Piles - Painful and Embarrassing, but Treatable

NOBODY really likes to discuss their piles, but seeking early treatment is relatively simple and can save you from years of pain and suffering.

ONE in three adults suffer from piles, yet it's not commonly discussed. So what are piles and why do patients prefer to suffer in silence?

What are haemorrhoids?

Piles or haemorrhoids are swellings that appear around the anus. Consultant colorectal surgeon of Hospital Pantai Putri Tambun, Dr M. Sarkunnathas, explains that we all have a circle of stretchable tissue just inside the anus that expands when we pass motion and contracts to keep the anus shut.

"We call them vascular anal cushions because these tissues are rich in blood vessels and line the anus like cushions which play a role in controlling the outflow of faeces," says Dr Sarkunnathas.

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Hybrid Technology - A Good Thing?

DUE to high fuel pump prices, there has been a surge of interest in petrol-electric hybrid vehicles.

For instance, hybrid car sales all over the world, dominated by the Toyota Prius, saw a marked increase in the last four year despite a declining new passenger car market.

It has been reported that waiting lists to buy the Prius was stretched to as long as six months in the United States, due to limited supply of batteries for the hybrid car.

Presently, it seems that combining electric drive with the internal combustion engine is the best choice for reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

Hybrid vehicle technology is easily available and it does not require too much engineering.

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Copyright Infringement

HAVE you ever uploaded an image or a video to a website, only for it to be deleted because of copyright issues? While some areas of copyright law can be complicated enough to cause copyright lawyers sleepless nights, the basics are very simple. Armed with some simple principles, you can save yourself from running afoul of copyright law.

Steps

1. Understand the scope of copyright law. It does protect literary works, paintings, photographs, drawings, films, music (and its lyrics), choreography, sculptures and many other things. It generally doesn't protect the underlying ideas, and it does not protect facts. For example, copyright doesn't prevent you from expressing in your own words ideas and facts found in a book or journal you read (but you should always give appropriate credit to the sources in which you found them; it is common courtesy to do so, and not doing so could be plagiarism).

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Dyslexia and Your Child

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a disability that hampers a person's ability to learn, write and sometimes even speak. The word `dyslexia' derives from the Greek meaning `difficulty with words'. It is a common learning disability among children in Malaysia as there are approximately 500,000 children who suffer from it.

There are three main types of dyslexia - trauma dyslexia, primary dyslexia and developmental dyslexia. Trauma dyslexia develops when a trauma or injury occurs to the part of the brain that controls writing and reading while primary dyslexia occurs when the cerebral cortex or the left side of the brain does not mature as the child does. Developmental dyslexia occurs when there is hormonal development during fetal growth.

If your child is unable to read, write or spell as well as his peers, don't be quick to call him dumb or stupid. The problem may be much deeper. Children with dyslexia have often been called dumb or lazy even though they are actually children with above average intelligence. These children may be able to answer questions that a teacher poses to them correctly but when the same questions are asked in a written method, they may not be able to do as well.

Where to look for help

There are organisations and associations in Malaysia that can help your children cope with dyslexia. Among them are the Kiwanis Disability Information and SupportCentre (KDISC) and the Persatuan Dyslexia Wilayah Persekutuan.

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Sime Darby - Biodiversity First

Sime Darby Bhd. (SDB), one of the world’s top plantation companies, is embarking on various conservation projects to preserve Malaysia’s biodiversity.

The country’s oldest conglomerate with a rich heritage that dates back more than 100 years said growing its business in a sustainable manner is dependent upon ensuring the sustainability of the environment that surrounds its operations.

As sustainability is the core foundation for its growth, Sime Darby stressed that the corporate sector can have a significant impact on conservation efforts of the country’s rich natural resources.

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The Grim Side of the Internet

FACEBOOK, Twitter, Angry Birds, Wordpress - throw these words around and chances are most children will be able to explain it better than the average adult.  

Children today live in a world very different from what a lot of us knew growing up. The Internet has become such an integral part of a child's growing up process.

It has revolutionised the way children learn and access information. Children are able to carry out research faster and gain information in a more effective manner from the numerous websites available.

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Choosing a Right Soap

CONSIDERING the fact that soap is over 5,000 years old, it is perhaps the oldest beauty product most of us would come to know. The regular household would not be able to operate without this cleansing bar. We use it to wash our hands, for bathing and sometimes, to cleanse our faces with gentler but just as effective versions. Many of our childhood memories when it comes to bathing, revolve around using a bar of soap, playing and making suds out of it.

With its many functions, it is no wonder why when it comes to buying a bar of soap that is suitable for you, there are so many different choices to pick from. Because it is often called so many different names - cleansing bar, moisture bar, medicated soaps, antibacterial soaps - it can get quite confusing picking out something as basic as soap. While one bar may resemble the next, there are many things to look out for when picking a soap that works for you. 

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