MYANMAR DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS

Hey all, this is a little bit outside of my kampung, but let's lend a hand:
(courtesy of Michael Fredericks AMBP editor's note)
1) Donate: Cheques must be made payable to Mercy Malaysia. Write Myanmar Relief Fund on the back of the cheques as well as your name and address so that receipts can be issued.

Because of the urgency of the matter, the collection exercise will only run for two weeks - so you have until May 21. You could come personally to our office at Menara Star (address below) to drop off your cheques at the collection box situated at the lobby.

Or you could send your cheques to:

Myanmar Relief Fund
Star Publications (M) Bhd
Menara Star
15, Jalan 16/11
Petaling Jaya 46350
Selangor.

For inquiries, call: 03-79671388 ext 1121.

Alternatively, you can forward your donations to the Foreign Ministry as it has activated the Tabung Bencana Kementerian Luar Negeri. Send your cheques to:

Mohammed Zamberi Othman
Ketua Akauntan
Kementerian Luar Negeri
No.1 Jalan Wisma Putra
62602 Putrajaya

A good website to check on updates of regarding the disaster:
1. http://www.foundationburma.org/
2.http://www.mercy.org.my/main/index.php
MAYBANK
Account's name: MERCY Humanitarian Fund
Account no. : 5621 - 7950 - 4126

ABA Swift Code: MBB EMY KLA
Address: MAYBANK BERHAD, 20G-28G, Jalan Wawasan 4/5, Bandar Baru Ampang, 68000 Ampang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

3. http://www.asiaobserver.com/burma/
4. http://www.burmanet.org/news/
5.http://www.burmanet.org/news/

Also, since the Myanmarese government refuses to allow other non-Asean aid workers in, i hope any Myanmarese doctors out there can get in touch with MERCY Malaysia.

MERCY are NOT actively recruiting at the moment (for permanent posts and such). However, if you are interested in becoming a volunteer please get in touch with MERCY Malaysia.

Below i've included the contact details taken from the MERCY Malaysia website:

MERCY MALAYSIA
No. 45B, Jalan Mamanda 9, Ampang Point
68000 Ampang, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Fax no: 603-4251 8435
Email: hr@mercy.org.my
Website: www.mercy.org.my

Public Health Talks 19/5/2008-25/5/2008

Topic: Management of Menopause
Date: Saturday 24/5/2008
time:2-4 p.m
location: Tung Shin Hospital
Admission is free.
contact: 03 2072 1655

Topic: Diabetes Management & Diet
Date: 25/5/2008
time: 3-5p.m
location: SJMC, North Tower conference room
contact: register at 03-5639 1556 between 10a.m to 5p.m



Heart Chocolate Indulgence at the Kuala Lumpur Heart Centre.
location: 1B-G-2, Ground Floor, Plaza Sentral, Jalan Stesen Sentral, KL Sentral
Date: Wednesday 21/5/2008
Time: 12p.m onwards
get your passes at www.heart.com.my

http://www.heart.com.my/images/heart_choc.gif
http://www.heart.com.my/heart_choc.asp

Wellness Medical Qigong
organized by KL-Petaling Jaya Alzheimer Caregivers Support Group
Date: Wednesday 24 May 2008
place: Alzheimer's Day Care centre at 9, Lorong Bukit Raja, Taman Seputeh
time: 2.30 p.m

Info: Alzheimer's Foundation Malaysia
o3-22603158

Screening for Heart Disease.

I really hate to see people spend money unnecessarily on all sorts of screening tests and exercises.

What i'd like to do with my blog is to give a run-down of screening tests that doctors use for different disease conditions. Hopefully, with more knowledge, the general public won't fall prey to all-inclusive yet very unnecessary screening tests.

Let's talk about heart disease.

Your heart basically never rests until the day you die. The heart and lungs have a great relationship, the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body, pumps it out to the lung s for reoxygenation and the Oxygen rich blood comes back to the heart to be pumped out to the whole body. That's the simplified version.

Let's say you do a Ramly Burger-Kopi susu lemak manis-Kuey Tiaw goreng everyday diet, work till 11p.m, party till 5 a.m and repeat that. Add smoking, new onset diabetes and stress. You've got a great recipe for heart disease.

A little mantra my Senior residents used to say: Smoking + Diabetes + McD=Heart Attack on legs.

What are signs & symptoms of heart disease?

1. Sudden death (65% of men, 47% of women)
   
2. Heart attack
   
3. Chest pain on exertion (angina)
4. Chest pain at rest (Unstable angina)
5. Shortness of breath on exertion.
6. Dizziness, fatigue
7. Erectile dysfunction i.e impotence

Of course, as you very well know, most people have no symptoms until it's too late.

What are the risk factors for heart disease?

• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• diabetes
• high cholesterol: TG, LDL & HDL levels are important
  
• smoking
• obesity
• stress
• male gender
• family history especially of heart disease in a 1st degree male relative <55>
• exposure to pollution with high proportion of particulates in the air
  

How do we calculate your risk?

It's important that before a doctor carries out screening for heart disease that your medical history is taken and that history of any other illnesses in close family members is noted.
From there, your doctor can use the Framingham score or the Assign risk calculator to calculate your risk level of heart disease or death from heart disease risk within the next 10 years.

Risk paremeters assessed:

1. Systolic blood pressure: >140 mmHg already confers increased risk
   
2. Smoking: the more you smoke, the higher the risk
3. Diabetes: having diabetes puts you at increased risk.
4. Family history
5. Triglyceride levels & LDL levels (Bad cholesterol)
   
6. HDL (good) cholesterol levels

What tests are used for screening?

1. Resting ECG: a look at conduction of electricity across the heart.

2. Stress test: measures heart rate and changes in heart rhythm and blood pressure in response to stress (i.e exercise and increased demand). Sensitivity (pick up rate) of

Treadmill test: sensitivity of 67%, specificity of 70%

Nuclear test: sensitivity of 81%, specificity of 85-95%

reference: American Heart Association journal, Circulation.

Stress test may only pick up stenoses that block >75% of your blood vessels supplying the heart itself.
3. Pharmacologically exercised stress test: if someone is unable to physically walk/run, the heart can be challenged using certain medications.
4. Some centres may offer Coronary Calcium scoring via CT scan. The idea is basically that as you get older, more calcium is deposited in your blood vessel lining.
5. The best and "gold standard" to pick up heart disease is an Angiogram. However, this is normally done on clinical judgement: i.e if your history, risk profile and resting ECG is grossly abnormal, a doctor may opt immediately for an Angiogram as it is both diagnostic and therapeutic (may do balloon angioplasty/place stents to unblock the heart at the same time).

Blood tests

To assess risk of heart disease the following blood tests may be ordered:

1. Fasting blood sugar
2. Fasting serum lipids: Triglycerides, HDL, LDL and TC
3. If needed, thyroid studies (associated with high TG)

During an acute attack of chest pain/suspected heart attack:
1. Troponin I/Troponin T : specific to cardiac muscle but certain illnesses may elevate this level
2. CKMB

LDH is no longer used.

References:
Circulation, Fletcher et al. AHA Exercise Standards for Testing. 201:104:1694
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4568
www.accessemergencymedicine.com/updatesContent.aspx?aid=1001232