MORTALITY

This is something that we don't think about when we were young and which I tried not to think about for years. I avoided this topic until recently when I was confronted with it, not head on but close.

In recent years, I have been getting pains here and there out of nowhere e.g. knees, sole, fingers, and these are signs of the body ageing and the parts are slowly falling apart. Special precautions have to be taken to ensure that the body adapts to the physiological changes so that overall, I can still function normally. Walking up stairs is challenging these days, so I have to be careful not to fall over.

However, these are physical changes to the body that we can gradually get used to. But nothing prepared me for other health scares. With us in our forties now, I get worried about getting heart attacks, strokes, cancers etc that usually happen suddenly, with or without warning signs. These are medical ailments that are now closer than we would like it to be. What if I get a sudden heart attack? What if I get a rare cancer that strikes one in a million? What are the odds of it happening? It is rare but the possibility of it happening looms nearer with every day, month and year. Should I become paranoid, become increasingly worried about what may possibly happen or just get on with life without nary a care?

I was very scared and worried when some skin tissues were sent for a biopsy on 10 Nov 16 and lost sleep fretting over it until the results came back yesterday on 16 Nov 16. Whilst the results were cleared and stated that the verruca tissues were not malignant, I think it is important not to be complacent about it because the doctor did warn that if the skin wasn't removed now, it could become cancerous in 10 years time.

It is time to look into our medical insurance policies and get ourselves covered and prepared as much as we can afford it.

TODAY (15 AUG 13) PAGE 22 - HIP FRACTURE PATIENTS AND THE 5-YEAR RISK: STUDY

Doctors 'Should Do More to Inform Patients'

Contributed by Emily Liu, the article warns of the increased possibility of death from infections during this 5 year period compared to non-fracture cases because of the immobility of the patients. The five main causes of death were identified as stroke, coronary heart disease, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and cancer.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health conducted studies between 1993 and 1998 on 1,166 chinese patients with hip fractures and of these, 37% of them passed away within 5 years in comparison to only 22% of non-fracture cases. This figure is alarming and more should be done to inform and warn the patients and their families of the increased risk. Assoc Prof Wilson Wang opined that infections are things that can be easily treated if caught early, hence doctor awareness and patient awareness are very important.

The immobility brought about by the hip fractures has dire consequences because of the increased risks of chest and urinary tract infections. The former can happen when the patients consume food while lying down and inadvertently, food may enter the lungs through the windpipe and cause infection. The latter can happen when the patients hold back their urine for longer periods of time because of the inconvenience and increased difficulty of visiting the toilets, thereby allowing bacteria to proliferate. The risks of dying from pneumonia were found to be higher in men and of dying from urinary tract infections were higher in women.

The recommendation by the research group to reduce the risk of mortality is to inform patients and their caregivers of the increased risk so that adequate preventive measures can be taken to help improve the mobility of these patients. Prevention of osteoporosis is also recommended because it reduces the risk of sustaining a hip fracture.