ONE OF the stories of selfless dedication and commitment to improve the health condition of a community which has personally touched me is that of the missionary couple Lanie and Ely Latuga. For the last two years or so, they have been living with a Dumagat tribe somewhere in the Sierra Madre mountains of Bulacan.
A few months ago, a 64-year old business man came to see us with persistent dry cough for more than a month. He just self-medicated, took two different kinds of antibiotics he had taken before, but felt no improvement. He was smoking two packs per day and cut it down to one pack a day when he started having the cough. He swore he was feeling great until this current coughing problem, and didn’t think his smoking was such an issue. He started getting worried though when his phlegm became blood-tinged in the last several days.
Several years ago, we wrote in this column that our public health system was in a serious state of disrepair. We likened it to a patient fighting for his life in the intensive care unit (ICU). And at that time, it seemed like there was nothing much to hope for.
Just in her mid-50s, another wife of a long-time patient of ours suffered a heart attack recently. She has been diligently attending to the health needs of her husband who is 12 years older than her. Never did she complain of chest pains or any symptom that would suggest a possible heart problem. Then, it happened suddenly one early morning just as she was about to prepare her husband’s breakfast. She felt a tight squeeze in her chest with shortness of breath. She was having cold sweats although it was relatively cool in their house just before sunrise.
The “sin tax” bill is now in the hands of our senators after its amended version got the House’s approval on final reading two months ago. Although the approved version is somewhat watered down with projected revenues from it reduced from an estimated P60 billion to P32 billion annually, it will still provide much-needed funds for the improvement of our healthcare services. Hopefully, there will be no further watering down of the bill in the Senate.
We’ve received quite a number of reactions regarding our article on stem cell therapy two weeks ago. Dr. Ramon Abarquez Jr., whose comments on the real status of this promising but still experimental form of therapy we extensively quoted in that column, told me he was politely confronted by several well-meaning colleagues who did not share his viewpoint.
The Philippine Society of Hypertension is currently conducting an in-depth course on the prevention and treatment of elevated blood pressure in the country at the Manila Doctors Hospital conference hall. The statistics on hypertension still remain depressing for the more than 1,500 members of the society spread all over the country, 360 of whom are certified hypertension specialists. “It’s a multifactorial problem, and a multidisciplinary, multipronged approach is necessary to really remarkably reduce the prevalence of hypertension in the country,” stressed Dr. Dante Morales, who is the current president of the society.
This was the question Dr. Ramon F. Abarquez, professor emeritus of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology, raised in his commentary about the current status of stem cell therapy, which will be published in the August issue of H&L (Health & Lifestyle) magazine. In his article, he clearly bridged the gap between the highly technical aspect of this promising, yet still experimental form of therapy, and the public’s appreciation of its up-side and down-side.
We’ve discussed previously how some of the things we commonly use can be bacterial breeding grounds, which can cause all sorts of infections for us and our loved ones. One of these is the cellular phone which has been shown to have more bacteria than a toilet bowl seat. Similarly in the same category are dishwashing bar solutions, which a study by the Philippine Society of Microbiology (PSM) has demonstrated to have 10 times the bacterial count of dirty socks, and more than twice dirtier than a thrash bin cover.
Filipinos, like many people around the world, are generally bargain hunters. Many times, we even buy things we don’t actually need just because we got them on sale. Sadly, the same attitude is prevalent when availing of supposedly “bargain prices” for the medicines we take.
HAVE YOU ever counted how much time you spend sitting every day, at home after work? If you haven’t, it might be a good idea to find out.
We wrote in a previous column about the potential for guyabano or soursop as an anti-cancer fruit. Emil Dela Cruz, senior writer of H&L (Health & Lifestyle) magazine informed me of a local research validating this. It also studied several other indigenous plants, fruits and herbs.
