Dele Momodu’s Epic Response To A Fan Who Asked Him To Come Home

 

Epic!

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Ladies, Here Are Things You Must Avoid Doing If You Want To Attract A Good Husband

If you have reached the age of marriage and is in need to settle down, then you must read this interesting tips.
Have you reached your prime and in need of the right man to settle down with, then these tips by an online user, Firstking01 will help attract a good man.
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At your prime, flee from sleeping with a married man because that’s the time they will come flocking around you.
At your prime, stop playing boyfriend and girlfriend game; for Godsake you are at your prime you don’t have time again if he’s not willing to take you down the isle unbolt him and let him give other suitors chance.
At your prime moderate your taste and bring it under control. This is not for you to settle for less but be moderate in your choice of partner.
At your prime you shouldn’t play hard to get. Be more open and jovial especially to the male folks because some of them must woo you, from their make your choice carefully.
At your prime, keep your options open even if you are engaged because there’s NO written agreement or guarrantee that he must marry you, reason is because you are at your prime.
At your prime, ensure you aren’t idle because NO man wants a liability as a wife. Either you have a good handwork or you are working already.
At your prime you must have known how to pray. Forget the nature of men, we love you more when you love God.

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Marijuana: Effects of Weed on Brain and Body

Smoking marijuana produces euphoria and a range of psychological and physical effects that can be unpredictable at times.

Credit: Igor Kolos | Shutterstock

Marijuana is a combination of shredded leaves, stems and flower buds of the Cannabis sativa plant. Marijuana can be smoked, eaten, vaporized, brewed and even taken topically, but most people smoke it.

The intoxicating chemical in marijuana is tetrahydracannabinol, or THC. According to research from the Potency Monitoring Project, the average THC content of marijuana has soared from less than 1 percent in 1972, to 3 to 4 percent in the 1990s, to nearly 13 percent today. The increased potency makes it difficult to determine the short- and long-term effects of marijuana

How cannabis is consumed

In a 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 17.4 million people in the United States said they had used marijuana in the past month. According to the survey, marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug. About 4 in 10 Americans have used marijuana at least once in their lives, according to the National Institutes of Health.

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Marijuana is usually smoked, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The cannabis (called "pot," "weed," "grass," etc.) is typically spread on rolling papers and formed into a cigarette, often referred to as a joint, or a cigar-like blunt. Smoking releases the THC, which is absorbed into the blood stream through the lungs. Glass pipes, bubblers and bongs are other ways to smoke marijuana.

Marijuana can also be ingested in food, often a choice of those who are using medical marijuana. Aside from the popular “pot brownie,” edible marijuana can be added to a number of foods, including candy, ice cream and butter. Some states that have legalized marijuana have issued rules for packaging and labeling "marijuana edibles."

Cannabis can be taken in liquid form, by brewing it as a tea. It can also be added to other beverages, including soda, milk and alcohol. Hashish is a resin made of the concentrated plant material. Other forms include capsules, oral sprays and topical oils. 

A relatively new method of inhaling marijuana is vaporization, a "smokeless" delivery system using devices such as e-cigarettes. By heating the cannabis at lower temperatures, the plant's oils or extracts are released. Several studies suggest that "vaping" is better for health than smoking pot. Vaporized marijuana contains little other than cannabinoids, according to a 2004 study in the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics. Users inhaled fewer toxic compounds and carbon monoxide when vaping compared with smoking marijuana, according to a 2007 study in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

How marijuana affects the mind

Marijuana reaches the same pleasure centers in the brain that are targeted by heroin, cocaine and alcohol.

Depending on the quantity, quality and method of consumption, marijuana can produce a feeling of euphoria — or high — by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine. When smoked or otherwise inhaled, the feeling of euphoria is almost immediate. When ingested in food, it takes much longer, even hours, for the drug to signal the brain to release the dopamine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Other changes in mood can occur, with relaxation frequently being reported. Some users experience heightened sensory perception, with colors appearing more vivid and noises being louder. For some, marijuana can cause an altered perception of time and increased appetite, known as the “munchies.”

The impact can vary by person, how often they have used the drug, the strength of the drug and how often it has been since they have gotten high, among other factors.

Other effects, according to the NIH, include:

• Feelings of panic, anxiety and fear (paranoia)
• Hallucinations
• Increased heart rate
• Trouble concentrating
• Decreased ability to perform tasks that require coordination
• Decreased interest in completing tasks

When coming down from the high, users may feel depressed or extremely tired. While marijuana use produces a mellow experience (users are sometimes referred to as “stoners”) for some, it can heighten agitation, anxiety, insomnia and irritability, according to the NIH.

Marijuana and teens

When marijuana use begins in the teen years, it can have a significant impact on brain development, including decreased brain activity, fewer neural fibers in certain areas and a smaller than average hippocampus, which controls learning and memory functions.

According to a Northwestern Medicine study of teen marijuana users, memory-related structures in the brain appeared to shrink, a possible signs of a decrease in neurons.

These abnormalities remained two years after the teen stopped using marijuana, indicating that the drug has long-term effects and look similar to brains of schizophrenics.

Those who started using marijuana after 21 generally do not experience the same type of brain abnormalities as those who started using the drug earlier.

Long-term users report that they sometimes have trouble thinking clearly, organizing their thoughts, multitasking and remembering things. Sustained marijuana use can also slow reaction times in some individuals.

How marijuana affects the body

Marijuana smoke can cause many of the same respiratory problems experienced by tobacco smokers, such as increased daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illnesses such as bronchitis, and a greater instance of lung infections, according to NIDA.

While it had been thought that there was a connection between marijuana smoking and increased risk of lung cancer, even those who are heavy marijuana users do not appear to be at greater risk for lung cancer, according to a 2013 study by Dr. Donald Tashkin, UCLA professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine.

Marijuana can also raise heart rate by 20 percent to 100 percent shortly after smoking and the effect can last up to three hours, according to NIDA.

While it is widely thought that marijuana is not addictive, about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana. Long-term marijuana users who try to quit experience cravings, irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite and anxiety — some of the same physical symptoms of those trying to quit other types of drugs or alcohol. 

Several studies indicate that heavy marijuana use can lower the ability to fight infection and have an adverse impact on the immune system. Marijuana also can reduce sperm production in men and disrupts a woman’s menstrual cycle, according to NIDA.

Recent marijuana studies 

A 2016 study found a link between certain genetic markers and symptoms of marijuana addiction, suggesting that some people may have a genetic predisposition to marijuana addiction. That same study showed some overlap between the genetic risk factors for marijuana dependence and the genetic risk factors for depression, suggesting a possible reason why these two conditions often occur together, the researchers said.

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The Fertile Chick: When Miscarriages Happen

 

Last weekend, I attended the Pregnancy and Baby Loss Awareness Summit, organized by the awesome Tade Alalade‘s BeiBei Haven Foundation. 

I knew it was going to be a moving experience, but it completely blew my mind. Women shared their stories raw and unfiltered, and apart from being completely moved to tears, listening to them schooled me in ways I didn’t expect.

Even though I have never suffered a miscarriage before, I thought I perfectly understood the emotions women face when faced with such loss. With the experience from my failed IVF cycle, and first-hand stories I’d heard from my mother, close friends, and our community members, I thought I perfectly understood the pain and suffering that comes with this experience, and I even wrote an article about coping with the Aftermath of a Miscarriage. But earlier this year, all of that changed.

One of my closest friends, I’ll call her Amanda*, got married the year after my twins were born. She was diagnosed with fibroids shortly after her wedding, and eventually had surgery to remove them, sometime in 2014. After the surgery, when she didn’t get pregnant immediately after, as she’d anticipated, she and her husband proceeded to see a fertility specialist, where they were also diagnosed with male factor infertility. 

They were advised to move on to IVF, which they did in August 2015. Towards the end of  September, Amanda sent me the image of the pregnancy test she’d taken, and for the life of me, I couldn’t see a second line…and neither could she. We thought it was a negative result, and I proceeded with all the pep talk that follows the disappointment of a failed cycle. But when she e-mailed the picture to another friend, who happened to open it on a desktop computer, she could make out the faintest of lines. We then proceeded to expand the picture on our own mobile devices, and there it was. A positive. My friend was pregnant!

The joy that followed was unimaginable. We were beside ourselves with joy! Finally, after years of medical issues, they were finally pregnant. Her due date was around my birthday, and we joked about how my Godchild and I would be birthday mates.

One day, while at work, at 17 weeks, her water broke. When she called me on her way to the hospital, my heart sank to my feet, but I kept a brave face for her, as we held on to hope that her baby would still be fine. But by the time she got to the hospital, a scan showed she had lost pretty much all of her amniotic fluid, and the baby, who was still very much alive at the time, would have to be evacuated. I immediately rushed to see her in the hospital, and I had to exercise all my self restraint to prevent from bawling like a baby. She had been administered meds to induce labour and was beginning to feel early contractions. This was on a Friday. By the time I left her that evening, she was in a lot of pain already, but nowhere close to birthing her baby. And she was in that pain until Saturday afternoon, when she gave birth to her son, who was already dead.

If I, an outsider, found it to be one of the most traumatic things I had ever experienced, I couldn’t imagine how it was for Amanda, who had to go through the throes of her miscarriage for over 24 hours. It was heart wrenching.

In the weeks and months that followed, there were questions. Was the miscarriage caused by a possibly infected cervical stitch? Should she even have gotten the stitch in the first place? Had she been working too hard? Could they have avoided this? Would she ever be able to get pregnant again?

We tried to console her with the usual platitudes, but she retreated into her shell and completely shut everyone out. Before the miscarriage, we used to chat on BBM daily and talk on the phone at least three times a week. Afterwards, messages and calls would go unanswered…for weeks. Understanding this natural reaction, I remember even explaining to a few mutual friends that she needed time. But by the fifth and sixth month, even I started wondering when this dark cloud would shift.

Eventually, it did shift. We finally were able to talk, and I understood when she told me that all she wanted to do during the weekends, when she didn’t have to put up a brave face at work, was to stay under her sheets, cry, and then watch the ID channel on TV, as solving crime puzzles helped keep her mind off her miscarriage. Her experience made me understand that not only do people cope in different ways, there are no timelines to grief. It could last a week…a year…a lifetime.

The summit on Friday opened my eyes to the fact that women heal in very different ways. One of the speakers said she hated hearing the platitudes. She hated hearing the “It is well!”, “God is in control”. She preferred people keeping silent than saying the wrong thing. Another of the speakers said she hated the silence, and worried people were thinking all sorts of things if they didn’t voice them out. What I took away from this was there is no cookie cutter way to help people through this. You just need to show the grieving woman love, support and solidarity…even if it is simply by holding her hand.

In one of the heart breaking stories, one of speakers talked about watching life ebb out of her twins, as they waited in vain for the main doctor to arrive, while they were being attended to by someone who appeared to be a trainee. By the time the doctor arrived at 5am, the twins were already gone. In a counter, Dr. Juwon Alabi of South Shore Women’s Clinic talked about the numerous risks doctors face, commuting in the early hours of the morning, and how he himself has encountered a few security threats in the course of doing just that. In the end, it was agreed that our hospitals should have enough doctors to keep on rotation, so that at any point in time, there is always an experienced physician available.

I learnt about the futility of self blame. Someone in the audience tearfully talked about losing her child at 40 weeks, and wishing she had read enough so she could have prevented it. Oh my goodness, my heart broke for this woman. I was happy when the wonderful Yewande Zaccheaus assured her there was nothing she could have done to prevent what happened, and that it was absolutely not her fault.

Another lesson I took away from the summit was that of compassion. I’m sorry to say, but some of us don’t know the meaning of the word. When my friend Amanda* had her miscarriage, I was sickened by the things that filtered to her ears. She heard office whispers about how she caused her miscarriage by working too hard. How she thought it was her father that owned the company, considering the number of hours she typically commits. How she had been foolish to fly to Abuja several times for meetings. How, how, how!!! How on earth can all these ‘hows’ change what has happened or offer compassion to someone already heartbroken? One of the speakers talked about how she was blamed for her miscarriages, and even her still-born, because of her active social media life. “Why won’t she lose her baby when she is always posting pictures on Instagram?!”.Really? These kind of comments are borne solely from spite, malice, and maybe even envy. Please, if you have nothing positive to say, it is much better to say nothing at all.

But what gladdened my heart was the message that there is always light at the end of tunnel. All the speakers there are now mothers to gorgeous kids today, and the one that got me the most misty eyed was the testimony of Reverend Laurie Idahosa. After suffering years of infertility and finally conceiving a son through IVF, he had died hours after his birth. I cried as she talked about asking to be able to take her dead son home. She said they’d had a 200-person baby shower, and had a nursery full of wonderful things for their baby…a baby who unfortunately would never be able to enjoy any of these nice things. At the very least, she wanted to be able to bring him home. She talked about cradling him in his nursery, and as she cried, she was able to release herself to the will of God. A year to the day her son was buried, she gave birth to another son. Three years later, another son followed, and two years after, yet another. All of them conceived naturally. Isn’t God just wonderful?

To all the women who have walked, or are still walking this road, my heart goes out to you. It is impossible for anyone to be able to fully understand how you are feeling. Even women who have also suffered loss will not understand the peculiar pains and turmoil of the next woman. Grieve however you feel you need to. There is no textbook method to this. Find what works for you, and do it. If the people around you are struggling with what to say to you, or don’t know how to relate with you in your pain, please understand that, most times, they mean no harm and even though they might not be saying the ‘right’ things, they love you very much and want to be there for you. And please don’t blame yourself, your husband, your doctor, your hospital, etc. Dwelling on what coulda, shoulda, woulda been won’t heal your loss. What’s important is for you not to miss the learning points, and if it means changing a few things next time, at least you know now. And remember that though it might seem darkest now, there is always…always…light at the end of the tunnel.

Baby dust to all!

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