Health & Living

 Did you know that atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm condition, is more likely to develop as people get older, have uncontrolled hypertension and underlying heart disease? This puts many of us at risk, and therefore, with higher chances of developing a stroke. In this session, Datuk Dr Razali Omar, consultant electrophysiologist and cardiologist from CVSKL, shares about the lates...

In 2023, 3,361 sexual harassment and assault cases were recorded by the police. Of this number, 4 percent of the victims were male. Joshua - a survivor of sexual abuse - wrote in an opinion piece in Free Malaysia Today, “I often think of this 4% – these 135 men and boys – whose cases are on record, and marvel at their bravery.” Joshua’s own bravery comes to light on this episode of Because Feeling...

Over 15% of the Malaysian adult population have diabetes and almost half of that number are undiagnosed. That should be a wake-up call for all of us because if not managed well, diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, strokes, and kidney failure. Here to help us understand that link and how people living with diabetes can better manage their condition, is Dr Saiful Kassim, consultan...

Your heart works day and night to keep blood pumping throughout your body, but what happens when your heart begins to fail? Would you even notice? We speak to Dr Raja Ezman Faridz Raja Sharif, Consultant Cardiologist and Head of Heart Failure Services, Hospital Al-Sultan Abdullah UiTM about the challenges in detecting and treating heart failure, as well as Tan Mee Hui, who discovered she has heart...

Ask a Doctor is back and this month it’s all about kids’ dental health and hygiene with Dr Tengku Maryam Fatimah, a consultant paediatric dentist. She’ll also guide parents on how to make a daunting experience a bit less scary for young kids.  Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Epilepsy is a complex condition, affecting people profoundly, not only in terms of the medical aspects but also the social challenges that often accompany it. Prof Dr Lim Kheng Seang, Consultant Neurologist from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and Honorary Advisor of the Malaysian Society Of Epilepsy, sheds light on the persistent stigma surrounding epilepsy and discuss the importance of educatio...

World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 Sept kicks off the triennial theme for 2024-2026, "Changing the Narrative on Suicide" with the call to action, "Start the Conversation". This theme aims to raise awareness about the importance of reducing stigma and encouraging open conversations to prevent suicides. On this episode of Mind Matters, we explore how we can create a variety of safe spaces for conver...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern. This doesn’t make it a pandemic like COVID-19 was, but it does mean that countries have to introduce measures to ensure that mpox doesn’t turn into a pandemic. Infectious diseases consultant Dr Timothy William explains what we need to know about mpox strains, symptoms, transmission and vaccina...

This Merdeka and Malaysia Day, Health & Living celebrates iconic institutions of healthcare, from institutions of education, to research and health services. In this episode, we’re spotlighting an institution older than Malaysia itself - the Institute for Medical Research. While the IMR may not be a familiar name to many, it has played an important part in advancing medical research in disease...

For us Southeast Asians, dealing with the heat and humidity is part and parcel of our everyday lives. But with climate change causing more intense and frequent heat waves beyond what we’re used to, how are our bodies coping? Here to help us understand how heat stress affects the human body and what can be done to mitigate that impact is Assoc Prof Dr Jason Lee, Director of the Heat Resilience and...

Have you had a procedure where you didn’t require open surgery, but had a catheter, needle or tube inserted into your body with the help of imaging technology? That’s one of the many areas of interventional radiology, a highly specialised area of medicine that uses minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat diseases. Dr Alex Tang, a Consultant Vascular and Interventional Radiologist, join...

In conjunction with Merdeka and Malaysia Days, here on the show we’re running a mini-series to celebrate iconic institutions of healthcare, from institutions of education, to research and health services. In this episode, we’re crossing over to East Malaysia to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, which first opened their doors in 1995. We speak to Prof Dr Asri Sa...

It was World Sexual Health Day earlier this week (4th Sept) and in conjunction with that, consultant urologist Dr George Lee is joined by consultant obstetrician & gynaecologist Dr Hoo Mei Lin to discuss what good sexual health means, the stigma that still persists, and how positive relationships are an important part of good sexual health.  Image credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/l...

On Counsellor’s Corner, licensed counsellor Lakshumy Kumar joins us to answer your questions on regrets and what-ifs, from missed career opportunities, to a relationship left unresolved, or an unexpected loss. Learn more about the art of moving forward, learning from the past, and finding peace. This conversation may bring up difficult topics like suicide and self-harm. If you need to talk about y...

Could back pain be caused by repressed emotions? That was the theory put forth by the late Dr John Sarno - an American rehab physician who split opinions down the middle when it came to treating chronic back pain. On one side, those who support Sarno’s theory that back pain stems from the way the brain deals with emotions. On the other side, scientists and doctors who say Sarno's tension myoneural...

This Merdeka and Malaysia Day, Health & Living celebrates iconic institutions of healthcare, from institutions of education, to research and health services. In the heart of KL, the sprawling lands of Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) hold countless memories for generations of Klang Valley residents - either you or someone in your family might have been born there, or received care and treatment ove...

How does cancer affect women’s lives? Not just as patients, as you might assume, but also as health professionals, researchers, policymakers and as unpaid caregivers. In all these areas, women often face multiple, overlapping forms of discrimination, which then restrict their ability to prevent cancer, access care, entrench them as unpaid caregivers, and hinder their professional advancement. The...

Not too long ago, pregnant celebrities were boasting about their at-home ultrasound machines. Then, vanity ultrasound places became a thing, offering scans of your baby as keepsakes. Now, there are sonography centres offering packages for detailed and advanced antenatal ultrasound scans. Are these as harmless as they sound, or are there risks associated with undergoing ultrasound scans without the...

This Merdeka and Malaysia Day, Health & Living celebrates iconic institutions of healthcare, from institutions of education, to research and health services. We start with a look at medical education in Malaysia, where you immediately think of University of Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine, the grand old dame that started out as the Straits Settlement and Federated Malay States Government Medical...

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into lockdown. The streets became empty. Shops, businesses, offices and schools were shut. Some families were kept apart. For vulnerable, marginalised communities like the homeless and the destitute, everyday life became perilous. Alya Syahida Allias, an activist for high risk communities, straddled these worlds as the lockdowns dragged on. This is h...

For people who have swallowing issues, eating can be a challenge but that doesn’t mean what they eat can’t be nutritious and delicious. Question is, how can family members do that safely? And does taste matter as long as they’re getting their necessary nutrients? Here to answer those questions and more, are speech-language therapist Tay Chia Yi and dietitian Tan Xin Yi.   Image credit: S...

For several months, JC suffered chest pains mimicking a heart attack. The tightening spread from his chest, up towards his neck. Then without warning, the heel pain appeared. He also had severe, unexplained fatigue. For a year, he battled these unpredictable symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis (now known as axial spondyloarthritis or AS), with little guidance. Now, with the help of the right treatm...

It was recently reported in the Dewan Negara that we’ve been seeing an uptick in the number of new HIV cases among our university students aged between 18 and 25. So on today’s show, we want to find out just how concerning are the numbers and, more importantly, what kind of stigma still exists surrounding HIV among Malaysian youths? To unpack this, consultant urologist Dr George Lee is joined by D...

Being bullied and trolled online. Violent or sexually explicit content. Reels and posts promoting unrealistic ideals. Our children could be inadvertently exposed to all this and more, in their everyday use of social media, gaming, video, messaging and content platforms. How concerned should we be about the content that our children and teens see online, and how do we realistically protect them fro...

For a family of a child with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), life could be divided into moments of Before and After. Before refers to the period when the parents were expecting their child and before he/she came to be diagnosed with this genetic condition. After, of course, heralds how life changed following the diagnosis. In both periods, families have very little knowledge, information and guidan...