A physiotherapist, Prof. Matthew Olaogun, says that no fewer than 78 per cent of Nigerians that are above 60 years are at the mercy of Parkinson disease.
Olaogun stated at the 7th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association of Clinical and Academic Physiotherapists of Nigeria ( ACAPN) at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (UNIMED).
He said that there was need for those that had symptoms of the disease to quickly go to health facilities and make a complaint for the disease to be addressed early.
Olaogun, who was the keynote speaker at the conference, explained that the disease could be genetic and age-related.
“ Most people have it above when they are above 60 years . A good percentage of Nigerians that are above 60 years are at the mercy of Parkinson disease.
“The cause can be genetic but what caused it in their ancestor is yet to be known. And contamination of water through blacksmithing or mining can cause it.
“It is important for people to identify it and report to medical personnel. Some will lock the victims inside the house instead of reporting it.
“ The symptoms include shaking of hands, inability to use hand properly. Don’t keep them indoor or to prayer centre.
“When walking seems difficult, report them. It has a no cure but can be tackled early so that the conditions will not be worse,” he said.
The medical expert said that Nigerians should report any abnormalities of movements of their bodies to a physiotherapist.
In his words, the National President of ACAPN, Dr Chris Okafor, said that the purpose of the conference was to discus new innovation in research in the area of physiotherapy medical rehabilitation with the theme: ‘Recent Advancements in Movement Disorders’
Okafor explained that some people attached Parkinson disease to a lot of myths, spiritual attack and stroke.
“ Parkinson disease is not stroke nor spiritual attack. So, we are here to talk more about it and create more awareness so that people will know more about it. Apart from professionals from physiotherapy, we have aligned medical fields and students as well.
“Parkinson and stroke are both neurological conditions. These are conditions that affect the brain and things around neurological system but they are not the same. Because of one problem in the brain, one may have stroke. Though they are both age related, they don’t affect children except in few cases. It is higher in those people with higher age, from 60.
“So the older a person is, the likely you can have stroke or Parkinson disease. Parkinson presents weakness of muscles : the person does not walk properly,” he said.
Okafor asked Nigerians to take their health as a priority, adding that there was need for regular physical execution l.
“Slumping is stress related. There is stress in the society. People are thinking about different things while some are not eating well.
“People should take care of themselves, eat good food and see physiotherapist and most importantly, engage in physical activity. We don’t need money to do that but contact your physiotherapy to know which particular exercise you can do.
“Exercise is key because the cause is not particularly known. So, in management of Parkinson disease, neurologist and physiotherapist are very important,” he said.
Because we are few, we don’t have directorate taking care of physiotherapists at the ministry. We should have directorate of medical rehabilitation, we should have directorate of physiotherapy that should be headed by physiotherapists . Sometimes, when we have they are headed by medical doctors that may not influence policies that affect physiotherapy and medical rehabilitation. READ ALSO:
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In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the UNIMED, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, said that he was glad to host the conference, considering that the association constituted an integral part to health workforce.
Fatusi said that there was possibility to get the Parkinson’l disease as one gets older, adding that medical students are expected to know more about the disease as the country longed for aging people.
He said that the current medical personnel should know the latest about the disease and ‘as a country we should know what to do and address it.’
The state governor , who represented by Prof. Dayo Faduyile, his Special Adviser on Health Matters, said that the state government had introduced physiotherapy medical rehabilitation to its contributory health scheme, saying the elderly could benefit a lot from the scheme.
