MyMedR

Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Malaysia. Management strategies for this disease have changed dramatically. This article, based on discussions of real cases, reviews current treatment methods for various patient subsets, with acute myocardial ischemia.

Matched MeSH terms: Coronary Disease

Fulltext Chronic respiratory disease surveys in adults in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic scoping review of methodological approaches and outcomes

Hanafi NS, Agarwal D, Chippagiri S, Brakema EA, Pinnock H, Sheikh A, et al.

J Glob Health, 2021 Jun 19;11:04026.

PMID: 34221357 DOI: 10.7189/jogh.11.04026

Background: Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) contribute significantly towards the global burden of disease, but the true prevalence and burden of these conditions in adults is unknown in the majority of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to identify strategies - in particular the definitions, study designs, sampling frames, instruments, and outcomes - used to conduct prevalence surveys for CRDs in LMICs. The findings will inform a future RESPIRE Four Country ChrOnic Respiratory Disease (4CCORD) study, which will estimate CRD prevalence, including disease burden, in adults in LMICs.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review to map prevalence surveys conducted in LMICs published between 1995 and 2018. We followed Arksey and O'Malley's six-step framework. The search was conducted in OVID Medline, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, Global Health, WHO Global Index Medicus and included three domains: CRDs, prevalence and LMICs. After an initial title sift, eight trained reviewers undertook duplicate study selection and data extraction. We charted: country and populations, random sampling strategies, CRD definitions/phenotypes, survey procedure (questionnaires, spirometry, tests), outcomes and assessment of individual, societal and health service burden of disease.

Results: Of 36 872 citations, 281 articles were included: 132 from Asia (41 from China). Study designs were cross-sectional surveys (n = 260), cohort studies (n = 11) and secondary data analysis (n = 10). The number of respondents in these studies ranged from 50 to 512 891. Asthma was studied in 144 studies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 112. Most studies (100/144) based identification of asthma on symptom-based questionnaires. In contrast, COPD diagnosis was typically based on spirometry findings (94/112); 65 used fixed-ratio thresholds, 29 reported fixed-ratio and lower-limit-of-normal values. Only five articles used the term 'phenotype'. Most studies used questionnaires derived from validated surveys, most commonly the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (n = 47). The burden/impact of CRD was reported in 33 articles (most commonly activity limitation).

Conclusion: Surveys remain the most practical approach for estimating prevalence of CRD but there is a need to identify the most predictive questions for diagnosing asthma and to standardise diagnostic criteria.

Matched MeSH terms: Chronic Disease*; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive*

Modeling Parkinson's Disease in Zebrafish

Najib NHM, Nies YH, Abd Halim SAS, Yahaya MF, Das S, Lim WL, et al.

CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets, 2020;19(5):386-399.

PMID: 32640968 DOI: 10.2174/1871527319666200708124117

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders that affects the motor system, and includes cardinal motor symptoms such as resting tremor, cogwheel rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. Its prevalence is increasing worldwide due to the increase in life span. Although, two centuries since the first description of the disease, no proper cure with regard to treatment strategies and control of symptoms could be reached. One of the major challenges faced by the researchers is to have a suitable research model. Rodents are the most common PD models used, but no single model can replicate the true nature of PD. In this review, we aim to discuss another animal model, the zebrafish (Danio rerio), which is gaining popularity. Zebrafish brain has all the major structures found in the mammalian brain, with neurotransmitter systems, and it also possesses a functional blood-brain barrier similar to humans. From the perspective of PD research, the zebrafish possesses the ventral diencephalon, which is thought to be homologous to the mammalian substantia nigra. We summarize the various zebrafish models available to study PD, namely chemical-induced and genetic models. The zebrafish can complement the use of other animal models for the mechanistic study of PD and help in the screening of new potential therapeutic compounds.

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Models, Animal*; Parkinson Disease/drug therapy*

Fulltext Healthy lifestyles

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.

Matched MeSH terms: Chronic Disease

Burden of respiratory disease in Thailand: Results from the APBORD observational study

Thanaviratananich S, Cho SH, Ghoshal AG, Abdul Muttalif AR, Lin HC, Pothirat C, et al.

Medicine (Baltimore), 2016 Jul;95(28):e4090.

PMID: 27755477

Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) was a cross-sectional, observational study examining the burden of respiratory disease in adults across 6 Asia-Pacific countries.This article reports symptoms, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), work impairment and cost burden associated with allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and rhinosinusitis in Thailand.Consecutive participants aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of AR, asthma, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled at 4 hospitals in Thailand during October 2012 and October 2013. Participants completed a survey detailing respiratory symptoms, HCRU, work productivity, and activity impairment. Locally sourced unit costs were used in the calculation of total costs.The study enrolled 1000 patients. The most frequent primary diagnosis was AR (44.2%), followed by rhinosinusitis (24.1%), asthma (23.7%), and COPD (8.0%). Overall, 316 (31.6%) of patients were diagnosed with some combination of the 4 diseases. Blocked nose or congestion (17%) and cough or coughing up phlegm (16%) were the main reasons for the current medical visit. The mean annual cost for patients with a respiratory disease was US$1495 (SD 3133) per patient. Costs associated with work productivity loss were the principal contributor for AR and rhinosinusitis patients while medication costs were the highest contributor for asthma and COPD patients.The study findings highlight the burden associated with 4 prevalent respiratory diseases in Thailand. Thorough investigation of concomitant conditions and improved disease management may help to reduce the burden of these respiratory diseases.

Matched MeSH terms: Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive

miR-124 and Parkinson's disease: A biomarker with therapeutic potential

Angelopoulou E, Paudel YN, Piperi C

Pharmacol Res, 2019 12;150:104515.

PMID: 31707035 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2019.104515

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a multifactorial disorder, attributed to a complex interplay between genetic and epigenetic factors. Although the exact etiology of the disease remains elusive, dysregulation of signaling pathways implicated in cell survival, apoptosis, protein aggregation, mitochondrial dysfunction, autophagy, oxidative damage and neuroinflammation, contributes to its pathogenesis. MicroRNAs (miRs) are endogenous short non-coding RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression at a post-transcriptional level. MiR-124 is one of the most abundantly expressed miRs in the brain that participates in neurogenesis, synapse morphology, neurotransmission, inflammation, autophagy and mitochondrial function. Accumulating pre-clinical evidence shows that miR-124 may act through calpain 1/p25/cyclin-dependent kinases 5 (CDK5), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), Bcl-2-interacting mediator of cell death (Bim), 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-mediated pathways to regulate cell survival, apoptosis, autophagy, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative damage and neuroinflammation in PD. Moreover, clinical evidence indicates that reduced plasma miR-124 levels may serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker in PD. This review provides an update of the pathogenic implication of miR-124 activity in PD and discusses its targeting potential for the development of future therapeutic strategies.

Matched MeSH terms: Parkinson Disease/blood; Parkinson Disease/drug therapy; Parkinson Disease/genetics*

Tropical typhus in a training camp

Fletcher W

J R Army Med Corps, 1925;45:274-84.

DOI: 10.1136/jramc-45-04-03

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Outbreaks

An epidemic of typhoid fever due to ice cream

Green R, Mankikar DS

Bull Inst Med Res Kuala Lumpur, 1950.

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Outbreaks

Zoonoses as a study in ecology

Heisch RB

Br Med J, 1956;2:669.

DOI: 10.1136/bmj.2.4994.669

The zoonoses, which are defined as infections of man naturally acquired from other vertebrates, are treated as a problem in ecology. This entails studying the interrelation between man, animals, a causative organism, the environment, and sometimes arthropods. Such an approach is holistic or synecological—wholes being regarded as more important than parts. Holism is a dynamic not a static conception. The evolution of the zoonoses is discussed, particularly in relation to plague, relapsing fever, and leishmaniasis. The most important reservoirs of zoonoses and other parasitic infections are usually resistant or relatively insusceptible animals rather than highly susceptible ones. Plague and Chagas's disease illustrate this. Resistant and unduly susceptible animals occupy different “niches“ in nature. By “niche“ is meant the place of an animal in its biotic environment. Zoonoses often have a “focal distribution“ in nature. Thus wild rodents infected with plague may occur in “ pockets,” and the vector mites of scrub typhus congregate in “typhus islands.” An unstable environment often favours the transference of zoonoses to man and animals. Examples are the plague-infected plain of Rongai, in Kenya, the typhus-infected forest clearings in Malaya, and the yellow-fever infected forest edges in Uganda. Ecologically unstable areas are termed “ ecotones.” Zoonoses can also be transmitted in or near relatively stable sites such as huts, rodent burrows, caves, and termite hills. These are known as “habitat niches.” Animals and arthropods in a community are linked by food, and the importance of what are known as “food chains“ and “food cycles“ is discussed in relation to the transference of zoonotic infections from one host to another. Reference is also made to the fluctuations in numbers of various animals in nature, and how this affects the incidence of zoonotic disease. Certain highly susceptible rodents are periodically decimated by plague; this breaks the link with man, and human infections cease for the time being. © 1956, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Matched MeSH terms: Chagas Disease

Fulltext Designing Health Benefits Policies In Malaysia (EnPHC): A Country Assessment Report

Mohd Saleh N, Nasir NH, Ibrahim NI

Citation: Mohd Saleh N, Nasir NH, Ibrahim NI. Designing Health Benefits Policies In Malaysia (ENPHC): A Country Assessment Report. Putrajaya: Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage; 2018

Matched MeSH terms: Chronic Disease

Instability to nonlinear vector differential equations of fourth order with constant delay

Cemil Tunç

Sains Malaysiana, 2013;42:999-1002.

We consider a vector nonlinear differential equation of fourth order with a constant delay. We establish new sufficient conditions, which guarantee the instability of the zero solution of that equation. An example is given to illustrate the theoretical analysis made in this paper

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Vectors

A case of congenital megacolon treated by lumbar sympathectomy

Chitty EC

Journal of the Malaya Branch of the British Medical Association, 1939;3:102-3.

Matched MeSH terms: Hirschsprung Disease

Is there a role of routine resting ECG at the clinic in early detection of ischaemic heart disease?

Loh KY

Family Physician, 2003;12:23-23.

Matched MeSH terms: Coronary Disease

Fulltext Medium Access Control Protocols for Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks: A Survey

Zareei M, Islam AKMM, Baharun S, Vargas-Rosales C, Azpilicueta L, Mansoor N

Sensors (Basel), 2017 Sep 16;17(9).

PMID: 28926952 DOI: 10.3390/s17092136

New wireless network paradigms will demand higher spectrum use and availability to cope with emerging data-hungry devices. Traditional static spectrum allocation policies cause spectrum scarcity, and new paradigms such as Cognitive Radio (CR) and new protocols and techniques need to be developed in order to have efficient spectrum usage. Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols are accountable for recognizing free spectrum, scheduling available resources and coordinating the coexistence of heterogeneous systems and users. This paper provides an ample review of the state-of-the-art MAC protocols, which mainly focuses on Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks (CRAHN). First, a description of the cognitive radio fundamental functions is presented. Next, MAC protocols are divided into three groups, which are based on their channel access mechanism, namely time-slotted protocol, random access protocol and hybrid protocol. In each group, a detailed and comprehensive explanation of the latest MAC protocols is presented, as well as the pros and cons of each protocol. A discussion on future challenges for CRAHN MAC protocols is included with a comparison of the protocols from a functional perspective.

Matched MeSH terms: Alzheimer Disease

Fulltext Melatonin: Revisited Role as Vaccine Adjuvant During Outbreaks of COVID-19 Caused by the Delta Variant

Kow CS, Ramachandram DS, Hasan SS

J Neuroimmune Pharmacol, 2022 Dec;17(3-4):425-426.

PMID: 34850335 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-021-10036-1

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Outbreaks

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