My Longkang

Is your child stressed? Are you stressing your child too much with high expectations from them for achievements that you yourself were not able to achieve?

Nowadays, kids are facing a lot of stress and lead highly structured lives from the time they wake up to the time they sleep. They have their schooling, co-curricular activities, after school tuition classes, piano lessons, computer lessons, language classes and religious lessons. It is no wonder kids feel bored when left alone to their own resources.
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No excessive jogging please.

Pic courtesy of www.soq.de/bilder/tipps

In this modern world where every one is very particular about their image, jogging has become a way of life for many. It gives one an excuse to leave the house, do some exercise, work off the sweat and hopefully some socializing.

However a study conducted at the University of Heidelburg has concluded that people who jog more than 60km per week are at greater risk of developing osteoarthritis in their hips.

This osteoarthritis is characterized by joint pain which can be relieved by medication known as cox inhibitors, which block the effects of special enzymes, specifically Cox-1 and Cox-2 enzymes.

According to the study, no problems arose in the long-distance joggers’ knees. If you are a short distance jogger, do not worry. There is no increased risk of arthritis in the knees or hips.

I see her every morning. She has a cute face that will never age and in her mid thirties. She is not one for flowing skirts but for tight skirts and body-hugging blouses. She is the only one who speaks me not in dialects but in perfect Mandarin. So, yours truly has to brush up on oral Mandarin.

Pic courtesy of benzo.org.com.uk
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Are you overweight? Are you dieting?

Pic courtesy of http://www.uab.edu/images/healthsys/MedWest/Exercise.jpg

I just found out that when overweight people lose weight, they often lose bone mineral density as well, increasing their risk for osteoporosis. However new research suggests to preserve bone strength, exercise rather than calorie restriction is a better option.

To read the stats that prompted this research finding click here

The results appear in the Dec. 11 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers acknowledge that their sample was not large and did not examine sex differences in bone mineral density responses.

Dr. Dennis T. Villareal, the lead author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, recommends diet and exercise together in a weight-loss program. “That way, you get the weight loss benefits of the diet,” he said, “but prevent the negative effect on bone health.”

“Bengbeng, that is enough. Remember your high blood pressure. Remember we don’t want Benghui to have a father who has a heart attack.” It has got to the stage I don’t bother to drink at all unless society obliges me to imbibe a glass or two.

Anyway, I am used to that. “ Bengbeng,not so fast..maybe accidentlah. Don’t sleep late…your heart u know  Eat more vegetablelah …your body needs more fibre.. I sometimes long for the time when I was free and did what I wanted. Read more »

We all attended the funeral at Fettes Park. Ping Kun was just thirty eight years old. He played squash every week and was a successful businessman.

We all talked to each other, made small talk but as in every occasion like this every one felt uneasy. Watching the widow grieve was more than most of us could stomach. We all thought we could live, like almost forever. His son was fifteen years old while his daughter was nine years old. Read more »

PETALING JAYA:
Siti Syarilla Mohd Zaid and her husband, 32-year-old operations supervisor Saiful Hasari Shaari, could hardly contain their joy when they welcomed three bundles of joy on Thursday. Once they were told they would never have a baby.

Siti Syarilla was told she was expecting after six months of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment sponsored by the Tunku Azizah Fertility Foundation (TAFF).

“I was depressed when I was told that I could not have children. It’s a miracle that I now do, and I owe it all to God,” the human resources executive said.

She has endometriosis, a condition in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus grows in other areas of the body, causing pain, irregular menstruation and infertility. Read more »

Talking about the man who committed suicide by jumping from the Penang Bridge got me thinking perhaps it would be a good idea to write about the topic. In Depression Part 1, I will talk about depression

If you are suffering from depression, hopefully it will enlighten you. If you are not, it will at least help you identify close ones around you who might be suffering depression and not know it.

Depression

The truth is so many just don’t seek treatment, even though they suffer needlessly, or commit suicide. The very symptoms of depression, the very despair and hopelessness, and the pain caused by so many other self-perpetuating thoughts and feelings literally immobilize them.

How family members, society as a whole, and how we ourselves perceive and react to depression can literally paralyze any efforts a person might make toward getting help. Read more »