She celebrates Hari Raya, thanks to liver transplant and altruistic donor

​14-year-old Falisha Zafilin, who was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, received a life-saving liver transplant from an altruistic donor in October 2022. The transplant surgery was conducted at NUH and Falisha’s primary doctor, Dr S. Venkatesh Karthik, Senior Consultant at NUCOT and KTP-NUCMI, NUH, shared that the team was gratified to witness Falisha’s recovery journey and continues to monitor her progress post-liver transplantation closely. Falisha now enjoys a new lease of life and participates actively in school activities.

துவாழ்வு நரம் உறுப்பு தாளம் (Organ donation gives new life)

​A/Prof Shridhar Ganpathi Iyer, Senior Consultant, Division of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, and Surgical Director of the Adult Liver Transplantation Programme, NUCOT, said that since the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of people coming forward to donate organs has dropped. He said the average waiting time in Singapore for a kidney transplant from a deceased donor is nine years. NUH patients Satya and Diksha Anand have kidney failure. Diksha had dialysis at NUH Children’s Kidney Centre three times a week for nearly four hours each time. In 2018 when Diksha was 10, she received kidneys from a deceased donor. Satya still undergoes peritoneal dialysis while waiting for a kidney transplant.

搭配全息投影技术 病人静脉跃然眼前 (With holographic projection through 5G technology, patient’s veins appear before one’s eyes)

National University Health System (NUHS) Holomedicine programme was showcased as one of the cutting-edge projects that are part of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s $30 million 5G Innovation Programme. The NUHS indoor private 5G Enterprise and mobile-edge computing network has been deployed in 10 operating theatres since August 2023 and three inpatient wards since early November 2023. 

Dr Gao Yujia, Assistant Group Chief Technology Officer, NUHS, and Consultant, Division of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, National University Hospital, explained that in preparation for complex surgeries such as liver transplants and brain tumour removal, the doctor and the patient each wear a HoloLens device to view the patient's 3D scan as part of patient education prior to the procedure. 

He also said the technology can be used to identify patients’ veins for blood-taking, greatly enhancing the success rates of blood draws for patients with small veins. With 5G-enabled technology, the time it takes for patients’ scans to be converted to 3D images has also been reduced from approximately 20 to 25 seconds to less than one second.

马国男孩罕见肝炎复发随母来新求医 (Malaysian boy with rare hepatitis relapse comes to Singapore with his mother to seek medical treatment)

Public hospitals in S’pore seeing rise in high-risk pregnancies

Cancer among younger Americans is on the rise, new study shows

A recent study published in JAMA Network Open has highlighted a concerning trend of increasing cancer rates among younger Americans, particularly women. The study showed that cancers among people under 50 have slightly increased overall, with the largest increases seen in the 30 to 39 age group. Gastrointestinal, endocrine, and breast cancers were climbing at the fastest rates. 

The senior author of the study, Assistant Professor Daniel Huang from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Senior Consultant, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and Adult Liver Transplantation Programme, National University Centre for Organ Transplantation, National University Hospital, was cited in the reports.

• CNN, 16 August 2023, Cancer diagnosis rates are going up in younger adults, study finds, driven largely by rises in women and people in their 30s
  

• Forbes, 16 August 2023, Cancer rates among Americans Under 50 Are Slightly Rising, New Study Finds
  

• New York Post, 17 August 2023, Cancer cases are rising among younger Americans: ‘alarming’ trend
  

• Yahoo! News, 18 August 2023, New study shows significant rise in cancer rates among young AAPIs
  

• Xinhua, 17 August 2023, Cancers among younger Americans under 50 on rise: study
  

• Next Shark, 17 August 2023, New study shows significant rise in cancer rates among young AAPIs
  

• WebMD, 17 August 2023, Cancer rates rise among people under age 50
  

• The American Journal of Managed Care, 16 August 2023, Early-onset cancer incidence in the US increased through 2010s
  

• Healthline, 17 August 2023, Cancer rates on the rise for people under 50, here’s the groups affected
  

• NewsNation, 17 August 2023, 17 August 2023, Researchers find increase in younger people diagnosed with cancer
  

• The Philadelphia Tribune, 17 August 2023, Cancer diagnosis rates are going up in younger adults, study finds, driven largely by rises in women and people in their 30s
  

• Chief Healthcare Executive, 17 August 2023, More cancers found in those under 50, with women seeing higher increases
  

• The Messenger, 17 August 2023, Cancer rates are going up in those under age 50
  

• CGTN America Youtube, 17  August 2023, Study finds increase cancer cases in younger Americans
  

• KazInform, 17 August 2023, Cancers among younger Americans under 50 on rise: study
  

• Newsday, 16 August 2023, Cancer rate among those under age 50 ‘increased substantially’ from 2010-2019, report finds
  

• Star Tribune, 16 August 2023, Cancer among younger Americans is on the rise, new study shows
  

• Staten Island, 17 August 2023, Advance, Cancer rates among younger adults rose last decade, new study shows
  

• Red Lake Nation News, 17 August 2023, Cancer among younger Americans is on the rise, new study shows
  

• The Bulletin, 17 August 2023, Cancer rising among younger Americans, new study shows
  

• Time News, 17 August 2023, Rising rates of cancer among young people: a grim new trend
  

• Science Alert, 17 August 2023, More young people are getting cancer, and we don’t know why
  

• Philly Voice, 17 August 2023, Cancer rates among people in their 30s have risen significantly, study finds
  

育儿有方：如何让孩子吃得好 (Good parenting: How to get children to eat well)

​Dr Tammy Lim, Consultant, Division of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Nutrition, Hepatology and Liver Transplantation, KTP-NUCMI, NUH, shared about baby-led weaning and what parents should look out for when they adopt this feeding practice. She highlighted that parents and caregivers should ensure that the child’s development is progressing normally before starting on baby-led weaning.

儿童误吞玩具或造成生命危险　但不是每次都必须直奔急诊室 (Children accidentally swallowing toys might be life-threatening but it does not always require visit to the Emergency Department)

Kids swallowing objects: How long does it take for a coin, battery or magnet to pass through?

How long do kids swallowing objects take to pass?

研究：孩童误吞异物 逾八成两周内自然排出 (Study: More than 80 per cent of foreign objects swallowed by children will be excreted naturally within two weeks)

Fussy eater? Your child is not alone

He donated part of his liver for a baby he didn’t know, and found a family in the process

​An article about how Mr Sakthibalan Balathandautham had donated part of his liver to a baby he had never met before mentioned that the organ transplant arrangements and surgery were done at NUH.

Child liver transplant recipient still keeps in touch with doctors 25 years later

​38-year-old Madam Raziah Begum Alamgir shared how her life has transformed since a life-saving transplant at NUH in 1995.  The first successful child liver transplant recipient in Singapore, Mdm Raziah expressed her gratitude to Emeritus Consultant Prof Prabhakaran Krishnan from the department of paediatric surgery, and Emeritus Consultant Prof Quak Seng Hock from the paediatric liver transplantation programme at what is now known as NUCOT, NUH. She feels blessed and continues to keep in touch with the doctors who treated her, highlighting that the procedure gave her a new lease of life.

Tabah hadapi dugaan kesihatan pada usia muda (Persevering in the face of health challenges at a young age)

Berita Harian’s full-page feature on two paediatric transplant patients – Mdm Raziah Begum Alamgir and Ms Dian Zuhairah Wydatie – highlighted how both received successful transplant procedures at a young age at NUCOT, NUH, and have since recovered and gone on to lead fulfilling lives.