Sunny Health

In a recently conducted survey by the Heath Promotion Board (HPB), it was discovered that one out of ten Singaporeans were overweight.

*Horror*

Granted, we’re still a long way off the obesity rates of countries like the US and UK (in the US, one in three people were obese). But don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. It seems that Singapore’s rate of obesity among its population – a 0.65 per cent increase from the year 2004 – is similar to these countries. What this means is that if nothing is done to curb this trend soon, we’ll end up having to shop for clothes a few sizes larger than usual in the not too distant future.

So what does this boil down to? Simple. Singaporeans are not getting enough exercise and they’re not eating healthily. What’s even more worrying is that all of this is happening in spite the efforts of the HPB in promoting awareness, healthy living programmes with emphasis on exercise and a healthy diet.

Remember, taking small steps is often better that asking to drastically change entire lifestyles overnight. Let us not kid ourselves with instant fixes. The changes we seek can only come about with diligence over time. So immerse yourself in supportive environments, skip the finger food, be an informed customer when it comes to nutritional values of food. The list goes on. With every small success, won’t you feel motivated to do much more? I know I am.

We’re losing the battle of the bulge but we can still win the war.

Wait what? You might be thinking “That’s nice and all Mr Writer, but what in blazes does it have to do with me?”

Good question.

Detecting biomarkers early can significantly improve the chances of diagnosing a cancer tumour at its earliest stage. Well consider the fact that for most cancers the chances of a cure are significantly higher if found and treated early. Wouldn’t that be reason enough to find out more about biomarkers?

There are numerous types of biomarkers that have been identified to date. Examples include protein biomarkers, DNA biomarkers, pathological biomarkers and so on. So how do doctors examine you for biomarkers? Well, you walk into the doctor’s office, nurses and doctors will take samples of your blood and usually in a few weeks you will be asked to return to collect the results of your blood tests.

If you learn from your doctor that you have cancer and the only way to make sure was to perform some tests, you probably wouldn’t want to wait for a few weeks to find out what’s going on. You’d want to know right away. So some good people in the US have developed a new micro-device that cuts the waiting time of a few weeks into mere days.

All this good news comes at a price. For all its uses, proper validation for most of the cancer biomarkers has not been achieved. What this means that because it is a relatively new clinical method, not much data can be concluded from the various types of biomarkers that organs, diseases and conditions release.

Ultimately, for all the new ways used to detect cancer early, the best cure for cancer is still prevention.

So you’ve tried the conventional methods to treat cancer. You’ve gone for endless sessions of chemotherapy, made return trips to the treatment rooms more often than you’d like and suffered from nasty side effects. Surely there must be other options?

Few people realize that psychology can play an important role in cancer treatment. There has been evidence that a positive psychological approach reduces emotional distress, enhances communication between patients, family members and medical staff, reduces side effects of treatment and improves patients’ quality of life.

There’s the case of a Kip Little who was diagnosed with cancer in 1986. In 1990, she was given 3 months to live. Kip worked with a psychologist at the Ontario Cancer Institute and began the transformation of a lifetime. Together with fellow cancer patients, they met weekly to discuss their feelings, learned meditation and other relaxation techniques and explored ways of coping with grief, depression, pain and fear.

Most people don’t associate psychology with cancer treatment. However they should as Kip’s story illustrates, psychology can help extend patient’s lives beyond what conventional medicine can hope to achieve.

Watching what you eat during festivies would seem to be a paradox because carbonated drinks, deep fried goodies, CHOCOLATE and holidays go hand in hand. Keeping fit is also difficult because shopping trips, traffic, and fatigue (because of the shopping and traffic) disrupt your regular fitness routine.

In addition to being a religious event, Deepavali/Hari Raya is also a food festival. Dishes like roti, channa (chick pea), aloo (potato), fish head curry are commonly served to guests. Unfortunately festive periods can never be used as an excuse to overindulge in food.

As we are ever so concerned about your well-being and health dear readers, here are some suggestions for you guys to follow this Deepavali/Hari Raya to keep a check on your calorie intake.

Get enough sleep

There’s ALWAYS one more party to attend. So it’s easy to suffer from a lack of sleep. Believe it or not, some studies have shown that when people are short on sleep, they eat more. It’s as though the body is trying to obtain energy from food that was meant to come from adequate rest.

Drink lots of water

It not only helps in detoxifying the body but has been proven to curb hunger. A couple of sweets are OK but don't let yourself have too much of carbonated cold drinks. Heck, even fruit juices provide more nutritional value. Long story short, you end up eating less without putting any extra conscious effort.

Balance

Moderation is the mantra to enjoy festive food. Eat fatty foods, sweets and other fried snacks in little amounts. If you are making sweets yourself, use low fat ingredients- like low fat milk and other dairy products. Use natural sweeteners like honey and dates to make sweets and avoid using refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. Instead of loading your plate to the brim with sweets, just take a few, may be one or two, items and eat them slowly and gradually. If someone serves fruits along with sweets, try to take more of them in your plate.

Have realistic expectations

Let’s be honest. Deepavali/Hari Raya is not the time to try and lose weight. Consider yourself successful just to maintain your weight. Don’t feel guilty either if, in spite of your best efforts, you put on a pound or two. A few pounds are easily taken care of when your schedule gets back to normal in December.

Beware the “all-or-nothing” attitude

This time can be deadly if you have the “all-or-nothing” attitude towards food. This attitude says: “What’s the use? I overate during the party. I might as well stop watching what I eat and go all the way”. Going all the way means giving up all control, eating every fattening morsel that comes your way, feeling terribly guilty, eating some more, etc. So what if you succumbed to the chocolate cake? It’s not the end of the world. You can always eat a light low-calorie dinner to balance it out.

We hope these options will help make your festive celebrations a little healthier.
Happy Holidays!

I was walking down town with the boss yesterday and we had a few interesting conversations. One of them was the story of how a certain school principal was hesitant to provide details to assist in the plight of an unfortunate family who were in need of financial assistance.

I don’t want to bore my beloved readers out there (yes, you) with needless details but the gist of the conversation was the spirit of volunteering in Singapore, or in this case, rather the lack of it. Apart from the fact that altruism is really important for the progress and wellbeing of the community, doing charity work is actually good for health. It helps with your emotional well-being because you feel happy and useful when you know you're doing something good. As you work with volunteers and the less unfortunate, you learn to cope better with your emotions too. Doing charity work also gives you an excuse to get out and about. That certainly beats lounging at home as a couch potato.

For those of you who want to do something about this, you’ll be pleased to know that there are numerous organizations that welcome volunteers with open arms. With the focus of this blog on cancer and health in general, I’ve narrowed down the list to groups that focus their efforts on cancer, health and well-being. I’ve provided you with a list of organizations for your reference. Enjoy doing something really worthwhile!

Name: Children’s Cancer Foundation (CCF)
Address: 138 Bukit Timah Road / 6835 6465
Web: www.ccf.org.sg
Description: Provides counselling, education, parent support groups, family outings, financial assistance and promote public awareness. Needs volunteers who can involve children with cancer in structured play activities, clean toys, tutor and befriend children with cancer.

Name: Singapore Cancer Society
Address: 15 Enggor Street, #04-01/04 Realty Centre / 6421 5839
Web: http://www.singaporecancersociety.org.sg
Description: Volunteers required to assist in the following areas -
Befriender Programme
Administrative Duties
Transport
Public Education
Tuition
Fundraising
Support Group
Photographers

Name: Breast Cancer Support Group
Address: Outram Road / 6321 4474
Web: http://www.sgh.com.sg/Patient-Services/Support-Groups/Pages/breast-cancer-support-group.aspx
Description:
Engages breast cancer patients to share personal experiences of how to cope with illness and treatment
Shares and updates knowledge of current treatments, prevention, rehabilitation and coping strategies.

Name: Make A Wish Foundation
Address: 190 Clemenceau Avenue #07-02 Singapore Shopping Centre/ 6334 9474
Web: http://www.makeawish.org.sg
Description: Grant wishes to youths aged 3-18 with life-threatening illnesses like cancer, leukaemia and metabolic disorders. Requires volunteers for administrative support, wish granting and fund-raising activities.