Increased Risk of Migraine among Students with Asthma: Results of Headache and Asthma Study among University Students.

Background: Several studies in developed countries have investigated the relationship between migraine and asthma.

Objective: To examine the relationship between asthma and migraine among university students in a low middle-income country.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study across three universities in the middle belt region of Nigeria.

Risk Factor Characterization of Ischemic Stroke Subtypes Among West Africans.

Background And Purpose: To identify the qualitative and quantitative contributions of conventional risk factors for occurrence of ischemic stroke and its key pathophysiologic subtypes among West Africans.

Methods: The SIREN (Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network) is a multicenter, case-control study involving 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria. Cases include adults aged ≥18 years with ischemic stroke who were etiologically subtyped using the A-S-C-O-D classification into atherosclerosis, small-vessel occlusion, cardiac pathology, other causes, and dissection.

Epilepsy care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the care of all patients around the world. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) COVID-19 and Telemedicine Task Forces examined, through surveys to people with epilepsy (PWE), caregivers, and health care professionals, how the pandemic has affected the well-being, care, and services for PWE. The ILAE included a link on their website whereby PWE and/or their caregivers could fill out a survey (in 11 languages) about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including access to health services and impact on mental health, including the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.

The initial impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on epilepsy research.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of many practices throughout the world. Through necessity to minimize spread and provide clinical care to those with severe disease, focus has been on limiting face-to-face contact. Research in many areas has been put on hold.

Unraveling the risk factors for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage among West Africans.

Objective: To characterize risk factors for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) occurrence and severity among West Africans.

Methods: The Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN) study is a multicenter case-control study involving 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria. Patients were adults ≥18 years old with CT-confirmed sICH with age-, sex-, and ethnicity-matched stroke-free community controls.

Magnesium Supplementation did not affect the Antiseizure Property of Ketogenic Diet but Reduced Lipid Dysmetabolism.

Background: Ketogenic diets (KD) have been used globally in epilepsy management. Similarly, supplementation of diets with magnesium has been associated with disease prevention and improvement. However, the effect of magnesium (Mg) supplementation in conjunction with KD on epilepsy has not yet been investigated.

Acute Oxygen Therapy on Hospital Wards in Low Middle-Income Country: Experience from a Referral Centre in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Background: Oxygen is like any other medication that can cause severe consequences if administered inappropriately.

Objective: To audit the pattern of acute oxygen therapy on regular hospital wards of a referral centre in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Methods: We reviewed 150 patients that received or had a prescription for acute oxygen therapy in three months and extracted relevant information using a proforma.

Physical and socioeconomic impact of asthma in Nigeria: Experience of patients attending three tertiary hospitals.

Background: Understanding the impact of asthma is the key to optimal care.

Objective: To determine the physical, economic, and social impact of asthma from the perspectives of individual patients in Nigeria.

Methods: This was a multicenter study of 172 adult asthma patients attending tertiary hospitals.

Distal symmetrical polyneuropathy and cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy among diabetic patients in Ilorin: Prevalence and predictors.

Background: Peripheral neuropathy contributes to morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the prevalence of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSP) and cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) and their predictors among diabetic patients in Ilorin, North-central Nigeria.

Materials And Methods: : This was a cross-sectional study in which 175 consenting diabetic patients were recruited consecutively.

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess the doctors and nurses knowledge of acute oxygen therapy.

Background: Prescription and administration of oxygen in emergencies by healthcare providers are reported to be inappropriate in most settings. There is a huge gap in the knowledge of health care providers on various aspects of oxygen therapy, and this may be a barrier to optimal oxygen administration. Hence, it is essential to ascertain providers' knowledge of acute oxygen therapy so that appropriate educational interventions are instituted for better delivery.

Impact of Operational Definitions on the Predictors and Prevalence of Asthma Estimates: Experience from a University Students' Survey and Implications for Interpretation of Disease Burden.

Background: Inconsistent operational definitions during asthma surveillance can lead to inaccurate estimation of disease burden and formulation of health policy. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of different definitions on the prevalence estimates and predictors of asthma among university students in Ilorin, Nigeria. The secondary aim was to compare level of agreement of the different definitions.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of West Africans on genetic studies of stroke: Evidence from the SIREN Study.

Background: It is crucial to assess genomic literacy related to stroke among Africans in preparation for the ethical, legal and societal implications of the genetic revolution which has begun in Africa.

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of West Africans about stroke genetic studies.

Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among stroke patients and stroke-free controls recruited across 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria.

Determining the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a stroke instructional and educational DVD in a multinational context: a randomized controlled pilot study.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial of an instructional and educational stroke DVD and determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of this intervention in a multinational context.

Design: Non-funded, pilot randomized controlled trial of intervention versus usual care.

Setting: International, multicentre, community-based.

Biobanking in a Challenging African Environment: Unique Experience from the SIREN Project.

Africa was previously insufficiently represented in the emerging discipline of biobanking despite commendable early efforts. However, with the Human, Heredity, and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative, biorepository science has been bolstered, regional biobanks are springing up, and awareness about biobanks is growing on the continent. The Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN) project is a transnational, multicenter, hospital and community-based study involving over 3000 cases and 3000 controls recruited from 16 sites in Ghana and Nigeria.

Prevalence and clinical characteristics of headaches among undergraduate students in three tertiary institutions in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Objective: Headache is a common chronic neurologic disorder with huge economic and psychosocial impact. In comparison with other neurological disorders, there is limited data on primary headache, especially from sub-Saharan Africa. This study was done to fill in the gap and provide recent information on headache among Nigerian undergraduate students.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Entrapment Neuropathies.

Entrapment neuropathy is the result of pressure on a peripheral nerve as it passes through a narrow canal that is bounded by stiff tissues. In spite of their ubiquitous nature, they are underdiagnosed, underreported, and sometimes not properly managed, especially in developing countries. Entrapment neuropathies are of various types, but the most common type is carpal tunnel syndrome.

APOL1, CDKN2A/CDKN2B, and HDAC9 polymorphisms and small vessel ischemic stroke.

Objective: Worldwide, the highest frequencies of APOL1-associated kidney variants are found in indigenous West Africans among whom small vessel disease (SVD) ischemic stroke is the most common stroke phenotype. The objective of this study was to investigate the association and effect sizes of 23 selected SNPs in 14 genes of relevance, including the APOL1 G1 variants, with the occurrence of SVD ischemic stroke among indigenous West African participants in the Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network (SIREN) Study.

Materials And Methods: Cases were consecutively recruited consenting adults (aged 18 years or older) with neuroimaging-confirmed first clinical stroke.

Identifying patients at high risk for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in Nigeria: A multicentre observational study.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea is associated with significant health consequences. A significant proportion of hospitalized patients at risk for obstructive sleep apnoea were never identified and referred for polysomnography for diagnosis. The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with high risk for obstructive sleep apnoea and use it to identify patients at risk for the condition in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.

Development and Reliability of a User-Friendly Multicenter Phenotyping Application for Hemorrhagic and Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Annotation and Image Markup on ClearCanvas Enriched Stroke-phenotyping Software (ACCESS) is a novel stand-alone computer software application that allows the creation of simple standardized annotations for reporting brain images of all stroke types. We developed the ACCESS application and determined its inter-rater and intra-rater reliability in the Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN) study to assess its suitability for multicenter studies.

Methods: One hundred randomly selected stroke imaging reports from 5 SIREN sites were re-evaluated by 4 trained independent raters to determine the inter-rater reliability of the ACCESS (version 12.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) rs1800796 and cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKN2A/CDKN2B) rs2383207 are associated with ischemic stroke in indigenous West African Men.

Background: Inherited genetic variations offer a possible explanation for the observed peculiarities of stroke in sub - Saharan African populations. Interleukin-6 polymorphisms have been previously associated with ischemic stroke in some non-African populations.

Aim: Herein we investigated, for the first time, the association of genetic polymorphisms of IL-6, CDKN2A- CDKN2B and other genes with ischemic stroke among indigenous West African participants in the Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network (SIREN) Study.

Prevalence and Prognostic Features of ECG Abnormalities in Acute Stroke: Findings From the SIREN Study Among Africans.

Background: Africa has a growing burden of stroke with associated high morbidity and a 3-year fatality rate of 84%. Cardiac disease contributes to stroke occurrence and outcomes, but the precise relationship of abnormalities as noted on a cheap and widely available test, the electrocardiogram (ECG), and acute stroke outcomes have not been previously characterized in Africans.

Objectives: The study assessed the prevalence and prognoses of various ECG abnormalities among African acute stroke patients encountered in a multisite, cross-national epidemiologic study.

Antiseizure Effects of Ketogenic Diet on Seizures Induced with Pentylenetetrazole, 4-Aminopyridine and Strychnine in Wistar Rats.

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a cheap and effective alternative therapy for most epilepsy. There are paucity of experimental data in Nigeria on the usefulness of KD in epilepsy models. This is likely to be responsible for the poor clinical acceptability of the diet in the country.

Blood Pressure Control among Hypertensive Stroke Survivors in Nigeria.

Background: Hypertension is the dominant risk factor for first-ever and recurrent stroke. The objective of the present study was to assess control of blood pressure (BP) among hypertensive stroke survivors seen at 2 tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, stroke survivors with hypertension as a risk factor were consecutively recruited in the outpatient clinics of the participating hospitals.

Pattern and predictive factors of health-related quality of life of patients with hypertension, diabetes and concomitant hypertension with diabetes in Ilorin, Nigeria.

Background: Hypertension and diabetes are the two most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Nigerian population. Because of the lifelong nature of the two diseases and the attendant long treatment regimen required, assessing the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome of these diseases.

Objective: This study assessed the pattern and predictive factors of HRQoL among patients with hypertension, diabetes and concomitant hypertension and diabetes using the 36-item short-form version 2.

Prevalence, Awareness and Reporting of Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea among Hospitalized Adult Patients in Nigeria: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea is the most common form of sleep-disordered breathing in adults and children. It is associated with many adverse health consequences. The objectives this study were to determine the prevalence, awareness and reporting of symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea among hospitalized adult patients in Nigeria.