Tag Archives: health

1. Don’t miss sahur – Having sahur is essential to power up your body for the day.
2. Fast, not feast – Avoid overeating when you break fast during Iftar as it is counter-productive for your body and can lead to weight gain.
3. Stay fit – Whether you choose to do your workout before or after breaking fast, try to do low – to moderate intensity exercises to maintain your overall health.
4. Break fast with dates and water – Dates not only provide a burst of energy, they are easily digested, rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals and helps prevent constipation.
5. Avoid caffeine and sugary drinks – Avoid caffeine-based beverages such as tea, coffee or soda as these stimulate faster water loss through urination.
6. Avoid simple sugars – Avoid white rice, white bread and desserts as these digests rapidly causing your blood sugar to drop quickly and leave you feeling hungry.
7. Have a balanced meal – Half your plate with fruits and veggies, ¼ protein, and ¼ carbs.
8. Include complex carbohydrates and fibre rich foods – Choose wholegrain pita bread or tortillas, oats, chia seeds, beans and brown rice.
9. Don’t miss out on sleep – Get adequate sleep to sustain you throughout the day.

WHO recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, or a combination of both. These recommendations can still be achieved even at home, with no special equipment and with limited space. The following are some tips on how to stay active and reduce sedentary behaviour while at home in self-quarantine:

1. Take short active breaks during the day. Quick physical activity add up to the weekly recommendations. You may use the suggested exercises below as inspiration to be active every day. Dancing, playing with children, and performing domestic chores such as cleaning and gardening are other ways of remaining active at home.

2. Join the exercise class online. Take advantage of the variety of online exercise classes. Many of these are free and can be found on YouTube. If you have no experience performing these exercises, be cautious and aware of your own limits.

3. Start walking. Even in small spaces, walking around or on the spot exercise will help you stay active and healthy. When you have a call, instead of sitting down, stand or walk around your house while you are talking. If you decide to go outside for walking or exercise, make sure to maintain a distance of at least 1 meter from others.

4. Stand up. Reduce your sedentary time by standing up whenever possible. Ideally, aim to interrupt sitting and reclining time every 30 minutes. Consider setting up a standing desk to continue working while standing by using a high table or piling a pile of books or other materials. Prioritize cognitively stimulating behaviors during sedentary leisure time, such as reading, board games and puzzles.

5. Relax. Meditation and deep breaths can help you remain calm.

It is also important to keep eating healthily and stay hydrated. WHO recommends drinking water, rather than sugar-sweetened beverages. Limit or avoid alcoholic beverages for adults and strictly avoid these in young people, pregnant and breastfeeding women, or for other health reasons. Ensure plenty of fruits and vegetables, and limit the intake of salt, sugar and fat. Prefer whole grains instead of refined foods.

Warning:
This guidance is intended for people in self-quarantine without any symptoms or diagnosis
of acute respiratory illness. It should not replace medical guidance in case of any health condition.

Source: World Health Organization (WHO)

How Germs Spread?

Washing hands can keep you healthy and prevent the spread of respiratory and diarrheal infections from one person to the next. Germs can spread from other people or surfaces when you:

• Touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
• Prepare or eat food and drinks with unwashed hands
• Touch a contaminated surface or objects
• Blow your nose, cough, or sneeze into hands and then touch other people’s hands or common objects

Key Times to Wash Hands:

You can help yourself and your loved ones stay healthy by washing your hands often, especially during these key times when you are likely to get and spread germs:

• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone at home who is sick with vomiting or diarrhea
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
• After handling pet food or pet treats
• After touching garbage

*During the COVID-19 pandemic, you should also clean hands:

• After you have been in a public place and touched an item or surface that may be frequently touched by other people, such as door handles, tables, gas pumps, shopping carts, or electronic cashier registers/screens, etc.
• Before touching your eyes, nose, or mouth because that’s how germs enter our bodies.

When to Use Hand Rub / Hand Sanitizer?

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to get rid of germs in most situations. If soap and water are not readily available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. You can tell if the sanitizer contains at least 60% alcohol by looking at the product label.

Sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in many situations. However,

• Sanitizers do not get rid of all types of germs.
• Hand sanitizers may not be as effective when hands are visibly dirty or greasy.
• Hand sanitizers might not remove harmful chemicals from hands like pesticides and heavy metals.

Source:

1. World Health Organization (WHO) – Hand hygiene: why, how and when?
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Keeping hands clean

Drive-thru screening service for Covid-19 is now available at selected Pantai hospitals and Gleneagles hospitals throughout peninsular Malaysia (by appointments only).

The main objective of this drive-thru service is for individuals to minimize contact with others, making it convenient for people to get tested without having to leave their vehicles.

This drive-thru service uses the same technique as Covid-19 mobile screening which is Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method. It is the gold standard method as per endorsed by Ministry of Health and has a higher sensitivity to detect Covid-19 compared to the Rapid test. Samples will be obtained from both Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal Swabs.

Below is the list of Covid-19 drive-thru stations at selected Pantai hospitals and Gleneagles hospitals:-

Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR)

Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR), is a technique used to detect the presence of COVID-19 virus in patient’s body. This method is being practiced in the COVID-19 tests conducted at the laboratories of all government health facilities and also used by Pantai Premier Pathology too. Almost all tests currently being carried out in Malaysia are tested using a technique known as polymerase chain reaction or PCR. The swabs i.e., the samples obtained are used to match the genetic material captured on the swab with the genetic code of COVID-19. PCR amplifies the genetic material so that it becomes easy to detect. The ingredients of the PCR are generic however, an element of the test known as the primer (functions as hook); which is used to match the genetic material with the virus that causes COVID-19 is unique.

Rapid Test Kit (RTK)

In contrast, the Rapid Test Kit (RTK) technique which has been publicized as producing faster result, is actually detecting the antibodies produced by the host immune system against the virus. These tests would likely be less accurate than lab-based PCR tests because they looked for antibodies, rather than the virus itself. The result could be a false-negative if the test is taken at the wrong stage of a person’s illness. This may cause inaccuracy in diagnosing patient with COVID-19 at much earlier stage thus it is not recommended by the MoH. As the result generated by the RTK test may be questionable, it is advisable for the public to refrain from taking such test without proper consultation by medical practitioner.

Source:

1. Medical Microbiologist, Pantai Premier Pathology
2. Ministry of Health Malaysia