Autoimmune rheumatic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis pose a lifelong burden for people diagnosed with these conditions. Access to advanced treatment like biologics can be limited due to the cost of these medications. Dr Benjamin Cheah, President of the Arthritis Foundation Malaysia, and Dominic Wong from the Psoriasis Association of Malaysia, join the show to tell us why their associations are asking for RM20mil in Budget 2025 ..read more

Recently, the Minister of Health Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad proposed expanding “private wings” in government hospitals to raise revenue for the country’s underfunded public healthcare system. In this episode of Public Health, we explore the advantages and disadvantages of private wings, with a look at the Full Paying Patient (FPP) scheme that has been in place in selected government hospitals since 2007. Professor Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, a Professor in Health Economics, Hospital & Health Management with the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, joins us for this discus ..read more

For people living with HIV, the presence of the virus means they are often at risk of certain infections and health conditions. This includes the impact on their brain health, and in particular, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder. Here to shed more light on that and how advances in HIV treatment have changed the lives of people living with HIV, are Dr Reuben N. Robbins, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology at Columbia University and Dr Wong Pui Li, Infectious Diseases Physician from University Malaya Medical Centre. Image credit: Shutterstock ..read more

Music has the power to heal, but it’s not just about how you feel after listening to your favourite music. Music therapy might not be familiar to many, but it can be used to help people from children to older adults with different physical and mental health issues. On this episode of Humans of Healthcare, we speak to music therapist Dr Indra Selvarajah - who is also the founding president of the Malaysian Music Therapy Association - to find out more about what it takes to work in this field as well as the art and science of music therapy. Dr Indra is also the chair of the Global Crises Interve ..read more

Depression - you would definitely have heard of this mental health condition, and have a basic idea that it affects someone’s moods and behaviours. But how does depression lead to these mood changes, and what’s happening in the brain? And can imaging techniques like MRIs and electroencephalograms (EEG) offer insights into changes in the brain, to open up avenues for better treatment and care of depression? We dive into this with cognitive neuroscientist Dr Hiran Shanake Perera. Image Credit: Shutterstock ..read more

Last week, Health Ministry Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad launched two action plans for elderly care: the Elderly Healthcare Services Action Plan and the Dementia Action Plan. On this episode of Healthy Ageing, we’ll be dissecting the Dementia Action Plan and how it will address the increased risk of dementia in our ageing population - as well as whether the plan lives up to expectations when advocates have been calling for it for years. To do that, we speak to consultant geriatrician Prof Dr Tan Maw Pin from University Malaya Medical Centre and Gan Chong Shyan, Project Manager of Alzheimer’s D ..read more

This year’s Paris Olympics was not without controversy - most infamously for the gender row in boxing. Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu-Ting were questioned for their participation in women’s boxing despite them being disqualified in last year’s world championships for failing to meet the eligibility criteria. But nothing is black and white, to dive into differences in sex development and how (or when) it matters in sports, we have our guest Dr Alun Williams, professor of sport and exercise genomics from the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport.   ..read more

We all know about the dangers of cholesterol. But it’s not just a simple matter of having high or low cholesterol. Enter: LDL (or bad) cholesterol, the silent threat to your heart. Join CVSKL’s consultant cardiologist Dr Al Fazir Omar to get the lowdown on LDL, and how that affects your risk of heart disease. And we’ll be featuring a special guest: a heart disease patient sharing how he overcame his personal fears to change his behaviour, and how he lives well today with better management of his disease. This is an edited replay of BFM's Health & Living 2024 ‘Your Heart Must Go On’. This ..read more

Are you struggling with a conflict with your colleagues or boss? Working in a toxic environment? Or feeling stressed and burnt out from work, but don't know what to do about it? On Counsellor's Corner, Christine Chew addresses your questions about workplace problems that affect your mental health ..read more

If you have a heart attack, early recognition of your symptoms is a major life-saving factor. But what does a heart attack really feel like, and how do we distinguish it from other conditions? We find out how to recognise the signs of a heart attack, and what to do if it happens to us or people in our vicinity. Dr Wan Faizal Wan Rahimi Shah, Consultant Cardiologist from Cardiac Vascular Sentral Kuala Lumpur (CVSKL), joins us for this discussion ..read more