Volume 42, Number 3 March 2013

Sleep, Public Health and Wellness: The Elephant in the Room

The rising cost of health care and the burden of chronic illness are perennial concerns. Remarkably, there exists a measure that around 30% of city dwellers can implement to reduce their risk of accidents, coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer and all-cause mortality while improving their cognitive performance. Unlike costly supplements...

Epilepsy: Looking Beyond Seizures

World Epilepsy Day falls on 26 March 2013. As we observe this important date in Singapore, it is perhaps instructive to take a step back to review epilepsy as a disease, to reflect on progress made, and as yet unresolved challenges. Epilepsy is a fairly common disease affecting 5 to...

Management Plan to Reduce Risks in Perioperative Care of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Averts the Need for Presurgical Polysomnography

A significant proportion of patients with underlying obstructive sleepapnoea (OSA) remain undiagnosed when they present for surgery. Epidemiologic data have placed the prevalence in the general adult Western populations with a diagnosis of OSA at up to 5%,3 with a higher incidence in certain subpopulations such as males and obese...

Kidney Cancer and Diabetes Mellitus: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Taiwan

Kidney cancer accounts for 3% to 4% of all cancers. In a systematic review by Mathew and et al,2 the incidence of kidney cancer was the highest in France (16.1 per 100,000 man-years) and the lowest in India (0.9 per 100,000 woman-years) during 1988 to 1992. A trend analysis in...

Effectiveness of Assertive Community Management in Singapore

In Asia, various community programmes have been adopted and studied in several countries in an effort to promote de-institutionalisation, community psychiatric services and reduce relapses or readmission rates. In Manila, Philippines, the National Mental Hospital has successfully reduced hospitalisation by 70% after introducing the Acute Crisis Intervention Services (ACIS),...