NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF COCOYAM

Cocoyam – Colocasia esculenta

Colocasia esculenta popularly known as cocoyam is a tropical, perenial crop. It is a starchy tuber crop with three parts namely; corm, stem and leaves, which is grown basically for edible root. It can also be grown as an ornamental plant for the beautification of the environment as well as a medicinal plant.

Cocoyam has its origin from Asia or Southeast Asia as some researchers have found out and it is a known staple crop in most developing countries of Africa. It can also be found in India, USA, Japan as well as Singapore. 

Cocoyam Delicacies

• It can be boiled and eaten with tomatoes stew or spinach sauce
• It can be roasted and eaten with fried groundnut
• It can be fried into chips
• It can also be prepared as a porridge.
• It can also be boiled, pounded and used as a thickener for local soup 

Nutritional benefits

• Great source of dietary fibre
• It is an excellent source of carbohydrate
• Contains a good amount of protein,Thaimine, copper, calcium,niacin,manganese, vitamin B6, vitamins C, A and E.
• It also contains riboflavin,magnesium, phosphorous, iron,zinc and potassium. 

Medicinal benefits

• Cocoyam is also important for maintaining a healthy immune system.
• The dietary fibre in it helps to protect the skin and give it a good glow.
• It aids in the digestive process.
• Increases blood circulations, prevents heart disease, lungs and oral cancer
• Supports the muscle and helps in decreasing blood pressure.

Cocoyam should be properly cooked before consuption because it’s toxic in raw form due to high amount of oxalates. It should be eaten moderately, it is very high in calories

Blood test detects several cancer types

For many types of cancer, the earlier the cancer is detected, the more successful treatment is likely to be. That’s why doctors suggest cancer screening tests such as mammograms to detect breast cancer and colonoscopy to find colorectal cancer. Screening tests can detect cancer before any symptoms develop.

Researchers have been working to develop tests that can detect bits of tumor material in bodily fluids such as blood or urine. These tests, sometimes referred to as liquid biopsies, could potentially be used to catch cancers much earlier, long before symptoms appear.

A research team based at Johns Hopkins University set out to develop a blood test that could detect several types of cancer and pinpoint their source. They focused on eight cancer types: breast, colorectal, esophagus, liver, lung, ovary, pancreas, and stomach. These cancers are common in Western populations, and there are no blood-based tests for their early detection in common clinical use. The study was funded in part by NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Results appeared online on January 18, 2018, in Science.

The team evaluated known biomarkers for their ability to help detect signs of solid tumors in the blood before they spread to other parts of the body. They searched for the most effective combination of known mutations to identify cancers using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)—pieces of DNA in the bloodstream that have been released from cancer cells. They also assessed protein biomarkers, since many early-stage tumors don’t release detectable amounts of ctDNA.

The test, called CancerSEEK, evaluates the presence of 2,001 genetic mutations and levels of eight proteins. The researchers tested CancerSEEK in 1,005 patients who had been diagnosed with cancer but whose cancers hadn’t yet spread at the time of enrollment. They tested 812 healthy controls for comparison.

CancerSEEK is an experimental blood test that detects and localizes eight common cancer types. Elizabeth Cook and Kaitlin Lindsay

Overall, CancerSEEK detected 70% of the cancers. Sensitivity ranged from 98% for ovarian cancers to 33% for breast cancers. Sensitivity varied by cancer stage: 78% for Stage III cancers; 73% for Stage II cancers; and 43% for Stage I cancers. Only 7 of the 812 people without known cancers scored positive (>99% specificity).

The scientists used machine learning to predict the underlying cancer type in the 626 cancer patients who had positive CancerSEEK tests. They were able to narrow the source of the cancer to two organs in 83% of the patients and to a single organ in 63%.

“This test represents the next step in changing the focus of cancer research from late-stage disease to early disease, which I believe will be critical to reducing cancer deaths in the long term,” says co-lead researcher Dr. Bert Vogelstein.

“The use of a combination of selected biomarkers for early detection has the potential to change the way we screen for cancer, and it is based on the same rationale for using combinations of drugs to treat cancers,” says senior author Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos.

The scientists estimate that the test will cost less than $500. The eight cancer types studied account for more than half of cancer deaths nationwide, and current screening tests with proven benefit are limited to only a few types of cancer. Earlier detection could potentially reduce deaths from these diseases. However, there were several limitations to this study. Further testing will be needed to measure the accuracy and predictive value of CancerSEEK in a clinical setting.

—by Harrison Wein, Ph.D.

UNTH Records 230 Successful Open-heart Surgeries

Chairman, National Cardiothoracic Centre of Excellence, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, Enugu, Professor Basden Onwubere, has revealed that the centre successfully carried out about 230 open-heart surgeries since March 2013.

Onwubere, a former Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), disclosed that over half of the figure were children.

He disclosed this while responding to questions from reporters at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu yesterday on activities of the centre.


He, however, stated that although UNTH started open-heart surgery in February 1974 and suspended in 2007 due to movement to its new site at Ituku Ozalla, the number carried out in the last six years outweighs surgeries carried out in 33 years from 1974 to 2007.

He attributed the progress to support of UNTH’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr. Chris Amah, who not only supported the project financially, but also engaged some international partners and philanthropists who helped to smoothen the process of surgery.

Speaking, Amah, noted that he has no regrets investing on the open-heart project.

He stressed that his greatest joy was that the lives of some persons who could not have afforded the cost of surgery anywhere, were saved after successful open-heart operations at the hospital, adding that open-heart surgery at the UNTH has become a routine.

10 ways to prevent Stroke

Is stroke hereditary?

Is stroke hereditary?

In the case of strokes, we do know that there is a hereditary component of several of the risk factors that lead to strokes. Unlike a disease like cancer, a stroke is not a primary disease. ... As a result, people with a family history of stroke should have their cholesterol levels and blood pressure monitored carefully.

Babcock University Teaching Hospital,Nigeria Performs First Successful Spinal Surgery

The Orthopaedic Department of Babcock University Teaching Hospital,Nigeria just achieved a great feat, as it performed its first successful spinal surgery.

Kelechukwu Onuoha, Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon with Babcock University Teaching Hospital, BUTH, who confirmed that they performed its first successful spinal surgery, said it was carried out under general anaesthesia on a middle-aged female patient with multi-level “spinal stenosis”.


Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces within the spine, which can put pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine. The condition occurs most often in the lower back and the neck. Some people with spinal stenosis may not have symptoms. According to Dr. Kelechukwu, the procedure uwas a revision spinal surgery L2 – L5 lumber spinal decompression and instrumentation.


The 59-years-old patient, who asked for protection of her identity, had undergone a spinal surgery five years earlier in another hospital,” he said.