevated it to commanding heights (pun intended) in society. Today, everybody who has a functional phone—the Agege bread seller, the vulcanizer, your newspaper vendor, the okada rider, even your Bar Beach pastor (God is Good), and NEPA operator among others—is a photographer. The ubiquitousness of technology is so pervasive it is almost total. Have you ever left your phone unattended with your toddler? Perhaps you have come across that dog on social media who struts for the camera? With the capacity to adapt and re-contextualize, AI will become a handy item in the tool kit of artists.

    We read of the many things you said you miss about your homeland, Nigeria. It made me begin to reflect on something the wife of the late Prof Isidore Okpewho told me in an interview when her husband passed on. Out of anger against the state of affairs in Nigeria created by the leaders, Prof Okpewho, while he was alive, instructed his family never to take his body home to Nigeria in the event of his death. Sir, are you ever gonna go home?

    In the metaphorical sense of going home, of course, I would. Eventually. Everyone does. The more pertinent question is, where is home? The popular maxim intuits home as where the heart is. In that sense, I have no quibbles about home being where I have my family: a place where I have lived for more than three decades now.

    You gave painting and writing as the things you enjoy doing most, and I’ve had a taste of your elevated prose from your recent press interviews. What books have you written outside your academic writings? If there is, could you please give us a synopsis of the book. What is the book, “The world moves, we follow”, attributed to you, about?

    The books that I have written are mainly scholarly books dealing with my area of academic specialty, which is African art from ancient artifacts to contemporary manifestations. In 2009, my book, Encyclopedia of African American Artists was published. In 2014, the definitive book on the work of the preeminent Nigerian printmaker, Bruce Onobrakpeya, was published. My most recent book, a 298-page co-edited volume on Akinola Lasekan, Nigeria’s pioneer cartoonist, was published by Bookcraft in Ibadan. These are a few of my books.

    The one that you alluded to, The World Moves, We Follow, is an exhibition catalog, which my colleague, Bill Dewey, curated at the University of Tennessee in 2003. I contributed a chapter to the publication. It is one of those exhibitions that are diligently researched: exhibitions that use African material culture to educate and enlighten American audiences about the ways that African art embodies indigenous systems of thought, religion, governance, social organization, and the inculcation of ethos and healthy social practices. In contradistinction to modern and contemporary art, African art is art for life’s sake.

    The contradiction highlighted by my education is that I had to go to the U.S. to learn about the art and culture of my people. I had to go to America to learn about and appreciate the structure of culture not only in Nigeria but among several African peoples.

    Why do you write in lower case letters? You even write your own name in small letters.

    My answer to the first question (which is limited to social media writing) is also not unconnected to the second, which is why write my name in small letters. It is my way of bucking the trend, so to say. I thought I had grown up enough and, as such, earned the freedom to collapse all the boundaries erected by us for us. I write texts on social media because the platform is elastic and tolerant enough to permit all manner of law-breaking to occur.

    For example, no one is shocked at the freedoms that people invoke to blow and break grammatical rules online. Indeed, it is considered a form of incivility to focus on poor grammar either on your WhatsApp group chats or even group emails. that’s why they came up with netiquette. So, if we can tolerate that, I surmised I would not need to seek anyone’s permission to write in small letters. That’s why they invented punctuation marks. They allow us to make sense of nonsense. And at any rate, who the heck determined that I should always start writing my name in capital letters? I know… I know…. rules of grammar. Proper noun and all that abracadabra. Well, they haven’t come up with the phonetic aspects then. Whether you write things in capital or lower letters, the pronunciation does not change. That’s why there are punctuation marks!

    So, I trained my computer never to write my name in big letters. That’s in compliance with my determination to be humble and yet steely. A rose is a rose….

    FRIENDS, ARTISTS WRITE ABOUT PROF JEGEDE

    Dele’s cartoons, especially his strip, ‘Kole The Menace’, were a Sunday staple – Prof Ebun Clark

    Three brief narratives aptly summarize my association with Professor Dele Jegede, whom I simply call Dele. The first is that long before I met him in person, I had known of him through his work as a cartoonist at the Daily Times in the early 1970s. This was long before The Guardian and many of today’s popular dailies came into being. It seems not so long ago that the Daily Times was the dominant newspaper in the country. If you wanted to buy the Daily Times, you were often told you must buy a less popular newspaper first. With the influential Gbolabo Ogunsanwo as editor of the sister Sunday Times, Dele’s cartoons, especially his strip, Kole The Menace, were a Sunday staple.

    Now, to the second narrative. We finally met in 1983 when I became the Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies (CCS) at the University of Lagos. He had just returned from Indiana University, Bloomington, in the U.S after his doctorate; although he had joined the University as a Research Fellow seven years earlier. The Centre for Cultural Studies needed a restructuring to optimize the performance of its staff and faculty and meet its goals laid by previous Directors. This led to the creation of two main streams of arts fellowship and research fellowship, each with sub-units. Given his scholarship and academic qualifications, my recommendation of Dele as head of the newly created Research Unit was approved by the Centre’s Board. That was how the Centre became a throbbing centre of intellectual activities with its immensely popular weekly “Brown Bag Discussion Series”, a programme that soon grew to attract some of Nigeria’s intellectual, political, and business heavyweights, including Professor Abiola Irele, Professor Bashir Ikara, Chief M.K.O Abiola and the Vice-chancellor of the University at that time, Professor Akin Adesola — all of blessed memory. The Research Unit under Dele developed the nucleus of the programme that eventually became the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos.

    The third memorable event is an anecdote, one that revealed the activism of Dele as “olopa,” that is a “policeman”. As the Director of the CCS, I worked in tandem with personnel of various embassies in the country. There was an occasion when a very senior embassy staff member had solicited my assistance in taking two traditional house posts to his residence.  I discussed the request with the Vice-Chancellor and had his preliminary approval. I also discussed it with the Chairman of the Board of CSS. Furthermore, I told the Vice Chancellor we could not finalise the whole matter without the approval of The National Museum. I did not know there was another group I had to discuss the matter with until I informed Dele about the project. He came to my office as President of Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA, along  with some members of the Society. They refused my intervention and strongly advised against it. So the whole matter was dropped. Needless to say, I went into the bad books of the embassy officer. That’s Dele there—firm and professional.

    Often, associations or companionships formed at work do not go beyond the work environment. When I retired in 1989 from the University of Lagos, Dele was the unmistakable choice to succeed me as Acting Director, a recommendation that the University honored.

    Since he moved to Indiana State University in 1993 till date, I have become something of a Big Sister, connected not only by our former workplace experiences but also by a common bond, which is art. His art, which has continued to show upward movement, is characterized by experimentation and social activism. As a collector who is celebrating her 60th year, Dele’s paintings and drawings rank in my collection among my favorite pieces. I once sent a brief note to him to let him know that I had just been enjoying two abstract paintings of his in my collection while listening to the sublime music of the German Composer Richard Strauss titled ” Death and Transfiguration”. He wrote back, bluntly: “Try Fela.”

    Happy Birthday my aburo, and happy birthday to my iyawo and my adult children who grew up as campus babies of Unilag and CCS.

    Your Big Sis.,

    Prof. Ebun Clark.

    His well-groomed scholarly white beards define his personae – Dr Bolaji Ogunwo

    Prof. dele jegede has become an indelible nomenclature in the annals of Creative history.  I was honoured to be part of his 70th celebration a decade ago and had a robust discourse with him after the event.

    I mentioned my PhD research subject to him and his counsel was pivotal to the express completion of the program.

    He looks no different at 80 perhaps as a result of his well-groomed scholarly white beards that define his personae. I wish him more creative years ahead in sound health and look forward to reading more of his great articles on visual art.

    Bolaji Ogunwo, Ph.D.

    Department of Creative Arts,

    University of Lagos, Akoka.

  • Walker faces spell out after elbow surgery

    Walker faces spell out after elbow surgery

    AC Milan defender Kyle Walker is set for a spell on the sidelines following surgery on a fractured elbow.

    The 34-year-old England international sustained the injury during training and has subsequently had an operation.

    “To ensure better healing and optimise recovery time, the player underwent surgery in Milan,” the Serie A club said in a statement, external on their website.

    “The operation went perfectly to plan. Kyle will begin rehabilitation immediately.”

    Walker moved to Milan in January on loan until the end of the season after falling out of favour under Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.

    He has made 12 appearances in all competitions for the Rossoneri, who are currently ninth in Serie A but in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.

    Milan’s deal for Walker includes an option to buy the right-back when his loan deal comes to an end.

  • Stress & sugary drinks – study shows 75% of academy players have gum disease

    Stress & sugary drinks – study shows 75% of academy players have gum disease

    Some academy footballers in England have been left unable to train because of dental problems, according to a new study which found three-quarters of participants are suffering with gum disease.

    The study from researchers at University College London (UCL) asked 160 academy players representing 10 English football clubs from the Premier League, Championship and Women’s Super League to answer a questionnaire about their oral health and its impact on sporting performance, alongside a clinical assessment by a dentist.

    It found young male and female players are more likely to have major problems with tooth decay and poor oral hygiene than non-footballers of a similar age.

    Dr Saul Konviser, one of the authors of the study published in the British Medical Journal, told the BBC there now needs to be a “multi-factor” approach in order to deal with the issue, including greater education on the cardiovascular issues linked with oral diseases and more routine dental care for players.

    “We feel this is a great opportunity to take this evidence so we can advise and support medical teams at clubs,” he said.

    “I think it is an opportunity for sporting bodies to take action – we don’t want negative dental health to impact sporting performance. There needs to be greater understanding that mouth is part of the body.

    “We had players at screenings complaining of dental pain, bleeding gums, saying they were unable to train at some points because of dental infections. Once there has been trauma there can be ongoing problems, including with their ability and willingness to compete.”

    Factors identified included poor hygiene habits such as a lack of brushing and flossing, high levels of sugary sports and fizzy drink consumption, and stress – possibly due to a high-performance environment – which can cause teeth grinding and lead to decay.

    The study also suggested some cases of tooth wear were related to gastric acids, with dental screenings revealing patterns similar to those from acid reflux and even in eating disorders like bulimia.

    The study is the first to investigate oral health among footballers aged 16 to 18, and the first to include female players.

    Dr Konviser said he was “surprised” by the comparatively high levels of decay and disorders, given these are athletes in elite sporting set-ups whose health is being constantly assessed.

    “There are many possible causes of wear, and we are not there to diagnose anything but to flag problems to medical teams,” he said. “It was surprising to see the prevalence, especially among younger age groups.”

    Only 76% of players confirmed that they brush their teeth twice a day, compared to 81% of 15-year-olds in England.

    It found 76.8% of the players in the study had gingivitis – inflammation of the gums – compared to just 40% of 15-year-olds in England, with 22.5% showing signs of irreversible gum disease.

    Visible decay that required treatment was present in 31.2% of players, compared to 24% of 15-year-olds across England, while moderate to severe levels of tooth wear was seen in 15.5% of participants.

    The study found players were relying on a pre-season check-up rather than visiting the dentist regularly, with one in five having not attended the dentist in more than two years.

    It said findings correspond to high levels of oral disease in male senior players identified in a previous UCL-led study in 2016, which found football players’ oral health was 10% worse than average for men of the same age.

    Dr Konviser said clubs had been “very receptive” of the study – which was initially conceived in 2019 but delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, then took several years to come to fruition – and called on those clubs and the FA to take a “top-down approach” to making “sports dentistry routine among players”.

    Among solutions suggested are players rinsing their mouths with water after consuming energy drinks, and being encouraged to go to regular dental check-ups.

  • Pope improving, Vatican hints at Sunday appearance

    Pope improving, Vatican hints at Sunday appearance

    Pope Francis is showing “slight improvements” as he recovers from life-threatening pneumonia, the Vatican said Friday, hinting that the 88-year-old pontiff could appear this weekend for the Angelus prayer.

    The head of the Catholic Church spent five weeks in Rome’s Gemelli hospital before being discharged on March 23 to his home in the Vatican, where doctors say he will need at least two months of convalescence.

    For seven successive Sundays, Francis has published a written text to mark the midday Angelus prayer, which in normal times he delivers from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square.

    This weekend’s Angelus “could be held differently from on previous Sundays”, the Vatican press office said, adding that it would provide more details on Saturday.

    It said the pope had shown “further slight improvements” in his breathing, motor skills and in his voice, which was damaged by the pneumonia in both lungs.

    Blood tests in recent days also showed a slight improvement in his infection, while his use of oxygen is also “slightly decreasing”, it said.

    Francis, who has been head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics since 2013, almost died twice in hospital, according to his doctors.

    He has only been seen in public once since his admission to the Gemelli on February 14.

    He appeared on the hospital balcony shortly before leaving, waving and thanking pilgrims gathered below in a weak voice.

    Francis was then photographed in his car leaving hospital, with a cannula — a plastic breathing tube — tucked into his nostrils.

    Despite resting and continuing his various treatments, the pope is still working, but has had no visitors beyond his closest colleagues, the Vatican said.

    He followed via videolink a sermon on Friday morning in the Vatican and also a mass on Wednesday to mark 20 years since the death of former pope John Paul II, it added.

    The Vatican said it was too soon to discuss his participation in events running up to Easter, the holiest period in the Christian calendar, which falls this year on April 20.

  • Nigerian surgeon pioneers West Africa’s 1st robotic prostate cancer surgery, clinic

    Nigerian surgeon pioneers West Africa’s 1st robotic prostate cancer surgery, clinic

    A Nigerian Consultant Urological/Robotic Surgeon, Professor Kingsley Ekwueme on Monday in Lagos pioneered the first West African robotic surgery on a prostrate cancer patient.

    Ekwueme, a UK-based medical doctor returnee recently established The Prostate Clinic, (TPC) Nigeria Centre for Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgery, the first super-specialised clinic in West Africa dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, utilising cutting-edge robotic surgery.

    “This is truly historic,” declared Ekwueme, the clinic’s founder.

    “We are bringing technology that has never been seen before in this region, giving Nigerians access to world-class treatment right here at home.”

    The clinic’s centerpiece is the Da Vinci Robot, an advanced surgical system that provides unparalleled precision and minimally invasive procedures. “

    Briefing journalists on the feat, Ekwueme explained that: “The Da Vinci Robot offers three-dimensional imaging and seven degrees of freedom, allowing for surgeries with minimal blood loss and faster recovery times.”

    “Patients experience significantly less pain and scarring compared to traditional open surgeries.”

    Ekwueme, a renowned urologist, emphasised that the technology extends beyond prostate cancer.

    “We are treating a range of urological conditions in both men and women, including kidney cancer, bladder cancer, kidney stones, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Our goal is to transform surgery in Nigeria.”

    Noting that the key focus of the clinic was accessibility, he said he is determined to make these advanced procedures affordable for all Nigerians.

    “My mission is to ensure that no one in this country dies needlessly due to a lack of access to quality care.

    “We are working to make these procedures as cost-effective as possible, and we are open to partnerships with the government to expand our reach.”

    To address Nigeria’s power challenges, the clinic is equipped with a comprehensive solar power system, ensuring uninterrupted operations. “We understand the importance of reliable power.

    “Our 24-hour solar system ensures that we can provide consistent, high-quality care.”

    He said he is also committed to training local medical professionals in robotic surgery, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the technology in Nigeria.

    “We are investing in the future of Nigerian healthcare. We want to empower our doctors with the skills they need to provide world-class care.”

    Debunking common misconceptions about prostate and sexual activities, Ekwueme clarified that there is no proven dietary prevention for prostate cancer. “The primary risk factors are age, race, and family history. Early detection and access to advanced treatment are crucial.”

    Looking ahead, Ekwueme revealed plans to introduce groundbreaking technology for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with zero blood loss.

    “I am doing a procedure tomorrow, and soon I will unveil a technology that has never been done in Africa, splitting the prostate from the inside with absolutely no blood loss,” he stated.

    He said with its state-of-the-art technology, commitment to affordability, and focus on local training, The Prostate Clinic Nigeria Centre for Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgery is poised to revolutionise cancer care in West Africa, offering hope and advanced treatment options to countless Nigerians.

  • 2024 deadliest year for migrants – UN

    2024 deadliest year for migrants – UN

    Last year was the deadliest year for migrants, with nearly 9,000 people dying worldwide, the United Nations said on Friday, calling the “tragedy… unacceptable and preventable”.

    “At least 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024,” the fifth year that numbers have reached record highs, the UN’s migration agency said.

    “The tragedy of the growing number of migrant deaths worldwide is both unacceptable and preventable,” said Ugochi Daniels, the deputy director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

    “Behind every number is a human being, someone for whom the loss is devastating,” Daniels said.

    “The actual number of migrant deaths and disappearances is likely much higher, as many have gone undocumented because of the dearth of official sources,” the IOM said.

    It added that the identities and other details of the majority of victims were unknown.

    Asia, Africa and Europe had record numbers of people dying in 2024 with 2,778, 2,242 and 233 respectively.

    A total of 2,452 people were recorded as dying in the Mediterranean Sea, the main gateway for those trying to reach Europe, it said.

    Final data were not available yet for the Americas but figures so far show at least 1,233 people died.

    These included “an unprecedented 341 lives lost in the Caribbean in 2024 and a record 174 deaths of migrants crossing the Darien” jungle between Colombia and Panama.

    The Darien jungle was at one point the main migratory corridor for people trying to reach the United States.

  • King Charles to proceed with Vatican visit despite pope’s pneumonia

    King Charles to proceed with Vatican visit despite pope’s pneumonia

    Britain’s King Charles III’s planned state visit to the Vatican in early April will go ahead despite Pope Francis’s hospitalisation for pneumonia, Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday.

    Charles, who is the head of the Church of England, is scheduled to meet his Catholic counterpart on April 8, according to the palace’s programme. A Buckingham Palace source expressed “our hopes and prayers that Pope Francis’s health will enable the visit to go ahead”.

    The king wrote to Francis when the 88-year-old pontiff was struck down with pneumonia in both lungs, for which he has been receiving treatment in Rome’s Gemelli hospital for more than a month, the source added.

    Charles is set to be accompanied by his second wife Camilla on his April 7 to April 10 visit to the Holy See and Italy, his first to both as king.

    After his Vatican visit, Charles will meet Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.

    He is set to become the first British monarch to address a sitting of the Italian parliament, according to Buckingham Palace.

    His last visit to the Holy See was in 2019 when he likewise met Pope Francis.

    After revealing in February 2024 that he was being treated for cancer, the 76-year-old sovereign has since October resumed his trips abroad.

    The Church of England split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century, after Pope Clement VII refused King Henry VIII’s request to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

    In response Henry launched the English Reformation, making himself supreme leader of the country’s Church and steering it towards Protestantism.

  • I was close to dying in car crash – Antonio

    I was close to dying in car crash – Antonio

    Michail Antonio does not know how he crashed his car into the tree. All he knows is that he did.

    “The police came and when they found me I was in between the two seats. I wasn’t actually in the driver’s seat,” he recalls.

    “They said it looked like I was trying to climb out of the window, but because my leg was so badly broken the pain probably stopped me from being able to get out.”

    The first pictures of his crumpled Ferrari, which struck a tree in Epping Forest on a stormy Saturday in early December, were shared on social media and left people questioning whether Antonio was still alive.

    The incident left West Ham’s record Premier League goalscorer in hospital for more than three weeks with a broken leg – and facing a gruelling journey back to fitness.

    Today, Antonio insists he will play again at the highest level, and feels he has been given “another chance at life” after he was “close to dying”.

    The 34-year-old sat down for an exclusive interview with BBC One’s Morning Live presenter Helen Skelton to reflect on his “horrendous accident”.

    What happened on the day of the crash?

    Saturday, 7 December had started out as a typical morning for Antonio, with West Ham training for a televised league match against Wolves two days later.

    He remembers the weather “was windy, wet and horrific” on a day when the Met Office had issued warnings for Storm Darragh.

    Antonio had felt “lazy” when his partner asked him to retrieve some bags from their other car before he set off, so instead he took his Ferrari – which he says he had doubts about.

    “The back of the car kept swinging out on me, so I didn’t feel safe,” he says. “I had had it for three weeks and I was already thinking about giving it back.”

    It was a decision that changed everything, but when asked what he remembers about the crash itself – which occurred on his way home – his answer is “nothing”.

    “It’s weird, because the whole way through this, I have been told that I was awake and was speaking to everybody – the police, the people, and the person who found me,” he says.

    “My leg was completely shattered and they got me out and put a splint on it by the side of the car.

    “Everyone believed I got an air ambulance out, but the helicopter couldn’t get off the ground because of the storm, so I was driven to the hospital.”

    Three weeks ago, Antonio went to see the remains of his car at the scrapyard.

    “It gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. It just made me realise how close I was to dying. I had seen the pictures but it was 10 times worse in person. The car was an absolute mess. It was difficult for me.”

    How bad is Antonio’s injury?

    The first memory Antonio has following the crash is a brief one on the Sunday when he was being spoken to by a scared friend – his long-time agent Mike Appiason.

    By Monday, he was able to send a supportive message to his team-mates before their win over Wolves.

    “I shattered my femur bone in four different places,” he says. “I had one single keyhole surgery. They put a pole in my thigh with four bolts, so screws and bolts to knit it back together.

    “My first surgeon said he didn’t want me to put any weight on my leg for three months, which is around about now, and you can see that I am walking.

    “We got a second specialist who said I needed to start putting weight on it, increasing from 10% up to 100% within three weeks.

    “But I kept my crutches for a further two weeks. Overall, they say it will be between six to 12 months before my leg starts healing properly.”

    Antonio was also keen to set the record straight over talk on social media that he had either been drinking or taken drugs.

    He explains: “I was travelling back from training and, anyway, I’ve never taken drugs in my life. I’ve said I like a drink. But in this situation, there were no drugs, there was no drink. That’s been ruled out and confirmed by the police.”

    Antonio has spoken about how therapy helped him cope with the death of his father and break-up of his previous marriage, which meant he struggled to celebrate West Ham’s Conference League win in 2023.

    When asked how he would have reacted to the crash had he not previously had therapy, he says: “I wouldn’t have processed it at all, or what I would have done would be to push it down and been angry or aggressive.

    “Since the crash, I’ve been more emotional than I have ever been in my life, but I feel like it’s better. Therapy is one of the best things that’s happened to me in my life.”

    Will Antonio play football again?

    The next big question – can you be the Antonio of before? “Yes, 100%. I will play again,” he replies.

    But there was one moment where he doubted it. Two weeks ago, his physiotherapists asked if he had career-ending injury insurance. “I didn’t sleep a wink that night,” he says, with a smile and shake of his head.

    Antonio’s road to recovery will be a relentless journey requiring countless hours in the gym, with running the next step in his pursuit of fitness.

    “That’s what I am focused on and why I am working six days a week. I’ve always been positive from this situation. It’s a horrendous accident, and it’s a massive injury,” he says.

    “It’s the biggest injury I’ve ever had in my career. But the fact that I’m already two to three months ahead of where I should be, I know that I’ll play again, and I know that once I’m playing the game I’ll get the sharpness back.

    “I was one of the quickest at West Ham. So my body wasn’t the body of a 34-year-old before I had the accident anyway. I can still be sharp and still do the business.

    “People have always doubted me. My mental strength is something that I’ve always believed in and this is just another setback, and it is not going to stop me.”

    ‘I almost wasn’t there for my children’

    When Antonio went to see his destroyed Ferrari at the scrapyard, the fear of not seeing his six children grow up left him with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

    “The most difficult part is that I almost wasn’t there for my children,” Antonio says. “It’s just made me happy, positive about life, because I’ve got another chance at life.

    “During this, we kept it away from the kids. My eldest saw it, and he struggled with it. He’s 13, and obviously people were showing photos of the car.

    “So he came down and saw me in the hospital. But the younger ones, they never really knew how bad the situation was. We kind of avoided letting them get on the internet.”

    The one major concession Antonio has made is he will not be driving any fast cars for a little while.

    “I’ve always been a fan and friend of sports cars and old classics, but I can’t lie to you, sports cars are not my friends,” he says.

    “So right now, I have a Mercedes people carrier and my brother is my driver. For now, anyway, I’m staying far away from sports cars.”

    But Antonio added that he did overcome his first drive since the crash last week. “I don’t remember the trauma so I have no nerves.

    “The only problem I have with it right now is every time I get behind the wheel, I worry that even if something small happens, it will be like ‘ah, Michail’s been in a crash again’, and that kind of negativity gets in my mind and gives me a bit of nerves.”

    At the time of the crash, Julen Lopetegui was Antonio’s manager at West Ham but the Spaniard was sacked and has been replaced by Graham Potter.

    Being so badly injured while having a new boss appointed at the club concerned Antonio initially.

    “That was horrendous for me,” he adds. “I’m not gonna lie, it was one of the hardest things for me, the fact a new manager came in and I wasn’t there to show what I can do, with my contract up at the end of the season.

    “It was difficult for me at the time, but the only thing I can focus on is me and making sure I am right.

    “One thing I have had to realise is that it doesn’t matter and I can’t rush myself and put myself out there when I am not right because it would make things worse.

    “If I rush myself then that will be the reason I didn’t get a contract. As long as I make sure I am right then I know I will have done everything I can.”

    West Ham have funded Antonio’s rehabilitation, including a trip to Dubai that involved physio, rest, recovery and meditation.

    The club have helped to organise charity initiatives to raise funds for the emergency services involved in rescuing him from the wreckage, including when the entire team warmed up in Antonio shirts before auctioning them off.

    Further support came from team-mate Jarrod Bowen who held up Antonio’s shirt when scoring against Wolves at the London Stadium.

    And Antonio received a warm reception when he walked on to the pitch at the recent home game against Newcastle while he was off crutches.

    “The love feels good,” he continues. “When I got into football, I did it as a hobby and didn’t support any clubs.

    “Now I am definitely a West Ham fan. What the club did for me, the support they gave me on and off the field, the hospitals and the specialists, was unbelievable. I thank the club, the fans, the emergency services, the people around me.”

    And on being stopped in the street by fans eager to know if he will return, he adds: “I like that people care enough to come and ask me the question, so I don’t mind repeating it 1,000 times. The goal is to be back scoring goals.”

  • Diphtheria: Lagos Govt begins emergency vaccination at Kings College

    Diphtheria: Lagos Govt begins emergency vaccination at Kings College

    The Lagos State Government on Tuesday rolled out an emergency vaccination exercise for diphtheria exercise for students and staff of the King’s College Annexe, Victoria Island to immediately curb the spread of the highly contagious disease.

    Meanwhile, top state government officials and the World Health Organisation, WHO, on Tuesday visited and inspected the school to assess the situation and oversee the vaccination campaign.

    Among top government officials who visited the school include the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, alongside the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr. Kemi Ogunyemi, among others.

    Also, the delegation, including the Permanent Secretary, Lagos Health District III, Dr. Monsurat Adeleke, and the Director, Epidemiology, Biosecurity, and Global Health, Dr. Ismail Abdus-Salam, inspected key facilities such as the school’s kitchen, dining hall, dormitories, classrooms, sickbay, sanitary areas, and waste disposal units.

    The inspection aimed to identify potential risk factors and reinforce preventive measures to halt the disease’s spread.

    The swift intervention, led by the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the State Primary Health Care Board, underscores the government’s commitment to preventing further infections.

    Addressing the students, the state commissioner for health,  Prof. Akin Abayomi emphasised the importance of personal and environmental hygiene, urging them to adopt proper handwashing habits and report any symptoms of diphtheria promptly.

    Abayomi reassured parents that the government is actively managing the situation and discouraged them from withdrawing their children from school, as this could further complicate containment efforts.

    He explained that the vaccination campaign is targeting all students with parental consent, as well as school staff, to create a protective ring against the disease.

    He advised members of the public to be vigilant, watch for symptoms such as sore throat, difficulty breathing, and fever, and report any suspected cases to the nearest primary healthcare center.

    On potential side effects of the vaccine, Abayomi reassured students and parents that while mild to moderate reactions can occur, they are rare and manageable.

    He urged anyone experiencing adverse effects to report to the school’s healthcare facility, where medical personnel are on standby to provide necessary care.

    The school’s Principal, Mr. Zachariah Magaji, alongside the PTA Chairman and representatives from the school’s alumni, participated in the facility tour and vaccination exercise.

    The vaccination exercise remains ongoing, with medical teams working swiftly to immunize as many students and staff as possible. Health officials have also ramped up awareness efforts within the school community to ensure students, parents, and teachers understand the symptoms, risks, and preventive measures for diphtheria.

    Also, the Lagos State Government has pledged continued collaboration with federal and state health agencies to monitor the situation and deploy additional resources where necessary.

    The proactive response aligns with broader public health strategies aimed at mitigating the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in schools and communities.

    They urged residents to take advantage of the state’s free immunisation programmes and adhere to public health advisories to prevent further outbreaks.

    The government reiterated its commitment to strengthening disease surveillance and response mechanisms across all schools and communities in Lagos State.