4 in 10 here likely to get diabetes (The Straits Times, 14 April 2006)

Such people risk heart disease, stroke, kidney failure; and diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputations here

Who's responsible? (The Straits Times, 12 April 2006)

Asthma, heart disease, kidney failure and diabetes. These are chronic diseases which may not kill sufferers immediately but could lead to a life full of ill health and misery if they are not taken care of.

Got a bone to pick (The Straits Times, 15 March 2006)        * Product recommended: Win Calrich
How many of us actually pay attention to bone health? Osteoporosis is a condition which results in weakened bones that break easily. Judith Tan poses questions about the disease to Dr Chua Yang, a consultant obstretician and gynaecologist at A Clinic for Women, on your behalf.

Ovarian Cancer: The Silent Killer (The Straits Times, 15 March 2006)

Although early detection is difficult, it improves chances of recovery. But Judith Tan learns that about seven in 10 women find out only when the cancer has spread.

New picture of heart disease (The Straits Times, 8 Feb 2006)
Millions of women may be suffering from an ailment that's tough to detect.

Many women suffer from a form of heart disease that is fundamentally different from the type that strikes most men and is easily missed by standard tests, researchers reported last Wednesday.

More younger men are getting heart attacks: NUH docs (The Straits Times, 4 Feb 2006)
Warning signs are there but those at risk are not treated early enough by doctors
MORE men are getting their first heart attack before age 45 because they and their doctors did not detect and treat the warning signs early enough, according to a team of National University Hospital (NUH) doctors.

WHO steps up efforts to reduce cancer deaths (CNA, 4 Jan 2006)

The World Health Organization Friday pledged to step up efforts to fight cancer, which claimed 7.6 million lives last year, about 13 percent of all deaths, aiming to reduce the disease's toll by two percent annually over the next 10 years.

Brain food for baby (Today, 25 Oct 2005)

It cannot guarantee that your child will be the next Einstein. But studies done in the United Kingdom have proven that essential fatty acids (EFA) can boost your baby's brain development.

Is organic food healthier? (Today, 29 Nov 2005)
ORGANIC food is said to be a healthier choice compared to its conventional counterparts. Advocates of organic produce say it is safer, "possibly more nutritious" and taste better. Organic plant foods are produced without pesticides and synthetic fertilisers and are grown on farms that emphasise the health of the soil.

Look out for symptoms of multiple sclerosis before it's too late (Today, 29 Nov 2005)

Not-so-sweet truths about diabetes (The Straits Times, 24 Nov 2005)

Type 2 diabetes, once rare in children, up tenfold in a decade

Raising asthma awareness in children (Today, 24 Nov 2005)

With the number of asthmatic children on the rise here. One in five children in Singapore has asthma.

How to manage the rising number of children with type 2 diabetes (Today, 15 Nov 2005)

It seems that more children are getting type 2 diabetes these days.

Osteoporosis isn't just a problem that plagues women (Today, 1 Nov 2005)
In Singapore, said Dr Manju Chandran, an associate consultant and endocrinologist with Alexandra Hospital, estimates from local bone density data indicate that 30 per cent of women above 65 have the condition, and almost 50 per cent of women over 80 probably have osteoporosis. Worldwide, osteoporosis affects approximately one in three women and one in eight men over the age of 50.

Protein in urine? Kidneys may be at risk (The Straits Times, 22 Oct 2005)

Specialists here urge GPs to test for protein particles in hypertensive and diabetic patients

She has NEVER SMOKED, but S'pore woman gets end-stage LUNG CANCER (New Paper, 29 Aug 2005)

Doctors say the killer disease is striking more young female non-smokers here and worldwide

Non-smokers can get lung cancer, too (Today, 16 Aug 2005)

The lifelong heart threat (Today, 16 Aug 2005)

Atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries, can begin during childhood and develop during adolescence, doctors warn.

Children, too, can get arthritis – and parents often miss the signs (Today, 19 July 2005)

Diabetes hits women through their heart (CNA, 30 June 2005)

Though it is a widely-known fact that women tend to live longer than their male counterparts, a recent study has found that diabetic women are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than diabetic men.

Nearly half of all diabetic patients in Singapore suffer kidney failure (CNA, 28 June 2005)

SINGAPORE : Nearly half of all diabetics in Singapore suffer from kidney failure. And what's worrying is the incidence here is the second highest in Asia, after Korea.

More younger patients (New Paper, 19 May 2005)

BREAST cancer is the most common cancer among women in Singapore.

More awareness needed for rare childhood arthritis condition (CNA, 15 May 2005)
SINGAPORE : When we think of childhood diseases, we normally think of colic, coughs and colds, but what have been traditionally known as adult diseases can also strike children.
 

70% of office workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders - survey (CNA, 11 May 2005)
SINGAPORE : Feeling a pain in your back, neck or shoulders? Well, you are not alone.
Seven in 10 office workers in Singapore suffer from pain due to bad posture - or repetitive movements at work.
 

Lung cancer cases double in 30 years: Cancer Research UK (Today, 28 Apr 2005)

Worldwide cases of lung cancer have doubled in the past 30 years, to more than 1.4 million cases diagnosed in 2002, according to research from Cancer Research UK.

S'poreans prone to strokes: Study (Today, 29 Mar 2005)

AS MANY as four in every 100 Singaporeans over the age of 50 has suffered a stroke. This already high incidence of stroke could more than double in the next 20 years as the population ages.

Pressure mounting (Today, 29 Mar 2005)

The higher the blood pressure, the greater the risk of heart attacks, strokes

Age factor and colorectal cancer (Today, 29 Mar 2005)

Colorectal cancer is the most common form of cancer in Singapore when health figures for both males and females are combined, said Adjunct Associate Professor Francis Seow-Choen from the Seow-Choen Colorectal Centre at Mt Elizabeth Medical Centre.

More Singaporeans at risk of obesity-linked diseases: HP (Today, 17 Mar 2005)

ABOUT one in two Singaporeans — up from one in three — will now be considered at risk of obesity-linked diseases after the Health Promotion Board's (HPB) revision of the Body Mass Index (BMI).

Watch out for polyps (TI, 2 Mar 2005)
Colorectal cancer is the commonest cancer here. Its incidence rises each year and an average of 11 people die of the disease each week.

The colon is responsible for absorbing water and nutrients, and converting unwanted food into waste products. Faeces are stored in the lower part of the colon until it is full, and then passed into the rectum.

They sleep at dawn (Today, 8 Feb 2004)

Women and the elderly are those most likely to suffer from insomnia

Sufferers of chronic diseases deserve better (Today, 25 Jan 2005)

Competition in healthcare industry has led to 'neglect of duty to the public': Feedback Unit

PATIENTS suffering from chronic diseases in Singapore are not receiving adequate care, said the Feedback Unit's Health Feedback Group in a report released yesterday.

A female affliction (Today, 18 Jan 2005)

Straight talk on the fifth most common cancer for women in Singapore

Cervical cancer is the fifth most common cancer that women in Singapore suffer from.

Menopause: 1 in 3 S'pore women suffer in silence (Streats, 21 Dec 2004)

ABOUT a third of women in Singapore do not prepare for menopause, and half of those who have gone through or are going through it do nothing about the symptoms.

Cancer rate among Malays up: report  (The Straits Times, 16 Dec 2004)
Fewer Indians are getting it; Chinese men most prone
CANCER is still likely to strike Chinese men most, but Malays are increasingly falling prey to the disease. Between 1970 and 2000, the number of Malay men getting cancer jumped 82 per cent while the increase among Malay women was 67 per cent.

Hawkers contribute to unhealthy S'pore (Today, 15 Dec 2004)

Getting food that is not too salty, oily or sweet is becoming difficult at food centers, restaurants
Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure are becoming major health problems in Singapore.

Deaths up, and it's killing more men (The Straits Times, 9 Dec 2004)

THE number of people killed by cancer has been climbing steadily in Singapore.

In the five years from 1968 to 1972, it caused 15 per cent of deaths. And last year, it accounted for 26 per cent of deaths.

Between 1998 and 2002, 38,447 people were diagnosed with some type of cancer, while 20,289 died of the disease.

Lung cancer the most deadly cancer here (The Straits Time, 9 Dec 2004)

Nine in 10 got it by smoking; 20-30% were passive smokers

WITH 18 people dying of lung cancer here every week, the latest figures show it is the deadliest form of the disease.

Link between stress and ageing found (STI, 1 Dec 2004)

Chronic stress shortens lifespan of human cells, scientists find outells, scientists find out

SCIENTISTS have identified the first direct link between stress and ageing, a finding that could explain why intense, long-term emotional strain can make people ill and grow old before their time.

Chronic stress appears to hasten the shrivelling of the tips of the bundles of genes inside cells, which shortens their lifespan and speeds the body's deterioration, according to a small but first-of-its-kind study involving mothers caring for chronically ill children.

In S'pore, 1.2m go to bed, perchance to sleep (Today, 1 Dec 2004)

IT IS believed that up to 30 per cent of Singaporeans — about 1.2 million — suffered from insomnia last year.

The Singapore Sleep Society said the figures were similar to those in the United States and Thailand. Of these insomniacs, only 5 per cent sought medical treatment.

Even young people at risk of thinning bones

Weak bones, from osteoporosis and a variety of other bone diseases, aren't a natural part of ageing, the US surgeon general said, though the risk of osteoporosis does increase over age 50.

'Osteoporosis isn't just your grandmother's disease,' Surgeon General Richard Carmona said in releasing the first surgeon general's report on bone health. 'You are never too old or too young to improve your bone health.'

Good bacteria keeps gut healthy (Streats, 26 Nov 2004)

IF you are what you eat, then what you are is only as good as the efficiency of your digestion.

A digestive system that is hardly in the pink of health may not immediately threaten the life of its owner, but it sure can wreak havoc on general well-being.

Imagine living with mild nausea, heartburn or irritable bowel syndrome throughout the day.

Easing that pain (Streats, 26 Nov 2004)

About migraine, the irritating chronic condition..........

IT USUALLY starts as an intense, throbbing or pounding pain on one side of the head.

Often, the sensation is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, facial pallor, cold hands and feet, and sensitivity to light and sound.

DIABETES is on the rise (Today, 16 Nov 2004)
Children and the obese with too much bad cholesterol are the newly vulnerable

THERE are more than 300,000 people in Singapore suffering from diabetes and it is the second most common disease treated at polyclinics here.

It is a well-established fact that people with diabetes tend to have high blood pressure as well.

Psoriasis gets under skin of Singaporeans (Today, 8 Nov 2004)
ONE to 2 per cent of the population in Singapore suffers from psoriasis, an inflammatory skin condition characterised by recurring red patches.

Type 2 diabetes on rise among kids (Streats, 4 Nov 2004)

DOCTORS in Singapore are seeing more children suffering from Type 2 diabetes, an illness associated with middle age.

What is also worrying is that the prevalence among the young here is one of the highest in the world.

Diabetes up in kids as lifestyles change (The Straits Times, 3 Nov 2004)
Type 2 diabetes, once rare in children, up tenfold in a decade

Colon cancer risk higher for obese women (Streats, 3 Nov 2004)

Obese women are four times more likely to develop colorectal cancer than normal-weight women, according to new study findings reported here at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Unhealthy men have poor sperm

Beer bellies may take a toll on men below the belt, not just around it.

Men who weigh too much are more likely to have poor sperm quality, research on nearly 1,600 young Danish men has found. Being too thin is a problem, too.
Women don't get off the hook. Though it's long been known that very overweight women have trouble conceiving naturally, a large new study confirms they also are less likely to become pregnant even when embryos are fertilised in lab dishes and placed in their wombs.

Breast cancer cases will rise in Singapore (The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2004)

Biggest factor in the increase is women having no or fewer children - and having them later in life, says professor

BREAST cancer figures are set to soar in Singapore, as data emerges which shows that women here are at greater risk than ever of the disease.

Cancer boy, 9, inspires video game (New Paper, 16 July 2004)

1 in 18 here to get 'rich man's cancer' (The Straits Times, 22 June 2004)
Rate of colorectal cancer in S'pore has matched levels in the affluent West

Cancer risk rises 15% for women (The Straits Times, 21 June 2004)

THE latest cancer trends for the local population are out and they show a startling difference in the risks faced by men and women here.

Test for colon cancer (New Paper, 27 March 2004)