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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…

Many parents out there can probably attest to the fact that bedwetting is a common occurrence among kids. Let’s be honest, it can be stressful at times, not only for the parents due to the inconvenience of added laundry loads, but for the affected kids who probably have to deal with sibling-teasing and other social embarrassment. Sleeping over at friend’s place is most likely another issue. Just how common is…

Or more broadly, how can we feed the entire planet a healthy and sustainable diet? For the last three years, 37 of the world’s best scientists have been working on this question, and they now have the answer! The EAT-Lancet report offers the first-ever target for a food system that works for the people AND saves the planet at the same time. So how does this diet look like? Well,…

“This is the third time tonight I am waking up to pee! Will I ever get a proper sleep? I am so tired everyday! At this rate, I am going die of fatigue”   Does it ring a bell with you? If you often experience this, you may have a condition known as nocturia. Unlike enuresis, (also known as bed-wetting) where an individual does not arouse from sleep even when…

I had my first cigarette when I was 5. A close relative had let me try a puff, and I remember I loved the smell. At that time, I thought cigarette was such a wonderful invention.   I didn’t become a regular smoker though. Why? My mum was terrific at repetition (some call it nagging). She made sure that the “smoking is bad” idea stuck with me at a very…

Food poisoning or acute gastroenteritis is a food-borne illness caused by consumption of contaminated food. While the symptoms vary depending on type of microorganisms causing the illness, most cases would involve nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps and occasionally fever.[1] Adults who are otherwise healthy will experience mild, self-limiting symptoms (recovers in a few hours to days). In fact, antibiotic treatment is not warranted in most cases as long as the…

  On 15th of October 2018, a 14-month-old child died of diphtheria in Johor Bahru. According to a statement issued by the Director General of Health, Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, the child was never vaccinated as her parents were against vaccination. The child developed fever and sore throat on the 4th of October and it took a week for her mother to seek medical treatment at a private clinic.…

Your mind can sometimes work in a mysterious way to influence your health. Of greater interest is the fact that such conditioning effect of mind can work to either positively (known as placebo effect) or negatively (known as nocebo effect) affect your health. It may seem a little far-fetched, but this has been widely reported by many clinical and scientific studies. For instance, you’ve probably already heard of patients showing…

Let’s face it, uncontrolled inflation is a real cause for concern. Malaysians will generally agree on the fact that cost of living is rising drastically over the years. Prices of goods and services have been on the increasing trend year in year out; save for some cheap kangkung (pun intended). Medicine price is no exception. Some may argue that this is beyond our control since prices are determined by market…

Being the frugal that I am, I refused to discard a block of expensive gourmet cheese (which I consume little at a time just so that I don’t finish it too soon) despite it looking a little ‘odd’ and smelling a little ‘funny’ after few weeks. No prizes for guessing that I ended up with a good bout of food poisoning. Well, that’s what you get when you eat contaminated…