Health Awareness

Health Awareness

Everything You Need to Know About Leprosy

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucous membranes, and upper respiratory tract. The bacteria – “Mycobacterium leprae” causes leprosy. It can be transmitted through droplets from the nose and mouth of an infected person or through contact with infected tissue or bodily fluids. There were 127,558 new leprosy cases detected globally in 2020, according to official figures from 139 countries from the 6 WHO Regions. Types of Leprosy There are three types of leprosy: tuberculoid leprosy, lepromatous leprosy, and borderline leprosy. Tuberculoid leprosy is the most common type of disease. It is characterized by […]

Health Awareness

How Braille Helps the Visually Impaired

World Braille Day celebrated since 2019, is observed to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in fully realizing the human rights of blind and partially sighted people. Braille is not a language but a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. There are braille codes for the vast majority of languages. Depending on the language, some symbols have different meanings for aspects such as accented letters. Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is […]

Health Awareness

Mental Health Strategies in The Workplace

According to a World Health Organization scientific brief, the global prevalence of anxiety and sadness increased by 25% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, 21% of individuals in the United States (52.9 million people) are dealing from mental illness. This equates to one in every five adults. In most countries, the situation would be identical. Because of the severity of these issues, which frequently goes undetected, there is a lack of reliable information about workplace mental health. Some workers prefer to suffer in quiet rather than asking for assistance from their bosses or co-workers because they believe […]

Health Awareness

Why Mental Health Awareness is Important

Mental health is a state of emotional, mental, and behavioral well-being. It affects every aspect of our lives including physical, social, psychological, and spiritual aspects. People who have mental health issues frequently face stigma, which can make it difficult to seek help. Due to this, many people suffer in silence and that’s a serious issue. We need to increase awareness of mental health problems and encourage people to seek help. Globally, mental health problems are on the rise. In the recent decade, there has been a 13% increase in mental health illnesses and substance use disorders, primarily due to demographic […]

Health Awareness

The Mucopolysaccharidoses Disease Series: Type IV

In the last blog update, we discussed on Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) Disease series with MPS Type III, also known as Sanfilippo Syndrome. In today’s blog, we continue the series with the next variation of the disease; MPS Type IV. MPS Type IV is also known as Morquio syndrome. This metabolic condition is very rare to happen, in which the body cannot break down the GAGs chain, causing it to accumulate in lysosome cells and can be inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. MPS type IV is divided into two forms such as type A and type B. Type A is mainly […]

Health Awareness

The Mucopolysaccharidoses Disease Series: Type III

In the previous blog post, we have discussed on MPS Type II diseases, which gene is getting mutated and how the mutation affects the human body. We also talked about the symptoms for MPS Type II. Now, we will touch on MPS Type III. MPS III also known as Sanfilippo Syndrome causes the body unable to break down GAG mainly heparan sulfate which can lead to deterioration of neurological function. Sanfilippo syndrome is usually inherited in an autosomal recessive manner and mainly affects the brain and central nervous system. Types III-A, III-B, III-C, and III-D of MPS III are distinguishable […]

Health Awareness

The Mucopolysaccharidoses Disease Series: Type II

On the previous blog post, we discussed on what Mucopolysaccharidoses Disease (MPS) is and how genetics play an important role for the disease. We also touched upon Type 1 of the MPS disease, what genes are involved and how the mutation cause changes to the human body. This week, we will talk about MPS Type II diseases. Different from type I, MPS type II is mainly affecting the IDS gene which caused the lack of IDS enzyme also known as iduronate 2-sulfatase (I2S). This enzyme is very important in the breakdown of large sugar molecules such as GAGs. This condition […]

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The Mucopolysaccharidoses Disease Series: Type I

Before we jump dive right in, a lot of you may wonder what is Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) Disease? Most if not, all might never even hear of this disease. MPS are a group of disorders that fall under the inherited lysosomal storage disorders (LSD). LSD is caused by the defective function of lysosomes that is due to inborn errors which lead to the accumulation of excess substrates in cells of the organ. MPS was known to be inherited due to autosomal recessive traits. In the case of MPS, an aberrant build-up of specific complex carbohydrates (mucopolysaccharides or glycosaminoglycans) in the arteries, […]

Health Awareness

Have You Ever Heard of Metachromatic Leukodystrophy?

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are inborn metabolic abnormalities characterized by the excessive accumulation of substrates in a variety of organ cells as a result of lysosome dysfunction. They contribute significantly to significant morbidity and mortality by causing malfunction in the organs where they accumulate. Dubbed as one of the most prevalent leukodystrophies in 2020, MLD has a prevalence rate of 1 occurrence in 40,000–160,000 births worldwide. Now what is metachromatic leukodystrophy? Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a lysosomal storage disorder. The inability to break down sulphated glycolipids, particularly the galactosyl-3-sulphate ceramides is one of its defining characteristics. It is brought on […]

Health Awareness

What is Gaucher Disease?

Gaucher Disease is an inherited metabolic disorder characterized by the buildup of harmful amounts of certain fats (lipids), specifically the glycolipid glucocerebroside, throughout the body, most notably in the bone marrow, spleen, and liver. It’s one of the most common Lysosomal Storage Disease in Malaysia and Singapore with 3 occurrences in every 1 000 000 births. Symptoms Gaucher disease symptoms and physical findings differ greatly between patients. Some people have few or no symptoms (asymptomatic), while others may have serious complications. Common symptoms include an abnormally enlarged liver and/or spleen (hepatosplenomegaly), low levels of circulating red blood cells (anemia), low […]

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