Health & Living

Paracetamol, antihistamines, cough syrup, sleeping pills – do you often self-medicate with these drugs? Perhaps you even tell yourself that it’s okay to take more than the recommended dosage or just to ward off impending symptoms. Two experts will help us to understand when a bit of self-care becomes harmful. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to Patients for Patient Safety Malaysia, the country has an efficient healthcare system that reaches 95% of the population within a 5km radius, and the next step for us to take is to have better understanding of patient needs with an older and much wiser population. Manvir Victor discusses how healthcare deals with this reality and how patients help to bridge the gap to ensure they're be...

It’s the 21st century and women shouldn’t be dying in childbirth. Unfortunately, maternal deaths are still a reality, and the risk is increasing with the alarming trend of home births. Consultant obstetric anaesthesiologist Prof Chan Yoo Kuen from University of Malaya explains the role of the anaesthesiologist in managing obstetric emergencies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Adolescence now lasts from the ages of 10 to 24 instead of ending at 19, according to a new paper published by The Lancet. We speak to the lead author, Prof Susan Sawyer about the biological and social arguments for why the definition should be extended, and how it will affect policies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr George Lee returns to discuss the latest medical news. Expect deep insights delivered with generous humour. This week, Dr Richard Veerapen joins him to discuss informed consent, and the growing recognition of patient’s rights in decision making. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does your child often talk about someone who doesn’t exist? Don’t be alarmed, it’s probably just an imaginary friend. Take a peek into your child’s world with consultant developmental paediatrician Dr Rajini Sarvananthan. She will discuss how imaginary friends fit into your child’s social and emotional development. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A girl's first period marks the start of her fertility. But to many girls who have no idea what periods are or that they should expect one, periods can be a horrifying experience. Young girls should learn about menstruation and how to manage it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Malaysians, most of us have used some form of traditional medicine, whether it is for maintaining health or treating illnesses. But as traditional medicine providers and services proliferate, how do we know whether we’re putting our health in the hands of trustworthy practitioners? Dr Dyanan Puvanandran, Secretary of the Traditional & Complementary Medicine (TCM) Council from the Mini...

Dr Al Fazir Omar, Consultant Cardiologist of IJN explains when and how primary percutaneous coronary intervention is used for heart attack cases and how patients have benefited from the HKL-IJN network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr George Lee returns to discuss the latest medical news. Expect deep insights delivered with generous humour. Since January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, Prof Dr Woo Yin Ling joins him for an update on developments in this field while Karen shares her experience with battling cervical cancer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stroke is the third largest cause of death in Malaysia, after heart disease and cancer. Every year, about 40,000 Malaysians suffer from stroke, and the average age at first stroke is getting younger and younger. Find out what causes stroke at a young age from Sunway Medical Centre’s Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Dato’ Dr Yap Yee Guan . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Celine Chan and Lalitha Nair share with us their breast cancer journey. In the second part of this two-part miniseries, they share their experience with treatment, alternative therapy, the side effects, and the cost of cancer care. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For any parent with school-going children, the one thing on their mind is: exams. New evidence suggests that letting children focus on the pain of failure encourages them to do better next time. US-licensed marriage and family therapist Dr Johnben Loy is here to help you understand whether you should reassure your child after failure or let them feel bad about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Period pain, a taboo topic that needs to be talked about. 80 percent of women have experienced menstrual cramps at some stage of their journey between puberty and menopause. Among them, 20 percent have pains severe enough to interfere with daily tasks and activities. Today, we have Dr Helena Lim, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with us to bust myths about period pains and tell us how to...

Heart failure is the end stage of most diseases of the heart. Clinical Director of Heart Failure and Heart Transplant at IJN, Consultant Cardiologist Dato' Dr Azmee Mohd Ghazi explains the medical and lifestyle approaches to the management of heart failure. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Skin whitening is not a new trend in Asia but Thailand has taken it one step further with a controversial penis whitening procedure. Consultant Urologist Dr George Lee examines this technique and explains whether it's even necessary. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr George Lee returns to discuss the latest medical news. Expect deep insights delivered with generous humour. Consultant urologist Dr George Lee and fertility specialist Dato’ Dr Prashant Nadkarni talk about the latest in IVF technology, and what it means for Malaysia, which is experiencing its lowest fertility rate since 1963. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Glial cells were once dismissed as mere structural support for neurons, but we now know that these group of cells do a lot more than that, thanks to the work of neurobiologist Ben Barres. On this eleventh episode of Brain Waves, neurogeneticist Dr Azlina Ahmad Annuar is joined by neuroscientist Assoc Prof Dr Sharmili Vidyadaran to discuss Dr Sharmili's work on glial cells as a tribute to Barres, w...

This is the first of a new monthly series on Public Health with Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO of Galen Centre for Health & Social Policy. Malaysia’s National Immunisation Programme is a success story. We have kept deadly infectious diseases at low levels and even eradicated some of them. However, we may see all our progress being derailed by the growing anti-vaccination movement. Dr Rohani bt J...

Adolescents today live in a chaotic world. They are overloaded with information, their social interactions are reduced to a screen, and their values come from popular culture. Consultant psychiatrist Dr Philip George is here to help us understand whether this generation is at greater risk of mental health problems, and whether we are seeing a disturbing trend in adolescent suicide. See omnystudio....

IJN recently launched its Private Clinic, which aims to deliver faster and more efficient patient care to its private customers. Does this mean that those who can afford it will get better treatment? Find out how this move complements IJN’s overall service from Dato Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, head of the Private Healthcare Division at IJN. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently, a large study of 1.8 million Danish women found that hormone contraceptives cause a small but significant increase in the risk for breast cancer. We speak to consultant obstetrician & gynaecologist Dr Helena Lim to find out if women should be alarmed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr George Lee returns to discuss the latest medical news. Expect deep insights delivered with generous humour. In a recently published study, Malaysian and Singapore researchers found that older persons with osteoarthritis were more likely to fall if they had a fear of falling (FoF) and psychological symptoms. One of the co-authors of the study, consultant geriatrician Assoc Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin, j...

If you have had a stroke, you may develop a condition where you believe that your arm, or other limbs, are not your own. There are many other conditions where people lose their sense of their body parts. We speak to neuroscientist and psychologist Dr Andreas Kalckert, whose research in body perception tries to understand how the mind understands ownership and control of our body. See omnystudio.co...

Celine Chan and Lalitha Nair share with us their breast cancer journey. In the first part of this two-part miniseries, they share their diagnoses and whether breast cancer changed their perspective on womanhood. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.