With a population that is ageing and increasingly burdened with non-communicable diseases, what happens when an older adult needs a full-time caregiver and that role is taken up by their spouse - also a senior themself?  We speak to Monica Voon, who found herself in that situation after her husband was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome. She shares the challenges she faced in ensuring her husband’s needs and care were met, as well as how her own well-being was affected. We also hear from Professor Nathan Vytialingam, Honorary Fellow, World Federation of Occupational Therapists, about the support that older caregivers need in Malaysia. 

NCD Chronicles is a series about people living with NCDs, going beyond the diagnosis to explore their personal experiences, their challenges, as well as the impact of their health condition on their loved ones. These stories reveal the importance of understanding the unique struggles and needs of the individuals behind the disease, in our response to the NCD epidemic.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’ve probably heard of “bubble boy” or “bubble baby” disease, where a child diagnosed with it has to live in a germ-free, sterile and contained environment, because they’re extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases. The more accurate name is severe combined immunodeficiency disease or SCID, and children born with it often don’t survive past their first few years, especially if they’re undiagnosed or untreated. Here’s where newborn screening can play a vital role in picking up these cases early and thus giving these babies a chance at life. We speak to Associate Professor Dr Adli Ali, consultant paediatric immunologist and Bruce Lim, President of Malaysian Patients' Organisation for Primary Immunodeficiencies (MYPOPI) to find out.

Image Credit: Wikimedia / Creative Commons

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you have diabetes, high blood pressure or heart failure, some of the drugs you’re taking for treatment may have been tested right here in Malaysia. Our country plays an important role in international clinical trials, a pivotal step in drug research that determines whether a therapy is safe and effective when you use it. On the show, we explore a retrospective of how clinical trial research developed in Malaysia, and how the country positioned itself as a hub for international clinical trials.

Image Credit: Clinical Research Malaysia / Clinical Investigation Centre University Malaya Medical Centre

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volunteers of Befrienders KL provide emotional support 24 hours, every day, for people who are lonely, in distress, in despair or having suicidal thoughts. But what goes into the role of being a Befriender and how do volunteers deal with the distress they hear every day? On this episode of ‘Because Feelings Matter’, Etta Chatterjee, the Chairperson of Befrienders KL, and Shyuan, a volunteer with the helpline, share how they journey with callers in their pain and loneliness. 

World Suicide Prevention Day is commemorated on 10th September. If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support, call 03-76272929 or email [email protected], or reach out for help within your community. You can also call Talian HEAL at 15 555, or MIASA at 1-800-1800-66.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good nutrition, especially in the first year of life, is especially important for a child to grow and develop healthily. So what happens when babies aren’t able to feed well and what if these problems continue into their early childhood? Joining us to dive into how parents can be supported through common paediatric feeding issues, is speech-language therapist, Tay Chia Yi.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China is currently seeing an outbreak of chikungunya - a mosquito-borne illness - in Guangdong province with more than 7,000 cases reported earlier this month. With high volumes of travel between China and Malaysia, how worried should we be about the virus spreading here? Consultant urologist Dr George Lee is joined by consultant infectious diseases physician Dr Anjanna Kukraja to find out more about this virus and whether Malaysia’s prepared for it.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recently published National Health and Morbidity Survey 2024 focussing on nutrition revealed just how bad Malaysians’ diets are. Now that’s probably not a surprise to most of us but the question remains: what can we do about it? Here to help us break down how we can easily improve our diets and make sure we get all the nutrients we need is dietitian Prof Dr Winnie Chee.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hearing loss is often brought up as a risk factor for dementia, especially later on in life but what exactly explains that link? On this episode of Brain Waves, we dive into the changes that happen cognitively and physically due to hearing loss, and why it links to a dementia risk. We speak to neurogeneticist Dr Azlina Ahmad Annuar and neurophysiologist Dr Kumar Seluakumaran, both from Universiti Malaya.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kids today use AI for homework, research, to answer their curious questions, and increasingly, for companionship. As we hear of extreme cases of children and teenagers devoting all their free time to conversations with AI chatbots, the question arises: how safe is this for young people? And how do parents and educators help kids understand the differences between artifice and reality? Find out how to get a copy of Makchic’s book ‘The Society of Online Superheroes: A Super Smart Guide to Internet Safety’ here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For people with disabilities or mobility issues, the world can be difficult to navigate, especially when our urban environment lacks accessibility. But underwater, things can be drastically different for these individuals. We speak to Prof Dr Julia Patrick Engkasan, rehabilitation physician from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and Syed Abd Rahman, Diveheart Malaysia Ambassador, to find out how diving can open up a whole new world for people with disabilities and how it can help with rehabilitation.

Image Credit: Diveheart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.