Amazing Benefits Of Bananas

Credit: FB Avon Malaysia

Human Papillomavirus - HPV

Human Papillomavirus - A virus called Human Papillomavirus (HPV) can cause changes in the cervix that may lead to cervical cancer. 

Here are some facts about this HPV:

• Scientists have linked nearly all cases of cervical cancer to HPV.

• HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, caught by having sexual contact with someone who has it.

• Most sexually active women will be infected with HPV at some point because it is very common.

• The types of HPV that cause cervical cancer have no symptoms.

• Usually the virus does not cause any problems and clears up on its own.

• However, if it persists it can cause changes in the cells of the cervix. These changes may lead to cancer if left untreated.

• HPV itself does not show up in cervical screening and cannot be treated.

• Instead, cervical screening detects early cell changes in the cervix that are caused by HPV. Treating these cells prevents cancer from developing.

Credit: FB MAKNA (Majlis Kanser Nasional)- Official Page  www.facebook.com/maknacancer

Saving Sammy - Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD

Author: Beth Alison Maloney
Publisher; Crown Publishers, New York
Price: RM97.60
No. of Pages: 260
Year: 2009
ISBN9780307461834

What would you do if your child suddenly refused to bathe, burst into fits of rage, slithered along walls, and wouldn't walk out of the front door? If you're like Beth Maloney, you'd fight to reclaim your son, taking on members of the medical establishment who are too quick to label him with OCD and Tourette's while prescribing antidepressants that only made the symptoms worse.

Saving Sammy is the inspiring story of how Maloney discovered the real cause of her son's mental illness - the common strep bacteria - and her battle to find the right treatment for him. It is the empowering memoir of a gutsy mom who fought for her son's life and who won't rest until she has helped save others.

The summer before entering sixth grade, Sammy, a bright and charming boy who lived on the coast of Maine, suddenly began to exhibit disturbing behavior. He walked and ate with his eyes shut, refused to bathe, burst into fits of rage, slithered against the walls, and used his limbs instead of his hand to touch light switches, doorknobs, and faucets.

Sammy's mother, Beth already coping with overwhelming responsibility of raising three sons alone, watched helplessly as her middle child descended into madness.Sammy was soon diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and later with Tourette syndrom. Unwilling to accept the doctors' prognoses for lifelong mental illness and repeated hospitalizations, Beth fought to uncover what was causing this decline. Racing against time as Sammy slipped further from reality, Beth's quest took her to the center of the medical community's raging debate about whether mental illness can be caused by infection. With the battle lines firmly drawn, Beth searched until she found two cutting-edge doctors who answered the question with a definite yes. Together, they cured Sammy. Five years later, he remains symptom free.

Driven by her desire to help others, Beth Maloney has infused every page of his triumphant journey with heart and passion. An important story, Saving Sammy is part manifesto, part medical mystery, but is at its heart the empowering and inspiring story of a mother's determination to save her son, take on the medical establishment - and win.

CONTAMINATED My Journey Out of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Title: CONTAMINATED My Journey Out of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Author: Gerry Radano, MSW
Publisher: Bar-Le-Duc Books
Price: RM100.90 (USD$18)
Pages: 205
Year: 2007
ISBN9780979228803

INCURABLE! This was the knockout punch she had dreaded hearing, yet knew in her heart was inevitable. Her psychiatrist had apathetically put a label on her that was tantamount to a life sentence without parole. Equally devastated by her doctor's declaration and furious by his cavalier attitude, she vowed on the spot that she would prove him wrong. Her diagnosis - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Gerry's storybook life as a flight attendant who traveled the world, an accomplished real estate entrepreneur, and a happily married mother of two was interrupted overnight by OCD. She survived the kind of mental torture normally only seen in movies like The Aviator, she in three psychiatric hospitals, had countless hours of therapy, tried every medication available, and eventually lost connection to her relatives and friends, her career, her husband and nearly her children. Radano's relentless determination pulled her thru. Now she is using that same fierce resolve to rebuild her life.

Life In Rewind

Title: Life In Rewind - The story of a young courageous man who persevered over OCD and the Harvard doctor who broke all the rules to help him.
Author: Terry Weible Murphy with Edward E. Zine and Michael A. Jenike
Publisher: HarperCollins
Price: RM101.53
Page: 242
Year: 2009
ISBN9780061561535

OCD picks apart every aspect of every conversation. It gets a foothold on you while you are consumed by everything else. It worries too much about the things we've done, are doing , or are going to do, all at the same time. While you're thinking you can take all the whole world all at the same time, you can't because OCD is tearing you down, filling you with self doubt, making you unable to take just one step forward. We lock down and freeze...OCD is just a word, but when it sucks, the life out of my life, it also sucks the life out of my beloved ones' lives. It is ruthless in its attack. When it hits you, it will not stop. We know that we are acting crazy, but also we know that we are not crazy. And while the outside world tries to take care of us and reassure, OCD spits in their faces and tries to change, dictate and control the ones who bring us love and reassurance...

Collection - Health & General Books

Warna-warni Duniaku

Judul: Warna-warni Duniaku - Kisah Hidup Albert Wang (judul asal The Colour of My Mind)

Editor: Kevin Thomas & Caleb Masuda Koh

Penterjemah & Penyunting (Bahasa Melayu): Hajjah Shamsiah Mohd. Yusof

Penerbit: Oak Publication

Tahun: 2009

Bil. Muka Surat: 66

Harga: RM20

Albert Wang membawa anda kembali ke masa silam beliau dengan perjalanan kisah hidupnya bagaimana beliau mula dibelenggu masalah skizofrenia sewaktu zaman mudanya. Kompilasi episod-episod pendek di dalam buku ini mengisahkan bagaimana beliau berjuang dengan penyakit tersebut, persoalan, dugaan, cabaran dan kejayaan di dalam pelbagai peringkat kehidupannya.

Skizofrenia adalah penyakit seumur hidup yang sukar dipulihkan sepenuhnya. Buku ini mendedahkan mitos-mitos tentang skizofrenia supaya kita lebih memahami bagaimana pesakit-pesakit lain yang ada kaitan menangani penyakit tersebut. Di dalam buku ini anda juga didedahkan dengan pelbagai karakter individu yang hadir di dalam kehidupan Albert yang bergelut dengan penyakit skizofrenia. Mereka juga turut berkongsi pengalaman sepintas lalu cabaran yang perlu dihadapi oleh orang-orang yang mengalami kecelaruan mental ini. Sebahagian besar perjuangan Albert adalah dalam usaha untuk berjaya dalam bidang akademik sewaktu era pembangunan Malaysia di sekitar tahun 80an. Walaupun sering dilanda kekecewaan dan ketidakpastian tentang masa depannya, namun Albert bertekad dan berazam untuk melakukan yang terbaik.

Buku ini adalah karaya pertama yang dihasilkan oleh Albert. Ianya satu karya yang jujur dan berwawasan jesteru adalah sebuah buku yang perlu dibaca oleh semua.

Jalan-jalan di Kedai Buku PPUM

Setelah makan tengah hari, saya mengambil kesempatan untuk ke kedai buku yang terletak dalam bangunan PPUM. Lagi pun saya ingin merasa aircond semasa melalui laluan ke wad kerana cuaca di luar yang agak panas. Tujuan utama adalah untuk membeli Dewan Kosmik bulan Jun tapi sayangnya masih belum ada. Hmm... dah tak tau nak komen macamana tentang pengedaran majalah ini. Sungguh mengecewakan. Mungkin pertengahan bulan Jun, akan sampailah DK kesayangan saya. Mungkin saya patut melanggan DK.

Di sebalik buku-buku perubatan yang dijual (kerana kedai buku ini dikhususkan untuk menjual buku-buku perubatan), terselit juga buku-buku agama dan bacaan ilmiah lain. Mata saya tertumpu kepada buku hasil tulisan Za'ba, Perangai Bergantung Pada Diri Sendiri, atau tajuk Inggerisnya, Habit of Self-Reliance. Harganya RM15, setelah mendapat diskaun, ia menjadi RM13.50.

Mata saya terpandang sebuah buku yang menarik perhatian saya, Warna-Warni Minda Ku: Kisah Hidup Albert Wang. Penulisnya Albert Wang menulis memoir tentang dirinya yang menghidap skizofrenia. Terdapat juga edisi bahasa Inggeris dan harga untuk setiap edisi adalah RM20.

Ini adalah satu pendedahan berani Albert tentang penyakitnya di mana perkara ini masih menjadi stigma masyarakat Malaysia. Sesiapa yang ke klinik psikiatri akan dianggap gila. Pandangan masyarakat perlu diperbetulkan kerana sesiapa sahaja boleh mengalami keadaan seperti ini.

Saya teringat kisah seorang kanak-kanak perempuan berusia tujuh tahun yang menghidap skizofrenia di tahap yang teruk, yang dipaparkan dalam rancangan Oprah. January, atau nama timangannya, Janni, akan mencederakan dirinya atau sesiapa sahaja. Sesuatu yang dianggap mustahil bagi kanak-kanak berusia tujuh tahun. Janni telah menunjukkan keadaan yang ganjil semenjak usia bayi lagi. Dia  juga mempunyai kawan imaginasinya yang menyuruh membuat itu dan ini, termasuklah perkara yang memudaratkan.

Ibu bapanya terpaksa menyewa dua buah apartmen, dan masing-masing bergilir-gilir menjaga Janni. Kesedaran kedua ibu bapanya menyebabkan dirinya dapat dikawal. Bagaimana pula dengan ibu bapa yang buta huruf dan membiarkan anak-anak mereka menderita sakit mental tanpa mendapatkan rawatan yang betul?

Satu lagi filem yang menarik, A Beautiful Mind, menceritakan kisah hidup seorang genius yang menhgidap skizofrenia. Saya lebih tertarik kepada pelakon utamanya, Russel Crowe!

One of my friend told me, he hates psychiatrist!

Waswas - Bila syaitan membelit manusia

Entah ke mana perginya buku ini. Hilang atau silap letak.

Dibeli semasa Pesta Buku PWTC 2006.

Why We Get Sick?

Why We Get Sick : The New Science of Darwinian Medicine

Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams

Vintage Books, NY

1996

290 pages

ISBN 0679746749

RM60.96 @ Kinokuniya

The next time you get sick, consider this before you pick up the aspirin: your body may be doing exactly what it's supposed to. In this ground-breaking book, two pioneers of the emerging science of Darwinian medicine argue that the ilness as well as the factors that predispose us toward it are subject to the same laws of natural selection that otherwise make our bodies such miracles of design. Among the concerns they raise:

When may a fever be beneficial?

Why do pregnant women get morning sickness precisely when they are supposed to be nourishing their developing babies?

How do certain viruses "manipulate" their host into infecting others?

Why evolutionary factors may be responsible for depression and panic disorder?

Deftly summarizing the latest research on disorders ranging from allergies to Alzheimer's, and from cancer to Huntington's chorea, Why We Get Sick answers the questions and more. The result is a book that will revolutionize our attitudes toward illness and will intrigue and instruct lay persons and medical practitioners alike.

They still believe in Darwinisme? Does natural selection exist? It doesn't because God does not play dice with the universe.


This is my favorite part of this book regarding cancers of female reproductive organs:

The more interesting finding is that the probability of a cancer of the female reproductive system at any age increased directly in relation to the number of menstrual cycles woman has experienced.The most likely victim of a cancer of the reproductive tissues is an elderly woman who had an early menarche and late menopause and never had her cycling interrupted by pregnancy and lactation.


About the authors:

Randolph M. Neese, M.D. is a practicing physician and professor, Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. George C. Williams, Ph.D, is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolution at the State University @ Stony Brooke.