An MP Died Suddenly of Heart Attack
A Singapore MP (Member of Parliament),
Dr ONG Chit Chung (1949-2008) just died.
Of unexpected heart attack, I understand.
The local news recorded comments that were
full of praise for him. He looked good and
well, many would say. He was a golfer.
Without any complaint of discomfort and
in very good spirits the day before he died,
he went through an 18-hole round of golf.
It was reported in the news that there were
no signs of any heart problem during the
events leading to his death on July 14 2008.
A loving and caring man, he did much for the
residents in his constituency and even for
the needy. An ex-History professor at the
University of Singapore, he was always very
helpful to everybody. He seemed to be in
the pink of health. He even talked about plans
he was making for his grassroots leaders
to visit the United States of America this
year.
His demise came most unexpectedly.
I was grieved by the news. I felt a sense
of loss that a really good man has passed
on. This post was written in memory of him.
My condolences to his wife and family!
There are a certain percentage of people,
who die of silent ischemic heart attack
every year. Though the percentage may be
small, there are still untold numbers who
die of such symptomless heart events.
According to American Heart Association,
as many as 3 to 4 million Americans may
have ischemic episodes without knowing it.
The survival statistics of a heart attack
that occurs outside of hospital is indeed
very, very grim--of the order of between
1 to less than 3 percent in Singapore,
as I understand it.
posted by Ray Chee @ 1:56 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Hello Ray Chee, I used to think that the present health screening parameters are based on solid paradigm and not much attention is paid to water/hydration of the subject undergoing the screening.
Blood cells being the 'strongest' cells among all other cells in the body, so to me, it does not make sense to do blood test alone to investigate the overall health real condition of the subject.
Yes, you are right, Mr Soong. Blood tests—even very comprehensive ones—alone are definitely inadequate as far as the patient’s overall underlying health condition is concerned. For example, blood tests don’t reveal blockages in arteries.
The diagnoses of today are pretty advanced, unlike the old days when it was very common for doctors to do lots of exploratory surgeries, which entailed cutting up patients just to “look” at the inside. Nowadays, a CT scan or an MRI of a patient’s part or organ, for example, would reveal highly sophisticated internal details to enable speedy prognosis and appropriate treatment. But such scans are limited due to cost inhibitions; they are not presently done as a matter of course when a patient goes for medical examination, unless doctors suspect something that warrants having such tests conducted. Thus, a person—especially one who has no history of any disease but unknown to him, has potentially dangerous clogging in his heart artery (such as in the case of silent ischemic heart disease)—can run the risk of getting a life-threatening heart attack.
Side effects of x-rays from CT may cause cancer or other disorders because such radiations do cause DNA damage. MRI, it is said, is less dangerous as it works with magnets, but it can rip out any metal such as a medical implant from the body; no one knows what the long term use of magnets can have on the body (the wrong use or incorrect orientations of magnetic poles in relation to the body may cause harm).
Besides the above, there are numerous tests that one can subject oneself to. However, despite their limitations, due to their relative safety and lower costs, blood and urine tests are currently the most commonly used tests to ascertain the health condition of the body.
God bless you--
Ray
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