Eat healthily

Eat healthily

Wed, Feb 25, 2009 The Star/Asia News Network

[Top: Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables as they will give you the vitamins and fibre you need. The antioxidants that come with them will also help reduce inflammation in the body.]

By Lim Wey Wen

CARING for your heart is a full-time job: you have to eat right, exercise correctly, take life easy and treat heart disease early.

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But if you think that is too much work, think about the possibility of having a heart attack and bypass surgery at the age of 40.

The truth is, a hearts attack is almost always the end product of years of unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Long before a major cardiac event, the damage is often already done by diabetes, hypertension, the metabolic syndrome and obesity. Perhaps, we are either too distracted or too busy to care.

Once you pick up any of the above risk factors, accelerated ageing starts in your body. This is the recipe that is going to give you a heart attack, says senior lecturer in cardiology Dr Jeyarajah Sivalingam.

That is why more emphasis should be placed on the prevention of these risk factors, rather than remedial actions after heart disease sets in.

One of the easiest way is to watch what you eat. As the saying goes, you have the final say over what goes into your mouth and stomach.

The trick is to know how.

Revisiting dietary advice

Until recently, the story of atherosclerosis (the narrowing of arteries due to plaque build-up) went like this: You have high cholesterol, the cholesterol gets deposited in your arteries and they get clogged. The heart muscles are deprived of its oxygen source - blood - and you get a heart attack.

Nevertheless, as almost half of those who have had heart attacks are found to have normal cholesterol levels, doctors began to suspect there may be something more than cholesterol causing the problem.

In 1999, a review article noted that the cause of hardening of arteries is clearly attributed to inflammation of the arteries. Subsequently, studies also found increased levels of the inflammation marker, C-Reactive protein (CRP), in those who had heart attacks.

"Now, the consensus among cardiologists today is that inflammation of the lining of the arteries is more of the root cause," Dr Jeyarajah explains. Inflammation, a protective response of the body against infections and injury, may damage blood vessels if it goes out of control.

This does not mean, however, that other risk factors should be ignored. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle are still the main causes of heart disease.

What it means is there are extra measures we can take to protect ourselves.

Armed with this new knowledge, dietary recommendations are starting to change. Curbing the inflammation process is the new goal.

"One of the things that contributes to inflammation is what you eat. When food is consumed, it can be inflammatory or anti-inflammatory," Dr Jeyarajah says. "Resulting metabolites that are toxic to the cells can trigger an inflammatory response."

While some factors that trigger inflammatory responses, such as polluted air, excessive noise and high emotional stress, are less controllable, food is something you can choose most of the time.

Fats, sugar and inflammation

Instead of giving the lowdown on how to avoid meat, fat and cholesterol, Dr Jeyarajah says we should be more careful about the types of fat we eat and pay attention to our sugar and carbohydrate intake as well.

The reasons: precursors of inflammation are actually trans-fatty acids (TFA), saturated fats and sugar and carbohydrates.

For the uninitiated, TFAs can be found naturally in both animal and plant fat.

But the bulk of trans-fatty acids we take in now are the by-products of partial-hydrogenation, a process which adds hydrogen molecules to unsaturated fatty acids (usually from a vegetable source) as a means to make liquid oils last longer and take a semi-solid form at room temperature.

Margarine and vegetable oil spreads. Easy to spread, not so great for your heart.

In food, TFAs are mostly found in hydrogenated oils like margarine or vegetable oil spreads. And the use of margarine and vegetable oil in other food such as snacks, fried food, ice cream and baked goods contribute to a large amount of trans fat consumption.

"We have always been told to stay away from saturated fats, but now we know that TFAs can increase the risk of a heart attack more than saturated fats," says Dr Jeyarajah.

A review of studies on trans fats published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that "on a per-calorie basis, trans fats appear to increase the risk of coronary heart disease more than any macronutrient".

Another study which analysed data from 900 coronary events out of 120,000 nurses over 14 years revealed that the increase of 2% intake of calories from trans fats have been found to double the risk of chronic heart disease (CHD) - an increase that could only be achieved with more than a 15% increase in saturated fats calories intake.

This does not mean saturated fats are no longer a factor in the increased risk of heart disease. Epidemiological studies have long established the link between saturated fats and heart disease - a link that still stands now.

The next culprit of inflammation is a staple of the Asian diet - sugar and carbohydrates.

However, it is no longer enough to distinguish between simple and complex carbohydrates - what we used to call bad and good carbohydrates, respectively.

Now, a more important factor in choosing carbohydrates is the Glycaemic Index (GI) - an indicator of how fast carbohydrates and sugars in a certain food raise blood sugar levels.

High GI foods such as refined carbohydrates, potatoes or table sugar break down in the body rapidly and raise blood sugar levels in a short time.

The spike in blood sugar levels generated may cause inflammation as high blood sugar levels, even if transient, favour a process called glycation, which damages and distorts body structures and functions, triggering an inflammatory response.

The middle path

With mounting evidence of the link between TFAs and heart disease, Canada has now banned trans fats from its restaurants and fast food chains. Denmark and Switzerland have introduced laws which strictly regulate the sale of many foods containing trans fats.

Australian margarine has been free from trans fat since 1996 and in the United Kingdom, Sainsbury's became the first UK major retailer to ban all trans fat from all their own food brands.

Under Malaysian food regulations, it is not compulsory to display or declare the TFA content of food products. The matter is still being examined by the Health Ministry.

However, if the manufacturers wish to declare or highlight the content of any type of fatty acids in their product, they must display the content of all four types of fatty acids, namely monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids and TFA.

Government initiatives aside, what can we, as consumers, do to care for our hearts?

Although there is evidence of TFAs and saturated fats contributing to the increased risk of heart disease, this does not imply that you should balk at the sight of their names printed on a nutrition label.

And eliminating fats totally from your diet may deprive you from the health benefits of essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and 6.

To choose and use your fats wisely, Dr Jeyarajah offers this advice:

- Be mindful of products listing partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient, regardless of the type of oil.

- Be careful with vegetable shortening or products made with it.

- When buying margarine, look at the contents of TFA if available.

- Avoid fried foods in restaurants.

- Buy oil in smaller quantities and protect them from exposure to air, light and heat. Use it up quickly.

- Refrigerate (cooking) oils if you can't use them quickly.

- Never heat oils to the point of smoking. Never reuse oils that have been heated to high temperatures.

To choose your carbohydrates wisely, Dr Jeyarajah says:

- Learn about GI and try to look up the values of your common foods on the Internet.

- Reduce consumption of high GI foods; replace them with low to moderate GI foods such as whole grains.

- Eat less refined, processed and fast food

- Avoid sweet beverages

- Eat sweet fruits in moderation

In essence

Most dietary recommendations are ideals we strive to achieve for better health. Then again, our choice of food is not only based on nutritional values, but also whether it is affordable, accessible and available.

Working within these limits, these are a few rules of thumb you can live by:

- Remember amounts

Whatever the quality of food, if eaten in huge quantities, it becomes pro-inflammatory. It is always wise to eat in moderation.

- Aim for variety

Aim for a balanced diet that includes a variety of food as it provides the nutrients you need for good health.

- Include as much fresh food as possible and minimise consumption of processed and fast food

Processed and fast food may be tasty, but the processes may leach nutrients or add potentially harmful substances.

- Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables

This will give you the vitamins and fibre you need. The antioxidants that come with them will also help reduce inflammation in the body.

- Eat your meals regularly

Studies have shown that if you eat your meals and snacks regularly, you are less likely to put on weight. That will decrease your risk of heart disease just by keeping your weight in check.

References

1. The Pennsylvania State University (2006). Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils and Trans Fatty Acids. Retrieved February 2009 from http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uk093.pdf

2. American Heart Association (2008). Know your Fats. Retrieved February 2009 from http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=532

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The Star/Asia News Network

Man kneels in public to seek wife's forgiveness

Man kneels in public to seek wife's forgiveness Thu, Feb 26, 2009 MySinchew/Asia News Network

PETALING JAYA: "As a man, I can give up my honour, dignity, and even the route for retreat. I'm kneeling down here, so that all the women of this country will recognise me and they will not accept me in the future. Only by doing this, my wife will have greater confidence in me!" Kelvin Ng, 30, a car battery salesman and housing broker from Ampang, claimed that he had six extramarital relations in the past five years. Ng, brought along a banner with him, kneeled down at the bustling SS2 junction under the hot sun Tuesday (24 Feb) to seek for forgiveness from his wife, and to repent of his violence against his wife. Many passers were curious and some even stopped by to find out what was happening. Some people thought he should not be forgiven for seeking for forgiveness only after he has done wrong. Meanwhile, some women were deeply touched by his act and some guys shared their wife taming methods with him, causing a sudden disturbance here. Some enthusiastic passers immediately helped Ng to call and persuade wife, hoping that she could forgive Wu. As the afternoon was very hot, the public advised Ng to dispel the idea 20 minutes later. People held different views on Wu's act: The sympathy group: * If he was my husband, I would certainly run to him and hug him! * The man is really great as he is willing to kneel in front for the public. I believe his wife will forgive him. * Regardless what he has done, it is really not easy to kneel down like this. * I can introduce him my god sister. * It is really not easy to be a man! The antipathy group: * Why did it in the first place? * He must dare to bear the consequences as he dared to do have extramarital relations. * Why should him be easily forgiven after he has hurt his wife? Wu's wife words "I used to love this man very much, but the hurt he has done to me is irreparable. Its is unable to restore our love..." said Crystal, Wu's wife. Crystal was not touched by Wu. Instead, she felt helpless and resolutely, she said she would not forgive him no matter how long Ng would kneel. She pointed out that Ng is very dissolute and he had too much extramarital relations. Even if she has grudgingly accepted him, it would not be a happy marriage. So, she would rather have a sensible ending. She said: "I hope to have a proper talk with him, hopefully we can have a peaceful divorce. We can still be friends in the future at the children's sake. Occasionally, our children can still enjoy family happiness. But how could I take it as he has repeatedly worsen the situation?" She told Sin Chew Daily in a phone interview that she got pregnant when she was 21 years old and Ng wanted her to have an abortion before he could marry her. Ng was indifferent when she gave birth to their baby and he even moved out and lived with his mistress. She had forgiven him for many times but he has hurt him again and again, causing a permanent harm. "I have given him my precious youthhood but he gave me repeated harm in return. Under his training, I have turned from a weak, timid and husband-oriented woman into an independent one," she added. She disclosed that after she has brought up the divorce request, Ng kept trailing after her and slandered her and a male male friend of her. He even caused troubles at her house at night, causing physical and psychological harm to her. She continued that Ng agreed to have a peaceful divorce with her with the only condition that he wanted the custody of their son while she could have their daughter's. "He has never been a good father before. Even he did contribute in terms of money, he never took good care of the children. How could I leave my child with him?" She said. Ng: I will change He has hurt his wife too deeply and now he is in great regret, but her heart is dead. Ng admitted that he got married with Crystal under an reluctant circumstances five years ago. Today, they have a three-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl. Since they were not having great affections for each other, and as he thought her wife was not beautiful enough, he treated his wife badly in the past five years. "I ridiculed her appearance in front of her friends once and now, I really regret it. She is now the most beautiful woman for me," he said. In order to run away from responsibilities, he moved out to live with other women and every time when her wife found out about it, he hurt unintentionly her in disputes. And he was never around when she was giving birth to their children. "I never paid her a visit when she gave birth to our second child. Instead, I moved out to live with another woman for one whole month," he said. Ng continued: "I'm not afraid to tell you my mistakes as I hope you can be my witnesses here. I want to change and I promise to love her and make her the happiest woman in the world."

Malaysian politics

What the doctor ordered

Feb 19th 2009 | KUALA LUMPUR
From The Economist print edition

Mahathir Mohamad continues to make his influence felt

IF ALL goes to plan, Malaysia’s prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, will step down on March 31st. His deputy and anointed successor, Najib Razak, will then be sworn in as the country’s sixth prime minister since independence from Britain in 1957. Like his predecessors, Mr Najib, the British-educated scion of a political dynasty, will do so as leader of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Before the handover, the party meets to elect a new slate of executives, with Mr Najib standing, uncontested, as party leader.

Tributes to Mr Badawi, a soft-spoken Islamic scholar, will be muted. Many UMNO stalwarts blame him for last March’s calamitous general election, when the UMNO-led National Front coalition lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and four state governments to the opposition. After plenty of pushing, Mr Badawi agreed to fall on his sword.

Perhaps nobody in Malaysia, apart from Mr Najib, will be as glad to see him go as Mahathir Mohamad, the former leader who picked Mr Badawi as his replacement in 2003. Dr Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia for 22 years, soon came to rue his choice. He has spent much of the past few years hurling brickbats at his beleaguered successor with scornful fury. On his blog he has repeatedly aired his regret at not tapping his protégé, Mr Najib, to follow him.

Now that Dr Mahathir is getting his way, some in Malaysia are bracing for a return to “Mahathirism”, a leadership style that favours turbocharged, state-led industrialisation and promotes “Asian values” as an antidote to Western freedoms. So far Mr Najib has done little to dispel this impression. His circle of advisers is said to include Daim Zainuddin, a former finance minister under Dr Mahathir, as well as other familiar faces from the past. Mr Najib is a staunch defender of the draconian Internal Security Act, a favourite tool of Dr Mahathir’s. Mr Badawi has used the law sparingly. On his watch, Malaysia’s once lapdog media has also started to snarl a bit.

There is as yet no talk of a formal role in the next administration for Dr Mahathir, who resigned from UMNO last year in protest at Mr Badawi’s stewardship. Naturally, Mr Najib says he welcomes sage advice from an elder statesman. But some in the party want to go much further and to have Dr Mahathir at the shoulder of the new prime minister, particularly when it comes to steering the economy out of crisis. Growth is forecast to fall sharply this year. As the world rediscovers Keynesian deficit-spending, so the argument goes, Malaysia should revisit the sort of mega-projects that are among Dr Mahathir’s enduring legacies, such as Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin Towers, which were, fleetingly, the world’s tallest buildings.

The opposition is discovering that politics in Malaysia is as murky and ruthless as it was in Dr Mahathir’s day. This month the National Front regained control of the northern state of Perak after the defection of four assembly members—a counterstroke by Mr Najib after the opposition had claimed a defection to its side. And this week a leading opposition politician, Elizabeth Wong, a well-known human-rights activist, offered to resign her state-assembly seat in Selangor. Photos of her asleep, naked, were circulated by mobile phone.

Such setbacks, however, may not halt the opposition’s electoral advances. Mr Najib faces an early test in April when two by-elections (for one federal and one state seat) are due to be held. At a by-election in January in Kuala Terengganu, a northern town, the opposition easily saw off a spendthrift UMNO challenger. Sadly for the party, Mr Najib, who led that failed campaign, seems as unpopular as the outgoing prime minister, particularly among young Malays. Reviving the bulldozing cronyism of Mahathirism, however, is not the answer, says Zaid Ibrahim, a former minister who recently left UMNO after 23 years. He argues that voters are turned off by the stench of corruption and injustice. “Nobody, not Najib, not Mahathir, can save them,” he says.

Now aged 83, Dr Mahathir has not mellowed much. At a recent seminar on the Gaza conflict, he explained that Israelis had “learnt from the Nazis” in inflicting suffering. Such rabid outbursts please his supporters, who point to the pride of ordinary Malaysians in Dr Mahathir’s achievements. “People long for the good days of the Mahathir era,” says one pro-Najib politician vying for the post of UMNO youth leader. His name is Mukhriz Mahathir, son of the former leader.

Why the "cannot-make-it" guys get all the attractive girls

Why the "cannot-make-it" guys get all the attractive girls

by Skilldo

Tue, Feb 24, 2009

Diva

You may have seen this before - a below-average looking guy, his hand on the waist of a beautiful woman, and both looking blissfully happy as they stroll along Orchard Road, oblivious to the stares of other envious males. He obviously has no problems attracting the good looking ones.

The funny thing is, there are complete opposites too. Attractive-looking males who just cannot score a date.

Yes, there are tall, handsome, and even well educated men who just cannot get to know women.

I know of a graphic designer, let's call him P, who worked for a rather well-known local company. He has above-average looks and things were going well in his life, except when it came to dating.

He was always telling people how he longed to have a gorgeous girlfriend, but just didn't know how to go about getting one. Thankfully for him, a colleague of his who was quite accomplished with women offered to help him in the dating department, correcting his moves and offering advice.

Unfortunately, he did not act on the latters' advice and it was no surprise that P did not see results.

P revealed later: "Even if I got myself a girl, I'm not sure I deserve her. I will wonder if she is with me because she was won over by my moves, or if she was truly interested in me."

So P thinks he does not deserve to have a gorgeous girl in his life. Which leads me to conclude that P thinks such dating skills are only "reserved" for people who are 'worthy'. Either that, or he is just plain confused about wanting a girlfriend in the first place.

But having success with women is not a matter of smooth moves.

If a guy feels he is not fit to have a successful dating life, having social skills or not will not matter. He will still fail with women and in dating.

Many guys go through life hoping to find success with women, but see little or no results as the years pass. The invisible reason (that most of them won't admit to) is they do not believe they are worthy of such success.

First things first - stop with the loser mentality. If you keep thinking: "I'm not her type", or "I don't want to screw up", or "What if she thinks I'm desperate or something?", you will never get out of the dating doldrums.

Why not look at it this way instead? As a man who is in charge of your own social life, the women you meet deserve a taste of your interesting, fun and attractive qualities.

And possessing social skills is simply a means to help you achieve your goal faster and more easily.

It's a fact, guys. Every man I know who has a fantastically active social calendar - even those who aren't good-looking, have beautiful girlfriends. And they know they deserve it.

But be convinced about this first: You are worthy.

About the contributor:
Skilldo is an 'ex-unhappy' Singaporean guy - who grew from being lonely, dateless and single... into breaking out of it, and obtained a fulfilling social life in meeting, dating and entering satisfying relationships with women.

He is the author of 'The Ultimate Singapore Girl-Getter'. A locally-focused guide for Singapore men to approach, date and successfully attract the type of women they want for themselves.

He maintains a website containing secrets and training for men at - http://www.seductionsingapore.com

Pick an aisle seat, save your life

Pick an aisle seat, save your life

Wed, Feb 25, 2009 Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Mulling over the window or the aisle seat on your next flight? Pick the aisle to help avoid dangerous blood clots -- and flying business class will make no difference, according to a US study.

A review of medical issues associated with commercial flights found that in-flight medical events are becoming more common as more elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions fly and also flights last for longer.

But researchers from the U.S.'s Lahey Clinic Medical Center confirmed that sitting in the aisle can help ward off potentially dangerous deep-vein thrombosis or blood clots.

They found that 75 percent of cases of deep-vein thrombosis were due to people not moving enough and most sufferers were in non-aisle seats where passengers tended to move less.

Mark Gendreau, who led the study, said it made no difference if people were sitting in economy class or business class when it came to blood clots.

Wearing compression stockings has been proven to reduce the risk, said the report published in the British medical journal The Lancet, as well as other common sense recommendations such as drinking lots of water and cutting back on alcohol and caffeine.

Studies showed that the risk of developing blood clots on a flight rose up to four-fold, depending on study methods, with the risk starting to rise on flights of over four hours and peak on flights of more than eight hours.

Gendreau played down concerns about catching an infection off someone on a plane -- unless they were within two rows of you.

And for jet lag, try a dose of melatonin at the bedtime of the desired destination.

But while the researchers found a greater number of in-flight medical events, they found most were minor with cardiac, neurological, and respiratory complaints the most serious events.

But the researchers did suggest looking at the quality of cabin air which has been linked to passenger and flight crew complaints of dry eyes, stuffy nose, and skin irritation, as well as headaches, lightheadedness, and confusion.

Gendreau said air passenger needed to have a clear understanding of the medical consequences of commercial flights.

"Individuals need to be aware of the possible medical complications of air travel, and physicians should identify people at potential risk from air travel and advise them of any necessary treatments to travel safely," he said in a statement.

Anger really can kill you

Anger really can kill you
Feb 24, 2009
Reuters

CHICAGO - ANGER and other strong emotions can trigger potentially deadly heart rhythms in certain vulnerable people, US researchers said on Monday.

Previous studies have shown that earthquakes, war or even the loss of a World Cup Soccer match can increase rates of death from sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart stops circulating blood.

'It's definitely been shown in all different ways that when you put a whole population under a stressor that sudden death will increase,' said Dr Rachel Lampert of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 'Our study starts to look at how does this really affect the electrical system of the heart,' Dr Lampert said.

She and colleagues studied 62 patients with heart disease and implantable heart defibrillators or ICDs that can detect dangerous heart rhythms or arrhythmias and deliver an electrical shock to restore a normal heart beat.

Patients in the study took part in an exercise in which they recounted a recent angry episode while Lampert's team did a test called T-Wave Alternans that measures electrical instability in the heart.

Dr Lampert said the team specifically asked questions to get people to relive the angry episode. 'We found in the lab setting that yes, anger did increase this electrical instability in these patients,' she said.

Next, they followed patients for three years to see which patients later had a cardiac arrest and needed a shock from their implantable defibrillator. 'The people who had the highest anger-induced electrical instability were 10 times more likely than everyone else to have an arrhythmia in follow-up,' she said.

Dr Lampert said the study suggests that anger can be deadly, at least for people who are already vulnerable to this type of electrical disturbance in the heart. 'It says yes, anger really does impact the heart's electrical system in very specific ways that can lead to sudden death,' she said.

But she cautioned against extrapolating the results to people with normal hearts. 'How anger and stress may impact people whose hearts are normal is likely very different from how it may impact the heart which has structural abnormalities,' she said. Dr Lampert is now conducting a study to see if anger management classes can help decrease the risk of arrhythmia in this group of at-risk patients.

Sudden cardiac death accounts for more than 400,000 deaths each year in the United States, according to the American College of Cardiology. -- REUTERS

In Asia, suicides rise due to financial crisis

In Asia, suicides rise due to financial crisis
Feb 25, 2009
Reuters

By Tan Ee Lyn and Kim Junghyun

HONG KONG/SEOUL (Reuters) - Chan Kiu-hung thought about committing suicide when she discovered that her retirement nest egg had been lost with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

"I was in despair. I lost my appetite and couldn't sleep at all. We lost all our money. It was very painful," said Chan, who came out of retirement to work as a maid, and her husband as a lift attendant, to make ends meet.

Suicides generally increase during times of economic troubles, experts say, and Asians may be particularly susceptible as the region has among the world's highest suicide rates.

With this in mind, Asian governments are setting up hotlines and counseling centers to help those hit hardest by the financial crisis and the subsequent economic downturn.

In South Korea, a commuter train operator is even installing doors blocking access to railway tracks due to a sharp increase in people committing suicide by jumping in front of trains.

Millions of people in Asia have lost their jobs and retirees and other small investors have lost their life savings due to plunging stock markets and the collapse of investment funds.

Since the full force of the financial crisis hit Asian shores late last year, Paul Yip, a mental health and suicide prevention specialist in Hong Kong, has seen a jump in the number of patients coming to his clinic for help to cope with the downturn.

"Work is very important to the Asian because we don't have very good social security and losing one's job is associated with the loss of 'face'. So the trauma can be great," said Yip.

At the same time, he added, many Asians are ashamed to seek expert help.

"In the West, therapy is very common. Here, you are thought to be crazy if you see a psychiatrist. Asians tend not to be as expressive and depression is very under-diagnosed," Yip said.

Among developed nations, South Korea and Japan have the world's highest suicide rates, or 24.8 and 24 per every 100,000 people respectively, followed by Belgium at 21.3 and Finland at 20.35. The United States stands at 11.1.

TRAIN TRACK SUICIDES

South Korea's suicide rate nearly doubled during the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago with experts blaming it on stress caused by job and income losses.

With South Korea about to enter its first recession in a decade and exports suffering their biggest ever drop, the country's health ministry has launched a suicide prevention program.

Officials were worried as health ministry figures showed that the number of people contemplating suicide due to financial problems almost doubled in 2008, compared to 2007.

"There is a fundamental connection between economic hardships and our high suicide rate," said a ministry official, who declined to be named.

The official said the plan, which calls for increasing the number of health care professionals and counseling centers, aims to cut the suicide rate by 20 percent by 2013.

Separately, Seoul Metro, a subway operator that runs four lines in the capital, has stepped up the installation of automatic doors on station platforms to prevent people from killing themselves by jumping in front of trains.

"So far this year, there has been a greater number of subway suicides than usual, and I believe this reflects the gloomy social atmosphere," said an official with Seoul Metro, who asked not to be named due to the sensitive subject matter.

"Installing screen doors is the only way to initially block suicide attempts by jumping off the platform. So we moved forward the plan to install the doors by one year so screen doors will be set up at every station we operate by the end of this year," the official added.

SUICIDE HOTLINES

In Japan, some half a million contract workers are expected to be laid off in the six months until April. The industrial center of Aichi in central Japan, home to Toyota car factories and other manufacturers, has been particularly hard hit.

An official in Aichi said the number of people bringing their problems to mental health centers rose by nearly 15 percent in December, compared with the same period in 2007.

Japan's suicide rate rose sharply during a severe recession in the late 1990s when guarantees of lifetime employment collapsed, there were mass retrenchments and university graduates struggled to find jobs.

Suicide rates have gone up by 60 percent worldwide in the past 45 years and 90 percent of all cases are associated with depression and substance abuse, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Each year, a million people commit suicide.

Hong Kong started special hotlines in October for people suffering from the financial crisis and it opened "depression clinics" in some public hospitals this month.

"The clinics were opened in expectation of more people suffering depression because of the crisis. The government has also ordered more anti-depression drugs," said William Chui, education director at the Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

Doctors in Hong Kong are reporting seeing more patients with psychosomatic symptoms such as diarrhea, tinnitus, headaches, shortness of breath, insomnia and chest pain.

"The situation is spilling over into homes. We see couples quarrelling when the real problem is job insecurity," said psychiatrist Dominic Lee in Hong Kong.

Pinky Yung of Caritas Family Crisis Line & Education Center said many people lost all or most of their savings. Others lost their businesses, jobs or were lumped with multiple mortgages.

Of the 2,301 patients the center treated since mid-October, eight percent had suicidal thoughts, it said.

"Many of them were very thrifty in the past and they have lost all their money and the security that they spent all their lives building," Yung said.

"Those with family support, hobbies and work cope better but those without get very depressed. Most are middle aged so they can't go back to earn the money they lost. Their problems are now insomnia, insecurity and what is going to happen in future."

(Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Seoul and Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo; Editing by Megan Goldin)

Wednesday February 25, 2009

Malaysians not so hot in bedroom

KUALA LUMPUR: A surprisingly high number of Malaysians are not sexually satisfied, a survey by pharmaceutical company Pfizer has revealed.

Two out of three Malaysian men and three out of four women are not satisfied with their sex lives, the Asia-Pacific Sexual Health and Overall Wellness survey stated. Malaysians are ranked sixth among 13 countries but, if it’s any consolation, Singaporeans fared worse. They are in eighth spot.

India topped the list with 70% of the respondents saying they were satisfied with their sex lives while Japan reported the lowest sexual satisfaction rate at 10%. “The Malaysian figure is higher than the overall Asia Pacific results where 57% of men and 64% of women reported being not very satisfied with sex,” said Dr Rosie King, who led the study in the Asia Pacific region from May to July 2008.

“The survey links the level of erection hardness to sexual satisfaction for men.” said Dr King during a roundtable discussion at a hotel here yesterday.

The level of erection hardness is measured in a scale of one to four using the Erection Hardness Score (EHS) developed by the European Association of Urology.

“Level one is like tofu where the male organ is large but not hard, level two is similar to a peeled banana where it’s not hard enough for penetration, level three is like an unpeeled banana where it’s hard enough for penetration but not completely, and level four is similar to a cucumber where it’s completely hard and fully rigid,” explained Dr King.

The men were required to evaluate themselves using the EHS during the survey and 40% of Malaysian men reported that they experienced erection below grade four.

Compared to their EHS grade four counterparts, these men have sex less often, are less sexually satisfied, and may suffer from lack of self confidence, or worse, depression.

“We found that greater sexual satisfaction is strongly associated with greater satisfaction with life overall. Generally, men and women who are highly satisfied with their sex life have a more positive outlook on their relationships and life.

In Malaysia, 102 men and 100 women were selected nationwide based onage, marital status, education level, and income to participate in the survey.