Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 393 in total

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  1. Cheah, Y.K., Azahadi, M., Phang, S.N., Abd Manaf, N.H.
    JUMMEC, 2019;22(1):33-40.
    MyJurnal
    Background: Depression is a serious mental health illness worldwide. The purpose of the study was to
    investigate the relationships between depression and its risk factors of sociodemography, lifestyle, and health
    among the adults of the different ethnic groups in Malaysia.

    Method: A nationwide database with 10141 observations was used. Multivariable logistic regression analyses
    stratified by ethnicity were estimated.

    Results: Ethnicity and gender, age, education, marital status and self-rated health were correlated to the
    likelihood of having depression. Malay females and smokers (AOR: 2.083) were more likely to suffer from
    depression than Malay males (AOR: 0.305) and non-smokers. Higher-income Chinese displayed higher odds of
    having depression than lower-income Chinese (AOR: 1.009). Indians and others with secondary-level education
    displayed a lower likelihood of developing depression compared to those with primary-level education (AOR:
    0.587).

    Conclusion: This study could contribute significantly to the formulation and development of an effective
    policy directed towards reducing the prevalence of depression in the vulnerable. These were the adults, in
    the younger age group, with lower education, with self-rated poor health, being female, unmarried, Malay
    and Chinese, and Indians and others. A nationwide policy targeted towards the Malay females to reduce
    their depression, with attention to the Chinese with a high income, and to the Indians and others with poor
    educational background to improve their knowledge of mental health, would be worthy of consideration.
  2. A. Hamid M.S., Shariff-Ghazali S., Abdul Karim S.
    JUMMEC, 2019;22(2):49-55.
    MyJurnal
    Background: Studies on the anthropometric, physical and physiological characteristics among Malaysian Paralympic powerlifters are limited. This study examined the sociodemographic, clinical information and anthropometric physical parameters of Paralympic powerlifters in Malaysia.

    Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during a Powerlifting Workshop and National Championship in 2016. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on powerlifters’ sociodemographic, sports participation history and medical information. All participants underwent a structured physical medical examination and anthropometric assessments.

    Results: Fifty-two powerlifters participated in this study. Mean age of participants was 24.50±SD8.25 year. The majority of the participants were men (82.7%) and most had spinal cord injury (34.6%) or amputation of the lower limb (26.9%). Most of the powerlifters competed at district and state level championships and 42.3% had represented Malaysia at international competitions. Women powerlifters had a significantly higher amount of body fat compared to men (35.61% vs 19.80%; p=0.003). Male power-lifters had significantly longer arm and forearm length (30.10±IQR3.00 cm vs 23.00±IQR2.13 cm; p=0.020). A significantly positive relationship was found between age, experience, weight, BMI, LBM, arm circumferences (relaxed and tensed) and the powerlifter’s best lift. Age, experience, body weight, BMI, lean body mass, body fat, hip circumference and arm circumferences (relaxed and tensed) met the criteria for inclusion in a multivariate model. Years of experience and non-dominant arm circumference (tensed) were significant predictors of best lifts among powerlifters.

    Conclusion: In conclusion, assessment of anthropometric measures could be useful in monitoring athletes’ progress with training and have a role in the talent identification program for Paralympic powerlifters.
  3. Gill JS, Jambunathan ST, Muhsin M, Abdul Rashid R
    JUMMEC, 2005;8:61-62.
    A common practice in psychiatry when treating patients is the concurrent administration of anticholinergics along with antipsychotics, either to prevent or treat extrapyramidal syndrome reactions from occurring. However, most antipsychotics have inherent anticholinergic properties themselves. Therefore, this subtype of these patients have a higher than usual risk of developing anticholinergic side-effects, of which the central nervous manifestations can mimic psychosis, and may cloud judgement on patients’ progress towards their treatment.
  4. Gill JS, Jambunathan ST, Muhsin M, Abdul Rashid R
    JUMMEC, 2005;8:61-62.
    A common practice in psychiatry when treating patients is the concurrent administration of anticholinergics along with antipsychotics, either to prevent or treat extrapyramidal syndrome reactions from occurring. However, most antipsychotics have inherent anticholinergic properties themselves. Therefore, this subtype of these patients have a higher than usual risk of developing anticholinergic side-effects, of which the central nervous manifestations can mimic psychosis, and may cloud judgement on patients' progress towards their treatment. KEYWORDS: Anticholinergics, anticholinergig toxicity, antipsychotics
  5. Abdul Razack AH
    JUMMEC, 2007;10(1):1-2.
    MyJurnal
    Healthy lifestyle issues have been very much in the news in both the lay press and the medical journals. The incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases is increasing worldwide and it is no different in Malaysia. Preventing and decreasing the incidence is related to lifestyle issues.
  6. Chua SS, Lee YK, Chua CT, Abdullah MS
    JUMMEC, 2002;7:100-106.
    Many studies have shown that failure in the control of hypertension with oral antihypertensives could be associated with noncompliance. The present study was conducted to assess the compliance rate to antihypertensive therapies and also to determine factors related to any noncompliance. The study was conducted in a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Data was collected from patients' medical records and via personal interview using a structured questionnaire. Out of a total of 175 respondents recruited in the study, 49.1% missed at least a dose of their antihypertensive agents during a one·month period. The most common reason given by respondents who were not compliant to their antihypertensive therapies was forgetfulness (91.8%), followed by too busy (20.0%) and insufficient medication supplied to them (18.8%). None of the factors analysed, including the demography of the respondents, their knowledge about hypertension and the types of antihypertensive therapies they were on, had any statistically significant influence on the compliance behaviour of the respondents to their antihypertensive therapies. However, more than 80% of the respondents kept their appointment to see their doctor and only this factor appeared to be related to the medication compliance behaviour although it still did not reach any statistical significance. KEYWORDS: Compliance, antihypertensive agent, blood pressure, knowledge
  7. Vijaynanthan, A., Nawawi, O., Abdullah, B.J.J.
    JUMMEC, 2017;20(2):8-12.
    MyJurnal
    In the current study, we report a new technique to place a tunnelled peripherally inserted central catheter
    (PICC) at the upper arm of patient under real-time ultrasound-guided venipuncture using disposal equipment
    provided within a standard PICC set. The tunnelling of the PICC required an extra time of 5 minutes but was
    well tolerated by all patients involved in the study. The tunnelled PICC was applied on 50 patients and the
    infection rate as well its catheter dwell time were compared to another 50 patients with conventional PICC.
    The rate of patients who developed infection decreased from 34% for conventional PICC to 16% in tunnelled
    PICC patients. The central line-associated blood stream infections rate was also decreased from 4.4 per 1000
    catheter-days for conventional PICC to 1.3 per 1000 catheter-days for tunnelled PICC. The mean time to infection
    development for tunnelled PICC (24 days) was longer than those observed with conventional PICC (19 days).
    Tunnelled PICC has also increased the mean catheter dwell time from 27 days (for conventional PICC) to 47
    days. Tunnelling a PICC has the potential to reduce the infection rate while increase the catheter dwell time.
  8. Norazizah S, AbuBakar S
    JUMMEC, 1999;4:41-46.
    Dengue 2 New Guinea C (NGC) virus NS3 protein, a potentially important virulence factor was cloned to the N-terminus of the Aeqirorea victoria enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) using the pEGFP-N1 mammalian expression vector. During amplification of the recombinant plasmid in E. coli, transformants expressing the EGFP were detected in vivo when viewed using fluorescence microscopy. This inadvertent expression of the recombinant fusion protein was confirmed further by detection of the T7.Tag peptide cloned to the aluino terminal of the fusion protein using T 7.Tag specific monoclonal antibody. These findings represent perhaps the first reported expression of the T7.Tag-NS3-EGFP fusion protein using the pEGFP-N1 mammalian expression vector in E. coli. KEYWORDS: Dengue, NS3, pEGFP-N1, fusion protein.
  9. AbuBakar S
    JUMMEC, 1996;1:21-24.
    The effects of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection on human fibroblast cell genomes were investigated using agarose gel electrophoresis. At selected intervals post-infection (PI), cellular D N A from mock-treated and HCMV-infected cells were prepared in low melting point agarose plugs. Results obtained following electrophoresis of the cellular D N A indicate that HCMV infection did not result in extensive degradation of the cellular DNA, even in samples obtained from cells which showed > 95% cytopathologic effects. High molecular weight DNA (> 23 Kb) comparable to that of the mock-treated samples were noted in a l l HCMV infected DNA samples. Digestion of the DNA samples with restriction endonucleases, EcoR I, Not I, Sfi I, and Nru I, however, resulted in the appearance of smaller DNA fragments (< 23 Kb) in samples obtained on day 3, 4, and 5 PI. Since these DNA bands appeared only in the infected cells, it was likely that these were the HCMV genomic DNA fragments. Findings presented in this study support the notion that the cellular DNA of HCMVinfected cells could remained intact and functiona. KEYWORDS: Cytomegalovirus, chromosomes, DNA, genomes, restriction enzymes
  10. Bassoumah, B., Adam, M.A.
    JUMMEC, 2018;21(1):32-38.
    MyJurnal
    The study aimed at government efforts in making maternal and child healthcare services more available to
    rural women, many of whom who still seek care from traditional practitioners during the postpartum period
    after childbirth. In this research, we explored the role of traditional practitioners, such as Traditional Birth
    Attendants (TBAs), herbalists and spiritualists, in traditional maternity care and the implications for the health
    of the expectant mother, foetus or baby. This qualitative inquiry used purposive sampling and snowballing to
    select the respondents in their various localities. It was observed that the traditional practitioners performed
    both spiritual and medical roles during pregnancy and childbirth.
    In the study, we discovered that both mothers and babies were exposed to health risks, as administration
    of the herbal medicines and assistance at deliveries were carried out under unhygienic conditions. The
    techniques used in labour management were not in compliance with the recommendations of the World
    Health Organisation. The stages of maternity were characterised with the application of herbal concoctions
    with spirituality attached.
    The study recommends re-examination of mediating socio-cultural factors to professional health care. There
    is a need for the Ghana Health Service to ensure the efficacy and safety of herbal drugs as well as to monitor
    the production and application of such medicines.
  11. Bouzaboul, Mounir, Abidli, Zakaria, Amri, Abdeslam, Rabea, Ziri, Ahami, Ahmed Omar Touhami
    JUMMEC, 2021;24(1):76-82.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Attention is one of many cognitive functions; it plays a central role in the learning process. For this reason, our study aims to determine the impact of attentional abilities on academic performance among middle school learners in Middle Atlas of Morocco.

    Methods: Data were collected from a sample of 137 middle school learners. For the assessment of attentional abilities, we performed the Trail Making Test (TMT) to estimate mental flexibility. Evaluation of selective attention was done through the Stroop Test and the measurement of sustained attention was achieved via the d2-R test.

    Results: Our results revealed that the attentional abilities of learners in our samples are positively correlated with their academic performance and vice versa.

    Conclusion: At the end of this study, it is important to establish a thorough diagnosis of attentional disorders to identify learners with attention problems in order to implement a remedial program so as to avoid the detrimental effects of these disorders on the academic performance of learners.
  12. Aaina Iryani Mubarak, Wan Nur Aida Wan Muhammad Shukri, Ahmad Khaldun Ismail
    JUMMEC, 2020;23(2):103-106.
    MyJurnal
    Aortic dissection (AD) is a rare cardiovascular emergency with a high rate of mortality. Most patients present with typical signs and symptoms of AD. However, atypical presentation increases risk of delay in diagnosis and treatment. Patients may present with syncope, seizures or other neurological symptoms which may deceive the diagnosis of AD. Dissection can be in the acute or chronic phase, but there has been no documentation of an acute dissection which occurs in a chronic dissection. We hereby to report a case of an acute on chronic thoraco-abdominal dissection.
  13. Chee, W.H., Ahmad, A.R.
    JUMMEC, 2018;21(2):59-63.
    MyJurnal
    Locked pubic symphysis is a rare form of pelvic injury that usually occurs after a lateral compression injury to
    the pelvis, where the intact pubis is trapped behind the contralateral pubis. To the best of our knowledge, there
    were 25 similar cases reported in the English literature since it was first described in 1952. We present a case
    of locked pubic symphysis with a left iliac wing fracture and a left femur shaft fracture requiring open reduction
    and internal fixation. We also reviewed previous reported cases of locked pubic symphysis and analysed the
    pattern of presentation and guide to management of such injuries. We propose a classification system for
    grading overlapping pubic symphysis that will provide a better guide to the management of such injuries.
  14. Tan, S.L., Selvaratnam, L., Ahmad, T.S.
    JUMMEC, 2015;18(2):1-14.
    MyJurnal
    Tendon is a dense connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. Tendon can adapt to mechanical forces passing across it, through a reciprocal relationship between its cellular components (tenocytes and tenoblasts) and the extracellular matrix (ECM). In early development, the formation of scleraxis-expressing tendon progenitor population in the sclerotome is induced by a fibroblast growth factor signal secreted by the myotome. Tendon injury has been defined as a loss of cells or ECM caused by trauma. It represents a failure of cells and matrix adaptation to mechanical loading. Injury initiates attempts of tendon to repair itself, which has been defined as replacement of damaged or lost cells and ECM by new cells or new matrices. Tendon healing generally consists of four different phases: the inflammatory, proliferation, differentiation and remodelling phases. Clinically, tendons are repaired with a variety of surgical techniques, which show various degrees of success. In order to improve the conventional tendon repair methods, current tendon tissue engineering aims to investigate a repair method which can restore tissue defects with living cells, or cell based therapy. Advances in tissue engineering techniques would potentially yield to a cell-based product that could regenerate functional tendon tissue.
  15. Al-Khateeb, A, Al-Talib, H
    JUMMEC, 2016;19(2):1-11.
    MyJurnal
    Background:
    Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is one of the most frequent inherited metabolic disorders that can lead
    to a risk of premature cardiovascular disease. Publications on FH are mainly from western patients as there is
    little research on Asians, including Malaysians. The aim of this review is to provide an up-to- date information
    on Malaysian studies on FH genotyping and its relation to the phenotype of the affected patients.
    Method:
    A search was conducted for data from online databases on FH in Malaysia.
    Results:
    The mutation spectrum for FH among Malaysian patients was extremely broad. The gene variants were located
    mainly in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and apolipoprotein B-100 (APOB-100) genes rather than
    in the proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9) gene. The exon 9 and 14 were the hotspots in the
    LDLR gene. The most frequent mutation was p.Cys255Ser, at 12.5%, followed by p.Arg471Gly, at 11%, and the
    most common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was c.1060+7 T>C at 11.7%. The LDLR gene variants were
    more common compared to the APOB-100 gene variants, while variants in the PCSK9 gene were very few.
    Phenotype-genotype associations were identified. Subjects with LDLR and APOB-100 genes mutations had a
    higher frequency of cardiovascular disease, a family history of hyperlipidaemia and tendon xanthoma and a
    higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level than non-carriers.
    Conclusion:
    Research on Malaysian familial hypercholesterolaemic patients by individual groups is encouraging. However,
    more extensive molecular studies on FH on a national scale, with a screening of the disease-causing mutations
    together with a comprehensive genotype-phenotype association study, can lead to a better outcome for
    patients with the disease.
  16. Faisal, M., Moniruddin, C., Alauddin, A.B.M.C.
    JUMMEC, 2017;20(2):1-7.
    MyJurnal
    Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem worldwide. It is estimated that 2 billion people, a third of
    the world population, have TB infection, but are not down with the disease. Globally, incident cases of TB
    showed a rising trend, with a 6.6 million reported in 1990, 8.3 million in 2000, 9.24 million in 2004, and an
    estimated 9.27 million incident cases in 2007. The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcome of
    TB patients in Nigeria in the state of Jigawa. A cross sectional retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the
    treatment outcome in directly observed treatment with a short course for tuberculosis (TB DOTS) in facilities
    in the state between the years 2010 to 2014. The study population were all the patients with TB, who had
    access to DOTS therapy. Data were collected from the various local governmental areas for tuberculosis control
    (LGA TB) register. The LGA TB control registers contained basic information of the patients, and a statistical
    software SPSS-V22.0 was used to analyse the data. A total of 963 TB patients were studied. More than half
    (57.4%) of the patients were male, and nearly three- fourths (71.2%) of the patients accessed care from urban
    local government areas in the state. The greater majority (96.3%) of the cases had pulmonary tuberculosis
    (PTB). Among the patients, more than two-fifths (45%) were cured, and a little over one-fifth (20.6%) of them
    were HIV positive. This study revealed that the treatment success rate (TSR) in the Jigawa State of Nigeria
    was higher than the overall TSR of Nigeria, and the defaulter rate in this state was lower than the Nigerian
    average. The aim of this study was to evaluate the treatment outcome of TB patients in Nigeria in the state
    of Jigawa. A cross sectional retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the treatment outcome in directly
    observed treatment with a short course for tuberculosis (TB DOTS) in facilities in the state between the years
    2010 to 2014. The study population were all the patients with TB, who had access to DOTS therapy. Data were
    collected from the various local governmental areas for tuberculosis control (LGA TB) register. The LGA TB
    control registers contained basic information of the patients, and a statistical software SPSS-V22.0 was used
    to analyse the data. A total of 963 TB patients were studied. More than half (57.4%) of the patients were
    male, and nearly three- fourths (71.2%) of the patients accessed care from urban local government areas in
    the state. The greater majority (96.3%) of the cases had pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Among the patients,
    more than two-fifths (45%) were cured, and a little over one-fifth (20.6%) of them were HIV positive. This study
    revealed that the treatment success rate (TSR) in the Jigawa State of Nigeria was higher than the overall TSR
    of Nigeria, and the defaulter rate in this state was lower than the Nigerian average.
  17. Hew FL, Alford F
    JUMMEC, 1999;4:74-84.
    Adults with Growth hormone (GH) deficiency is now being recognised to display many distinct clinical, metabolic and psychological abnormalities. It has been demonstrated that GH deficient (GHD) adults display features of multiple insulin resistant syndrome (MIRS) which predispose the GHD adults to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. These features include central obesity, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, hypertension, dyslipidaemia that includes a reduced level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, an elevated triglyceride level and sniall low density lipoprotein cholesterol size. Furthermore, GHD adults are found to have a lower bone mass and a reduced sense of well-being. Replacement of G H in these GHD adults has brought about a major itnproveliient in psychological well-being and central obesity. The improvement of some of the lipid abnornialities is however more modest. Insulin resistance, the corner stone of MIRS, is however not altered by G H replacement. Long term data is as yet unavailable to assess if GH replacement reduces cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in these subjects. KEYWORDS: Growth hormone, Horlnoiie deficiency, Diabetes niellitus, Central obesity, Hyperlipidaemia, Hypertension.
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