When you move from one hospital to another in western countries you meet many patients with a lot of chronic illnesses whereas the opposite is true in African health settings. Dr-Kamugisha There has been a rise in cases of chronic illnesses in African health set-ups that can be attributed to adaptation of western lifestyle by many Africans. On the contrary, lifespan in the West is longer than in the African countries. In other words there are many old or aged people in western countries than in Africa possibly due to social and economic differences. People from the West have been placed in stable social and economic settings that enable them access better and quality medical care services with ease than Africans though they are regularly exposed to so many inorganic carcinogens and intoxications through food material additions, air pollutions among others. In modern Africa and Rwanda in particular, we expect a longer life-span in the near future than before due to the broad medical insurance scheme. Medical insurance scheme in Rwanda has improved and eased access to quality medical care service. There is no longer a big gap between access to quality medical services amongst Rwandans and people living in other western parts of the world. Rwandan people from various social backgrounds have access to good medical care that enables them fight occurrences of aggressive diseases. Genetics and lifestyle are major risk factors to many dangerous chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes among others. However, Africans have been embraced by the organic nature of the environment that provides natural remedies for their health problems. To a certain extent, it is very difficult to match the quality of health care services in the West especially due to higher technological appliances as compared to Africa. But good feeding style in Africa keeps people safe in many ways. There are genetic differences, food tolerance, nutrient absorption and metabolism that can influence the effect of diet on disease occurrence. There are a variety of ways foods can prevent, slow down, or fight this disease. For example in the case of cancer, some food nutrients block natural bodily processes such as inflammation that can be stimulated by cancer growth. Other foods influence cancer cells to die through various processes whereas some types of food nutrients help the body to detoxify cancer-causing toxins and protect it against free radicals. Presence of many natural vegetables and herbs scattered everywhere provides many anti cancer choices. Most of the organic food nutrients contain most important vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that we need to take daily for optimal nourishment and protection against degenerative diseases. From organic green vegetables, we get essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus needed for optimally healthy bones and teeth. Banana fruits provide essential potassium, which is a modulator of many bio-chemical processes in our bodies. The most important benefit from daily organic foodstuffs is the vitamins, most importantly vitamin D and Vitamin C. Both vitamins strengthen our immune system against diseases. The large amount of natural vitamin C available in our daily foodstuffs support gum health and promote efficient body healing especially against inflammatory diseases. People with adequate vitamin C tend to suffer from less pain or recover faster from body injuries such as sprains and strains. Vitamin D that people think is gained from only exposure to sunlight is highly related to regular feeding patterns. This means you can still have exposure to the sun and still develop vitamin D deficiency if there are no proper food supplements in your body. Many people suffer from unknown vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is the common nutrition related cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. Many people develop chronic fatigue of unknown origin for a long time that is related to vitamin D deficiency. There is scientific evidence with proof that adequate vitamin D in the body is essential in reduction of risk to every disease. In some scientific studies, vitamin D deficiency has been strongly linked to cancers of the breast, ovary, prostate, colon, esophagus, pancreas, and leukemia. Another disease strongly linked to Vitamin D deficiency includes Osteomalacia that usually presents as pain and aches throughout muscles , bones and that can be misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome. There is also rickets that usually occurs at the age of six months in children with deficiency in vitamin D. Patients with rickets present with signs of muscle weakness, skeletal deformities, and growth retardation. Dr Joseph Kamugisha is a resident oncologist at Jerusalem Hospital, Israel
