THE HEALTHY PATH: Everyday Health Tips for a Stronger Body and Mind

If Sickle Cell Affected the Majority, Would We Have a Cure by Now? Let me take you into a living room in Lagos.   Picture this scenario ; A 10-year-old child is curled up like a comma on a threadbare couch. His eyes are swollen from crying.  He hasn’t walked in two days. Every breath he takes sounds like a small war is going on inside his chest. He looks up at his mother and says in a voice that's barely more than a whisper, “Mama, why is my blood fighting me?” Boom. Right there. That line alone should make you stop scrolling. Because that’s what a sickle cell crisis feels like.  Your blood turning against you.  Your very life source becoming a battlefield.  And if that doesn’t make you want to understand more about sickle cell disease, maybe you’ve never met someone who lives with it.  But don’t worry, you’re about to. Meet Tega. He’s Not Your Regular Guy. Tega is 27. He loves plantain (the overripe ones, fried until golden, don’t judge him).  He...

Hey You. Yeah, You With the Salt Shaker. Your Heart’s Trying to Tell You Something. Let’s set the scene. You’re halfway through a greasy, glorious double cheeseburger at 11:43 PM. You’re on the couch, watching reruns of that show you pretend not to like, and suddenly, BAM. Tightness in your chest. You pause. You think: “Probably indigestion. Definitely not a heart attack. I’m too young. I’ve got stuff to do. I just bought almond milk.” But here’s the truth ; your heart doesn’t care that you still get carded at bars.  It doesn’t care that you do yoga twice a year. And if you’re not listening, it might just file a resignation letter, sudden and dramatic. So pull up a chair. Let’s talk about the two big heart things people get mixed up more often than socks after laundry day: Heart Attack vs. Heart Failure They’re not the same, and if your heart could talk, it’d say, “Please, for the love of arteries, get this right.” Heart Attack: The Cardiovascular Ambush Imagine you’re throwing a p...

Let’s get real for a second:  menstrual cramps are the unwanted party guests that show up every month, stick around for way too long, and have zero chill.  You can try ignoring them, but they’re like that one friend who never stops texting, always needing attention.  If you’ve ever curled up in a ball, cursing the universe, questioning all your life choices, you know exactly what I mean. But here’s the good news;   It doesn’t have to be this way.  Let’s talk about why cramps happen, what you can do to keep them from turning your uterus into a battlefield, and, of course, what to eat to put an end to the madness (well, at least the food part of it). The Why Behind the Cramps Let’s start with the science-y stuff. Menstrual cramps (also known as dysmenorrhea, but who wants to say that?) are essentially your body’s way of saying, “Hey, I’m shedding the lining of your uterus, and this is going to be a bit of a party.”  The muscles in the uterus contract to ...