Asian Hospital and Medical Center held a free one-day lay forum for expectant mothers and fathers at the hospital’s Conference Facility Unit in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Asian Hospital doctors, nurses, and therapists presented relevant and up-to-date information that would help prepare them for the coming of their new bundle of joy. Newborn care demos, physical exercises for pregnant women, and games were also part of the program.
Category: health
Asian Hospital holds lay forum on pregnancy, breastfeeding, and newborn care
Asian Hospital and Medical Center held a free one-day lay forum for expectant mothers and fathers at the hospital’s Conference Facility Unit in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Asian Hospital doctors, nurses, and therapists presented relevant and up-to-date information that would help prepare them for the coming of their new bundle of joy. Newborn care demos, physical exercises for pregnant women, and games were also part of the program.
Asian Hospital Psychiatry department address current biopsychosocial issues affecting men
Led by a desire to help Filipino men determine, address, and cope with the issues of life, the Asian Hospital and Medical Center’s (AHMC) Psychiatry Department held “PalibhasaLalaki: A Forum on Men’s Issues” recently.
Pastor Jonathan Baldo of the Lighthouse Leadership Institute of Manila opened the forum by talking about issues faced by Filipino men. His findings are based on his experience as a men’s counselor in Lighthouse as well as an on-air counselor on 702 DZAS for Juan Talk, a radio show that focuses on men’s issues.
Among the issues outlined include virility, the capability to provide, efficient time management, faithfulness, identity, and life’s passions. According to Ptr. Baldo, most of these are highlighted once a man reaches adulthood and starts a family. It may well continue onto middle age and even unto his senior years.
A lot of these issues can be addressed or mitigated by the parents who are the child’s “main programmers”, according to Dr. Melodee Rojas, Clinical Psychologist and Chief of Section of Psychology at AHMC.
A father’s influence also figures largely in the equation. Some of the things fathers can do to help their sons include being present in their children’s lives, spending quality time with them, being a good role model, providing moral guidance, practicing what he preaches, and treating women right. “When this is done, half of the battle is already won,” Dr. Rojas said.
Whether a father is absent or present (emotionally and physically) in the child’s life, it makes a significant difference in later developmental and behavioral issues of the child.
The influencers of each generation have a huge impact to how each person adapts or copes with life’s challenges. The Traditionalists (1925-1945) had to deal with the Great Depression and World War II which influenced their perception of trust and work ethic.
Baby Boomers (1946-1960) grew up in the time of the Vietnam War, Civil Rights and Women’s movements, and the Cold War. These events were huge factors in how they value equality, inclusion, and change.
For Generation X (1961-1982), a lot of them grew up with working mothers and witnessed huge events such as September 11, economic recessions, and the reign of the television. Meanwhile, Millenials are the product of helicopter parents, the technology boom, social media, environmentalism, and globalization.
“Fatherhood is the most important job any man can take on as it gives one the power to shape the next generation,” Dr. Jon Jurilla, Psychiatrist at AHMC, said. Contrary to what is usually observed, being a father doesn’t stop at just being a good provider. It also includes being a role model; providing emotional support, a sense of stability, and involvement in the children’s lives; and laboring for moral and values formation.
As a man goes on to middle adulthood, he enters a transition period where he reviews and takes stock of his life. “This is where the popular ‘mid-life crisis’ comes in,” said Dr. Benjamin Vista, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at AHMC. However, Dr. Vista clarified that not every man goes through this. Men experience ‘mid-life crisis’ when they go through severe emotional distress that is usually due to severe life events such as illness or a death of a spouse.
Other issues that middle-aged men will most likely go through include the empty nest syndrome, annulments and divorce, and marital infidelity. The last two, according to Dr. Vista, occur at a high rate among middle-aged men.
While most look forward to retirement as the time when they can enjoy the fruits of their life’s work, Dr. Albert Poblete, Neurologist and Psychiatrist at AHMC, for the most part disagrees with it. “Retirement is the tenth most stressful major life event,” he said.
Retirement comes with a whole new slew of issues such as economic uncertainty, increasing health concerns, social isolation and loneliness, and suddenly having too much free time. The most common of all is that giving up work creates a vacuum in their lives.
Vit-D found to offset possible dangers of ‘poor’ eating
With the New Year comes the opportunity to start getting ourselves together to work towards a healthier lifestyle. However, keeping with this resolution may prove challenging with the year-round presence of sinfully delicious food which accounts for rapidly increasing incidents of cardiovascular diseases.
People might have overlooked their splurge during the holidays, but studies show that a single meal composed mainly of saturated fats is detrimental to the health of one’s arteries. An accumulation of overindulgence in these, increases the cholesterol level and/or blood pressure in the body that eventually makes it difficult for blood to flow through the arteries, thus upping the chance of a blockage occurring sooner than people might think.
To avoid or lessen the probability of heart attacks, people are advised to keep their cholesterol level under control at all times. One way of helping ensure this is by maintaining a healthy level of Vitamin D in the body. In the study, Does vitamin d deficiency cause hypertension? Current evidence from clinical studies and potential mechanisms (2009), it was revealed that having higher levels of the said vitamin, reduces levels of “bad” cholesterol, supporting the claim that being Vitamin D-deficient increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
The study also shows that controlling cholesterol in the body is just one of the many benefits of having adequate levels of Vitamin D. However, maintaining sufficient Vitamin D levels may be rather difficult. The body primarily sources Vitamin D through sun exposure, but people’s increasingly indoor lifestyles make it hard for one to get enough sun.
In this regard, medical experts are highly recommending a daily supplement of this sunshine vitamin to help prevent the development of cardiovascular diseases. They also suggested taking the Vitamin D3 type of supplement because it is naturally occurring and easy for the body to process, making it the safer and preferred choice of Vitamin D supplement.
Generika Drugstore Supports ABS-CBN Tulong Center Medical Mission
Generika Drugstore provided medicines and volunteers in a medical mission organized by ABS-CBN Tulong Center as part of its 1st anniversary celebration.
Held at the ABS-CBN compound in Mother Ignacia St., Quezon City, the medical mission was one of the event’s most highly anticipated and attended by the public. Generika donated medicines for cough and colds, antibiotics, pain relievers, gastrointestinal medications, anti-asthma, and maintenance medicines for hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol. Pharmacists from Generika and volunteers from the Philippine Pharmacists Association (PPhA) spearheaded the dispensing of medicines and conducted patient counseling to make the beneficiaries informed of their medications.