Our Dr Ang Kai Kok has written an article for Changi General Hospital’s Caring Magazine.
by paulang
Our Dr Ang Kai Kok has written an article for Changi General Hospital’s Caring Magazine.
by paulang
Our Dr Ang Teng Soon Paul has written an article for Changi General Hospital’s Caring Magazine.
by paulang
We are one of the clinics to offer this cervical cancer vaccine in Punggol, Singapore.
It is not just because it is new, but it has also shown to have improvement (Petrosky et al. 2015) in the protection against cervical cancer, anal cancer and genital warts. In fact, in the same research, it was also found that it can help to save money in the long run.
Gardasil 9 | Gardasil Quadrivalent | Cervarix | |
---|---|---|---|
Human Papillomavirus Types Covered | 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58 | 6, 11, 16, and 18 | 16, 18 |
Price | $$$ | $$ | $ |
Protection against Cancer | +++ | ++ | ++ |
Protection against genital warts | +++ | ++ | + |
Injection Timings | Three jabs: 0 months, 2 months and 6 months | Three jabs: 0 months, 2 months and 6 months | Three jabs: 0 months, 1 months and 6 months |
Possible Side Effects | as below, SAME | as below, SAME | as below, SAME |
Stocks are back in, come and get while it lasts!
If you look deep inside a woman’s below, there is a cone shaped thing (cervix) that leads into the womb (uterus). This part can get infected by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) over time (when the woman starts to have partners), and this virus causes the body to react badly. Once you are infected with HPV, the virus doesn’t go away! It causes the body cells to keep growing and growing. When the body cells keeps “growing and growing”, there will be a point when some of them go berserk and decide to become cancerous.
So, when a Zenith doctor gives you a HPV vaccine, we are essentially going back to where it begun (almost :p). We are trying to prevent the cervix from even catching the virus in the first place.
How common is HPV infection?
A study conducted in Singapore found that 1 in 5 Singapore females have HPV infection and half of these females already carry the virus strains that are known to cause cancer (Tay et al. 2008).
It gives your body some virus parts and makes your body detect and kill it the next time it meets this virus, instead of letting it fester and cause problems. Even if you have already caught one of the sub-types of virus, the vaccine will still be effective against the many other strains. That is why it is still effective even after sexual exposure.
This vaccine is approved for use in girls 9 to 26 years old. Truly, there are few things that can actually prevent cancer to this extent and this easily, but this is one of them.
So the short answer is: yes, you should get it done as early as possible.
Apparently, the HPV vaccine can still benefit older women, but not as much, and in Singapore, the government only allows Medisave claims up to and before your 27th birthday.
This vaccine has been highly recommended in males as well. It can reduce the risk of genital warts and cancer. It can also protect your spouse.
Another group for which this vaccine has been highly advocated is the MSM community. There are additional benefits of reducing warts and anal cancer. Unfortunately, the government does not subsidise this group of people yet.
Good question, for boys and girls 9 to 14 years old, there is a recommendation to just take 2 doses 6 months apart instead of 3.
Hmm, the thing is NOT that this vaccine is dangerous to your unborn child. It is that we have NOT run tests on this group of patients, so the short answer is “we don’t know”. Hence, we tend to wait until the end of the pregnancy to complete the injections.
What if if you got pregnant after you got vaccinated? Fret not, it has not been shown to be dangerous so far.
As this is a new vaccine, stocks are limited and running out fast. Please call in (64433678) to reserve your jab now, or drop us your contact details for us to get back to you.
Markowitz, Lauri E., Eileen F. Dunne, Mona Saraiya, Harrell W. Chesson, C. Robinette Curtis, Julianne Gee, Joseph A. Bocchini Jr, Elizabeth R. Unger, Centers for Disease Control, and Prevention (CDC). 2014. “Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).” MMWR Recomm Rep 63 (RR-05): 1–30.
Petrosky, Emiko, Joseph A. Bocchini Jr, Susan Hariri, Harrell Chesson, C. Robinette Curtis, Mona Saraiya, Elizabeth R. Unger, Lauri E. Markowitz, Centers for Disease Control, and Prevention (CDC). 2015. “Use of 9-Valent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine: Updated HPV Vaccination Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.” MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 64 (11): 300–304.
Tay, Sun Kuie, Hextan Y. S. Ngan, Tang-Yuan Chu, Annie N. Y. Cheung, and Eng Hseon Tay. 2008. “Epidemiology of Human Papillomavirus Infection and Cervical Cancer and Future Perspectives in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.” Vaccine, Prevention of Cervical Cancer in the Asia Pacific Region: Progress and Challenges on HPV Vaccination and Screening, 26 (Supplement 12): M60–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.05.042.
by paulang
These are infections that are behind the eardrum.
The space behind the eardrum is supposed to be dry and all air.
Sometimes, infection or phlegm can reach this space via the auditory tube (Eustachian tube), which link to the back of the nose. [Read more…] about Middle Ear Infection
by paulang
This is the main article about dementia care in a clinic (ambulatory setting).
It is a disease related to the degeneration (accelerated ageing) of the brain cells, causing the patient to lose function. This can be very hard to detect in the early stages. Overtime, the loss of function would be obvious, and the disease would probably have been there for a while.
Screening Form
Instructions
As dementia can be quite a complex problem, especially when it happens in the elderly, doctors will usually take look at the full medical history, medications, social history and a lot of other information about the patient.
We will also start the conversation rolling by covering some care planning components:
It can take a long time sometimes, and we may have to see the patient over a few sessions.
Key services provided by Alzheimer’s Disease Association:
Services offered by ADA’s Caregiver Support Centre:
by paulang
Constipation is a common problem. It refers to either increased hardness of stools or reduced frequency of motion.
Our gut has specific timings daily that will “move”. If you miss the timing where you have the “feel”, it will be hard to try to pass motion.
The number of medications that are used for constipation can be quite bewildering, even for doctors!
When all the above fails, you might have to use some of these.