Singap Med J
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Historical anecdotes suggest human beings can postpone death around important occasions. Some formal studies have claimed that elderly Jewish men and Chinese women in America postponed death around the Passover and Harvest Moon (or Mid-Autumn) Festival (HMF), respectively. ⋯ Other than cancer deaths in males, we found little evidence in this dataset of death postponement until after important holidays in the Hong Kong Chinese population.
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Coronary artery disease (CAD) is fast becoming a major morbidity and mortality burden in the developing world. The magnitude of the problem is predicted to exceed that of the developed world due to the sheer population numbers at risk. The Indian subcontinental ethnicity has been associated with a more severe form of CAD that has its onset at a younger age. ⋯ This distinction may facilitate more focused and ethnicity-specific studies to be carried out to unravel the mysteries surrounding the clinical, pathological and molecular biological aspects of the CAD syndrome among Asian Indian ethnics. The outcomes and findings of such investigations may help gain a stranglehold on this rapidly-progressing disease condition among the populations in emerging and densely-populated economies of the South Asian region, as well as among millions of Asian-Indian ethnics living all over the world. Thus we may brace ourselves to better address or even prevent what has been dubbed "the next major clinical epidemic of our times".
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The aim of this study was to analyse the association between the ACE ID polymorphism and aerobic capacity in a homogeneous cohort of national Asian rugby players. ⋯ It is likely that the same physiological mechanisms mediated by the ACE gene are responsible for aerobic capacity in both Asians and Caucasians.
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Molybdenum cofactor deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder with devastating neurological manifestations, characterised by neonatal-onset encephalopathy mimicking hypoxic-ischaemic insult, intractable seizure, and feeding and respiratory difficulties. It is often fatal in the early life. ⋯ Molybdenum cofactor deficiency must be included in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with unexplained encephalopathy in the newborn period, and whose neuroimaging findings are consistent with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy. The classic laboratory hallmark of this disorder is low serum uric acid, positive urine sulphite dipstick test, and elevated urinary S-sulphocysteine, hypoxanthine and xanthine.
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The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey Malaysia 2006 includes a nutritional status assessment of children. This study aimed to assess the inter- and intra-examiner reliability, the technical error of measurement and the validity of instruments for measuring weight, height and waist circumference. ⋯ The findings of this study suggest that weight, height and waist circumference measured in adults aged 18 years and above, using the respective above mentioned instruments, are reliable and valid for use in a community survey. Limiting the number of examiners, especially for waist circumference measurements, would yield a higher degree of reliability and validity.