Tidak perlu terlalu panik
Profesor Dr. Muhaya Mohamad menjelaskan, kebimbangan yang melampau boleh menjejaskan kesihatan mental dan menganggu aktiviti harian.
Justeru itu, beliau menasihatkan orang ramai sentiasa bertenang dan tidak terlalu memikirkan masalah radiasi kerana kerajaan sudah melakukan persiapan untuk memantau hal ini.
"Seharusnya orang ramai mengambil iktibar perkara ini. Bukan terlalu memikirkan pencegahan yang perlu diambil tetapi persediaan mental amat perlu. Misalnya, kita melihat rakyat Jepun kehilangan ahli keluarga mereka. Kita perlu menghargai ahli keluarga bermula dari sekarang. Dalam hal ini, kita menyaksikan kerajaan berusaha untuk memantau keadaan dan akan memberi maklumat dari semasa ke semasa," katanya yang sering diundang untuk memberi motivasi di televisyen dan radio.
Dalam pada itu, setiap individu boleh mendapatkan panduan pencegahan radiasi untuk mengurangkan kebimbangan.
Dr. Muhaya turut menasihatkan orang ramai tidak mengabaikan urusan harian termasuk rutin penjagaan kesihatan yang biasa dilakukan semata-mata takutkan radiasi.
"Mungkin selepas ini orang ramai takut bersenam di luar rumah kerana takut terkena kesan pencemaran radiasi.
Selagi belum ada maklumat yang tepat, masyarakat tidak perlu terlalu panik dan bimbang sehingga menjejaskan kesihatan mental," ujarnya.
Kesejahteraan mental , kestabilan emosi, kemantapan sahsiah dan personaliti, kecergasan fizikal, serta perhubungan sosial yang positif amatlah penting untuk menjalani kehidupan yang benar-benar sihat.
Fenomena ini secara logiknya adalah sejajar dengan definisi kesihatan seperti mana yang dinyatakan oleh World Health Organization atau WHO, iaitu health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Definisi ini sebenarnya memberitahu kepada kita bahawa untuk menjadi seorang individu sihat, kita perlulah sihat dan sejahtera dari segi mental dan fizikal. Kesihatan mental memerlukan kita memiliki pandangan dan sikap yang positif dan proaktif terhadap diri sendiri serta orang lain dalam perhubungan di samping memiliki sikap yang positif terhadap persekitaran kita.
Telefon bimbit boleh rosakkan sperma, mati pucuk: CAP
2011/03/16
GEORGETOWN: Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP) mendakwa pengguna telefon bimbit berisiko untuk mempunyai bilangan sperma yang kurang dan berkualiti rendah, selain terdedah kepada kemungkinan mengalami mati pucuk.
Dakwaan CAP itu berdasarkan kepada beberapa kajian yang dilakukan berhubung penggunaan telefon bimbit. Bagaimanapun, CAP tidak menyatakan pihak yang melakukan kajian berkenaan.Presiden CAP, SM Mohamed Idris, berkata kajian itu mendapati mereka yang menggunakan telefon bimbit lebih empat jam sehari mempunyai bilangan sperma yang paling kurang dan paling rendah kualitinya.
“Satu lagi kajian menunjukkan lelaki yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar juga menghadapi risiko kerosakan sperma," katanya pada sidang media di pejabatnya di sini, semalam.
SM Mohamed berkata, pengguna yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar akan terdedah kepada Frekuensi Radio (RF) lebih tinggi kerana antena biasanya berada di belakang dan hampir dengan tubuh badan.
Katanya, doktor percaya kerosakan sperma mungkin disebabkan oleh radiasi elektromagnetik dari telefon bimbit atau haba yang dihasilkannya.
“Oleh itu, penggunaan telefon bimbit secara berlebihan menjadi satu lagi faktor yang menyumbang kepada penurunan bilangan sperma selain obesiti, merokok dan tekanan," katanya.
Beliau menjelaskan pengeluar telefon bimbit juga sudah mengeluarkan amaran mengenai risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit terhadap kesihatan.
Contohnya, syarikat Apple dalam buku panduannya memberi amaran kepada pengguna supaya menjauhkan iPhone Inc jarak sekurang-kurangnya 15mm dari tubuh.
Berikutan risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit itu, SM Mohamed menggesa kerajaan supaya mewajibkan setiap telefon bimbit mempunyai tanda amaran bahawa alat telekomunikasi itu berpotensi menjejaskan kualiti sperma dan meningkatkan risiko tumor otak.
Kerajaan juga perlu memberi amaran kepada ibu bapa supaya tidak membenarkan anak mereka yang berusia 12 tahun ke bawah menggunakan telefon bimbit melalui kempen.
5. Alcohol kills more than AIDS, TB or violence: WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) – Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health.""The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading riskfactor for death among males aged 15-59," the report found.In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate.Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to the WHO."Worldwide, about 11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.Health ministers from the WHO's 193 member states agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions.DISEASE AND INJURYAlcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver."Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer. Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from drinking.Homemade or illegally produced alcohol -- falling outside governmental controls and tax nets -- accounts for nearly 30 percent of total worldwide adult consumption. Some is toxic.In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capita consumption, heavy episodic drinking is rather low, suggesting more regular but moderate drinking patterns.Light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, according to the WHO. "However, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.One of the most effective ways to curb drinking, especially among young people, is to raise taxes, the report said. Setting age limits for buying and consuming alcohol, and regulating alcohol levels in drivers, also reduce abuse if enforced.Some countries restrict marketing of alcoholic beverages or on the industry's sponsorship of sporting events."Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption," the WHO said.Alcohol producers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation to address alcohol abuse and promote curbs on drunk drinking and illegal underage drinking.But the brewer SABMiller has warned that policy measures like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public health harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.(Editing by Laura MacInnis and Paul Casciato)
4. Enzim cerna makanan
PENGAMBILAN buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran penting untuk menambah bekalan enzim di dalam tubuh.
SETIAP orang pernah mengalami sembelit, kembung perut, lebihan asid dan pembendungan air semasa atau selepas menikmati makanan. Apa kata kaji punca masalah tersebut yang antara lain menurut pakar pemakanan berkaitan dengan enzim pencernaan.
Tubuh secara semulajadi menghasilkan 3,000 jenis enzim yang berbeza. Pemangkin protein ini penting untuk setiap proses metabolik dalam badan daripada berfikir kepada mengelipkan mata. Enzim dihasilkan di dalam hati dan disimpan di dalam kelenjar-kelenjar utama. Kita juga boleh menambah bekalan enzim menerusi pemilihan makanan yang betul.
Enzim juga boleh didapati secara semulajadi di dalam makanan sama ada buah-buahan, sayur-sayuran atau daging. Bagaimanapun penyelidikan mendapati memanaskan makanan melebihi 118*F boleh memusnahkan enzim. Begitu juga dengan makanan yang mengandungi bahan kimia atau disembur dengan racun serangga selain menggunakan baja kimia yang didapati mengganggu aktiviti enzymatic di dalam tumbuh-tumbuhan.
Dari semasa ke semasa, pengambilan sumber makanan yang tidak lagi mengandungi enzim boleh menimbulkan masalah kepada kesihatan kita. Disebabkan kekurangan enzim pencernaan di dalam tubuh, stok atau simpanan enzim semulajadi diperlukan untuk merawat masalah kesukaran mencernakan makanan yang dimakan.
Dr. Edward Howell, penulis buku Enzyme Nutrition menekan tentang 'akaun bank enzim' di dalam badan yang semakin terhad atau menurun disebabkan faktor peningkatan usia serta kaedah penyediaan makanan. Penyusutan 'akaun' itu menurut beliau turut disebabkan pengambilan alkohol, dadah, tidur yang tidak mencukupi serta kekurangan air untuk merangsang pengeluaran enzim.
Dr. Howell percaya, kesemua faktor itu turut menyumbang kepada pelbagai masalah lain seperti diabetes, kanser kolon, tekanan mental, penyakit kulit dan kegagalan fungsi hati.
Pakar kolon, Dr. Hiromi Shinya dalam tulisannya bertajuk The Enzyme Factor menegaskan tentang protein tidak tercerna dalam produk susu, makanan segera dan daging merah yang menjadi sumber 'makanan' bakteria 'jahat' sehingga terhasil toksin yang kemudiannya menjejaskan saluran darah. Toksin tersebut akan mencemarkan hati, buah pinggang dan jantung sedangkan tubuh memerlukan enzim-enzim yang disimpan di situ untuk mencernakan makanan.
Dr. Howell merumuskan bahawa pengambilan suplemen enzim pencernaan boleh memperbaiki penghadaman dan mengawal berat badan. Ia juga membantu mengatasi masalah kesihatan termasuk lelah, alahan, penyakit kulit dan artritis. Pengambilan enzim pencernaan memperbaiki paras gula dalam darah dan mengurangkan penggunaan insulin.
Beliau turut mencadangkan pengambilan buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran untuk merangsang enzim di dalam badan selain membantu pencernaan, langkah itu juga dapat memelihara bekalan enzim untuk 'tugas' lain.
Kajian menunjukkan pengambilan suplemen enzim semasa perut kosong boleh menambah 'akaun bank enzim' kerana tubuh menukar enzim pencernaan kepada enzim metabolik.
Sunday February 6, 2011
3. Caring in dementia
Age Well
By Assoc Prof Dr ESTHER EBENEZER
The role of daycare in looking after those living with dementia.IT is common for many of us in Malaysia to send our kids to daycare centres because of our work. It is also a sombre fact that many families also send their elderly parents to nursing homes because working children cannot provide care.Adult daycare centres are an excellent alternative, but they are a relatively a new phenomenon. There are three types of adult daycare centres:·Adult day social care provides social activities, meals, recreation, and some health-related services.·Adult day healthcare offers more intensive health, therapeutic, and social services for individuals with medical problems and for those at risk of nursing home care.
Art therapy is recommended as a treatment modality for dementia of all stages. This provides meaningful stimulation, and improves social interaction and self-esteem.·Dementia-specific adult daycare provides social and health services only to persons with Alzheimer’s or related dementia.Dementia specific daycare looks after the demented person during the daytime, allowing the caregiver to continue working, or allowing the caregiver to take a break from a whole day of caregiving.There is increasing demand for such services, as the elderly population in our country is on the rise. With an ageing population, we can expect an exponential rise in the incidence of chronic diseases associated with ageing.Dementia is one of the common chronic diseases affecting one in 10 of people over the age of 65, and one in four over the age of 85. It is likely that the direct and indirect cost of dementia care will increase considerably.Since dementia is a progressive disease, the care pathway for each individual and their caregivers require a wide range of services.Dementia daycare facilities with a comprehensive programme for all stages of dementia are ideal, but in our country, the industry is still in its infancy. Such daycare can incorporate a range of services outside the home, as well as provide much needed respite for home caregivers. In Malaysia, non-governmental organisations (NGO) like Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation Malaysia, Dementia Society Perak, and Johore Bharu Alzheimer’s Disease Association provide such services.What is a dementia daycare centre?A dementia daycare centre is specially designed with structured activities for older adults with cognitive deficits, providing a wide range of therapeutic, medical, and social services, including meals and snacks, in a safe and supportive environment. As the name suggests, it offers day service, not a housing option.Staff members are specially trained to care for elderly clients with dementia. Services are tailored to people with early-stage or mid-stage dementia.In the early stages, the afflicted person retains some cognitive and social skills. It is easier for people with dementia to become acclimated to the centre if they come at the early stage. Evidence show that early stimulation offered in day centres can slow cognitive decline.Daycare services are most useful during the middle stage, when the burden of care becomes greater and the stresses on the caregiver ratchets up. There’s greater emphasis on therapeutic recreation and providing support for the family. At this stage, staff members have to manage challenging behaviour characteristics of dementia with enormous patience and skill.What are the services offered in dementia daycare centres?Such centres offer professional nursing, and physical, occupational, and speech therapy to people with dementia. Apart from this, they also provide social services, and recreational and social activities.The centre should be equipped with educational materials and offers nutritional and psychological counseling to clients and carers. An ideal daycare centre should provide transportation to and from the centre for the clients.A programme should be designed to meet the needs of demented clients during the day. Care is provided typically from 8am to 5pm. In the evenings, all clients return to their homes. Clients may attend the daycare daily, a few times a week, or once weekly, or even for some special activities like birthday parties or festive events.Clients are endowed with health and social services in a clean and safe environment. The atmosphere would be family-friendly, where the caregivers continue to maintain their daily chores or even continue with their jobs while their loved ones are taken care of.This bestows an opportunity for the caregivers to be actively involved in the care of their loved one. In the daycare centre, a registered nurse or even retired nurses may administer medications as per physician’s instructions. The setting is often made home-like and comforting.What are the benefits for the caregivers?Dementia daycare provides a great deal of respite for caregivers. Predictable hours of relief enable the caregivers to attend to personal needs, run errands, and release stress.Caregivers can continue their career to earn a living as well as keep connected to the outside world. This can prevent them from feeling guilty for placing their loved ones in institutional care. In the case of an elderly caregiver (most often the spouse of the demented person), the daycare offers help with the physical care of a demented client.Studies have shown this type of support service relieves stress and lessens depression in caregivers.Apart from caregiving, a typical dementia daycare should also provide education, family counseling or training, and useful tips to cope with difficult behaviour.What are the benefits for the demented clients?Dementia daycare enables the person with dementia to remain at home with his family while receiving professional and nursing care. This reduces the risk of hospitalisation.Clients tend to get social interaction with peers while engaged in stimulating activities. Demented clients get a chance to get out of the house and being with the caregiver.They receive therapies such as physiotherapy or speech therapy, and also receive assistance with the activities of daily living. This possibly delays the cognitive decline, and prolongs independent living.Different activitiesSelected activities can be implemented successfully with the clients, depending on the severity of dementia.There are various types of activities available that can be carried out in small groups, or individually supervised by trained staff. These activities include reminiscence, sensory stimulation, recreation and exercise, entertainment like music, movies, and creating art with water colour, paint and crayon.These activities need to be customised to each client’s needs.Reorientation of the clients to the time, day, date, month, year, place, and person will be the first action that is accomplished on a daily basis. It helps those with memory loss and disorientation by reminding them of facts about themselves and their environment using devices such as signposts, notices, and other memory aids.Reminiscence is to relive past experiences, those of which are positive and personally significant, for example, past occupation, family holidays, weddings and so on. This can be done in groups or with individuals.Reminiscence therapy benefits the clients by increasing the sense of well-being, and providing pleasure and cognitive stimulation. It also promotes social interaction, self-care, motivation, and improves behaviour,Art therapy is recommended as a treatment modality for dementia of all stages. This provides meaningful stimulation, and improves social interaction and self-esteem. Activities such as drawing and painting provide an opportunity for self-expression and a chance to exercise some choice in terms of the colours and themes of their own creations.Games like playing cards, bingo, dominos, mahjong, identifying and arranging various colours and shapes, and many such activities augment cognitive stimulation and improves interpersonal interactions among clients.Musical perception can be retained even in late stages of dementia, which can be utilised effectively for cognitive stimulation. Individualised favourite music or songs or simulated sounds of nature confer great benefit to the clients in reducing hostility, anxiety, restlessness, or agitation, and also to help with sleep. Music therapy involves engaging the clients in singing, playing an instrument, or merely listening to songs or music.Making use of recent advances like karaoke is of enormous value for musically inclined clients. It improves the sense of well-being, autobiographical memory, and enhances social interaction.Getting to do regular exercise in daycare is of utmost importance. It is possible for the person with dementia to be trained to do standard routine exercise. Physical exercise is aimed at improving strength, balance, flexibility of muscles, and bones, which in turn reduces falls and fractures.Exercise also decrease the rate of cognitive decline, and improves mood and confidence. It helps to reduce daytime agitation and night-time restlessness whilst promoting night-time sleep.Dance therapy can be employed to allow the clients to get engaged with each other in interactive movements. This fulfills a need for non-sexual physical contact, which many people with dementia find soothing.Having pleasant gardens around the daycare centre is advantageous as it can encourage the clients to tend to the plants and trees. When they see the flowers blooming and trees yielding fruit, this gives them a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.An outing to museums, parks, or other local places of attractions is a form of cognitive stimulation that can be incorporated in the daycare programme.In some countries like Japan, dementia daycare is connected with children’s daycare centres. This advantage of having intergenerational connections allows children to learn to understand ageing and elders. Children are a huge source of joy and it is easy to get the person with dementia engaged in stimulating activities when integrated with kids.Where are we now?Our neighbour Singapore has nine dementia specific daycare centres for a population of five million. In our country, we have only three dementia daycare centers, which is run by NGOs, for a population of 28.25 million.We need to learn from our contemporaries in Singapore who are keen to share their experience with us. Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) is doing a great job in providing quality care for people with dementia through daycare, running workshops, seminars, hosting Alzheimer’s Disease International conferences.Anyone who is in need of dementia specific daycare services can contact ADFM in Petaling Jaya at 03-79562008, JOBADA in Johor Bahru at 07-2224016 and TDS in Ipoh at 016-5608147 (Korina).> This article is contributed by The Star Health & Ageing Panel, which comprises a group of panellists who are not just opinion leaders in their respective fields of medical expertise, but have wide experience in medical health education for the public. The members of the panel include: Datuk Prof Dr Tan Hui Meng, consultant urologist; Dr Yap Piang Kian, consultant endocrinologist; Datuk Dr Azhari Rosman, consultant cardiologist; A/Prof Dr Philip Poi, consultant geriatrician; Dr Hew Fen Lee, consultant endocrinologist; Prof Dr Low Wah Yun, psychologist; Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist; Dr Lee Moon Keen, consultant neurologist; Dr Ting Hoon Chin, consultant dermatologist; Prof Khoo Ee Ming, primary care physician; Dr Ng Soo Chin, consultant haematologist. For more information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my. The Star Health & Ageing Advisory Panel provides this information for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. The Star Health & Ageing Advisory Panel disclaims any and all liability for injury or other damages that could result from use of the information obtained from this article.
2. Minyak sawit dalam hampir semua produk makanan
Oleh Che Johari Mamat
mjohari@mpob.gov.my
2010/10/02
MIRI: Minyak sawit adalah minyak serba guna dan digunakan di dalam hampir kesemua produk makanan yang dihasilkan oleh pengilang atau pembuat makanan dalam dan luar negara.
Minyak sawit menjadi pilihan utama pengilang bagi memproses dan menghasilkan produk makanan berasaskan lemak. Antara produk utama dihasilkan adalah minyak masak, marjerin, lelemak, vanaspati, hasilan coklat dan hasilan bukan tenusu.Ketua Unit Teknologi Makanan dan Pemakanan MPOB, Dr Miskandar Mat Sahri, berkata demikian ketika membentangkan kertas kerja bertajuk Kegunaan Baru Minyak Sawit Dalam Makanan di Persidangan Kebangsaan Pekebun Kecil Sawit 2010 di sini, baru baru ini.
Tidak perlu terlalu panik
Profesor Dr. Muhaya Mohamad menjelaskan, kebimbangan yang melampau boleh menjejaskan kesihatan mental dan menganggu aktiviti harian.
Justeru itu, beliau menasihatkan orang ramai sentiasa bertenang dan tidak terlalu memikirkan masalah radiasi kerana kerajaan sudah melakukan persiapan untuk memantau hal ini.
"Seharusnya orang ramai mengambil iktibar perkara ini. Bukan terlalu memikirkan pencegahan yang perlu diambil tetapi persediaan mental amat perlu. Misalnya, kita melihat rakyat Jepun kehilangan ahli keluarga mereka. Kita perlu menghargai ahli keluarga bermula dari sekarang. Dalam hal ini, kita menyaksikan kerajaan berusaha untuk memantau keadaan dan akan memberi maklumat dari semasa ke semasa," katanya yang sering diundang untuk memberi motivasi di televisyen dan radio.
Dalam pada itu, setiap individu boleh mendapatkan panduan pencegahan radiasi untuk mengurangkan kebimbangan.
Dr. Muhaya turut menasihatkan orang ramai tidak mengabaikan urusan harian termasuk rutin penjagaan kesihatan yang biasa dilakukan semata-mata takutkan radiasi.
"Mungkin selepas ini orang ramai takut bersenam di luar rumah kerana takut terkena kesan pencemaran radiasi.
Selagi belum ada maklumat yang tepat, masyarakat tidak perlu terlalu panik dan bimbang sehingga menjejaskan kesihatan mental," ujarnya.
Kesejahteraan mental , kestabilan emosi, kemantapan sahsiah dan personaliti, kecergasan fizikal, serta perhubungan sosial yang positif amatlah penting untuk menjalani kehidupan yang benar-benar sihat.
Fenomena ini secara logiknya adalah sejajar dengan definisi kesihatan seperti mana yang dinyatakan oleh World Health Organization atau WHO, iaitu health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Definisi ini sebenarnya memberitahu kepada kita bahawa untuk menjadi seorang individu sihat, kita perlulah sihat dan sejahtera dari segi mental dan fizikal. Kesihatan mental memerlukan kita memiliki pandangan dan sikap yang positif dan proaktif terhadap diri sendiri serta orang lain dalam perhubungan di samping memiliki sikap yang positif terhadap persekitaran kita.
Telefon bimbit boleh rosakkan sperma, mati pucuk: CAP
2011/03/16
GEORGETOWN: Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP) mendakwa pengguna telefon bimbit berisiko untuk mempunyai bilangan sperma yang kurang dan berkualiti rendah, selain terdedah kepada kemungkinan mengalami mati pucuk.
Dakwaan CAP itu berdasarkan kepada beberapa kajian yang dilakukan berhubung penggunaan telefon bimbit. Bagaimanapun, CAP tidak menyatakan pihak yang melakukan kajian berkenaan.Presiden CAP, SM Mohamed Idris, berkata kajian itu mendapati mereka yang menggunakan telefon bimbit lebih empat jam sehari mempunyai bilangan sperma yang paling kurang dan paling rendah kualitinya.
“Satu lagi kajian menunjukkan lelaki yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar juga menghadapi risiko kerosakan sperma," katanya pada sidang media di pejabatnya di sini, semalam.
SM Mohamed berkata, pengguna yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar akan terdedah kepada Frekuensi Radio (RF) lebih tinggi kerana antena biasanya berada di belakang dan hampir dengan tubuh badan.
Katanya, doktor percaya kerosakan sperma mungkin disebabkan oleh radiasi elektromagnetik dari telefon bimbit atau haba yang dihasilkannya.
“Oleh itu, penggunaan telefon bimbit secara berlebihan menjadi satu lagi faktor yang menyumbang kepada penurunan bilangan sperma selain obesiti, merokok dan tekanan," katanya.
Beliau menjelaskan pengeluar telefon bimbit juga sudah mengeluarkan amaran mengenai risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit terhadap kesihatan.
Contohnya, syarikat Apple dalam buku panduannya memberi amaran kepada pengguna supaya menjauhkan iPhone Inc jarak sekurang-kurangnya 15mm dari tubuh.
Berikutan risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit itu, SM Mohamed menggesa kerajaan supaya mewajibkan setiap telefon bimbit mempunyai tanda amaran bahawa alat telekomunikasi itu berpotensi menjejaskan kualiti sperma dan meningkatkan risiko tumor otak.
Kerajaan juga perlu memberi amaran kepada ibu bapa supaya tidak membenarkan anak mereka yang berusia 12 tahun ke bawah menggunakan telefon bimbit melalui kempen.
5. Alcohol kills more than AIDS, TB or violence: WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) – Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health.""The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading riskfactor for death among males aged 15-59," the report found.In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate.Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to the WHO."Worldwide, about 11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.Health ministers from the WHO's 193 member states agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions.DISEASE AND INJURYAlcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver."Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer. Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from drinking.Homemade or illegally produced alcohol -- falling outside governmental controls and tax nets -- accounts for nearly 30 percent of total worldwide adult consumption. Some is toxic.In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capita consumption, heavy episodic drinking is rather low, suggesting more regular but moderate drinking patterns.Light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, according to the WHO. "However, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.One of the most effective ways to curb drinking, especially among young people, is to raise taxes, the report said. Setting age limits for buying and consuming alcohol, and regulating alcohol levels in drivers, also reduce abuse if enforced.Some countries restrict marketing of alcoholic beverages or on the industry's sponsorship of sporting events."Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption," the WHO said.Alcohol producers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation to address alcohol abuse and promote curbs on drunk drinking and illegal underage drinking.But the brewer SABMiller has warned that policy measures like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public health harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.(Editing by Laura MacInnis and Paul Casciato)
4. Enzim cerna makanan
PENGAMBILAN buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran penting untuk menambah bekalan enzim di dalam tubuh.
SETIAP orang pernah mengalami sembelit, kembung perut, lebihan asid dan pembendungan air semasa atau selepas menikmati makanan. Apa kata kaji punca masalah tersebut yang antara lain menurut pakar pemakanan berkaitan dengan enzim pencernaan.
Tubuh secara semulajadi menghasilkan 3,000 jenis enzim yang berbeza. Pemangkin protein ini penting untuk setiap proses metabolik dalam badan daripada berfikir kepada mengelipkan mata. Enzim dihasilkan di dalam hati dan disimpan di dalam kelenjar-kelenjar utama. Kita juga boleh menambah bekalan enzim menerusi pemilihan makanan yang betul.
Enzim juga boleh didapati secara semulajadi di dalam makanan sama ada buah-buahan, sayur-sayuran atau daging. Bagaimanapun penyelidikan mendapati memanaskan makanan melebihi 118*F boleh memusnahkan enzim. Begitu juga dengan makanan yang mengandungi bahan kimia atau disembur dengan racun serangga selain menggunakan baja kimia yang didapati mengganggu aktiviti enzymatic di dalam tumbuh-tumbuhan.
Dari semasa ke semasa, pengambilan sumber makanan yang tidak lagi mengandungi enzim boleh menimbulkan masalah kepada kesihatan kita. Disebabkan kekurangan enzim pencernaan di dalam tubuh, stok atau simpanan enzim semulajadi diperlukan untuk merawat masalah kesukaran mencernakan makanan yang dimakan.
Dr. Edward Howell, penulis buku Enzyme Nutrition menekan tentang 'akaun bank enzim' di dalam badan yang semakin terhad atau menurun disebabkan faktor peningkatan usia serta kaedah penyediaan makanan. Penyusutan 'akaun' itu menurut beliau turut disebabkan pengambilan alkohol, dadah, tidur yang tidak mencukupi serta kekurangan air untuk merangsang pengeluaran enzim.
Dr. Howell percaya, kesemua faktor itu turut menyumbang kepada pelbagai masalah lain seperti diabetes, kanser kolon, tekanan mental, penyakit kulit dan kegagalan fungsi hati.
Pakar kolon, Dr. Hiromi Shinya dalam tulisannya bertajuk The Enzyme Factor menegaskan tentang protein tidak tercerna dalam produk susu, makanan segera dan daging merah yang menjadi sumber 'makanan' bakteria 'jahat' sehingga terhasil toksin yang kemudiannya menjejaskan saluran darah. Toksin tersebut akan mencemarkan hati, buah pinggang dan jantung sedangkan tubuh memerlukan enzim-enzim yang disimpan di situ untuk mencernakan makanan.
Dr. Howell merumuskan bahawa pengambilan suplemen enzim pencernaan boleh memperbaiki penghadaman dan mengawal berat badan. Ia juga membantu mengatasi masalah kesihatan termasuk lelah, alahan, penyakit kulit dan artritis. Pengambilan enzim pencernaan memperbaiki paras gula dalam darah dan mengurangkan penggunaan insulin.
Beliau turut mencadangkan pengambilan buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran untuk merangsang enzim di dalam badan selain membantu pencernaan, langkah itu juga dapat memelihara bekalan enzim untuk 'tugas' lain.
Kajian menunjukkan pengambilan suplemen enzim semasa perut kosong boleh menambah 'akaun bank enzim' kerana tubuh menukar enzim pencernaan kepada enzim metabolik.
Tidak perlu terlalu panik
Profesor Dr. Muhaya Mohamad menjelaskan, kebimbangan yang melampau boleh menjejaskan kesihatan mental dan menganggu aktiviti harian.
Justeru itu, beliau menasihatkan orang ramai sentiasa bertenang dan tidak terlalu memikirkan masalah radiasi kerana kerajaan sudah melakukan persiapan untuk memantau hal ini.
"Seharusnya orang ramai mengambil iktibar perkara ini. Bukan terlalu memikirkan pencegahan yang perlu diambil tetapi persediaan mental amat perlu. Misalnya, kita melihat rakyat Jepun kehilangan ahli keluarga mereka. Kita perlu menghargai ahli keluarga bermula dari sekarang. Dalam hal ini, kita menyaksikan kerajaan berusaha untuk memantau keadaan dan akan memberi maklumat dari semasa ke semasa," katanya yang sering diundang untuk memberi motivasi di televisyen dan radio.
Dalam pada itu, setiap individu boleh mendapatkan panduan pencegahan radiasi untuk mengurangkan kebimbangan.
Dr. Muhaya turut menasihatkan orang ramai tidak mengabaikan urusan harian termasuk rutin penjagaan kesihatan yang biasa dilakukan semata-mata takutkan radiasi.
"Mungkin selepas ini orang ramai takut bersenam di luar rumah kerana takut terkena kesan pencemaran radiasi.
Selagi belum ada maklumat yang tepat, masyarakat tidak perlu terlalu panik dan bimbang sehingga menjejaskan kesihatan mental," ujarnya.
Kesejahteraan mental , kestabilan emosi, kemantapan sahsiah dan personaliti, kecergasan fizikal, serta perhubungan sosial yang positif amatlah penting untuk menjalani kehidupan yang benar-benar sihat.
Fenomena ini secara logiknya adalah sejajar dengan definisi kesihatan seperti mana yang dinyatakan oleh World Health Organization atau WHO, iaitu health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Definisi ini sebenarnya memberitahu kepada kita bahawa untuk menjadi seorang individu sihat, kita perlulah sihat dan sejahtera dari segi mental dan fizikal. Kesihatan mental memerlukan kita memiliki pandangan dan sikap yang positif dan proaktif terhadap diri sendiri serta orang lain dalam perhubungan di samping memiliki sikap yang positif terhadap persekitaran kita.
Telefon bimbit boleh rosakkan sperma, mati pucuk: CAP
2011/03/16
GEORGETOWN: Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP) mendakwa pengguna telefon bimbit berisiko untuk mempunyai bilangan sperma yang kurang dan berkualiti rendah, selain terdedah kepada kemungkinan mengalami mati pucuk.
Dakwaan CAP itu berdasarkan kepada beberapa kajian yang dilakukan berhubung penggunaan telefon bimbit. Bagaimanapun, CAP tidak menyatakan pihak yang melakukan kajian berkenaan.Presiden CAP, SM Mohamed Idris, berkata kajian itu mendapati mereka yang menggunakan telefon bimbit lebih empat jam sehari mempunyai bilangan sperma yang paling kurang dan paling rendah kualitinya.
Tidak perlu terlalu panik
|
Profesor Dr. Muhaya Mohamad menjelaskan, kebimbangan yang melampau boleh menjejaskan kesihatan mental dan menganggu aktiviti harian.
Justeru itu, beliau menasihatkan orang ramai sentiasa bertenang dan tidak terlalu memikirkan masalah radiasi kerana kerajaan sudah melakukan persiapan untuk memantau hal ini.
"Seharusnya orang ramai mengambil iktibar perkara ini. Bukan terlalu memikirkan pencegahan yang perlu diambil tetapi persediaan mental amat perlu. Misalnya, kita melihat rakyat Jepun kehilangan ahli keluarga mereka. Kita perlu menghargai ahli keluarga bermula dari sekarang. Dalam hal ini, kita menyaksikan kerajaan berusaha untuk memantau keadaan dan akan memberi maklumat dari semasa ke semasa," katanya yang sering diundang untuk memberi motivasi di televisyen dan radio.
Dalam pada itu, setiap individu boleh mendapatkan panduan pencegahan radiasi untuk mengurangkan kebimbangan.
Dr. Muhaya turut menasihatkan orang ramai tidak mengabaikan urusan harian termasuk rutin penjagaan kesihatan yang biasa dilakukan semata-mata takutkan radiasi.
"Mungkin selepas ini orang ramai takut bersenam di luar rumah kerana takut terkena kesan pencemaran radiasi.
Selagi belum ada maklumat yang tepat, masyarakat tidak perlu terlalu panik dan bimbang sehingga menjejaskan kesihatan mental," ujarnya.
Kesejahteraan mental , kestabilan emosi, kemantapan sahsiah dan personaliti, kecergasan fizikal, serta perhubungan sosial yang positif amatlah penting untuk menjalani kehidupan yang benar-benar sihat.
Fenomena ini secara logiknya adalah sejajar dengan definisi kesihatan seperti mana yang dinyatakan oleh World Health Organization atau WHO, iaitu health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Definisi ini sebenarnya memberitahu kepada kita bahawa untuk menjadi seorang individu sihat, kita perlulah sihat dan sejahtera dari segi mental dan fizikal. Kesihatan mental memerlukan kita memiliki pandangan dan sikap yang positif dan proaktif terhadap diri sendiri serta orang lain dalam perhubungan di samping memiliki sikap yang positif terhadap persekitaran kita.
2011/03/16
“Satu lagi kajian menunjukkan lelaki yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar juga menghadapi risiko kerosakan sperma," katanya pada sidang media di pejabatnya di sini, semalam.
SM Mohamed berkata, pengguna yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar akan terdedah kepada Frekuensi Radio (RF) lebih tinggi kerana antena biasanya berada di belakang dan hampir dengan tubuh badan.
Katanya, doktor percaya kerosakan sperma mungkin disebabkan oleh radiasi elektromagnetik dari telefon bimbit atau haba yang dihasilkannya.
“Oleh itu, penggunaan telefon bimbit secara berlebihan menjadi satu lagi faktor yang menyumbang kepada penurunan bilangan sperma selain obesiti, merokok dan tekanan," katanya.
Beliau menjelaskan pengeluar telefon bimbit juga sudah mengeluarkan amaran mengenai risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit terhadap kesihatan.
Contohnya, syarikat Apple dalam buku panduannya memberi amaran kepada pengguna supaya menjauhkan iPhone Inc jarak sekurang-kurangnya 15mm dari tubuh.
Berikutan risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit itu, SM Mohamed menggesa kerajaan supaya mewajibkan setiap telefon bimbit mempunyai tanda amaran bahawa alat telekomunikasi itu berpotensi menjejaskan kualiti sperma dan meningkatkan risiko tumor otak.
Kerajaan juga perlu memberi amaran kepada ibu bapa supaya tidak membenarkan anak mereka yang berusia 12 tahun ke bawah menggunakan telefon bimbit melalui kempen.
SM Mohamed berkata, pengguna yang menyimpan telefon bimbit dalam poket seluar akan terdedah kepada Frekuensi Radio (RF) lebih tinggi kerana antena biasanya berada di belakang dan hampir dengan tubuh badan.
Katanya, doktor percaya kerosakan sperma mungkin disebabkan oleh radiasi elektromagnetik dari telefon bimbit atau haba yang dihasilkannya.
“Oleh itu, penggunaan telefon bimbit secara berlebihan menjadi satu lagi faktor yang menyumbang kepada penurunan bilangan sperma selain obesiti, merokok dan tekanan," katanya.
Beliau menjelaskan pengeluar telefon bimbit juga sudah mengeluarkan amaran mengenai risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit terhadap kesihatan.
Contohnya, syarikat Apple dalam buku panduannya memberi amaran kepada pengguna supaya menjauhkan iPhone Inc jarak sekurang-kurangnya 15mm dari tubuh.
Berikutan risiko penggunaan telefon bimbit itu, SM Mohamed menggesa kerajaan supaya mewajibkan setiap telefon bimbit mempunyai tanda amaran bahawa alat telekomunikasi itu berpotensi menjejaskan kualiti sperma dan meningkatkan risiko tumor otak.
Kerajaan juga perlu memberi amaran kepada ibu bapa supaya tidak membenarkan anak mereka yang berusia 12 tahun ke bawah menggunakan telefon bimbit melalui kempen.
5. Alcohol kills more than AIDS, TB or violence: WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) – Alcohol causes nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence, the World Health Organization warned on Friday.
Rising incomes have triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said.
Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking's heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it said.
Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol related causes, the WHO said in its "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health."
"The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for younger age groups and alcohol is the world's leading riskfactor for death among males aged 15-59," the report found.
In Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to harmful drinking, the highest rate.
Binge drinking, which often leads to risky behavior, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to the WHO.
"Worldwide, about 11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions, with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions," the report said.
Health ministers from the WHO's 193 member states agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and tighter marketing restrictions.
DISEASE AND INJURY
Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO's first report on alcohol since 2004.
Its consumption has been linked to cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the colorectum, breast, larynx and liver.
"Six or seven years ago we didn't have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and breast cancer. Now we do," Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO's substance abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.
Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from drinking.
Homemade or illegally produced alcohol -- falling outside governmental controls and tax nets -- accounts for nearly 30 percent of total worldwide adult consumption. Some is toxic.
In France and other European countries with high levels of adult per capita consumption, heavy episodic drinking is rather low, suggesting more regular but moderate drinking patterns.
Light to moderate drinking can have a beneficial impact on heart disease and stroke, according to the WHO. "However, the beneficial cardio-protective effect of drinking disappears with heavy drinking occasions," it said.
One of the most effective ways to curb drinking, especially among young people, is to raise taxes, the report said. Setting age limits for buying and consuming alcohol, and regulating alcohol levels in drivers, also reduce abuse if enforced.
Some countries restrict marketing of alcoholic beverages or on the industry's sponsorship of sporting events.
"Yet not enough countries use these and other effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury attributable to alcohol consumption," the WHO said.
Alcohol producers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch InBev have said they recognize the importance of industry self-regulation to address alcohol abuse and promote curbs on drunk drinking and illegal underage drinking.
But the brewer SABMiller has warned that policy measures like minimum pricing and high excise taxes on alcohol could cause more public health harm than good by leading more people to drink homemade or illegally produced alcohol.
(Editing by Laura MacInnis and Paul Casciato)
PENGAMBILAN buah-buahan dan sayur-sayuran penting untuk menambah bekalan enzim di dalam tubuh.
Sunday February 6, 2011
3. Caring in dementia
Age Well
By Assoc Prof Dr ESTHER EBENEZER
The role of daycare in looking after those living with dementia.
IT is common for many of us in Malaysia to send our kids to daycare centres because of our work. It is also a sombre fact that many families also send their elderly parents to nursing homes because working children cannot provide care.
Adult daycare centres are an excellent alternative, but they are a relatively a new phenomenon. There are three types of adult daycare centres:
·Adult day social care provides social activities, meals, recreation, and some health-related services.
·Adult day healthcare offers more intensive health, therapeutic, and social services for individuals with medical problems and for those at risk of nursing home care.
Art therapy is recommended as a treatment modality for dementia of all stages. This provides meaningful stimulation, and improves social interaction and self-esteem.·Dementia-specific adult daycare provides social and health services only to persons with Alzheimer’s or related dementia.
Dementia specific daycare looks after the demented person during the daytime, allowing the caregiver to continue working, or allowing the caregiver to take a break from a whole day of caregiving.
There is increasing demand for such services, as the elderly population in our country is on the rise. With an ageing population, we can expect an exponential rise in the incidence of chronic diseases associated with ageing.
Dementia is one of the common chronic diseases affecting one in 10 of people over the age of 65, and one in four over the age of 85. It is likely that the direct and indirect cost of dementia care will increase considerably.
Since dementia is a progressive disease, the care pathway for each individual and their caregivers require a wide range of services.
Dementia daycare facilities with a comprehensive programme for all stages of dementia are ideal, but in our country, the industry is still in its infancy. Such daycare can incorporate a range of services outside the home, as well as provide much needed respite for home caregivers. In Malaysia, non-governmental organisations (NGO) like Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation Malaysia, Dementia Society Perak, and Johore Bharu Alzheimer’s Disease Association provide such services.
What is a dementia daycare centre?
A dementia daycare centre is specially designed with structured activities for older adults with cognitive deficits, providing a wide range of therapeutic, medical, and social services, including meals and snacks, in a safe and supportive environment. As the name suggests, it offers day service, not a housing option.
Staff members are specially trained to care for elderly clients with dementia. Services are tailored to people with early-stage or mid-stage dementia.
In the early stages, the afflicted person retains some cognitive and social skills. It is easier for people with dementia to become acclimated to the centre if they come at the early stage. Evidence show that early stimulation offered in day centres can slow cognitive decline.
Daycare services are most useful during the middle stage, when the burden of care becomes greater and the stresses on the caregiver ratchets up. There’s greater emphasis on therapeutic recreation and providing support for the family. At this stage, staff members have to manage challenging behaviour characteristics of dementia with enormous patience and skill.
What are the services offered in dementia daycare centres?
Such centres offer professional nursing, and physical, occupational, and speech therapy to people with dementia. Apart from this, they also provide social services, and recreational and social activities.
The centre should be equipped with educational materials and offers nutritional and psychological counseling to clients and carers. An ideal daycare centre should provide transportation to and from the centre for the clients.
A programme should be designed to meet the needs of demented clients during the day. Care is provided typically from 8am to 5pm. In the evenings, all clients return to their homes. Clients may attend the daycare daily, a few times a week, or once weekly, or even for some special activities like birthday parties or festive events.
Clients are endowed with health and social services in a clean and safe environment. The atmosphere would be family-friendly, where the caregivers continue to maintain their daily chores or even continue with their jobs while their loved ones are taken care of.
This bestows an opportunity for the caregivers to be actively involved in the care of their loved one. In the daycare centre, a registered nurse or even retired nurses may administer medications as per physician’s instructions. The setting is often made home-like and comforting.
What are the benefits for the caregivers?
Dementia daycare provides a great deal of respite for caregivers. Predictable hours of relief enable the caregivers to attend to personal needs, run errands, and release stress.
Caregivers can continue their career to earn a living as well as keep connected to the outside world. This can prevent them from feeling guilty for placing their loved ones in institutional care. In the case of an elderly caregiver (most often the spouse of the demented person), the daycare offers help with the physical care of a demented client.
Studies have shown this type of support service relieves stress and lessens depression in caregivers.
Apart from caregiving, a typical dementia daycare should also provide education, family counseling or training, and useful tips to cope with difficult behaviour.
What are the benefits for the demented clients?
Dementia daycare enables the person with dementia to remain at home with his family while receiving professional and nursing care. This reduces the risk of hospitalisation.
Clients tend to get social interaction with peers while engaged in stimulating activities. Demented clients get a chance to get out of the house and being with the caregiver.
They receive therapies such as physiotherapy or speech therapy, and also receive assistance with the activities of daily living. This possibly delays the cognitive decline, and prolongs independent living.
Different activities
Selected activities can be implemented successfully with the clients, depending on the severity of dementia.
There are various types of activities available that can be carried out in small groups, or individually supervised by trained staff. These activities include reminiscence, sensory stimulation, recreation and exercise, entertainment like music, movies, and creating art with water colour, paint and crayon.
These activities need to be customised to each client’s needs.
Reorientation of the clients to the time, day, date, month, year, place, and person will be the first action that is accomplished on a daily basis. It helps those with memory loss and disorientation by reminding them of facts about themselves and their environment using devices such as signposts, notices, and other memory aids.
Reminiscence is to relive past experiences, those of which are positive and personally significant, for example, past occupation, family holidays, weddings and so on. This can be done in groups or with individuals.
Reminiscence therapy benefits the clients by increasing the sense of well-being, and providing pleasure and cognitive stimulation. It also promotes social interaction, self-care, motivation, and improves behaviour,
Art therapy is recommended as a treatment modality for dementia of all stages. This provides meaningful stimulation, and improves social interaction and self-esteem. Activities such as drawing and painting provide an opportunity for self-expression and a chance to exercise some choice in terms of the colours and themes of their own creations.
Games like playing cards, bingo, dominos, mahjong, identifying and arranging various colours and shapes, and many such activities augment cognitive stimulation and improves interpersonal interactions among clients.
Musical perception can be retained even in late stages of dementia, which can be utilised effectively for cognitive stimulation. Individualised favourite music or songs or simulated sounds of nature confer great benefit to the clients in reducing hostility, anxiety, restlessness, or agitation, and also to help with sleep. Music therapy involves engaging the clients in singing, playing an instrument, or merely listening to songs or music.
Making use of recent advances like karaoke is of enormous value for musically inclined clients. It improves the sense of well-being, autobiographical memory, and enhances social interaction.
Getting to do regular exercise in daycare is of utmost importance. It is possible for the person with dementia to be trained to do standard routine exercise. Physical exercise is aimed at improving strength, balance, flexibility of muscles, and bones, which in turn reduces falls and fractures.
Exercise also decrease the rate of cognitive decline, and improves mood and confidence. It helps to reduce daytime agitation and night-time restlessness whilst promoting night-time sleep.
Dance therapy can be employed to allow the clients to get engaged with each other in interactive movements. This fulfills a need for non-sexual physical contact, which many people with dementia find soothing.
Having pleasant gardens around the daycare centre is advantageous as it can encourage the clients to tend to the plants and trees. When they see the flowers blooming and trees yielding fruit, this gives them a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
An outing to museums, parks, or other local places of attractions is a form of cognitive stimulation that can be incorporated in the daycare programme.
In some countries like Japan, dementia daycare is connected with children’s daycare centres. This advantage of having intergenerational connections allows children to learn to understand ageing and elders. Children are a huge source of joy and it is easy to get the person with dementia engaged in stimulating activities when integrated with kids.
Where are we now?
Our neighbour Singapore has nine dementia specific daycare centres for a population of five million. In our country, we have only three dementia daycare centers, which is run by NGOs, for a population of 28.25 million.
We need to learn from our contemporaries in Singapore who are keen to share their experience with us. Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) is doing a great job in providing quality care for people with dementia through daycare, running workshops, seminars, hosting Alzheimer’s Disease International conferences.
Anyone who is in need of dementia specific daycare services can contact ADFM in Petaling Jaya at 03-79562008, JOBADA in Johor Bahru at 07-2224016 and TDS in Ipoh at 016-5608147 (Korina).
> This article is contributed by The Star Health & Ageing Panel, which comprises a group of panellists who are not just opinion leaders in their respective fields of medical expertise, but have wide experience in medical health education for the public. The members of the panel include: Datuk Prof Dr Tan Hui Meng, consultant urologist; Dr Yap Piang Kian, consultant endocrinologist; Datuk Dr Azhari Rosman, consultant cardiologist; A/Prof Dr Philip Poi, consultant geriatrician; Dr Hew Fen Lee, consultant endocrinologist; Prof Dr Low Wah Yun, psychologist; Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist; Dr Lee Moon Keen, consultant neurologist; Dr Ting Hoon Chin, consultant dermatologist; Prof Khoo Ee Ming, primary care physician; Dr Ng Soo Chin, consultant haematologist. For more information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my. The Star Health & Ageing Advisory Panel provides this information for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. The Star Health & Ageing Advisory Panel disclaims any and all liability for injury or other damages that could result from use of the information obtained from this article.
Oleh Che Johari Mamat
mjohari@mpob.gov.my
2010/10/02
“Minyak sawit olein, hasilan cecair dari peringkatan mempunyai takat lebur 20 darjah Celcius digunakan secara meluas sebagai minyak masak untuk hampir semua jenis masakan.
“Ciri fizikalnya yang asli menjadi pilihan sebagai minyak tanpa trans yang stabil pada suhu tinggi (melebihi 180 darjah Celcius).
“Minyak sawit olein yang diperingkatkan dua kali diadun dengan minyak cair boleh diterima baik untuk pasaran negara separa sejuk (suhu 10 darjah Celcius hingga -15 darjah Celcius) selain sesuai dalam pembuatan mayonis,” katanya.
Minyak sawit yang diadun dengan sedikit minyak stearin sangat sesuai dalam formulasi lelemak, vanaspati dan marjerin reroti.
Beliau berkata, adunan minyak ini juga sesuai dalam formulasi lemak gantian mentega, lemak gantian lemak ayam dan lemak lembu dalam produk lelemak SAFaR dan pembuatan sosej.
“Adunan minyak sawit dengan minyak isirung juga didapati sesuai untuk pembuatan ais krim, krim putar, coklat, salutan coklat, sapuan coklat dan analog keju.
“Minyak isirung sawit sebagai sumber asid lemak laurik yang digunakan dalam formulasi ini akan membantu peleburan produk dalam mulut”, katanya.
Dr Miskandar berkata, pemilihan penggunaan minyak sawit ini berlaku adalah di atas kesedaran pengguna terhadap kesan kesihatan apabila menggunakan minyak yang mengandungi asid lemak trans.
“Minyak trans dihasilkan melalui proses pengisteran dan penghidrogenan mengubah sifat kimia minyak berkenaan yang didapati membahayakan kesihatan pengguna terutama berkaitan kolesterol darah dan penyakit jantung,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, MPOB akan terus komited menjalankan kajian bagi menghasilkan produk makanan baru berasaskan minyak sawit untuk meningkatkan kesejahteraan dan daya saing minyak sawit di pasaran antarabangsa.
1.Susu badan elak ekzema
KULIT berfungsi melindungi organ-organ dalaman badan manusia. Ia juga merupakan organ paling besar.
Walaupun ia berfungsi melindungi tubuh daripada kecederaan, tetapi kulit sangat sensitif. Tahap sensitivitinya berbeza serta bergantung kepada ketebalan epidermis (bahagian luar kulit luar).
Justeru, sebagai organ terbesar yang meliputi bahagian luar tubuh, tidak hairanlah pelbagai masalah timbul pada kulit.
Antara masalah yang sering terjadi ialah penyakit kulit dan ada pelbagai jenis penyakit yang menyerang kulit baik kanak-kanak mahupun orang dewasa.
Salah satu penyakit kulit yang sering dihadapi ialah ekzema.
Penyakit ini lazimnya akan 'menyerang' kanak-kanak. Hampir setiap satu dalam lima kanak- kanak akan menghadapi penyakit tersebut iaitu lebih kurang 15 hingga 20 peratus kanak-kanak di seluruh dunia.
Ekzema menyebabkan kegatalan dan penghidapnya terpaksa menanggung kesakitan selain mengalami tekanan perasaan.
Untuk pengetahuan umum, ekzema merupakan sejenis penyakit kulit yang melibatkan gangguan kepada lapisan pelindung kulit dan menyebabkan reaksi hipersensitif kulit yang menyebabkan radang, gatal-gatal yang melampau (intense itch) dan kulit bersisik.
Menurut Pakar Kanak-Kanak, Hospital Pakar KPJ Kajang, Dr. Nor Mahani Harun, ekzema yang juga dikenali sebagai dermatitis atopik (AD) merupakan penyakit kulit kronik yang disebabkan keradangan kulit yang berpanjangan.
Ia akan menjadi bertambah buruk dalam tempoh beberapa tahun ataupun sepanjang hayat penghidapnya jika tidak dijaga dan dirawat dengan baik.
Jelasnya, dengan penjagaan kulit yang baik, penghidap penyakit ini boleh mendapat kulit yang sihat.
Ekzema mengakibatkan kulit kekeringan disebabkan kehilangan air dan senang kemasukanallergen yang menyebabkan ketidakselesaan pada kulit.
''Lazimnya ekzema berlaku pada kanak-kanak seawal dua hingga tiga bulan pertama dan lazimnya sebelum kanak-kanak meningkat ke umur lima tahun.
''Terdapat tiga fasa umur yang mengalami ekzema iaitu kosong hingga dua tahun, dua hingga 12 tahun dan dewasa.
''Terdapat sedikit perbezaan dari segi agihan pada kulit mengikut peringkat umur. Bagi bayi, lazimnya penyakit ini akan dikesan pada bahagian muka dan kulit kepala. Manakala untuk golongan remaja atau dewasa, kawasan yang terlibat seperti pelipat di bahagian siku, belakang lutut, buku lali, pergelangan tangan, muka, leher dan atas dada,'' ujarnya ketika ditemui baru-baru ini.
Katanya lagi, dalam kebanyakan kes, mereka yang menghidap ekzema adalah disebabkan keturunan dan penghidapnya mungkin terdiri daripada bayi dan juga orang dewasa.
Tetapi bagi bayi, kebanyakannya akan beransur hilang apabila mencapai umur dua tahun iaitu lebih kurang 50 peratus tetapi ada juga yang kekal dan datang berkala.
Tambah beliau lagi, penyakit itu akan menyebabkan kulit kemerah-merahan, berair dan gatal.
Bagaimanapun, ia dikategorikan sebagai bukan penyakit berjangkit dan tidak boleh berpindah daripada seorang bayi ke bayi lain.
Tetapi penyakit ekzema boleh berulang disebabkan jangkitan kuman, tekanan, perubahan cuaca, alahan kepada habuk dan sebagainya
Ulas Dr. Nor Mahani, masalah itu dialami oleh antara tujuh hingga 17 peratus daripada kanak-kanak seluruh dunia dan lebih 50 peratus kanak-kanak yang mengalami ekzema kebiasaannya turut mempunyai kombinasi penyakit asma dan alahan.
Katanya lagi, sebanyak 17 peratus pesakit ekzema diwarisi dari ibu atau bapa atau kedua-duanya sekali.
Untuk menghindarkan penyakit berulang, pesakit juga dinasihatkan supaya tidak menggunakan sabun biasa, sebaliknya menggunakan sabun pembersih badan atau pencuci bebas sabun yang mengandungi bahan pelembab bagi melembabkan dan mengelakkan kulit kering.
''Pembersih badan mestilah tidak mengalami bahan yang boleh menyebabkan kulit tidak selesa, memudaratkan, merosakkan atau menjejas lapisan pelindung kulit.
''Ini kerana sabun biasa akan mengakibatkan kulit menjadi lebih kering, bertambah gatal dan merosakkan lapisan pelindung kulit.
''Pesakit juga disarankan sentiasa memakai pelembab untuk mengurangkan risiko kulit kering dan menghentikan kehilangan lembapan yang boleh menyebabkan kulit menjadi gatal dan bersisik,'' katanya.
Tambahnya, lembapan yang baik mestilah tanpa haruman tetapi kaya emolien dan ia akan menyebatikan air dalam kulit sementara bertindak sebagai lapisan pelindung ketika proses penyembuhan.
Dengan ini ia dapat menghindar daripada jangkitan kuman seperti staphyloccus Aureus, herpes simplex dan ketuat.
Menurut Dr. Nor Mahani, dalam merawat masalah ekzema, mengelakkan kulit daripada kekeringan dan mengurangkan risiko jangkitan kuman ia merupakan perkara yang paling utama.
Ia juga untuk memastikan pesakit merasa aman, tidak gatal, kulit yang cantik dan juga mengajar pesakit untuk merawati diri supaya dapat mengurangkan masalah-masalah tersebut.
Dalam hal ini, pesakit dan orang yang menjaganya perlu diajar mengenai faktor-faktor yang boleh menyebabkan penyakit ini berulang, penyebab dan tanda-tanda di peringkat awal.
Untuk itu, salah satu cara untuk mengurangkan risiko penyakit ini ialah dengan memberi sepenuhnya susu badan sehingga bayi anda sekurang-kurangnya berusia enam bulan.
Bagi mereka yang memberikan susu formula dicadangkan agar memberi susu yang mempunyai protin hidrolis dan memulakan makanan tambahan pada umur lebih daripada enam bulan.
Oleh kerana penyakit ini kronik, rundingan dan nasihat daripada seorang doktor pakar amat mustahak supaya pesakit dan ibu bapanya betul-betul faham mengenai penyakit ini.
Bawalah berjumpa doktor pakar sekiranya anak anda atau anda sendiri mempunyai ciri-ciri menghidap penyakit kulit sekurang-kurangnya sekali bagi memastikan rawatan yang betul.
