Health Check

Synopsis: This podcast series is based on selected chapters from a book, detailing Singapore’s experience battling the Covid-19 pandemic. The book - written by journalists of The Straits Times and edited by ST’s executive editor Sumiko Tan - is titled In This Together: Singapore's Covid-19 Story and is available in major bookstores now. Details online: https://www.stbooks.sg/ In this t...

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Earlier this month, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) said during the debate on its budget that an inter-agency team is developing a 10-minute digital drawing test to help encourage people to seek help early for dementia. It analyses how people draw certain shapes an...

Synopsis: This podcast series is based on selected chapters from a book, detailing Singapore’s experience battling the Covid-19 pandemic. The book - written by journalists of The Straits Times and edited by ST’s executive editor Sumiko Tan - is titled In This Together: Singapore's Covid-19 Story and is available in major bookstores now. Details online: https://www.stbooks.sg/ In this s...

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Last week (March 9), Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced that the country is working towards a model where each resident will see one regular general practitioner or polyclinic doctor for all his or her care needs. The doctor will work out a personalised c...

Synopsis: This podcast series is based on selected chapters from a book, detailing Singapore’s experience battling the Covid-19 pandemic. The book - written by journalists of The Straits Times and edited by ST’s executive editor Sumiko Tan - is titled In This Together: Singapore's Covid-19 Story and is available in major bookstores now. Details online: https://www.stbooks.sg/ In this f...

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. A Covid-19 infection confers natural immunity but the question is how long will it last. Israel has given some people a fourth dose, which is the second booster shot. In Singapore, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung had said that the question of whether further booster shots a...

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Singapore is in the midst of an Omicron surge, and restrictions such as a maximum group size of five at restaurants remain. People are tired of worrying about Covid-19. Now that the Omicron variant has turned out to be less worrisome than thought, when can we stop talki...

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. If you’re raising a child with special needs, such as physical, cognitive, behavioural challenges, you are not alone. You deserve the time to look after yourselves and there is comfort to be found from families who have children with special needs. In this episode, Joyc...

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionise healthcare but it is hotly debated. In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo invites Prof Joseph Sung, dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at the Nanyang Technological University.  They discuss ho...

Health Check Ep 74: Fight ageing with exercise 15:18 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. It's almost the end of the year, and nearly two years since the coronavirus emerged and changed the way we work, live and play. If you haven't been exercising, it's time to start. If you have been taking short wa...

Health Check Ep 73: What to know about antimicrobial resistance 21:28 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. The World Health Organisation has declared that antimicrobial resistance or AMR is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. AMR occurs when some of the germs that cause inf...

Health Check Ep 72: Don't let diabetes sneak up on you 17:10 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. In this pandemic, many people may be eating more and exercising less. It's not a good combination. The prevalence of obesity in Singapore across all ages has risen from 8.6 per cent in 2017 to 10.5 per ce...

Health Check Ep 71: Why lifelong immunity from Covid-19 is unlikely 15:54 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Singapore is gradually opening its borders to allow for quarantine-free travel as it moves towards a new normal of living with Covid-19. However, at home, restrictions remain in place to prot...

Health Check Ep 70: Unlock your ADHD 21:49 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. It’s October, the ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) Awareness month, and ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo is going to find out more about what you can do if you have this disorder. ADHD is characteriz...

Health Check Ep 69: Can plant stanols lower my cholesterol? 15:35 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. In this episode, we look at whether plant stanols and a more natural diet can help reduce cholesterol. Plant stanol ester is a natural compound which is used as a cholesterol-lowering ingredient in f...

Health Check Ep 68 (Pt 2): Vaccine expert on combating new Covid variants 20:02 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks with Prof Ooi Eng Eong from the Duke-NUS Medical School’s Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases about the current Co...

Health Check Ep 68 (Pt 1): Why bother about asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, says vaccine expert 19:05 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks with Prof Ooi Eng Eong from the Duke-NUS Medical School’s Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases a...

Health Check Ep 67: How worried should vaccinated people be about Covid-19? 16:39 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. With the majority of Singapore's population fully vaccinated, how worried should the vaccinated be about Covid-19, as we learn to live with the endemic disease? ST senior health corre...

Health Check Ep 66: How parents can promote good mental health in children 21:10 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Parents play an important role in promoting good mental health in their children. They are often the first to notice if a child is having problems with his or her emotions.  In this ep...

Health Check Ep 65: How to reach out to youth with mental health challenges 15:21 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. The Covid-19 crisis has impacted the mental health of many young people around the globe, including Singapore.  ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks with Ms Andrea Chan, as...

Health Check Ep 64: Understanding the loneliness crisis 16:29 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Loneliness is toxic. It is associated with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep issues and stress. It can also shorten your life. New research from the Duke-NUS Medica...

Health Check Ep 63: What is sudden cardiac arrest; how to prevent it 15:30 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Danish footballer Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest when he collapsed during Denmark’s Euro 2020 match against Finland, and had to be resuscitated. In Singapore, there have been ca...

Health Check Ep 62: Making sense of the controversy surrounding US-approved drug for Alzheimer’s disease 19:27 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.  There's a new drug in the United States that offers hope for patients facing the daunting prospect of not being able to remember their loved ones as thei...

Health Check Ep 61: Why women should protect their hearts against cardiovascular disease 19:02 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.  This episode tackles the often underestimated risk of cardiovascular disease in women, and how the symptoms of this disease can differ in women.  ST senior health corres...

Health Check Ep 60: How to sleep right 10:42 mins Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks with ​Dr Richard Swinburne, a sleep scientist and the Head of Sports Nutrition at the Singapore Sports Institute on sleep hygiene, how long a nap should be...