Placenta, Anyone?

As appeared in Saturday's Star,

the above 35-year old accounts manager Mandy Chong, from Petaling Jaya, had in May last year, paid RM8,180 for four injections.
An assistant administered the injections, not a doctor, on her buttocks with what the beauty centre she went to, claimed to be sheep placenta from New Zealand.
The beauty centre spoke highly of the product during her treatment.

But when the injected area started swelling, she could not bear the pain.
She then went to a specialist hospital and discovered they had actually injected silicone.
She had to spend over RM15,000, double the amount she paid the beauty centre, to rectify the damage caused by the beauty procedure.

Since October last year, she had made six attempts to contact the beauty centre for a refund but was ignored.
She had been unable to work for over a month after the operation, as she is still suffering from pain.
She fears further side effects as doctors said the silicone has entered her bloodstream and there may be long-term effects.

In response, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, in cautioning the public against going for such treatments.
He said, the ministry’s National Phar­maceutical Control Bureau had not approved the use of any injectable placenta products.
As of now, only 31 oral health supplement products that contain placenta, 3 from deer and 28 from sheep, are registered with the bureau.
None of them are injectable.

******

It is known that not too long ago, the rich used to go to Switzerland to have US$20,000 placenta injections.

Placenta, found in the inside layer of the womb, helps foetus get its food.
Because of its nutritious qualities, placenta is hailed as an excellent skin healer, stimulating cell renewal function in the body.
Cell replenishment function helps to slow down the human aging process.
The once every two years injection in Switzerland, is known to have dramatic effect, in maintaining anti-ageing benefits and enhancing quality of life.

When used for skin care products, pig and human placenta are biologically similar to the human skin.
Studies had shown that the use of human and pig placenta extracts benefit the users.
But issues have been raised where Muslim consumers are concerned.
For them, it is sheep placenta, or more commonly known as ovine placenta.

Placenta usage strictly for the rich?
It used to be.
But today, the usage are for people of all ages and races.
There are plenty of placenta-based natural skin care products, from wrinkle creams and facemasks.
Users claimed it produce wonders for the skin.

******

Can the placenta be eaten? No? Yes?

Once, a father, after visiting his wife in hospital, brought home his baby's placenta meant to wash and bury it. Local culture greatly believe that the placenta needs proper burial.
But, his grown up daughter thought her father had bought organ of an animal.
Without giving much thought to it, she boiled, fry and cook for the family.
When the father asked where she bought the meat from, only then they realised they were eating the baby's 'friend'.

In April 2006, 43-year-old Tom Cruise told a magazine that he was going to eat his baby (Suri)'s placenta. 27-year old Katie Holmes was about to deliver their baby anytime.

In 1998, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall fried a placenta with shallots and garlic.
He served it to the baby’s parents, along with other 20 guests.

During my earlier days in JB, a sister admitted that whenever she delivered her babies, their placentas would be buried.
But their umbical cords were cooked together with porridge, for their (at least ten) children's meal.
No rivalry, she said.
But as I see it now, after the mother had passed away, all of them are no different from other children who did not consume umbical cords of their siblings.

What Causes Cancer?

WOMEN'S WORLD 
By DR NOR ASHIKIN MOKHTAR

You can reduce your risks of getting cancer if you keep clear of avoidable cancer-triggering factors.

THE big “C” is the single most frightening condition that any woman can imagine in her lifetime.
Every woman wants to prevent it, and avoid ever having to hear the diagnosis from her doctor.

Before you can know how to prevent cancer, you have to know what causes it.
Cancer is a complex disease, as it is not a single condition, and does not have a simple black-and-white cause.

There are many different types of cancer, up to at least 200 types, because they can affect any organ or tissue in the body.
Then, each cancer has its own causes – not all are related, and some are very specific.

So, as you can see, it’s not as simple as putting the blame on one cause.
You need to understand the multifactorial nature of cancer in order to adopt holistic changes to your lifestyle that will help you reduce the risk of cancer. 

The big bad C

Cancer is essentially a disease of the cells, where individual cells become abnormal and multiply out of control.
Cancer can occur in any of the cells in the body, as everything in our body, including our organs, bones, muscles, skin and blood, is made up of millions of tiny cells.

If cancer occurs in the cells of the skin, then the person has skin cancer; if it is in the cells of the breast, then it is breast cancer.

Cancer starts from the genes of one abnormal cell.
In a normal cell, there are genes that control how the cell divides and multiplies – a cell becomes abnormal if those genes are damaged or mutated.
This causes the cell to start multiplying out of control, to form a cancerous (or malignant) tumour.
This tumour may form a lump or a patch of cells that can be seen on a scan.

Every person has a risk of developing cancer, simply because we are made up of cells.
There is nothing that can completely prevent cancers from developing because nature cannot be controlled.

However, there are certain biological, environmental and lifestyle risk factors that increase the likelihood of cell mutations.
These could range from cigarette smoke and asbestos, to certain viruses.

If you reduce these risk factors in your life, you would contribute towards dramatically diminishing the chances of getting cancer.
In other words, don’t give your cells a chance to go bad! 

Cancer triggers

We all know that smoking leads to lung cancer.
This is because cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain cancer-causing substances that are carcinogenic, like benzenes or ammonia.
These carcinogens, which turn cells cancerous, are one of the main causes of cancer.

The longer the duration, and the greater the amount of carcinogens that you are exposed to, the greater your risk of developing cancer.
The most commonly known carcinogens are tobacco smoke (causes cancer of the lung, mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder and pancreas), asbestos (causes mesothelioma), and radiation from UV rays or radioactive materials.

Certain viruses and bacteria can also lead to cancer.
This doesn’t mean that you can “catch” a cancer the same way you catch a viral influenza.
What happens is that the virus or the bacteria causes cell mutations that lead to cancer.

The hepatitis B and C viruses can increase the risk of liver cancer, while the human papillomavirus (HPV) can lead to abnormalities in the cervical and genital cells that may become cancerous after several years.

There are vaccinations for hepatitis B and HPV, so that can protect yourself from these infections. Furthermore, women should have regular Pap smears to pick up any possible HPV infection and treat it early.

One type of bacteria known to play a role in cancer is Helicobacter pylori, which infects the stomach lining and eventually leads to inflammation and increased risk of cancer.  
H. pylori infection can be treated with antibiotics. 

Lifestyle factors

Some risk factors for cancer are beyond our control.
For instance, age increases the likelihood of cancer, but we cannot stop the hands of time from advancing.
You are more likely to develop cancer the older you get, because the mutations in the cells take a long time to develop and turn into cancerous cells.

When you are older, your body’s immune system is also weaker and less able to resist the development of abnormal cells or repair them.
This is the same reason that certain types of cancer are more likely in people with weakened immune systems, like organ transplant patients who take immunosuppressive medications, people living with HIV and AIDS, or those who have disorders that affect their immunity.

There has been a lot of debate in recent years about whether your diet and physical activity has an impact on cancer development.
Increasingly, scientists are starting to say “yes”, as research shows that certain foods have cancer-protective properties, while others can increase the risk of cancer.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that strengthen the body’s immune system and protect it from damage caused by age, the food we eat, and environmental factors.
All the different-coloured fruits and vegetables, such as green broccoli, orange carrots, red cabbage, blueberries and purple eggplant, contain unique compounds that may protect against cancer.

Eating at least five servings of colourful fruits and vegetables every day is the easiest form of defence against cancer and keeps the body generally healthy.

Eating too much of high-fat foods is thought to contribute to the risk of cancer, because it is most likely to cause obesity.
Along with lack of physical activity and overindulgence in alcohol, obesity has a strong link with certain types of cancers, such as colorectal cancer.

Some of my patients have read emails or heard claims that food additives and artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic.
These claims can cause a lot of unnecessary fear in people.
All ingredients in our food products are regulated by the Health Ministry, and these products would not be approved if they were shown to cause cancer.

If you are wary, you can reduce your intake of artificial sweeteners and processed foods, so that you consume mostly natural ingredients.
However, there is no need to be paranoid, as it would take huge amounts of any substance to cause serious harm – and it is rarely possible for a person to consume so much of any product or ingredient. 

Born with cancer?

Some of my patients have asked me whether they have “cancer genes”, because many of their close family members, like their mother, sisters, and aunts, have developed cancer.

Some people may be born with a genetic mutation in their cells that makes them “genetically predisposed” to developing cancer.
However, it doesn’t mean that they will definitely get cancer, just that they are at higher risk because they already have one of several mutations needed for cancer to develop.

One instance of genetic predisposition is the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes, where women who carry one of these genes may be at higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who do not have the gene.
These genes can be identified through genetic testing.

However, all this talk about genetic predisposition can be misleading.
Some women think that just because they have the genes, they are doomed to cancer.
Other women think that just because they do not have the genes, they will not get cancer, so they do not have to do breast self-examination or go for regular medical checkups.

Let me use BRCA as an example again.
Less than 5% of all breast cancer is due to the mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene – which means at least 95% of breast cancer out there is caused by a multitude of other factors, some of which I have described above.

That is the most important take-home message for cancer prevention – there is not one single cause for cancer, but a combination of risk factors and triggers.
There are many things that have to happen before cancer can develop – for instance, whether you have the genetic make-up, have been exposed to carcinogens, how you eat and exercise, and the general state of your health, all of which will have to cause several genetic mutations before cancer develops.

The best advice I can give women is to live healthy, think positively, and always be in control by managing your health.
By reducing all of the risk factors listed above, you are giving your body a fighting chance to keep cancer at bay. 

Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar is a consultant obstetrician & gynaecologist (FRCOG, UK). 
For further information, visit www.primanora.com. 
The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. 
Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. 
The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. 
The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

Source: The Star - Sunday, June 12, 2011

Music And Umrah Syawal

An American  hip hop group,  Remarkable Current,  is now touring Indonesia since September 21 till October 1.

Its music and style of the group are unmistakably Western and no different from what one hears from other American hip hop groups. While the main focus of the music is urban, the artists are also influenced by Rock, Jazz, Opera and traditional World Music.

Remarkable Current is a passionate modern fusion of styles that represents blending - it's musical styles reflect the multi-faceted backgrounds of the artists.
With mission to be universal musical ambassadors - to unite people of all cultures, all ethnicities, all religious backgrounds, unlike other hip hop group, what sets RC apart is the spirituality that the group has introduced into its songs that is Islamic-American musical culture today. They have no fear to show their music and being Muslim.
Chants from the Islamic traditions are often infused into their performances.

The group that was founded in 2001 in California, from a group of friends in a basement to a nation-wide collaboration of artists and activists who share the same goal, to creatively shape the contemporary American Muslim identity and share it with the world community.
The group create an identity that is uniquely American and Muslim, and try to tell the world who they are.

Remarkable Current delivers tour de force performances from the Americas to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and now, South East Asia.
Its mission is to excel, to uplift and to inspire consisting of musicians, writers and producers who are bonded not only by their love for music and art but also by their shared Islamic-American tradition.

The founder, Anas Canon, was recently included in the first edition of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World (a publication of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talaal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding of Georgetown University).
He has worked with hundreds of gifted artists and released over 10 full-length albums that span close to a decade.

"Because our background, our primary focus is spirituality - it comes out in our music. But it's not a strategy, it's not a gimmick, it's not something we designed in order to have a certain effect."

******

Music, being a universal language that transcends all boundaries, was misunderstood by me.

A man, with Jamaican-styled hair, wearing his sloppy-look hat, was pushing the airport trolley loaded with luggage.
He was talking to the person-in-charge of our group.
Who was he sending off?

Until we entered the departure area, then I realised he's one of us.
But in rapper's attire to Mecca?
He confused me.

He talked very little while transit in Sri Lanka but nevertheless, he approached us volunteering to snap our photos many, many times.
Most of the time, he's either with his laptop or photographer's camera.
He chose to be alone in the hotel room in Medina.

Then on the 6th day, his hairstyle changed, all cropped up to almost bald.
It was the first time that we saw his bare head.
Prior to this, his head was covered with his sloppy-look hat all the time, but with hair neatly braided.

Suddenly, one day, he pulled a chair, sat opposite My Husband and I while we were having our dinner.
From casual talk, the subject went to his vanished hair.

He was performing his tahajjud prayer at around 2am in Masjidin Nabawi, when all of a sudden, a man around his 40s, who stood praying in-front of him, fall and was pronounced dead in-front of his very eyes.

It shook him a little, but not more.

After finishing his prayer, he went to Starbucks, opposite the Al-Majid Gate of the Prophet Mosque, which was at the ground floor of Oberoi Hotel, a 10-meter walk and adjacent to Masjidin Nabawi to get his cup of coffee.

As he was scrutinising the building, he saw a woman, her body covered by her long flowing hair, was standing at the ledge of a window of one of the Oberoi Hotel room, about the height of an eight-storey flat.

He was quick to give a hand signal, signalling and shouting to the lady to hold on, not to jump down.

But seconds later, her body, all covered with blood, laid in front of his very eyes.

Blood splattered on many other jema'ah too who were heading back to their room.

The Arabic newspaper reported that the woman, an Egyptian, was a doctor.
She was with umrah visa too.

The 2-death incidents in one night, less than an hour apart, was too much for him.

This time, it shook him a lot.

He did not sleep for a few nights until he vowed to start a new chapter in his life, thus initiated the new beginning with a new 'hair style'.

From then on, we get to know him better, erasing the negative thoughts of him.

He is happy that at last, he is able to make his mother happy with his new hair.
For many years, the lady had been nagging him of his hair.
To make his mother happier, he will be performing his umrah again, for the third time, some time next year, and this time, he will insist that his mother will be with him, together performing the umrah. 

Being a music composer, always in his own world, the surroundings did not bother him one tiny bit - nor his mother's nag.
He said whenever he performed his prayers in mosques, subuh especially, where jema'ah was only a handful, the imams will surely turned their heads more than twice for salams, while ending the prayers.

His outstanding hairstyle had distracted many imams and attracted many stares and curious looks from others who attended the mosques wherever he was.
With his lock of hair disappeared, it will once again attract another new kind of attention from imams and jema'ah where he usually perform his payers in mosques in and around Geylang area.

Despite his rapper style, he was often invited to give motivational and inspirational talk to secondary school teenagers and polytechnic students.
It hits the right note with students, saluting him for inviting them to his office somewhere in Lau Pa Sat.

Unlike me who spent a lot of free time watching interesting television programmes in the room, he spent most of his nights in mosques.

The last day of our stay in Mecca, he spent the whole of the last night in Mecca, holing himself i'tikaf in Masjidil Haram.

When Money In Hand...

Today's news in the paper is about Ms Tan Soon Kim, 28, a former principal who pocketed nearly S$19,000 from the PAP Community Foundation Education Centre Bishan branch.
She pleaded guilty to 3 charges of forgery for the purpose of cheating and was jailed for 20 months on Wednesday for criminal breach of trust and forgery.
She had since returned S$12,000 to PCF.

Ms Tan reminded me of a teacher, Ina, whom I had to take over from her, her class in mid-January, more than 15 year ago.
Unlike Ms Tan who misappropriated S$13,269 between February and December 2008; and S$3,836 between January and February 16 last year, Ina's 'takings' was unaccounted for.
The school management's check with parents showed that Ina had been misusing or misappropriating school fees payment for about a year.
Those were the years before GIRO payment went full swing in the school.

The monthly fees of S$45 per student in a class of sometimes up to 40 students added up... Wow wee!!!
She's the form teacher of 2 classes...

The Senior Teacher knew of those parents who were prompt with fees and other payments.
These parents had been sending one by one of their children to study in the same school as their siblings.
The Senior Teacher's 'friendly' phone calls to these parents, enquiring of what's lacking and needed to be done to upgrade the system, led to the 'answers' why suddenly some of these prompt payers suddenly lagging in their children's fees.

Ina was called up by the management to settle whatever monies belonging to the school within 24 hours or police will be informed.
Her brother returned S$1,700 to the school, as was instructed by Ina.
That was her last day and she continued working in another school, a government school.

Picking up the pieces where Ina had left in Mid-January was a nightmare.
A lot of rechecking and rerecording of the attendance registers needed to be done.

Most parents when called up, claimed to have paid the January and December fees but I had only S$3,600 in hand. Added with the returned S$1,700, the sum did not tally to the amount of S$7,200.
When these parents pressed for the receipt of payments that they made through Ina, I had to beat around the bush so as not to let them smell the rat, lest they lost faith in all the teachers.

While Ms Tan used the money to repay her father's debts, Ina used the money to support her lifestyle.
I had always reminded her, a newly married then, who had just bought a house, it's better to sleep soundly in a sparsely furnished home than having nightmare sleep in a fully furnished home.
Alas, she chose the latter.

Reality In Denial

7 out of 10 diabetic patients in Singapore are Malays. It's the reality we are facing now.

Is it due to lifestyle? How about when a preschool toddler getting it? - The toddler's mother would shed tears comforting the child when the need for an ice-cream was not met.
The parents tried hard to reward sweets only on her birthdays.
The child has no lifestyle at all.

Facing reality is easier said than done...

An elderly lady said it's black magic.
She knows the culprit who cast the spell on her. There's 'something' placed in-front of her house.
I assured no such thing would happen to her.
Being the nearest neighbour, I would be the first witness to see such incident should it occur at all.

When she mentioned she was under the spell of one of her neighbour, I have nothing more to say - I think I know almost everybody in the neighbourhood.
They respect her as an elderly lady.

Is one of the neighbour she referred to, is me? Sigh, sigh, sigh...
I have nothing more to say. I have my respect for her as an elderly lady too...

I simply stop paying a visit to a friend's friend.
After one of her leg was amputated thigh high, her blame to God for robbing away her family life has never ceased.
Her blame to God favouring the fits continue...

But when she blamed God for favouring me over her, I simply stop the visit.
Don't blame God when we don't search our inner-self...

Last week, I paid another visit to a neighbour whom I've only known her by her name.
I've never spoken to her before.
I've seen her passing by my house but we didn't acknowledge each other.

But when she asked for forgiveness from everybody in the neighbourhood,
I have to see her.
When she asked those who visit her to convey the message to anybody they will meet,
I have to acknowledge that.

Her health has deteriorated and she knows her days are numbered.
She has prepared her inner-self afterall...