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Is it normal to feel anxious? Feeling anxious occasionally is part and parcel of life. For example, you may feel anxious when are you taking exams, facing challenges at work or at home, awaiting important results or making big decisions. You should be able to calm down when the stressful situation is over. But for some individuals, the fear or anxious feeling is constantly present. You may have anxiety disorder…

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently included “gaming disorder” in its 11th edition of its International Classification of Disease (ICD-11). The recognition of “gaming disorder” as a medical condition is a result of growing concern pertaining to gaming addiction while some countries had already identified it as a public health issue.   How common is gaming disorder? Surveys have shown that gaming disorder affects 10 to 15% of young…

Mr. Y, a public servant from a small town in Sabah used to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day and finally decides that he wants to quit. Unfortunately, he failed the first time round, even with the help of a quit smoking program. He tried quitting again, with the help of the quit smoking program, prayers from his family and his own determination to stop, he finally succeeded! He…

Q1: How often should my child have a poo poo? A: In first week of life, it is common for most babies to have >4 bowel movements each day. In the first 3 months, some babies have >2 bowel movements each day. By age 2, most children have at least 1 bowel movement each day. Every child is different, the above information is just for reference. Please refer to your…

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend regarding the situation of pharmacists practicing in public hospitals. “Since the number of pharmacists practicing in a public hospital increased tremendously in the past few years, is the workload more manageable now?” I enquired. “Manageable? While it is true that the number of pharmacists have increase, our work efficiency has reduced because the workflow has become more complicated. So, it’s currently worse…

What is Japanese Encephalitis? Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is a virus-disease that is transmitted by mosquitos. It lives in humans, pigs and birds. When a mosquito bites an infected animal, it can then transmit the disease by biting someone else. An infected person is unable to infect another person through mosquito bites. This virus then infects the brain causing inflammation of the brain. Approximately 1 in 4 cases of JE is…

In my years practising as a pharmacist, one of the most common question I get from patients, friends and relatives is:  “Do medications for diabetes cause kidney failure?” It seems that the public has a misconception on medication for diabetes and to clear up this misunderstanding, we first need to understand what exactly diabetes is.   Diabetes and its complications Diabetes is a disease where the sugar level in one’s…

While waiting for my flight to take off, I noticed an obese gentleman painstakingly passing through the aisle and sat right next to me. As my nose is sensitive to dust and smoke, I immediately noticed a strong scent of tobacco smoke from my newfound neighbour’s clothes.   Nevertheless, I offered him a smile of courtesy and observed that he was out of breath while frantically ransacking his bag for…

“I’ve been coughing for three days now, I’d like to have the best cough mixture.”   This is a common request that I receive as a pharmacist. Naturally, when it comes to medications, we would like to have the best there is. So, does the best cough mixture or medication actually exist? Whenever I receive requests like these, I would maintain my usual composure and start gathering more information on…

Most of us are aware that the effectiveness or strength of a sunscreen product depends (partly) on its sun protection factor (SPF) value however, what does all the other information on the bottle mean? Lack of proper understanding of these symbols may lead to the selection of an inadequate sunscreen and possibly sunburns. Firstly, labeling requirements of sunscreen products vary depending on the country it is made and marketed in, so…