The Influence Of The Internet On Health Seeking Behaviour Of Nursing Mothers In Ekiti State, Nigeria

The use of internet services to investigate health-related issues is now on the increase among nursing mothers in Nigeria; however, the quality of health information provided on various online sites is questionable. Unfortunately, very little studies have been conduced to explore the influence the internet has on the health seeking behaviour of nursing mothers in Nigeria. This study investigates the influence of the internet on health seeking behaviours of nursing mothers and examines internet‟s influence on their health seeking behaviour. A standardized 10-question survey on Internet use and health seeking behaviour was given to 150 nursing mothers in Ekiti State. It was found that out of 142 responses received, 109 nursing mothers (76.7%) reported using the Internet to find health information. 105 nursing mothers (96.3%) out of the 109 consult the internet for answers to their babies‟ health problems before consulting a doctor or a care giver. 81.6% of the nursing mothers adhere to the online physician‟s advice thereby leading to self medication. An aggregate of 101 (92.6%) nursing mothers submitted that the internet influences their health seeking decisions. Conclusively, the tests of hypothesis show a significant relationship between the use of internet and health seeking behaviours of nursing mothers and also, between the use of internet and self medication among them

Sperm abnormalities and libido assessment of West African dwarf rams fed diets containing Tetrapleura tetraptera (African Porridge) fruit meal

The effect of Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit meal (TTFM) on the sperm abnormalities and libido test of West African Dwarf rams was assessed in a 20 week study. Thirty five (35) West African dwarf rams weighing between 12.80 and 13.20kg were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The diets formulated: 0% TTFM, 0.5% TTFM, 1.0% TTFM, 1.5% TTFM and 2.0% TTFM as treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Libido assessment was carried out at 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16th weeks of the experiment. Semen was collected twice at the beginning and at the end of the experiment from five replicates in each treatment using electro- ejaculator. The results showed that the libido increased progressively with the inclusion of TTFM which was only significantly different (p<0.05) at 16th week. The best libido was observed with rams fed diets containing 1.5 and 2.0% TTFM. The sperm abnormalities were minimal in all parameters except in abnormal head which ranged from 0.4-1.20% with diet 4 exhibited the most abnormal head. It was therefore concluded that the TTFM can be incorporated between 1.5% and 2.0% into diet of rams to improve the sex drive and reduced sperm abnormalities