Do These 5 Things To Get Rid Of Them If You Have Whiteheads On Your Face

An average person would tell you that whiteheads is a result of disease or medical conditions ongoing beneath the skin, but that is not the case as whiteheads a naturally occurring constituents of a humans face, especially during the puberty and post-puberty stages when the hormones are at their peaks in the body. 

What causes whiteheads? Simply out that the blockage of the skinn pores will bring forth whiteheads when you press the surface of your skin. This is because the skin does not wait for humans to moisturise it, instead it discharges oily substance through the skin pure to the surface itself and ensure that the skin is never dry or irritated by sunlight, ultraviolet rays and others.

Illustrative image showing the appearance of whiteheads on the skin

However, when these oily substances are blocked from access to the skin surfaces, they get trapped in the skin pores thereby getting clogged in the tiny space without being able to perform their basic function. Moments after getting clogged in the space, they begin to solidify and hence come out as solids when the face is eased of pressure. 

Skin Health Specialists and Experts will assert that even though whiteheads can be experienced in every part of the face, it is most inherent and abundant at the T zone i.e the nose and crow areas as they contain large and more pores for conveyance of the skin lubricants.

Illustrative image shown the appearance of Blackheads on the nose

Also, there are basically two types of this biological occurrence, one is popular known as Whiteheads or Closed Comedones, while the second one is called the Blackheads. They have similar characteristics and formation, only that the blackheads are expended from larger pores and the oil (sebum) would have mixed with keratinocytes and several dead cells which makes it appear more darker and bears similar color to the color of the body.

Whiteheads can also cause a pimple infection when care is not taken, because the clogged pore will continue to block the passage of foreign and waste materials from the skin and continuous blockage can lead to inflammation of the skin cells, which manifests in form of a pimple. So be careful not to be oblivious of whiteheads when they are present on your face to save yourself from the trouble of fending off pimples attacks on your face.
As harmless as whiteheads can be, they can cause social panic or distress when the person who carries them finds out in the midst of a crowd, this is why it is vest to get rid of white heads with the simple practices that will be explained in this article. 

1. Wash your Face 2-3 times a day to ensure that your skin is clean and does not block any pore and hence cause whiteheads.

2. Aloe Vera and Tea tree are two of the most dearest natural skin aids that can be used again whiteheads as Aloe Vera clears your face off oily substances and dirts when it applied.

3. Before you sleep, clean and wipe your face with cotton and a preferable toner, but ensure that the toner does not contain alcohol.

4. Use Cucumber as skin moisturizer, because the fruit is highly beneficial for a healthy skin and is mostly recomemned by skin health experts as a natural herbal regimen. 

5. Stay away from junk foods, especially those containing high levels of oils and fatty components.

I hope this was helpful in some way. Thank you for reading and best regards.

Democracy Day: I have recorded notable achievements, Buhari boasts

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Friday assessed his regime as the nation commemorates Democracy Day and returned a verdict that he has recorded “notable achievements.”

Buhari made the declaration in his nationwide broadcast to the nation.

The President said, “We have recorded notable achievements in the course of implementing our nine priority objectives and are establishing a solid foundation for future success.

“On the economic front, our objectives have remained to stabilise the macroeconomy, achieve agricultural and food security, ensure energy sufficiency in power and petroleum products, develop infrastructure, fight corruption and improve governance.

“We have witnessed eleven quarters of consecutive GDP growth since exiting recession. The GDP grew from 1.91% in 2018 to 2.27% in 2019 but declined to 1.87% in the first quarter of 2020 as a result of the decline in global economic activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

June 12: Nigeria must be restructured to federating units – Gani Adams explodes

To free Nigerians from “bondage”, Nigeria must be restructured into federating units.

This is according to the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, in a statement sent to DAILY POST on Thursday in commemoration of the June 12, 1993, anniversary.

He expressed joy that part of the dreams of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), has been realized with the official naming of June 12 as the Democracy Day.

Adams, however, regretted that despite the sacrifices of the activists and pro-democracy groups, democracy is yet to take its root in Nigeria.

He stated that Nigeria can only get it right with true federalism, pointing out that the only way out of the political logjam is to let the federating states develop at their own pace.

You can also read   Coronavirus yet to reach its peak – Buhari

Adams noted that when federating units are allowed to develop at their own pace, there will be mutual benefits and progress.

He said the issue of security and state police would be taken care of without fear or favour.

“The kind of democracy we fought for during the June 12 struggle. It is far different from what we are seeing now. The struggle for the actualisation of the mandate given freely to the late M.K.O. Abiola in a free and fair election then was a long, hard battle to survive the military onslaughts”

“Those of us alive today still remember those moments with a lot of regrets, and surprises. We think of how we were able to survive those trying periods. The journey for this democracy has been tortuous. Today, our democracy is at best, one step forward and five steps backward. But in all, we thank God that we are alive to tell the story.

“We got it wrong right from the outset. We got it wrong with leadership. Nigeria has been crippled by bad leadership. This has always been our problem. All our leaders have lost touch with the people at the grassroots, that is why we must continue to press for justice until we get the best for Nigeria and Nigerians.”

Adams added that the lesson of the June 12 election is for a lifetime for everybody, stressing that no matter how long the long arm of lies persists, the truth will one day prevail.

Coronavirus yet to reach its peak – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that that the coronavirus pandemic is yet to reach its peak

Buhari warned against laxity in the fight against the pandemic and charged the ECOWAS Commission to come up with an economic recovery plan to help member-states to recover from COVID-19 shock.

He spoke on Thursday at a virtual meeting with the President of the Commission, Jean Kassi-Brou.

Buhari promised to provide logistic support to enable the sub-region receive and distribute procured and donated medical equipment using Abuja as the hub for the distribution.

The Nigerian leader expressed ECOWAS appreciation for the “swift interventions made to the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and the Africa Centre for Disease Control by the Jack Ma Foundation.”

He commended development partners such as the European Union, African Development Bank, France and Germany for their “financial contributions in the procurement of medical supplies.”

Speaking, Kassi-Brou advocated additional strategies to assist the sub-region in fighting the health and economic impact of COVID-19.

He listed them as advocacy at continental and global levels including the G20, World Bank, United Nations and the African Development Bank, to get their support to negate the health and economic damage to the ECOWAS sub-region.

Coronavirus: Ministers consider NHS contact-tracing app rethink

Concerns about the risks of deploying a go-it-alone UK coronavirus contact-tracing app are causing further delays.

A second version of the smartphone software was due to have begun testing on the Isle of Wight on Tuesday, but the government decided to postpone the trial.

Ministers are considering switching the app over to tech developed by Apple and Google.

But countries testing that model are experiencing issues of their own.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock had originally said the NHS Covid-19 app was to be launched across England - and possibly other parts of the UK - by 1 June.

But he subsequently said the government had decided it would be better to establish a network of human contract tracers first.

However, the BBC has discovered that one of the main reasons the initiative is running behind schedule is that developers are having problems using Bluetooth as a means to estimate distance.

Even so, they still believe they are better placed to tackle the challenge than counterparts overseas who are working under constraints imposed by the two US tech firms.

Bluetooth handshakes

Contact-tracing apps are designed to prevent a second wave of infections by keeping a log of when two people are in close proximity to each other and for how long.

If one of the users later tests positive for the disease, the records are used to determine how likely it is they infected the other. If required, an alert is triggered to help prevent the further spread of the virus.

The UK has adopted what is known as a "centralised" approach, meaning that the contact-matching process is carried out on a remote computer server. One benefit is it offers epidemiologists more data to tackle the pandemic. France and India are other countries to have adopted this model.

By contrast, Apple and Google's "decentralised" approach carries out the matches on the handsets themselves, on the grounds this better protects users' privacy.

Poland switched its app from a centralised to decentralised approach on Tuesday. Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Latvia are among others to have adopted the tech giants' design.

Both systems rely on Bluetooth "handshakes" to work.

Number 10 is concerned that iPhones will not always detect each other because of a restriction Apple has imposed on apps that do not adopt its model.

But the UK team has devised a workaround and is more concerned about other limitations of using Bluetooth.

Train trouble

Some of these issues were outlined in a study published by Trinity College Dublin last month.

It highlighted problems with using received Bluetooth signal strength as a means to estimate distance.

Researchers warned signal strength "can vary substantially" depending on:

• how deeply a handset is placed in a bag
• whether the signal has to pass through a human body to reach the other phone
• if the two people are walking side-by-side or one behind the other
• if the devices are indoors rather than outdoors
• whether the smartphone is surrounded by metal objects

The report highlighted troubling results when Singapore's TraceTogether app was tested.

An experiment within a stationary train carriage found that when users moved from a distance of 3.5m (11.5ft) to 4m, signals became stronger rather than weaker because of the way metal objects were reflecting the radio waves.

A trial in a supermarket also found the received signal strength was the same whether two people were walking close together or 2m apart.

Follow-up tests using Apple-Google's tech are currently under way.

"The work is ongoing, but preliminary results are broadly consistent with previous observations," said Dr Brendan Jennings, who has been tasked with assessing the effectiveness of Ireland's Covid-19 app.

Hidden data

The team behind Switzerland's SwissCovid app is carrying out tests of its own.

Its Bluetooth measurement chief believes the issue can be partly addressed by taking a range of readings over a period of five minutes or more.

But he added that Apple and Google had placed curbs on what could be achieved.

"The Google and Apple API [application programming interface] limits the amount of raw information that is actually exposed to the app," Prof Mathias Payer told the BBC.

"For maximum utility, we would get all the different measurements, but this has privacy implications."

Apps using Google and Apple's tech do not get to see the actual signal strength but rather one of three values, based on calculations used to normalise the different ways Bluetooth behaves on different handsets,

By contrast, the UK team can currently obtain the measurements directly.

Those responsible believe a further advantage of their centralised approach is that the data can be processed on the server involved, since it would be too taxing a task to be done on smartphones.

But part of their challenge is communicating this to Baroness Dido Harding - who heads up the wider Test and Trace programme - and 10 Downing Street itself.

A spokesman for the prime minister declined to comment.

Coronavirus: Could social distancing of less than two metres work?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to keep the 2m (6ft) rule for social distancing "under constant review".

It comes after increasing pressure from MPs and the hospitality industry to cut it to 1m to help businesses after they reopen.

However, scientists continue to question whether that would be safe, given how little is known about how far coronavirus can spread.

What does the science say?

The simple answer is that the nearer you are to someone who is infected, the greater the risk of catching the virus.

The World Health Organization says that a distance of 1m is safe. Some countries have adopted this guidance, while others, including the UK, have gone further:

• 1m distancing rule - China, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Singapore
• 1.4m - South Korea
• 1.5m - Australia, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal
• 1.8m - US
• 2m - Canada, Spain, UK

It's not just about distance

Timing is also key. The longer you spend in close proximity with an infected person, the bigger the risk.

Scientists advising the UK government say that spending six seconds at a distance of 1m from someone is the same as spending one minute at a distance of 2m.

Being exposed to someone coughing is riskier. Being 2m away from a cough carries the same risk as someone talking to you for 30 minutes at the same distance.

What's the latest research?

In a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, scientists evaluated recent research into how coronavirus spreads.

They conclude that keeping at least 1m from other people could be the best way to limit the chances of infection.

The risk of being infected is estimated to be 13% within 1m, but only 3% beyond that distance.

And the study says that for every extra metre of distance up to 3m, the risk is further reduced by half.

Where does the distancing rule come from?

It can be traced back to research in the 1930s.

Scientists found that droplets of liquid released by coughs or sneezes evaporate quickly in the air or fall to the ground.

Most of those droplets, they reckoned, would land within 1-2m.

That is why it is said the greatest risks come from having the virus coughed at you from close range, or from touching a surface that someone coughed onto, and then touching your face.

Can the virus travel further in other ways?

Proximity and surface contact are considered the main transmission routes.

But some researchers fear coronavirus can also be transported through the air in tiny particles called aerosols.

If true, then the flow of wind from someone's breath could carry the virus over longer distances.

Prof Lydia Bourouiba from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used high-speed cameras to capture a cough projecting miniature specks as far as 6m.

And a study carried out in Chinese hospitals which found traces of coronavirus in Covid-19 wards and intensive care units, estimated that 4m was a better safe distance.

But the US Centers for Disease Control says the role of aerosols in spreading the virus is "currently uncertain".

And what's still not known is whether any virus that spreads further than 2m can still be infectious.

• Coronavirus: Can we stay safe as lockdown eases?

What else makes a difference?

It is widely accepted that the infection is more easily passed on indoors than outside in the fresh air.

Japanese researchers investigated 110 cases of Covid-19, following up the contacts of those infected.

They estimated that the odds of the infection being passed on were nearly 19 times greater indoors than outside.

In many countries, including England and Scotland, people are being encouraged to wear face coverings on public transport and "enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible".

Why don't we have definite answers?

It is only a few months since the coronavirus emerged, and in that short time scientists have learned a great deal about it.

But there is a long way to go, and confirming exactly the right distance is one of the unanswered questions.

Answering it will require careful studies of how the virus can be carried, and how viable it remains, which will all take time.

Can Microsoft's 'moonshot' carbon goal succeed?

Tech giant Microsoft has announced two bold ambitions: firstly, to become carbon negative by the year 2030 - meaning it will be removing more carbon from the air than it emits - and secondly, to have removed more carbon by 2050 than it has emitted, in total, in its entire history.

In an interview with the BBC's Chris Fox, Microsoft president Brad Smith admitted that the plan was a "moonshot" - a very big idea with no guaranteed outcome or profitability - for the company.

He stressed there was simultaneously a sense of urgency and a need to take the time to do the job properly.

He also said that the tools required don't entirely exist yet.

Mr Smith talked about tree planting, and direct air capture - a way of removing carbon from the air and returning it to the soil - as examples of available options.

"Ultimately we need better technology," he said.

But don't expect Microsoft to roll up its sleeves: "That's not a business we will ever be in but it's a business we want to benefit from," he added, announcing a $1bn Climate Innovation Fund, established with the intention of helping others develop in this space.

Microsoft makes 'carbon negative' pledge

He expects support from the wider tech sector, he said, "because it's a sector that's doing well, it can afford to make these investments and it should."

But historically, isn't it also one of the worst offenders?

CES in Las Vegas, the huge consumer tech show, has just ended. It was attended by 180,000 people most of whom probably flew there, to look at mountains of plastic devices clamouring to be the Next Big Thing.

From gas-guzzling cars and power-hungry data centres to difficult-to-recycle devices and the constant consumer push to upgrade to new shiny plastic gadgets - the tech sector's green credentials are not exactly a blueprint for environmental friendliness despite much-publicised occasional projects.

There was no immediate announcement from fellow tech giants about any collaborations with Microsoft, or indeed similar initiatives of their own - but the aim is ahead of the current ambitions of many, including Facebook, Google and Apple, which have not (yet) made a "carbon negative" commitment.

That said, software-maker Intuit has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030, and Jeff Bezos announced in September 2019 that Amazon would be carbon neutral by 2040.

Mr Smith made an open offer to share Microsoft's carbon-monitoring tools.

"Competition can make each of us better," he said of the notoriously rivalry-fuelled industry.

"If we make each other better the world is going to be better off and we should applaud each other as we take these new steps."

Mr Smith agreed that "the switching on of an Xbox", Microsoft's games console, was as much part of the firm's carbon footprint as the carbon that went into creating the cement used in its buildings.

However, he did not suggest scaling back on collaborations with the big energy firms - on the contrary, we are going to need more power rather than less in the coming decades, he said - and that has troubled campaigner Greenpeace.

"While there is a lot to celebrate in Microsoft's announcement, a gaping hole remains unaddressed - Microsoft's expanding efforts to help fossil fuel companies drill more oil and gas with machine-learning and other AI technologies," commented senior campaigner Elizabeth Jardim.

Environmental awareness, especially among the under-30s, will ultimately prove to be a big driver for market change, Mr Smith believes.

"I think it's interesting to think about a future where buying a product and understanding how much carbon was emitted to create it is like going to the supermarket and looking at what's on the shelf and seeing how many calories it contains," he said.