Health & Living

What does your doctor say to you when you enter the consultation room, or after delivering the news of your diagnosis? How does the nurse communicate when preparing you for a medical test, such as an MRI scan? These conversations are important in our healthcare interactions, and can make a difference in terms of what information we take away from the visit, how much we trust our healthcare provide...

Picture your mother who’s just undergone knee replacement surgery. The surgeon discharges her after several days of recovery in the hospital. However, she’s not feeling confident enough to be at home, where she will mostly be alone during the working hours. This is one scenario where a step-down facility provides an intermediate level of care to help people transition between leaving the hospital...

If you have hearing problems, the audiologist is an important healthcare professional who should be involved in helping you to assess and manage your condition. In this episode of Humans of Healthcare, we speak to an audiologist, Dr Nashrah bt Maamor, to find out what this role entails, and what you need to know if you’re considering a career in audiology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

What do glowing animals and nanotechnology have in common? More than you might realise, as, the science behind the concepts of fluorescence and nanotechnology have uses in the field of medicine and biosciences. Professor Jeremy Simpson, Dean of the College of Science at University College Dublin, joins the show to dive into these aspects of his research in cell biology, and how the understanding o...

There’s no denying that we’ve made significant progress in tackling the stigma against people living with HIV as well as improving support and access to healthcare for these individuals in the past decades. None of that would’ve been possible without the role of community organisations. In conjunction with World AIDS Day, we speak to one such organisation here in Malaysia, the Sarawak AIDS Concern...

For patients with chronic diseases, it’s not just managing their health and treatment to think about, but how the costs could add up over time. Especially for diseases like cancer, it’s not uncommon to hear of patients who struggle to pay for treatments that would be lifesaving. While there are avenues for patients to seek financial aid, how effective have these been? What are the gaps that remain...

It was recently reported that of the 266 children rescued from GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISBH), a third were found to be suffering from anxiety, and another one-third have depression. The effects of child abuse do not end simply because a child is removed from the abusive situation or perpetrator - there can be long-lasting consequences throughout a child’s life, as well as on the generations after...

How do you come to terms with a diagnosis when you go from leading an active, healthy life, to one riddled with symptoms that even doctors can’t tell you what caused your illness? Shawn Sharif shares her medical journey of living with multiple chronic illnesses, particularly the challenges of being diagnosed with bone lesions and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. We also hear from consultant n...

Like an abstract painting, there is balance in the chaos of life. But for artist Adli Nazrin, the chaos was overwhelming when he went to the UK to pursue his Master’s. Pushed over the edge by a number of personal crises, he developed Major Depressive Disorder, alongside symptoms of psychosis. On this episode of Because Feelings Matter , we hear about how Adli eventually found his own path through...

Have you wondered how much we understand about the impact of drug use on someone’s brain, and thus their behaviour? How far have we come in helping people with drug addiction and what have been the advances in the available treatment for those who need it? Here to dive into that, we’re joined by three experts from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia: neuroscientist Assoc Prof Dr Jayakumar Murthy, clini...

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing threats we face to human health, because it makes diseases much more difficult, if not impossible, to treat. It means the risk of the disease spreading is higher, and thus more severe illness and even death. In a society where much of the population lives with chronic disease, the burden of AMR is even worse and complicates the care for these pa...

How often do older adults need or end up in the emergency department? How different are their medical needs compared to someone younger? Here to unpack those questions and more on this episode of Healthy Ageing are consultant emergency physician Prof Dr Mohd Idzwan Zakaria and consultant geriatrician Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin, both from UMMC. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

What does it mean to live an authentic life? Why does it bother us when we think that someone is not being authentic or genuine? We ask consultant clinical psychologist Paul Jambunathan to explain how to find your authentic self, and why it matters to your mental well-being. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Refugees are often at higher risk of developing mental health issues, because of the often traumatic experiences they’ve had fleeing their home country. But their struggles don’t end once they make it to a host country, especially as we see rising xenophobia and policies that aren’t friendly to refugees, as we’ve seen here in Malaysia. So how do all of these circumstances impact their mental healt...

Are you bothered by headaches, and worried about whether their frequency is cause for concern? Or do migraines significantly disrupt your quality of life and ability to function? On this episode of Ask A Doctor, you can delve into headaches and migraines with Dr Julia Shahnaz Merican, Consultant Neurologist. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being diagnosed with cancer will never be an easy journey. But a lot has changed in the landscape of cancer care. Today, a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer will have more hope for her recovery, with access to better treatment and care. With the focus now trained on survivorship, conversations are also turning to how we can support cancer patients in returning to normal lives, resuming work, and...

What we know of cholesterol comes from sensational headlines about eggs and santan , or the bewildering numbers that appear on a lab report from a screening test. For many, cholesterol remains an abstract concept—until it becomes a personal one. Sharaad Kuttan, BFM presenter, who recently underwent a cholesterol test, shares his journey of discovering high cholesterol and how he’s facing his diagn...

In 2023, pneumonia overtook ischaemic heart disease as the number one cause of death in Malaysia, ranking highest among older adults above the age of 60. We find out why pneumonia became so deadly last year, and what public health measures are important to ensure this trend does not continue. Prof Dr Ahmad Izuanuddin Ismail, President of the Malaysian Thoracic Society, and Dr Mohd Arif Mohd Zim, C...

Your liver’s biggest role is to remove toxins from your blood, but what happens when that function is impaired by cancer? Consultant general and hepatobiliary surgeon Dr Balraj Singh from Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur joins us to share more about liver cancer and how it impacts liver function. He’ll also be talking about early detection of liver cancer and advances in treatment. See omnystudio.com/...

We all carry it – unresolved hurts, past traumas, and emotional wounds that shape how we see the world and ourselves. But what happens when this emotional baggage begins to weigh us down? On Counsellor's Corner, Lakshumy Kumar is here to help you recognise the signs of unaddressed emotional baggage, its impact on your mental health, and how to unpack it. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.c...

In Malaysia, breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women, and the risk tends to rise with age. However, breast cancer is not one single homogenous disease - there are different subtypes, with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) being the most aggressive subtype. We dive into the diagnosis of TNBC with Dr Tan Chih Kiang, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, and Dr Ng Char Hong,...

What is it like being the person who looks after people’s hearts? On this episode of Humans of Healthcare, consultant cardiologist Dr Raja Ezman Faridz Raja Shariff tells us more about the work of a cardiologist, how this specialty serves the needs of the community today, and whether his own heart skips a beat when dealing with difficult cases. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has made significant strides in recent decades, expanding the possibilities for individuals and couples experiencing infertility or other reproductive challenges. While ART continues to offer hope to those facing infertility, there is a constant balance to be maintained between scientific progress and ethical considerations, including ensuring accessibility o...

Rheumatological disorders are a broad category of diseases caused by inflammation in the joints and connective tissues. Together with consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dr Rajesh Singh, we explore what gives rise to these conditions, and why it’s important to understand the inflammatory process in managing these diseases. Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Currently more than 1.5 billion people worldwide live with hearing loss. For some of these people, hearing aids may improve their hearing, so that they can still listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. But hearing aids aren’t devices that you can just purchase online or over-the-counter, and expect miraculous results. Audiologist Ngiow Jen Sen joins us to explain the v...