Out with the old and in with the new
It’s a new year, a new decade, the old year we bid adieu
It’s that time of the year when we make resolutions
Whether we keep them or not, well, those are our actions
With positive thoughts and actions, let us start
This year let it be love and optimism in our heart
The New Year is a chance to press the restart button
A new decade, a year, a new day and a new dawn
Happy New Year folks! Its the start of a new decade and out with the old and in with the new!
2019 has been an intense year for us, as regualr visitors to this page will know. BB & GG sat for their O level exam (results of which should be out in the next two weeks or so) and I got more grey hair during this period than even the PSLE exams. The one silver lining which allowed us some respite during the exams was that both the children got an acceptance into a course of their choice. This means that as long as their meet the minimum requirements of their chosen course, their admission is confirmed once the results are declared.
I am hopeful for both of them for 2020 as they embark on a new chapter in their lives. They will be studying subjects they are interested and passionate about and I hope this translates into doing well in school and living their best lives.
On the work front, things were a bit quiet in 2019 as I was more focussed with the children this year. I work with some wonderful ladies and in 2020 want to expand what I am currently doing.
On a personal front, I have decided that that my word for 2020 will be “Bloom”! I am a fairly ecclectic person with varied interests and this year I want to expand the interests that consume me during the year. I want to bloom both personally and professionally in 2020 and give my best to whatever I do.
I also want to work more on this blog and provide interesting content. For a blog where I write anonymously and don’t share content with anyone and anywhere, I have great pleasure when I see all those who choose to follow me because you think the content I post is something you are interested in. So a huge Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Here’s wishing all of you a very Happy New Year! May 2020 be the best year of your lives and hope you achieve all that you set out to in the year. I leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein – Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
Yesterday, 14 November was commemorated worldwide as World Diabetes Day. I didn’t know about this day until earlier this year and as someone who suffers from this condition, I think it’s a pity, but better late than never.
World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.
The day is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public and political spotlight. The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to promote importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.
The theme for World Diabetes Day 2019 is Family and Diabetes. Family and the support network around you has a huge impact on diabetes management, care, prevention and education and that is exactly what this year’s theme wants to highlight. The WDD 2019 has three main focus areas: Discover diabetes; Prevent type 2 diabetes and Manage diabetes.
Families are urged to learn more about the warning signs of diabetes and find out their risk of type 2 diabetes. Research conducted by the Federation in 2018 discovered that parents would struggle to spot this serious life-long condition in their own children. Despite the majority of people surveyed having a family member with diabetes, an alarming four-in-five parents would have trouble recognising the warning signs. One-in-three wouldn’t spot them at all. The findings underline the need for education and awareness to help people spot the diabetes warning signs early.
A lack of knowledge about diabetes means that spotting the warning signs is not just a problem for parents, but is an issue impacting a cross-section of society. This is a major concern, due to the signs being milder in type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent form of the condition, responsible for around 90% of all diabetes. One in two people currently living with diabetes are undiagnosed. The vast majority of these have type 2 diabetes. Left untreated or unmanaged, diabetes can lead to life-changing complications. These include blindness, amputation, kidney failure, heart attack and stroke. Diabetes was responsible for four million deaths in 2017. It is no wonder that diabetes has been called a silent killer. Early diagnosis and treatment are key to helping prevent or delay life-threatening complications.
Many cases of type 2 diabetes can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Reducing a family’s risk starts at home. When a family eats healthy meals and exercises together, all family members benefit and this in turn, encourages behaviours that could help prevent type 2 diabetes in the family.
Types of Diabetes
There are three main types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes used to be called juvenile-onset diabetes. It is usually caused by an auto-immune reaction where the body’s defence system attacks the cells that produce insulin. The reason this occurs is not fully understood. People with type 1 diabetes produce very little or no insulin. The disease may affect people of any age, but usually develops in children or young adults. People with this form of diabetes need injections of insulin every day in order to control the levels of glucose in their blood. If people with type 1 diabetes do not have access to insulin, they will die.
Type 2 diabetes used to be called non-insulin dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes, and accounts for at least 90% of all cases of diabetes. It is characterised by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency, either or both of which may be present at the time diabetes is diagnosed. The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can occur at any age. Type 2 diabetes may remain undetected for many years and the diagnosis is often made when a complication appears or a routine blood or urine glucose test is done. It is often, but not always, associated with overweight or obesity, which itself can cause insulin resistance and lead to high blood glucose levels. People with type 2 diabetes can often initially manage their condition through exercise and diet. However, over time most people will require oral drugs and or insulin.
Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are serious. There is no such thing as mild diabetes.
Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a form of diabetes consisting of high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. It develops in one in 25 pregnancies worldwide and is associated with complications to both mother and baby. GDM usually disappears after pregnancy but women with GDM and their children are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Approximately half of women with a history of GDM go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five to ten years after delivery.
Other specific types of diabetes also exist.
If you suspect you or a family member is diabetic, please reach out to a health professional immediately so that they can be tested and then given appropriate medication. A family physician is the first and best defence against this disease since they are able to see you at regular intervals and can change the medication or treatment as appropriate as well as test you at appropriate intervals.
For more details, please check out the International Diabetes Federation website.
It’s the year end and most people are either going away on holidays soon or are seriously thinking about it. Schools are done in Singapore and everyday I hear someone going away on holiday. We are too, very soon. So here’s a poem which celebrates holidays!
Holidays
The tickets are booked, the airline seats selected
There’s an air of anticipation, excitement in the blood
A sense of wanderlust takes over
Excitement building up, getting bigger and bigger
You want the days to fly, the holiday to start
Your heart is pumping, you can’t wait to get a headstart
The long awaited day finally is here
You wake up bright and early, with a lot of cheer
You get to the airport and check in
Your boarding pass is in your hand and your face has huge grin
You board the plane and can’t wait for it to take off
The clouds call your name, you just want to blast-off
And then it’s time to land, for you to set foot in your holiday land
Your holiday now begins, the holiday you had planned
Enjoy your holiday, you have earned it to the max
Whatever your choice, it’s your time to kick off and relax
Yesterday, 10 October marked World Mental Health Day. The day was set up by the World Federation for Mental Health and it was first celebrated in 1992 with a specific theme.
World Mental Health Day celebrates awareness for the global community in an empathetic way, with a unifying voice, helping those feel hopeful by empowering them to take action and to create lasting change.
https://wfmh.global/world-mental-health-day-2019/
This year’s theme for the World Mental Health Day is ‘Suicide Prevention and it’s something that resonated with me, especially among children and young adults.
A couple of weeks back, I was browsing through a sub-reddit about the O level exams in Singapore and I read a thread about a young person (I am not sure of the sex) who was so troubled about his/her performance in the O level exam, that they were contemplating suicide. I teared up reading the thread and really hoped that this person took the help of someone who could counsel them and make them look at life in a different way.
I also feared that GG would do something stupid like this when she got her PSLE results almost four years back. She didn’t do as well as expected and the backlash from S and his family was quite bad. I had to literally scold him and ask him if he could live with himself if she took any extreme step and that pulled him up. He was able to then put aside his disappointment in her results and started bolstering her up.
According to the World Health Organisation, “if we don’t act urgently, by 2030 depression will be the leading illness globally.” Suicidal behaviour has existed as long as humans have walked the earth, but these days it has exploded exponentially because of the various complex factors and these days it has reached fairly alarming levels. Close to 800,000 people on a global level take their own lives on a yearly basis, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and there are the countless number who fail in their attempt. Every suicide is a tragedy which affects the families of those who commit suicide and this has long-lasting effects on those who are left behind. Parents and family members keep torturing themselves why they didn’t see the signs and what they could have done to prevent it.
What’s worse is that suicide is the leading cause of death among young people, especially the 15-29 year group. It is often believed that it is only adults who exhibit suicidal behaviours, but it should be made known that many children and young people engage in this kind of behaviour as a result of violence, sexual abuse, bullying and cyberbullying.
Suicide is a global public health epidemic that really deserves the attention of everyone – the scientific community, governments, mental health professionals, caregivers, parents and family members. The problem is that such issues are considered taboo and most people shy away from talking about it even if they know someone is suffering from a mental illness. Even in any community, if you hear of someone having such thoughts, you don’t reach out to them to get help, or even reach the authorities to help them. Getting people to talk about a subject that tends to be taboo and about which many hold mistaken and prejudiced ideas will help the community to learn about the risk factors so that they can identify and learn to address them.
Most experts’ say that suicide is preventable and can be avoided Many times, people who suffer from mental illness lack access to mental health services, sometimes because there are no services in their community and sometimes because they must wait months to be seen. So if you see or hear about someone who you think is suffering from a mental illness, make sure you reach out to them and offer help, even if it’s just a shoulder for them to cry or vent upon.
Here’s a WHO link to access a video series on what emergency workers, health workers, teachers and employers can do to help prevent suicide.
And here’s another WHO link on the handouts that emergency workers, health workers, teachers, prison officers, media professionals and employers can do to help prevent suicide
Memories and Such 