News

4 Helpful Advice To Prevent Developing Chronic Back Pain

The workplace environment has drastically transformed over the past few decades. For most of us, our reality comprises being cooped up in a cubicle, sedentary for 8 hours throughout the day. Unfortunately, this paved the way for one particular health problem: back pain. This pain is usually a consequence of bodily trauma, such as when you experience a fall or an accident. At present, however, this pain is ubiquitous simply due to our sedentary lifestyle.

Of course, sitting for hours on end is not the only factor that leads to back pain. Other factors include one’s weight, poor posture, and back-straining activities. Fortunately, there are several ways you can rectify the problem. Besides relying on telemedicine in Singapore alone, get to know 4 helpful advice that can help you prevent chronic back pain today and in the future.

1. Watch your posture

You may have heard this advice many times already, but it’s still one of the most effective ways of preventing or minimising back pain. By simply correcting your posture, whether you’re walking about, standing still, or sitting in front of your desk, you’re already preventing damage and pain to your back.

To aid in this corrective effort, here’s a couple of key tips to follow: avoid slouching no matter the position you’re in and use an ergonomically-correct chair or workstation. Consider utilising a laptop stand to bring your laptop screen to eye-level, preventing you from straining your neck. Keeping yourself in check and maintaining good posture may cause some discomfort at first, but it’s worth it to keep your back strong and maintain its natural curve.

2. Stick to a regular exercise schedule

Exercising and moving around is a crucial deterrent to back pain. The reason for this is because our muscles need constant activity to maintain their form and function. If there’s a lack of this activity, muscle atrophy can occur and cause you to hurt your back and other body parts even from just simple movements.

It’s also best to keep in mind the proper technique when exercising, to prevent any pulling of muscle or the like. A few exercises, such as weight lifting, can be taxing to your back if done incorrectly, so ensure that you get the proper form and maintain it until the end of each variation.

3. Maintain a proper diet

Studies have shown that there’s a relationship between being overweight or obese with chronic back pain. This is because the extra weight adds more stress to your body’s joints and especially your back. Thus, by simply eating right, you promote wellness to your overall health and, most importantly, it allows you to maintain a healthy weight.

4. Sleep on your side

As much as possible, refrain from sleeping on your back but your side instead. Place a pillow between your knees as this will keep your pelvis, hips and spine in better alignment. If you must sleep on your stomach, then don’t forget to put a pillow under your lower abdomen. This helps avoid the stress that can accumulate in the space between your discs.

Additionally, it’d be best to invest in a mattress and pillows that sport back-supporting characteristics.

Conclusion 

 By rectifying certain lifestyle habits early on, you can prevent and save your future self from back pain. It’s not only painful, but it could possibly be debilitating – temporary and worse, permanently.

If ever you experience any sort of back pain, it’s best to consult a doctor online immediately. With the MyCLNQ app, your medical needs can be fulfilled all in one place. From booking a private ambulance to seeing a doctor online, you can reach professional medical assistance with just a few clicks. Getting help to relieve yourself from back pain has never gotten easier!

Drinking Coffee: A Brief Overview Of Its Benefits And Risks

It’s without a doubt that coffee is one of, if not the most popular beverages drank by people all over the world. Be it during the early morning, in the afternoon, or late at night, some individuals need a good cup to keep them going and focus on their responsibilities.

Coffee surely has its fair share of health benefits. But as with most things, if too much of it is consumed, a number of problems can arise and affect your health. To stop yourself from reaching that stage, familiarise yourself with the benefits of this popular beverage as well as its health risks.

Primary Benefits of Coffee

Coffee isn’t just tasty and energising – it can be good for your health as well! For decades, scientists have studied the effects of coffee, and it’s been discovered that this beverage has several health benefits. Here are some of them:

Contain Essential Nutrients

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. These bean-like seeds are surprisingly jam-packed with powerful and essential antioxidants, the most abundant being chlorogenic acid. These health-promoting polyphenols help to reduce inflammation and the risk of diabetes.

Apart from chlorogenic acid, coffee beans also contain other nutrients such as B1, B2, B3, B5, magnesium, potassium and manganese, to name a few. These essential nutrients will help protect your body cells from free radicals, which are suspected of playing a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

Enhances Brain Function For A Short Period

The most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world, caffeine is the best-known ingredient of coffee. After you drink a cup of coffee, the caffeine will be absorbed into your bloodstream and travel all the way to your brain. The caffeine will then block the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine, which will lead to an increased production of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine. This will cause an enhanced firing of neurons, which will improve brain function, particularly in energy levels, vigilance, reaction times and more.

Lowers Risk From Many Diseases

Recent studies have focused on coffee’s antioxidants or anti-inflammatory agents, revealing its potential benefits. These substances allegedly exert certain effects that prevent diseases from affecting your body. Thus, by drinking a cup of coffee daily, several health issues can be prevented, such as:

• Alzheimer’s and Dementia
• Parkinson’s
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Liver Diseases
• Depression

Negative Effects Of Coffee

No doubt, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Besides the health benefits, several studies have also found that coffee poses a number of adverse effects, some of which are:

Increased Blood Pressure

Generally, caffeine doesn’t directly play a role in increasing the risk of stroke or heart disease. But due to its stimulatory effects on the nervous system, it’s been shown to raise blood pressure levels in the body, which is one of the risk factors of the aforementioned diseases. This is because elevated blood pressure can potentially damage the arteries over time, impeding blood flow to the brain and heart. But luckily, its effects seem to be short-lived, and it only strongly affects individuals that aren’t used to consuming it.

Dependency

Despite the benefits it brings, constant consumption of coffee can just be as addictive as with other substances. As with drugs, caffeine enhances dopamine signalling in the brain. This brain chemical influences mood and feelings of reward and motivation, as well as regulate body movements. This, by extension, makes one feel more awake and alert.

Whilst it doesn’t necessarily cause addiction, one will experience withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly quit drinking coffee. Such symptoms include headaches, changes in mood, difficulty concentrating and the like. If you can’t go a day without a cup of coffee, there might be a chance that you are already dependent on its effects to get through your day.

 Anxiety

It’s been stated that coffee can increase alertness when consumed. But if it’s taken in higher doses, such an effect can become more pronounced than necessary. Whether the daily intake is average, moderate, or high, such as reaching up to 1,000 mg or more, a person is sure to experience a few negative side effects. These effects are namely, anxiety, nervousness, jitteriness, rapid breathing, and heightened stress. If you notice that you often feel some or all of the above, it might be best to cut back a bit on your coffee intake.

Conclusion

Coffee can certainly do wonders whenever its effects are required. But take care not to consume copious amounts of it to avoid becoming too dependent. And if ever you’re feeling the negative symptoms from overconsumption, don’t hesitate to reach out and consult a doctor online. From booking a private ambulance to seeing a doctor at the comforts of your home, you can reach professional medical assistance with the help of MyCLNQ, the leading app for telemedicine in Singapore. Medical assistance is now accessible with just a click of a button.

Quitting Smoking: A Timeline Of The Health Benefits You Gain

Whether it’d be through curiosity or simply ignorance, many of us will inherently pick up a few bad habits in our lifetimes. These vices could range from simple and relatively harmless acts, such as picking on one’s nails, to something more serious, like smoking. Advanced medical technology may be able to combat these vices’ adverse effects, but the saying ‘ prevention is better than a cure’ still stands.

When it comes to smoking, numerous health experts have expatiated on about its detrimental effects time and time again. But alas, the number of smokers does not seem to have gone down, nor will it any time soon. Instead of opting for the same ole method of ‘scaring’ habitual smokers with their detrimental health risks, switching pace and talking about the benefits of dropping their cigs may just do the trick.

If you’re in the habit of smoking, get to know the benefits of quitting now and those that come after some time.

The Benefits Of Quitting: A Timeline

If you’re still wondering if it’s worth breaking this bad habit, don’t fret – your body will revel in its benefits somewhat quickly. Check out the timeline below and get to know how quitting benefits your body immensely over the years.

20 minutes after

The positive effects of quitting smoking begin 20 minutes after the last smoke, where your blood pressure will start to drop and normalise. Your blood pressure is not the only one, your heart pulse will do the same.

12 hours after

One of the harmful toxins in cigarettes is carbon monoxide, a harmful gas that will bind to haemoglobin (red blood cells) once it enters the bloodstream. When this happens, carbon monoxide will replace oxygen in the blood cells, decreasing the amount of oxygen that gets to your heart and the rest of your body.

After 12 hours has elapsed, the excess carbon monoxide found inside your body is cleansed, increasing the body’s oxygen levels.

24 hours after

By the one-day mark, your risk of suffering from heart attacks will drastically decrease. After 24 hours, due to the decrease in chemicals in your bloodstream, constriction of the arteries and veins will drop. This also translates to increased oxygen levels in the bloodstream.

A few days after

In the following days after the last smoke, the aforementioned reparative activities will continue. Additionally, your body will undergo several other changes. For one, previously damaged nerve endings will start to regrow. As such, you’ll realise that you’d regain your sense of taste and smell. Moreover, you will also find yourself breathing a little better since your bronchial tubes have started to relax and open up more.

1 month after

In a month, an increase in lung function and capacity is arguably the most noticeable change. This means coughing and shortness of breath will now be few and far between. Such an improvement also leads to a dramatic increase in endurance, allowing former smokers to engage in cardiovascular activities with ease, like running and jogging.

12 months after

By the end of the first year of recovery, the lungs will have significantly healed and repaired most of the damage caused by the inhaled toxins. For instance, due to the constant exposure to nicotine in tobacco, the fibres in your bronchial tubes will get paralysed, effectively rendering it obsolete. But after a year of going tobacco-free, these fibres will start to move again. They will once again remove irritants, bacteria and toxins from the lungs, thus reducing the risk of infection.

As a result, the coughing mentioned earlier will have diminished even further at this time. The risk of coronary heart disease also decreases by half, which continues to drop moving forward.

10 years after 

After 10 years, the absence of the tobacco’s toxins will have allowed the arteries and blood vessels to widen and revert to normal, notably decreasing the chances of blood clots from developing. This, in turn, results in a strikingly lowered risk of stroke and heart attack.

On top of that, chances of developing certain cancers are heavily reduced as well, if compared to those who continue to smoke at this time. A few examples of these are lung, mouth, throat, and larynx cancer. The cells that were previously precancerous are now replaced with healthy cells.

Conclusion

Smoking can undoubtedly cause severe damage to the body if it’s not stopped early on. Understanding the timeline of the benefits of quitting may just convince smokers to drop the habit and care more for their well-being.

If you need help or want to know more about quitting, see a doctor online via the MyCLNQ app. As Singapore’s leading telehealth app, your medical needs and queries can be met with just one platform. From booking a private ambulance to consulting with a doctor online, you can get professional medical assistance anytime and anywhere.

Stool Appearance: What Your Poop Says About Your Health

It may sound outrightly unpleasant, but you’ll want to cultivate the habit of paying attention to your daily bowel movements. Bowel habits are a strong indicator of your digestive health, and taking notice of any change can give you an insight into any digestive issues or serious health problems.

Faecal matter is made up of water and solid matter, consisting of indigestible food, dead bacteria and inorganic substances. On average, it will take around 3 days for the food you consumed to pass through your digestive system. When the time taken for your food to pass through your system changes, this will directly influence its size, colour and texture – indicative of something that may have gone wrong.

Although everyone’s faecal matter varies and is unique in its shape and size, here are a few indicators of a healthy stool.

1. Colour

For your stool to reflect your optimum health, it has to have brown colouring. Bile salts (yellow-green fluid) in the intestines give its characteristic brown colour. As bile pigments travel through your intestinal tract, enzymes will chemically alter and change your stool’s pigments from green to brown. If your stool does not possess the typical brown colour, it may be a sign of health issues.

• Green

Subtle hints of green in your stool is of no cause of concern, but when it turns entirely green, it usually means that the food may be moving through your large intestine too quickly. As such, bile doesn’t have enough time to break it down completely.

• Yellow

Stinky, greasy and yellow poop is typically the result of too much fat. This could also be caused by a malabsorption disorder, such as the celiac disease, wherein your body fails to absorb sufficient nutrients.

• White or pale

It might be a rather amusing sight, but a white or clay-coloured stool reflects a lack of bile. Apart from medications that work to reduce bile production, a light-coloured stool may be a byproduct of a bile duct obstruction.

• Red

If your stool is red, then it could only mean one thing: blood. A red stool indicates bleeding in the lower intestinal tracts, and you’ll want to consult a doctor when you come across hints of red in your faecal matter.

Of course, there are also other less-serious causes to a red stool, such as tomato juice, beets and cranberries.

• Black

The black colour in your stool may be caused by your consumption of iron supplements or black liquorice. However, if you didn’t include any of the two in your diet, a black stool is indicative of bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

2. Shape

Ideally, your poop is supposed to look like a log because of its formation with your intestines. A healthy stool is easy to pass, and it remains intact when flushed. When they don’t shape like sausages or logs, this is when your poop is trying to imply there’s something wrong.

3. Size

Your poop shouldn’t come out in tiny pellets, but instead, they should be a few inches in length and are easy to go through.

4. Consistency

Anywhere between a soft and firm consistency is normal, but it could be a sign of digestion issues if it sways one way or another.

5. How much time is needed for it to come out

A good and healthy poop should be comfortable and easy to come out, taking about a minute to be pushed out. As a general rule, you should not take over 10 or 15 minutes as it’ll indicate constipation.

6. Frequency

A person with good digestion will poop anywhere between every day to 3 times a day. Any lesser than that could suggest potential constipation.

Conclusion

Since 70 per cent of the body’s immune system is largely concentrated within the digestive tract, it’s vital that you maintain good bowel health. If you’ve noticed changes in your bowel movements, it might be best to consult a medical professional for help.

To ease your process, download our MyCLNQ app! This helpful app helps you see a doctor online without you physically heading down to a clinic near you. Bypass the hassle and talk to our virtual doctors in Singapore for diagnosis and medical advice!

Telehealth And How It Can Shape The Future Of Healthcare

The pandemic that has affected everyone in the globe has spurred the rapid advancement and adoption of telehealth. From enabling patients to see a doctor online to allowing them to book a private ambulance, telehealth has shown its benefits and usefulness.

Now that the healthcare sector has fully embraced and adopted telehealth, it’s natural to wonder what other roles it will play in the upcoming years. How will telehealth and telemedicine shape the future of healthcare? What other applications can it serve? How will advances in technology affect it?

To answer some of the questions above, here are several predictions on how telehealth can adapt in the future and improve the healthcare industry for the better.

Increase in virtual clinical trials

Clinical trials are necessary for testing and verifying that a new medical product or treatment is working as intended. As a research study that requires volunteers and participants, an obstacle common in its early stages is gathering sufficient volunteers willing to participate.

With the introduction of telemedicine in this medical evaluation, clinical trials can now be conducted entirely online. For the most part, it allows participants to take part in the medical research in the comfort of their homes whilst wearing the required monitoring devices for data collection. In addition, the virtual nature of the trial means geographic boundaries become a non-issue, and patient recruitment also becomes much easier and straightforward.

Reduce the spread of infectious diseases

Thanks to the fact that telehealth is now more established and prevalent worldwide, the spread of future infectious diseases and outbreaks can be reduced and safely managed. Learning from past crisis, treatment and patient monitoring can now be done virtually and at a safe distance, reducing the chances of the spread of epidemics in vital healthcare facilities. By further decreasing unnecessary contact between highly-infectious patients and healthcare workers, the latter can remain at full strength to serve the more critical patients and tend to their other duties.

Adapt based on advances in consumer technology

Most devices and gadgets in our homes now contain smart features and are always connected, such as the modern smartwatch. As such, it’s only natural for telehealth to leverage on these existing and upcoming consumer technologies and incorporate them into the remote delivery of personalised healthcare.

With the use of Internet of Things-based services and wearable sensors, remote monitoring and collection of health data become simpler and faster than ever. As a result of this readily available data, the realtime status of a person’s health can be easily seen and monitored by medical personnel whenever required.

Conclusion

Telemedicine has become a core component in the healthcare industry, and with the advent of new technology, further innovation is certain to follow suit. To experience what telehealth and telemedicine have to offer at present, try out the MyCLNQ app. As Singapore’s leading telehealth app, your medical needs can be fulfilled all in one place. From booking a private ambulance to seeing a doctor online, you can reach professional medical assistance with just a few clicks.

Why Exercise Will Always Be Vital To Maintain Good Health

In this modern-day, wherein constant stress compounded with overwhelming responsibilities, it’s only a matter of time before our mental and emotional stress develops into a physical ailment. Unfortunately, not many of us have the privilege to drop everything for a quick mental and emotional reprieve. There are, however, several approaches that help abate those stresses and one of which is exercise!

It’s an undisputed fact that any kind of exercise allows one to reap its many health benefits, including stress reduction. If you wish to maintain a healthy body and avoid preventable diseases from striking, read on to why exercise will always be vital in our lives.

1. Naturally deters various illnesses

Incorporating regular exercise into one’s daily life is proven to be an important yet underutilised piece of knowledge. By simply being active for a few minutes every single day, one can prevent and deter chronic diseases, especially those caused by stress.

Chronic diseases are considered as ailments that last for at least a year and more. If afflicted, it will require you to either be subjected to continuous medication or possibly change your daily way of living.

Research states that if stress becomes chronic, it can be detrimental to the body’s immune system and ultimately results in an illness. As a consequence of prolonged stress, your body will produce even more cortisol, the stress hormone, which suppresses your body’s ability to effectively fight pathogens in your body.

When one exercise, not only does the body reduces levels of cortisol and adrenaline, but it also helps to strengthen your cardiac and skeletal muscles, lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels and improve blood circulation, amongst other things.

2. Effective at boosting one’s mood

Along with the benefits for your general health, one can gain improved self-confidence from constant exercise. By seeing the physical results of your efforts in the mirror, you’ll be invigorated and gain a sense of accomplishment.

Apart from that, your body will also release endorphins, dopamine and serotonin – otherwise known as the happy hormones. These hormones notably do two things:

1. Prompt a positive and “good” feeling in the body, a prime example of what’s called a “runner’s high”, or the euphoric feeling one gets after going out for a run.

2. Reduce the sensitivity of your body’s pain receptors. Endorphins work in the same way as pain medications do. By binding to certain neuron receptors in the body, endorphins serve as natural painkillers and act similarly to their artificial counterparts and sedatives.

3. Serves as an all-natural solution to reduce stress

From a biological standpoint, exercise plays a part in reducing the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, to name a few.

But from a broader perspective, exercise and other active endeavours allow one to break free from their usual worries. This will enable one to take a break from their overwhelming task at hand to sweat their worries away. When the body is busy, the mind shall, in turn, be distracted and free to wander and explore other pursuits. Besides, you’ll be able to return to your work feeling more invigorated than before!

Conclusion

Exercise brings a lot to the table regarding a person’s health, both physically and mentally. As an activity that requires virtually little to no equipment, and is free of charge, take the time to begin your new healthy regiment today.

To complement this healthy lifestyle, visit a doctor and receive checkups regularly. Using the MyCLNQ app, you can set an online checkup appointment with a virtual doctor, gain access to telemedicine in Singapore, and obtain additional medical services such as a private ambulance service, with just a few clicks.

Flu and Common Colds: Know Their Differences And Prevention

With the first convincing record of an influenza pandemic chronicled in 1510, the flu is a respiratory ailment that still continues to affect us to this day, killing 646,000 people worldwide. In Singapore alone, about 800,000 attendances at polyclinics display suffer from influenza-like illnesses each year, with 600 of them resulting in deaths.

Not one to discriminate, this respiratory disease the young, old and everybody else in between. Moreover, it’s also highly contagious. To protect yourself from this potentially deadly virus, we’re here to give you the lowdown.

What are the differences between a common cold and the flu?

To get the similarities out of the way, both diseases affect the respiratory system and share many symptoms – but it ends there.

The difference begins with the viruses that cause these two ailments. Whilst there are several respiratory viruses that can result in a cold, the rhinovirus is the most common perpetrator. On the other hand, the flu has only one viral perpetrator: the influenza virus. This virus consists of three main types, two of which are responsible for the seasonal outbreaks in Singapore and all over the world.

Colds in general, do not lead to more serious health problems, unlike the flu. If you’re unwell and are feeling several of the symptoms discussed below, it’s best to consult an online doctor and seek advice.

What are the symptoms of the two illnesses?

As mentioned, the two share similar symptoms, but in general, the flu’s symptoms are much worse and more intense in comparison to the cold’s. The common cold’s symptoms usually entail the following:

• Sore throat
• Coughing
• Runny nose
• Sneezing

Some uncommon and rare symptoms include fever, body aches, headaches, and fatigue, to name a few. It’s also important to note that these symptoms come along gradually, unlike that of the flu.

The flu’s symptoms include all of the above but are more severe and arise without notice. A few notable symptoms of the flu are:

• High fever
• Extreme fatigue
• Headaches
• Muscle aches

Other symptoms of the flu include loss of appetite, weakness, and chills.

Preventive measures against the flu

Early prevention is always best when it comes to any illness. To avoid getting infected, here are several ways that you can protect yourself from the flu during the flu seasons in Singapore:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water
• Use facemasks or cover your nose and mouth whenever you cough or sneeze
• Refrain from touching your eyes, nose, and mouth directly
• Limit contact with people who are ill and do the same if you’re the afflicted one

Aside from the methods mentioned above, it’s also highly advisable to get a flu vaccine every season. It’s been shown that flu vaccines reduce the risk of contracting the ailment by 40-60 percent. Besides the primary purpose of protecting you against the flu, flu vaccinations are also a preventive tool for those with chronic health conditions such as chronic lung and heart diseases. Consult with a doctor about getting vaccinated and increase your resistance against this ailment.

Conclusion

Once the flu seasons come around again each year, one’s health should be closely monitored, and preventive measures be taken to avoid the dire consequences of catching the flu. If you’re feeling unwell during flu season, gain access to all your medical needs with the MyCLNQ app. As the leading telehealth app in Singapore, you can easily consult a doctor online, book a private ambulance service for emergencies, and purchase medical products all in one place.

Top 4 Advantages Of Telemedicine Enjoyed By Every Patient

The medical world is always changing, with technology playing a prominent role in this day and age. The advancement in technology has brought various benefits to the medical field, one of which being telemedicine. Telemedicine refers to the practice of caring for patients remotely, utilising phone and video consultations between a healthcare practitioner and their patients.

Telemedicine has become popular amongst the masses, and it’s easy to see why. Benefiting both convenience and health, it is a rapidly growing field that has only recently become mainstream. Whilst the novel coronavirus has definitely become a catalyst to such growth, the benefits that it carries are indeed reasons that jumpstart its traction. To find out in detail, here are its top 4 benefits.

1. Saves Time

With telemedicine, all you truly need is a working mobile device and high-speed Internet broadband. You no longer need to drag your sick body over to the nearest clinic, risking complications or tardiness. Moreover, video consultations with your doctor eliminate time spent sitting around waiting for your turn; time you could spend getting comfortable in your blanket and sipping your warm herbal tea.

Since such consultations are done visually, you can easily fit them into your hectic schedules. You can consult your doctor whenever and wherever you are. Such flexibility is highly favoured in such a fast-pace society; thus, it’s no wonder why telemedicine is well-liked by the public.

2. Comfort And Convenience

Imagine having to travel around when you’re feeling sick and lethargic – it’s incredibly unpleasant. Thanks to telemedicine, you can now consult your doctor with great ease, from the comforts of your own home. And it’s with just a click of a button too! Setting up an online appointment takes only a couple of minutes, so you can say goodbye to the runabout and complicated process when registering for a physical consultation.

3. Reduce The Risk Of Transmission

In recent months, we’ve understood the importance of safe distancing, especially when in the presence of an ill patient. To curb the transmission of contagious viruses and illnesses, doctors can utilise these telemedicine services to pre-screen patients and advise them on the next steps.

By staying at home, you’ll be able to avoid the risk of exposure to other ailments and reduce the possibility of passing yours to others. A reduced chance of exposure will not only help you, but those around you, especially the elderly, pregnant or immunocompromised.

4. Greater Access To Specialists

Unlike general practitioners whose services are available across the island, services that require specialists are often a few and far between. This usually requires long travels on the patient’s part, in order to get the help they need.

Telemedicine removes all the hassle by closing that distance. You can leverage the expertise of your much-needed specialists, even if they are far away! When it comes down to serious health problems, time is of the essence! Avoid wasting time travelling and waiting when there’s a more convenient approach right around the corner.

Final Thoughts

Telemedicine has steadily grown into one of the most preferred medical services. Curating a space wherein consultations and providing medical advice and support can be done remotely would’ve explained why telemedicine is here to stay.

Download the MyCLNQ mobile app for an enhanced telehealth experience. Giving you access to a wide range of digital health services, you can consult a virtual doctor whenever you need to. Not only that, but you’ll be able to also book private ambulance services, find the earliest available clinic and much more, all within a few seconds!

5 Common Signs And Symptoms Of Anxiety Disorders To Note

Almost everyone experiences anxiety once in their lifetimes. If we boiled it down to the fundamentals, anxiety is a natural reaction when the body is overcome with overstimulation, cognitive incongruity and response unavailability. Once triggered by big stresses or an accumulation of various small ones, these anxiety symptoms work to help you cope and work through such difficult situations.

Whilst they may be normal, there may come a time wherein these anxiety symptoms are tough to handle and may even, linger despite the stressful event being long gone. In such cases, these anxiety symptoms will cease to help you through the overwhelming event and instead start to interfere with your daily life. If so, you may be dealing with an anxiety disorder. Recognising such symptoms is the first step to recovery, and as such, here are 5 signs you should look out for.

1. Excessive Worrying

The primary telltale sign of an anxiety disorder is chronic worrying. Excessive worrying refers to the disproportionate degree in which your worries affect you, in comparison to the magnitude of the stressful or everyday encounters. It’s often the proliferation of ‘what ifs’ over which you have absolutely no control over, and there is no effective and productive action that will lead to a tangible solution.

This constant worry and fear can often last throughout the day. An individual will be diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) if the symptoms persist for six months. Those at a higher risk of GAD are those below the age of 65, single, have a low socioeconomic status, and have numerous life stressors.

2. Restlessness

Perhaps you’ve been feeling on edge, or maybe, you’re finding it more difficult to unwind at the end of the day. This feeling of restlessness is no stranger to those diagnosed with anxiety. When an individual experiences anxiety, their nervous system has no sense of moderation and their ‘flight or fight’ reflexes are always switched on. Their body is geared up for a life or death situation even if all they ever did was sit at their desk, typing away on their computer.

Unfortunately, these feelings of alertness and hyper-vigilance are prevalent amongst teens and children. It was found that 74% of 128 children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder reported restlessness as one of their primary symptoms. If you experience restlessness almost every day for over six months, it might be a sign of an anxiety disorder.

3. Anxiety Attacks

Very similar to panic attacks, anxiety attacks involve intense and often overwhelming fear. This fear is accompanied by physical symptoms, such as shaking, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, nausea and chest tightness. However, since anxiety attacks aren’t formally recognised under the DSM-5 (the standard classification of mental disorders), the signs and symptoms are open to interpretation. Any two individuals may describe having an ‘anxiety attack’ and experience two or more very different symptoms.

Anxiety attacks usually peak within 10 minutes, and rarely last more than 30 minutes. However, during that short time, you may experience terror so severe that you may feel like you’re going to lose control and even die. In such situations, ensure that you’re in a safe environment and best to get somebody to accompany you through the attack.

4. Trouble Falling Asleep

If you’re suffering from constant worrying and overwhelming fear, chances are, you’ll experience sleep disturbances. You’ll find yourself having difficulty falling asleep or/and waking up in the middle of the night. Research also suggests that developing insomnia during childhood may positively correlate to having anxiety later in life.

5. Avoiding Social Situations

As with many other mental health disorders, common everyday experiences may be hard to endure when you have an anxiety disorder. The worry and stress over the possibility of getting scrutinised and judged by those around you may debilitate your social life, and in the worst-case scenario, you’ll go out of your way to avoid any form of social contact altogether.

Social anxiety is prevalent and tends to develop in the early stages of life. It also comes in varying degrees, and symptoms vary from one person to the next. There are people with social anxiety that may come off as shy or quiet, whilst some may even handle social situations with ease. But social anxiety mostly boils down to high self-criticism, depression and low self-esteem.

If you have displayed signs of the above symptoms of anxiety disorder, you can now seek professional help easily from our virtual doctors in Singapore through our myCLNQ app for an elevated telehealth experience, giving you access to an online medical consultation with great ease.

5 Foods That Will Boost Your Mental Health And Wellness

As a child, we’ve been taught that eating healthily contributes largely to how good we look and feel. Unfortunately, the same emphasis is not placed on how good nutrition heavily affects our mental health significantly as well. An inadequate and unhealthy diet can result in impaired decision-making, fatigue, and even slow reaction time. In fact, poor diets can potentially aggravate, which leads to depression and stress. 

A healthy and well-balanced diet, on the other hand, helps us feel more alert and think more clearly, improving overall attention span and concentration. We’ve compiled a list of foods that you should consume to feed your brain and of course, boost your mental health and well-being. 

1. Fish Oil

It comes as no surprise to see fish oil on this list. Fish oil has a long withstanding position as one of the superfoods in the market – and it’s no wonder why. The Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil contain both docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EHA) essential in preventing and managing heart diseases. Moreover, they also improve short and long-term memory, which contributes to optimum brain health. A diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids also reduces anxiety levels and boosts optimistic feelings of mental health. 

Fishes high in Omega-3 include salmon, sardine, herring and cod. If you’re not particularly a fan of seafood, you can turn to fish oil supplements.

2. Berries

If you’re sourcing for the perfect healthy snack for your antioxidant fix, berries will do just the trick. Regardless of the type, berries carry antioxidants that can aid in cell repairments and combat inflammation caused by free radical damage.

Unfortunately, free radicals are highly prevalent, especially if you’re living in a metropolitan area. They can be found in things such as cigarette smoke and pollutants. By fighting inflammation, antioxidants can help improve symptoms that are often associated with depression and anxiety. On top of that, berries also contain polyphenols which are proven to enhance memory, and both attention and concentration span.

3. Leafy Green Vegetables

Having a significant placement in the food pyramid, leafy green vegetables are highly encouraged in each and every meal. According to a study published, those who consume leafy greens like kale and spinach on a daily basis have a much slower rate of cognitive decline than those who frequently avoid the leafy greens on their plates.

4. Whole Grains

Carbs are indeed delightful and should take the front seat in your daily diet. Studies have found that whole grains contain a high amount of tryptophan, an amino acid that produces the hormone responsible for making you feel good, serotonin. Serotonin also helps you maintain a regular sleep cycle, calming your mind and boosting your mood. Examples of whole grains include brown rice, barley, oatmeal and whole-wheat bread.

5. Beans

As one of the top food choices for both a healthy and happy brain, beans are filled with antioxidants and fibre to hamper age-related cognitive decline and brain diseases. Beans also contain the vitamin, thiamine, which is required for the production of acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter crucial for memory.

Conclusion

For any problems regarding your mental health, you may visit our proficient virtual doctors in Singapore via our MyCLNQ app that amplifies your telehealth experience, giving you the opportunity to arrange for a consultation to see a doctor online, book a private ambulance service and much more.