"Just beware of me, I might kill you" says DIABETES

Does globally celebrated 14 November event give any impact to everybody?

And the most basic question is, do everyone realize the significant of that day? 

It's the WORLD DAY OF DIABETES....

In Malaysia, the prevalence of diabetes is increasing day by day. Hera are some facts about it:

What is diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by high blood sugar (glucose) levels, that result from defects in insulin secretion, or action, or both. Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes (as it will be in this article) was first identified as a disease associated with "sweet urine," and excessive muscle loss in the ancient world. Elevated levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia) lead to spillage of glucose into the urine, hence the term sweet urine.

Normally, blood glucose levels are tightly controlled by insulin, a hormoneproduced by the pancreas. Insulin lowers the blood glucose level. When the blood glucose elevates (for example, after eating food), insulin is released from the pancreas to normalize the glucose level. In patients with diabetes, the absence or insufficient production of insulin causes hyperglycemia. Diabetes is a chronic medical condition, meaning that although it can be controlled, it lasts a lifetime.

What is the impact of diabetes?

Over time, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage. These types of damage are the result of damage to small vessels, referred to as microvascular disease. Diabetes is also an important factor in accelerating the hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), leading to strokes, coronary heart disease, and other large blood vessel diseases. This is referred to as macrovascular disease. Diabetes affects approximately 17 million people (about 8% of the population) in the United States. In addition, an estimated additional 12 million people in the United States have diabetes and don't even know it.

From an economic perspective, the total annual cost of diabetes in 1997 was estimated to be 98 billion dollars in the United States. The per capita cost resulting from diabetes in 1997 amounted to $10,071.00; while healthcare costs for people without diabetes incurred a per capita cost of $2,699.00. During this same year, 13.9 million days of hospital stay were attributed to diabetes, while 30.3 million physician office visits were diabetes related. Remember, these numbers reflect only the population in the United States. Globally, the statistics are staggering.

Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease andcancer.

What causes diabetes?

Insufficient production of insulin (either absolutely or relative to the body's needs), production of defective insulin (which is uncommon), or the inability of cells to use insulin properly and efficiently leads to hyperglycemia and diabetes. This latter condition affects mostly the cells of muscle and fat tissues, and results in a condition known as "insulin resistance." This is the primary problem in type 2 diabetes. The absolute lack of insulin, usually secondary to a destructive process affecting the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas, is the main disorder in type 1 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, there also is a steady decline of beta cells that adds to the process of elevated blood sugars. Essentially, if someone is resistant to insulin, the body can, to some degree, increase production of insulin and overcome the level of resistance. After time, if production decreases and insulin cannot be released as vigorously, hyperglycemia develops.

GMM to combat Dengue

Malaysia could be the first country in Asia to use genetically modified mosquitoes (GMM) to battle a rise in dengue fever.
 

Aedes aegypti – a type of mosquitoes that transmits Dengue virus.

 

The program calls for genetically engineered male mosquitoes to be released into the wild that would mate with females and produce offspring that live shorter lives, thus curbing the population.

Malaysian scientists say laboratory test trials have made them optimistic. Dengue fever, spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is common in Asia and Latin America. Symptoms include high fever, joint pains and nausea, but in severe cases, it can lead to internal bleeding, liver enlargement, circulatory shutdown and death. There is no known cure or vaccine.

Efforts to urge Malaysians to keep neighbourhoods clean and destroy stagnant sources of water – which are mosquito breeding grounds – have failed, and "innovative ways" are needed to combat dengue.

In Malaysia, the number of dengue-linked deaths totaled 117 between January and early October – a 65 percent surge from last year, according to Health Ministry statistics. Dengue infections overall increased 17 percent from last year to more than 37,000 cases.

Malaysian authorities plan to release between 2,000 and 3,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in two areas.  The plan, which cannot be undertaken without Cabinet approval, would be the first such release of genetically modified mosquitoes in Asia to combat dengue.

WHO Western Pacific welcomed Malaysia's efforts to step up the fight against dengue, but also reportedly cautioned that care must be taken in introducing a new species to the environment.

Dengue fever at a glance:

Medical Mayhem Report is OUT!

IMAM Week went too fast like a whirlwind in this Siberian-like weather! Let’s recap on how it all started; the first event of the week which was; Medschool Mayhem! Medschool Mayhem is our first ever game night giving a twist of fun and excitement into the medical knowledge we learn day in and day out in medical schools! It was held on the 19^th November 2010 in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

The game night consisted of a number of games; ‘Word Up’ where the contestants are asked to give Layman’s term to the medical terms displayed on the screen, ‘Differential Diagnosis’ where contestants are given cases and questions that followed it, ‘Chaboo’ which is a combination of charades where the contestants need to act out the words displayed for their teammates to guess and ‘taboo’ where the contestants need to describe the words displayed without using taboo words for their teammates to guess, ‘Medical Feud’ where contestants need to guess answers to specific questions and lastly, the finale which was ‘Pithing’ which is medical hangman combined with elements of wheel of fortune.

Four teams of four contestants entered the competition which took quite a little longer than expected. There teams were Al-Islah, Pinky and the Brain, 2PM and Merapi. Each team composed of a mixture of 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th year medical students. The entrance fees, which totalled up to €40 was donated to the Merapi fund that we started during IMAM Week. All four team put up quite a fight between one another in each game however there could only be one winner by the end of the night.

Weekly article: Antioxidants help slow down the ‘rusting’ of the human body

AN apple turns brown or a nail gets rusty due to oxidation. The same process occurs within us. We do not change colour or become rusty, but the tell tale signs come later as “wear and tear” in ageing, poor health, or chronic diseases.

We often blame our genes for our maladies, but environmental factors and lifestyle choices account for as much as 70% for the apple inside us turning brown too fast, too soon.

If we smear some lemon juice on a cut half of an apple, the browning process is retarded as the lemon slows down the oxidation process, hence conferring an antioxidant effect to the apple.

As we are more complex than an apple, smearing ourselves with lemon just would not work!

Antioxidants were first applied in industrial use two centuries ago to protect materials such as rubber from degradation, and was later introduced to preserve certain foods and oils to extend shelf life.

It was only 60 years ago that its significance in human physiology was recognised.

But doctors were so busy battling diseases that, until recently, the protective role of antioxidants has not been fully appreciated.

To be honest, yours truly had no idea what they really were. My only knowledge of antioxidants was restricted to oranges and wine. I thought “free radicals” was a new political party!

We now know that they are the culprits in causing oxidation within us, and antioxidants neutralise them.

The word antioxidants conjures much excitement and sometimes emotions as there are many claims and counter claims. Earlier studies showed great promise on health, later ones disputed that, and on it goes like a yo-yo. The subject is extremely confusing and this discussion tries to put them into separate baskets for ease of mental digestion.

GREAT JOB GUYS!

Alhamdulillah... 

IMAM Forum: Revamp! has successfully marked the closing of IMAM Week 2010 which took place from 19^th to 26^th November 2010. The forum which was held at Royal College of Surgeons Ireland on Friday, 26^th November was tailored specially to help all the med heads to revamp before the winter exam kicks in!

We welcomed you with open heart (and yummy food; nasi lemak! J )

The attentive audiences

Representative of the winning team of Med Mayhem (€50!)

 

The forum managed to gather four special speakers from various levels of medicine professionals starting from the final meds to doctors from various specialties and they were:

Speakers of the day (from left: moderator Syamil, Dr.Affendi, Dr.Arimin, Anies Syazni, Nurul Hikmah)