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Psoriatic Arthritis: Learn the Warning Signs

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Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis happens when your body’s immune system causes inflammation of your joints and surrounding structures (entheses) that connect to your bone.

About a third of people who have psoriasis get psoriatic arthritis. Symptoms may be severe and get worse quickly. They can also be mild and get worse slowly over many years.

This disease can happen at any age, but it’s usually found in people between 30 and 50 years old.

There’s no cure for psoriatic arthritis, but it’s important to discover it early so you and your doctor can make a treatment plan to slow the spread of the disease, ease pain, and protect your body. If left untreated, the disease can permanently harm joints and affect your range of motion.

It tends to run in families, too. If you’re related to someone with psoriatic arthritis, or if you have psoriasis, you should keep an eye out for symptoms.

Symptoms can include:

Joint pain and stiffness. Psoriatic arthritis can affect your:

  • Ankles
  • Knees
  • Fingers
  • Toes
  • Lower back

Joints are more likely to be stiff first thing in the morning or after you rest for a while.

Joint warmth and swelling. Along with pain, inflammation can make your joints swollen and warm to the touch.

Nail problems. Psoriatic arthritis commonly causes changes to the nails, including pitting, breakage, or even separation of the nail from the nailbed.

Lower back pain. For about 20% of people with psoriatic arthritis, inflammation causes problems with the joints between your vertebrae, a condition called spondylitis. It also cause inflammation of the sacroiliac joint. In more severe cases, this can cause joints to fuse together.

Dactylitis. This is when entire fingers or toes swell to look like sausages. Signs of dactylitis can help doctors distinguish psoriatic arthritis from rheumatoid arthritis, which may affect more than one joint.

Eye problems. In some cases, people with psoriatic arthritis also experience eye problems. The same inflammatory process that causes joint problems can also damage other areas of the body such as eyes. Problems can include:

  • Redness
  • Irritation
  • Conjunctivitis, which is inflammation of the layer that lines the white of your eye and the inside of your eyelid
  • Pinkeye
  • Disturbed vision

Foot pain. Two of the most common places to find psoriatic arthritis are at the Achilles tendon, which is between the calf muscle and heel, or the bottom of your foot.

Elbow pain. The inflammation caused by psoriatic arthritis may make it feel a lot like tennis elbow, where you’d feel pain from the outside of your elbow into your forearm and wrist.

Fatigue. About half of people with psoriatic arthritis feel tiredness that affects their day-to-day activities. It’s caused by the inflammation that comes with psoriatic arthritis.

Source: webmd.com

Juventus and AC Milan share spoils in lackluster draw

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Juventus vs AC Milan

AC Milan and Juventus played out a very dull 0-0 draw at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening, in what was far from a great advert for Serie A.

Juve perhaps had the better of the chances as Milan had the late stand-in goalkeeper Marco Sportiello to thanks for a couple of good stops and also Malick Thiaw from clearing a shot off the line late on.

Keeping a clean sheet with a patched together defence will certainly please Stefano Pioli, but it was far from a positive spectacle in general with both sides really lacking in quality.

It is certainly a better draw for the Rossoneri than for their hosts given that the points gap remains, and now it will be some task for Juve to snatch second in the table.

There were multiple changes from the defeat to Inter on Monday night as Olivier Giroud came back in to lead the line, Malick Thiaw and Alessandro Florenzi came into the back four and Marco Sportiello started in goal because Mike Maignan suffered an injury in the warm-ups.

Credit: sempremilan.com

Teenager Guler scores as Real Madrid close in on title

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Arda Guler scores on his first La Liga start

Arda Guler scored on his first La Liga start as Real Madrid closed in on the title with victory at Real Sociedad.

The highly-rated 19-year-old Turkey midfielder struck with Madrid’s first attempt on goal midway through the first half, turning in a cross.

Carlo Ancelotti had made a raft of changes after last weekend’s win in El Clasico, and it was Real Sociedad who started strongly.

But they couldn’t turn dominance into goals as the hosts were frustrated.

Takefusa Kubo thought he had immediately cancelled out Guler’s opener but his strike was ruled out for offside.

The second half was more scrappy but Real Madrid did what they needed to do to move 14 points clear at the top, before second-placed Barcelona host Valencia on Monday.

With five games remaining, Real Madrid need four more points to cement the title.

Credit: bbc.com

Harry Kane sets personal record as Bayern beat Frankfurt

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Harry Kane has scored 35 of his 42 goals in Bundesliga

Harry Kane scored twice in Bayern Munich’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt to set a new personal record for his most goals in a season.

The 30-year-old has scored 42 goals in all competitions in his debut campaign for Bayern, beating his previous best haul of 41 for Tottenham in 2017-18.

His first goal saw him tuck home a cross from nine yards, before he converted a penalty in the second half.

The double means Kane has now scored 400 goals for club and country.

He has netted against 16 of the 17 other Bundesliga teams – a joint record in a campaign along with Gerd Müller (1966-67 & 1969-70), Ailton (2003-04) and Robert Lewandowski (2019-20 and 2020-21).

Kane is the first player to score or assist against all 17 sides in a debut season – with Kane assisting against Freiburg in October, but failing to score in either match.

The Three Lions captain, who received treatment on a knee injury in the second half but was able to continue, is six short of Lewandowski’s record of 41 goals in a Bundesliga season with three games left.

Credit: bbc.com

PSG miss chance to seal title in exciting draw

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Achraf Hakimi

Paris St-Germain staged a late comeback to draw with Le Havre but missed the chance to secure the Ligue 1 title. PSG needed to win to be crowned champions, but trailed 3-1 midway through the second half. Achraf Hakimi cut the deficit in the 78th minute before Goncalo Ramos netted a stoppage-time equaliser.

PSG are 12 points clear of second-placed Monaco but must wait until 12 May at the earliest to enjoy a third consecutive title with their fans. Christopher Operi had opened the scoring for Le Havre before Bradley Barcola levelled for the hosts.

Andre Ayew restored Le Havre’s lead before the break and Abdoulaye Toure extended the advantage from the penalty spot just after the hour mark, before Hakimi started the fightback.

Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to replace Ousmane Dembele in the second half but struggled to make an impact.

Credit: bbc.com

North London derby end in 5-goal thriller

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Arsenal beat Tottenham

Arsenal overcame the hurdle of a north London derby and an anxious finale to maintain momentum in the Premier League title pursuit with a vital victory at Tottenham.

Mikel Arteta’s side moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League, with second-place Manchester City, who have two games in hand, playing in the later kick-off at Nottingham Forest (16:30 BST).

The Gunners’ meeting with their bitter rivals was seen as arguably the most treacherous of their remaining fixtures, but they took ruthless advantage of Spurs’ defensive flaws to establish a three-goal lead by half-time.

Arsenal were then thrown off course when a dreadful clearance by goalkeeper David Raya presented Cristian Romero with a goal after 64 minutes, the nerves really jangling when Heung-min Son scored from the spot three minutes from the end of normal time after Declan Rice fouled Ben Davies.

It was all so different when Arsenal went ahead after 15 minutes as the recalled Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg glanced Bukayo Saka’s corner into his own net, the England forward crowning a sweeping counter-attack with a smooth finish for the second after 27 minutes.

Credit: bbc.com

Leverkusen score late to remain unbeaten

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Leverkusen remain on course for the first unbeaten campaign in Bundesliga history

Bayer Leverkusen scored another dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to extend their unbeaten run to 46 games with a draw against Stuttgart. Robert Andrich netted in the 96th minute at the Bay Arena to secure a point for Leverkusen, who have already been crowned Bundesliga champions. They had trailed 2-0 after 56 minutes on Saturday but fought back to keep their unbeaten record intact. Leverkusen also equalised in added time last week against Borussia Dortmund.

Xabi Alonso’s side secured their first German title with five games to spare but are aiming for the first unbeaten campaign in Bundesliga history – and remain on course with three games left.

Chris Fuhrich lashed home to open the scoring for third-placed Stuttgart just after the break, before Deniz Undav tucked into the bottom corner nine minutes later.

Leverkusen pulled one back through Amine Adli but it looked like Alonso’s team were finally heading for a first defeat of the campaign – until Andrich finished from 10 yards out inside a crowded penalty area.

They remain unbeaten in all competitions this season with 39 wins and seven draws – having failed to score just once – and are on course for a remarkable treble in Alonso’s first full season in charge, with the German Cup final still to come.

Credit: bbc.com

Corruption: Naana Jane Draws The Sword!

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Prof Naana Opoku-Agyemang

Even before The National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumes the reins of power, Prof Naana Opoku-Agyemang, former President John Mahama’s running mate, has dropped the hint that the  umbrella party will go after those they suspect to have looted state coffers.

Speaking at her official outdooring in Accra on Wednesday, this week, the former Cape Coast University don said she and her boss, John Dramani Mahama, had already discussed and settled on the issue of prosecuting those who have stolen from the state.

“John and I have agreed that whoever has participated in the plunder of the state must be held accountable. This is not a threat, it is a promise, premised on the wishes of our citizens across the various political and social divides and hinged on the principle of accountability,” Prof Naana Opoku-Agyemang said, amidst applause by the party faithful who had gathered at the University of Professional Studies’ auditorium.

She accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of being ethnocentric, nepotistic and peerage political fraternity, masquerading as a capitalist political group.

“Let us face the facts: The promotion of ethnocentric elitism masquerading as intellectualism; nepotism cloaked as know-how; weakness strutting as courage and crony capitalism masked as development in freedom; shameless hypocrisy acting as objectivity… these never served a country determined to make progress at any level,” she said.

Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang also accused NPP of economic mismanagement, coupled with environmental degradation among others.

“Rather, the most significant achievement of these things has been a country in near insolvency, its natural resources such as water and land and environment in rebellion, a people harassed and intimidated into numbness and as some say cynically, bribed into silence.”

In the face of these challenges, she said President Akufo-Addo is also prejudicing a topical corruption case involving a minister, wasting of public funds in the name of National Cathedral, among others.

“Scandals surrounding the PDS, Australian Visas, Kelni GVG, BOST Contaminated Fuel, Excavators and ‘Aboboyaa’ tricycles that can fly swifter than guinea fowls (nkonfem), or the loss of some GHc 60.8bn at a Central Bank, or unfulfilled promises of one village one dam, one million dollars per constituency per year, 350 secondary schools from scratch and too many betrayals”.

She told NDC stalwarts and sympathisers that “A multi-million-dollar dugout, I don’t know about you, but the image I get looking at the trench is that of a hole in utter shock that anyone could believe was intended as a thanksgiving gift to the Almighty, Invisible, God Only Wise.”

On her nomination as the running mate for the NDC, she noted that John Mahama loves and believes in the capabilities of Ghanaian women, hence her nomination.

“I see your choice as an affirmation of your belief in the capabilities of the Ghanaian woman. I will repay your abiding confidence with loyalty, understanding and a devotion to duty. My output, going forward, by the Grace of God, will continue to demonstrate what the world knows already, that women are also capable of high achievements, that we do so with that reservoir of strength, determination and mental acuity that only those who are noble and far-sighted can comprehend and contend with.”

On the policies of the NDC, Opoku-Agyemang noted that the foundations of the policies of the NDC would thrive on consensus building – from observation, study, analysis through vigorous debates that tolerate all views, to an agreement on the options at hand and end with well-thought-through implementation plans. The benefits of such an approach inure to all nation, community and individual, necessarily in that order.

According to her, the policies of the NDC would highlight the critical processes that would lead to innovations and flexibilities of the brave, timely and intentional intervention of a 24-hour economy as proposed by H.E Mahama, after consulting widely with stakeholders and citizens across the country.

“It is a vision anchored on the firm belief that with the right policies and incentives in place, we can inspire a new generation of enterprises to adopt a multi-shift work system and wider participation in the economy, thereby ushering us into a new golden era of Ghanaian industry,” the NDC running mate said.

By the time the policy is in full flight, we will see how from the vegetable seller to the miner, from the smallest hamlet to the crowded cities, from the farmer to the fisherfolk, from the young couple to the single parent, everyone will come to see and apply the benefits of a 24-hour economy for national, group and individual advancement,” she added.

I can’t have John Mahama as my successor -Akufo-Addo

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President Akufo-Addo addressing the Wa Naa last Wednesday

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has told Wa Naa that he cannot have former President John Mahama as his successor.

According to President Akufo-Addo, he removed John Mahama from his seat as President and later defeated him again through another election. To him, the former president should not return to office again as a president of Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo said this on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 when he visited Wa Naa at his palace.

“Wa Naa, as you know, this is an election year. On the 7th of December, 2024 the people of Ghana are going to elect a new president and a new House of Parliament. Before the election is held, I am going to come here and pay my proper goodbye to you and thank you for the cooperation that I received from you and your chiefs during my presidency,” President Akufo-Addo said.

President Akufo-Addo at the Wa Naa palace on Wednesday

He continued, “and God willing, when I come, I am going to come with the man who is going to be my successor. Wa Naa, you know that the man I removed from the seat, I cannot have him as my successor and as a traditional ruler, you understand what I am saying.”

 

 

CONTEST

President Akufo-Addo and former President John Mahama first battled it out in December 2012, where Mahama defeated Akufo-Addo in an election that landed in the Supreme Court, but the verdict did not change the results as declared by the Electoral Commission.

Akufo-Addo defeated John Mahama in 2016 and 2020. The 2020 elections also ended up in the Supreme Court and the court’s verdict maintained the outcome of the polls.

For the 2024 presidential elections, the New Patriotic Party’s Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the sitting Vice President, who President Akufo-Addo wants as his successor, will face-off with former President John Mahama.

REPUTATION

President Akufo-Addo, in his address to the chiefs and people of Wa, remarked that Ghana is known as the pacesetter for democratic government across the entire continent of Africa.

In view of this, he assured Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, the paramount chief of the Waala traditional area that “this year [the December 2024 elections] we are going to maintain that reputation.”

However, he called for the support and cooperation of the chief, advocating that they work together to ensure that the peace and stability of the country is maintained before, during and after the electioneering period.

WA SOLAR

President Akufo-Addo, who was in Wa to commission Phase 2 of the solar panel project, had only passed through the Palace to pay a courtesy call before proceeding to inaugurate the facility.

Situated in Kaleo, Phase 2 of the Kaleo Solar Power Plant has a capacity of fifteen Megawatts peak (15 MWp).

The President posited that the Phase 2, aside from the addition of the fifteen Megawatts of clean energy to the national grid, also improves the quality of power supply in the Upper West Region.

He added that the 15 MWP is estimated to reduce national carbon emissions by nearly 8,917 tonnes, contributing to Ghana’s efforts to combat climate change and fulfil its international commitments.

It was the expectation of the President that corporate social responsibility programmes for Kaleo and its environment would be enhanced through the provision of social amenities by the appropriate authorities, including VRA, as the project is situated in the community.

ELECTRICITY ACCESS

President Akufo-Addo reiterated the government’s commitment to continuously invest in the electricity transmission network to enable the country to evacuate more renewable energy through the national grid and support the extension of electricity to all parts of the country.

“It is our intention to attain full electricity access by the end of this year, up from the current rate of 88.8%,” he stated.

“The vision, however, is not only to be energy self-sufficient but also to set the stage for Ghana to emerge as an eco-friendly country in the region, inspiring neighbouring countries to follow suit in their pursuit of a greener, more energy-technology-centred future,” he added.

SML shoots down portions of KPMG’s report

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Christian Sottie, Managing Director of SML

The Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) has denied portions of KPMG’s report on the Full Risk-Reward-Partnership Agreement with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

While it is happy about KPMG’s report debunking the false claim that $100 million has been paid to SML, as well as refuting the 10-year contract, it will, however, not accept certain facts of the report.

The rejection stemmed from a report of the findings contained in a press release dated April 24, 2024 issued by the Director of Communication at the Presidency.

The audit on the agreement between SML and GRA by KPMG was on the instructions of President Akufo-Addo, following an investigation by the Fourth Estate.

SML claimed in a counter release, signed by its Director of Support Services, Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, that several portions of the KPMG findings and recommendations are false.

One of the findings disputed by SML is the claim that fees estimated to be paid under the 5-year consolidated contract is averagely about GH¢1 billion per year.

The release also denied the suggestion that SML received a compensation of GH¢1,061,054,778.00.

The release further disagreed with the findings of KPMG that a need assessment was not conducted before SML commenced operations.

Similarly, SML also rejects KPMG’s observation that Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) has inbuilt capabilities for External Price Verification.

The release is dissatisfied with KPMG’s failure to state GRA taxes of 31.5% taken before payment, interest payments of 32% plus the investment repayment made by SML and other taxes/duties over the period creates a very unbalanced impression of the relationship between the compensation and the investment and other related costs.

With that, it said “this omission is highly misleading.” It explained that SML is an independent assurance audit firm contracted to audit ICUMS, assess the customs at Customs Technical Service Bureau (CTSB) on classification and valuation and audit the values accordingly.

In that sense, ICUMS cannot audit its operations, for which SML services provide extra oversight when it comes to classification and valuation.

SML disagrees with KPMG’s findings regarding the petroleum volumes and the tax revenue realised as a result of the compliance tools that led to increased volumes.

During the audit, KPMG used NPAs/ESLA Volumes to evaluate the performance of the downstream petroleum to determine GRA tax revenue.

It further added that the compensation quoted by KPMG was without reference to the investments made and the taxes paid by SML over the period within the consolidated contract.

“Regarding the transaction audit services, SML delivered fully on its obligations as outlined in the contract. SML’s productive performance was the basis for subsequent recommendation and awarding of the downstream petroleum audit contract.

“The Transaction Audit contract includes provisions for monitoring and evaluation services as well as a value-for-money assessment, both of which were diligently adhered to by the GRA and SML,” it stressed.

SML, together with the GRA, submitted to KPMG that the taxable volumes are properly evident in the Bank of Ghana’s petroleum tax revenue receipts in its Petroleum Holding Accounts.

SML supervision within the sector showed a drastic monthly average increase from 207,885,058 to 450,175,163 in taxable volumes for the periods – January to December 2019 and May 2020 to April 2021 respectively.

This translates into GH¢10,308,536,872 in excess gained volumes and excess revenue of GH¢14,844,293,095.

This significant increase in monthly average taxable volumes of 450 million litres has been sustained over the past three years of SML’s deployment.

In that regard, it said KPMG’s reliance on incorrect data inevitably steers them towards inaccurate conclusions.

SML disclosed that it has instructed its lawyers to examine some of KPMG’s professional misjudgements and their extension into the other unfavourable positions of the government.

The release was more than satisfied with KPMG confirmation that other important benefits from the SML technology, including a deterrent for under-declarations and several levels of reconciliation and validation, prevented revenue losses to GRA.

It assured the public that SML is fully committed and confident in its efforts to ethically contribute to building a better Ghana for present and future generations while adhering to high ethical standards.

 

The Ghanaian Chronicle