Personal health issues are among the things that worry every individual when it can take lives if ignored and not sought early treatment. It is also one of the main components in life that needs to be taken care of because the cost of medical treatment is sometimes quite high to accommodate. In conjunction with World Health Day which is celebrated every April 7, Astro AWANI lists the five types of diseases with the highest number of casualties among Malaysians.
- Heart attack
According to the Malaysian Ministry of Health (KKM), heart or cardiovascular disease is the highest cause of death reported in hospitals under the ministry. For example, in the statistics of 2010 alone, the highest number of deaths involving the disease was 11,812 deaths recorded. Heart disease can occur when blood vessels become narrow due to the accumulation of cholesterol plaques resulting in insufficient blood supply to the heart. Medical officer, Dr Munirah Hishamshah said, if it is not treated promptly, the heart cannot carry out the function of pumping blood throughout the body, especially critical organs such as the brain where it will eventually cause death. He said, this disease knows no age because most cases of death due to heart disease also attack young people. “Recently, stress factors are also seen as the cause of heart attacks and the probability of patients not seeking immediate treatment is high,” he explained to Astro AWANI when contacted. In addition, he said, there are several factors that contribute to heart disease, namely unhealthy lifestyle practices, nutritional factors and genetic or hereditary factors.
- STROKE
Apart from heart, stroke is also reported to be the highest cause of death in Malaysia. According to a report in the International Stroke Journal issued by the University of Science Malaysia (USM) School of Medicine, about six new cases of stroke are reported every hour in Malaysia. In addition to being categorized as the second most common cause of death in the world, the disease known as stroke is also the main cause of disability in adults. A stroke is a brain attack and occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. According to research on this disease, strokes are divided into two, namely ischemic or hemorrhagic. For an ischemic stroke, blood vessels in the brain are blocked due to plaque or clots that cause the blood supply that carries oxygen to the brain to be affected and result in the death of brain cells. It is understood that 80 percent of all stroke cases are of this type.
A hemorrhagic stroke involves blood vessels in the brain leaking or bursting causing blood to flow to parts of the brain cells and resulting in damage caused by high blood pressure. The Malaysian Ministry of Health has outlined a number of steps to manage stroke patients. Among them, taking a medical history including activities of daily living, making a clinical assessment, continuing medications for patients who have stabilized and encouraging patients to exercise to maintain blood flow, joint movement and muscle strength. That’s why many doctors want to solve and to reduce this disease, that’s why you should take medicine scholarships.
