HEALTH CARE

After the brief rage over etiologically-unclear acute hepatitis, another disease has appeared: the monkeypox, which was found in 14 countries across the world as of the end of May 2022. It is caused by the Orthopoxvirus human monkeypox virus (MPXV) of the Poxviridae family. This highly pathogenic virus is zoonotic, signifying one spread by animals. The virus itself was first found in monkeys in 1958, while the first case in a human child was found in 1970. 

After three years, the number of Covid-19 positive infections is finally down, and hospital bed occupancy rate is now below 5%. The cases are now so controlled and stable that the Government has loosened requirements for filter mask usage in outdoor spaces where people don’t gather much. According to the latest data (as of the end of May 2022, Indonesia now only has 0.05% positive cases, while the global positive infection average is 4.5%. Some countries, including North Korea and Taiwan, actually suffer from more cases now. 

Following a two-year restriction, Muslims all over the world can recommence performing the hajj ritual this year, and personally raise the fifth Pillar of Islam. That is, with the caveat that the Saudi Arabian Government will continue to uphold health and safety protocols to protect both pilgrims and host citizens, as the pandemic is far from being over. 

“Obesity” is defined as your body piling up so much fat it damages your health. More than 600 million adults suffer from obesity and 2.8 million die of it every year worldwide. According to WHO criteria, a body mass index of >25 kg/m2 is classified as “obese”. It frequently causes comorbidity, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, high cholesterol (dyslipidemia), stroke, as well as sleep problems like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). 

Heart Failure Care Day is commemorated in May each year. “Heart failure” is a condition when the heart can no longer pump sufficient blood to run the body because of the weakening of the heart’s muscles. It is frequently diagnosed late because its symptoms match that of many other illnesses: getting easily exhausted; prolonged coughing and/ or difficulty of breathing; swelling (edema), especially in the legs; loss of appetite; and bloating or sense of fullness. 

31 May is World No Tobacco Day (“WNTD”). Since 2010, the WHO has declared tobacco consumption a global pandemic. Global tobacco deaths amount to 8 million people a year, much worse than Covid-19 deaths at 6.3 million people worldwide, in nearly 3 years’ time. Smoking is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases, including heart attacks, strokes, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung obstruction. 

Hypertension (or high blood pressure) continues to burden the healthcare system. The disease still has a high prevalence, both globally and in Indonesia. In addition to risk factors such as age, gender, genetics, and an unhealthy lifestyle, there are problems like lack of awareness and knowhow about regular blood pressure monitoring and careful compliance & mindfulness to medication; this exacerbates and encouraged the spread of cases of hypertension. A World Health Organization (WHO) study shows numbers of hypertension sufferers aged 30-79 years have soared from 650 million to 1.28 billion, over the last three decades. The study indicates that as many as 53% of women and 62% of men with hypertension, or about 720 million people, do not receive proper treatment.

The first batch of hajj pilgrims from Indonesia will depart to Saudi Arabia on 4 June 2022. After a two-year hiatus, caused by the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has unlocked its gates, to welcome one million hajj pilgrims from all over the world, a steep dive from the 2.5 million allowed entry in 2019. Indonesia itself has been granted entry for 100,051 of its citizens, or only 50% of the number of pilgrims leaving in the hajj season right before the pandemic. Nevertheless, this is a cause for gratitude, because Indonesia has been given the biggest pilgrim entry quota in the world. 

When he opened the “Emerging Intense Acute Hepatitis Infection with Unknown Causes” webinar on Thursday (12/05/2022), Dean of the University of Indonesia’s (“UI”) Faculty of Medicine Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH, MMB, FINASIM, declared that based on observation of existing cases worldwide, acute hepatitis with unknown etiology has a slower rate of contagiousness than Covid-19. “We note how its development worldwide tends to be ‘slower’, so to speak. This is different from Covid-19’s development, which had extreme progress because its potential contagion is locally transmitted – which means that positive carriers can very easily infect others,” he said. 

The new Government policy to loosen the requirement of mask wearing, along with the lowering of the Covid-19 infection curve seems to be a cause of joy for many. However, the pandemic’s two-year stint has given rise to numerous negative impacts, especially in terms of people’s mental health. Yet this very incidence causes a widespread awareness of the importance of maintaining mental health – something largely ignored or even denied by many over the years.

The amazing biochemistry of the human body hosts over 50 hormones, and they are constantly fluctuating. Hormones, chemicals secreted by our glands in order to send “messages” through the bloodstream, are responsible for essentially every function in our bodies. Those messages then impart guidance to our organs, telling them what to do to keep us alive and healthy.