Monday, May 31, 2010
(This is a 48-hour sticky post, scroll down for updates!)
I didn't know that flu and cold are actually two different illnesses. I thought flu is like the medical term for cold or something... until recently when I attended a talk about the danger of flu.
All this while I had been using the term "flu" whenever I have runny nose. Salah rupanya! Now that I know what those two are, it's actually quite easy to differentiate them.
Flu comes from the word influenza which causes severe illness and life-threatening complications in many people - like H1N1. It is caused by the influenza viruses A, B and rarely C that affects the whole body. Cold on the other hand is..... well, the normal "selesema". You know, the common runny or stuffy nose that we always seem to get from time to time.
There are major differences in characteristics between flu and cold. Flu is always accompanied by high fever (39-40 degrees Celsius), massive headache, muscular pains and feeling very weak that lasts for 1-2 weeks and complications like pneumonia, bronchitis and even death may occur. As for cold, you don't always have a fever but even if you have, it's only a mild one (below 38 degrees Celsius) and only takes 3-4 days to recover. And no, you won't die from getting a cold - at least not for the common colds.
Ayra with a cold and mild fever at 12 months old.
I remembered she refused to get a rest - she just wants to play!
Both are contagious but flu is even more contagious that even healthy people can get infected. You can catch the flu by simply touching contaminated objects or when the infected person coughs and sneezes. I think we all know that. But do you know that the deadly flu can be prevented - besides constantly washing your hands with soap and using hand sanitizers and wearing a mask?
Get vaccinated!
Apparently vaccination is the most effective protection against influenza for you and your loved ones. It is proven that up to 90% of healthy people who are vaccinated each year are protected. The influenza virus can change slightly each year, making the vaccine used in the previous year ineffective. That is why the flu vaccination is recommended to take once a year. When you are vaccinated, your body responds to the vaccine by producing an immune response. Some people may experience side effects after taking the flu vaccine tho, like soreness at the site of the injection, muscle ache and fever, but only for a couple of days.
H1N1 is still active in Malaysia. In fact, influenza cases in Malaysia actually occur throughout the year whether there is a pandemic or not. Regardless of seasonal or pandemic, influenza kills. The only thing is we don't actively looking for influenza cases during "normal situations", but only in a pandemic situation like now. It's a good idea to get yourself vaccinated especially if you are among the people who are at the highest risk of getting it. After all, prevention is always better than cure. But do consult your doctor first before getting the vaccine (or any medication). You don't want something else to happen now, do you?
I didn't know that flu and cold are actually two different illnesses. I thought flu is like the medical term for cold or something... until recently when I attended a talk about the danger of flu.
All this while I had been using the term "flu" whenever I have runny nose. Salah rupanya! Now that I know what those two are, it's actually quite easy to differentiate them.
Flu comes from the word influenza which causes severe illness and life-threatening complications in many people - like H1N1. It is caused by the influenza viruses A, B and rarely C that affects the whole body. Cold on the other hand is..... well, the normal "selesema". You know, the common runny or stuffy nose that we always seem to get from time to time.
There are major differences in characteristics between flu and cold. Flu is always accompanied by high fever (39-40 degrees Celsius), massive headache, muscular pains and feeling very weak that lasts for 1-2 weeks and complications like pneumonia, bronchitis and even death may occur. As for cold, you don't always have a fever but even if you have, it's only a mild one (below 38 degrees Celsius) and only takes 3-4 days to recover. And no, you won't die from getting a cold - at least not for the common colds.
Ayra with a cold and mild fever at 12 months old.I remembered she refused to get a rest - she just wants to play!
Both are contagious but flu is even more contagious that even healthy people can get infected. You can catch the flu by simply touching contaminated objects or when the infected person coughs and sneezes. I think we all know that. But do you know that the deadly flu can be prevented - besides constantly washing your hands with soap and using hand sanitizers and wearing a mask?
Get vaccinated!
Apparently vaccination is the most effective protection against influenza for you and your loved ones. It is proven that up to 90% of healthy people who are vaccinated each year are protected. The influenza virus can change slightly each year, making the vaccine used in the previous year ineffective. That is why the flu vaccination is recommended to take once a year. When you are vaccinated, your body responds to the vaccine by producing an immune response. Some people may experience side effects after taking the flu vaccine tho, like soreness at the site of the injection, muscle ache and fever, but only for a couple of days.
H1N1 is still active in Malaysia. In fact, influenza cases in Malaysia actually occur throughout the year whether there is a pandemic or not. Regardless of seasonal or pandemic, influenza kills. The only thing is we don't actively looking for influenza cases during "normal situations", but only in a pandemic situation like now. It's a good idea to get yourself vaccinated especially if you are among the people who are at the highest risk of getting it. After all, prevention is always better than cure. But do consult your doctor first before getting the vaccine (or any medication). You don't want something else to happen now, do you?
Labels: Advertorials, Health, Nuffnang
She slipped off her pink stilettos at 10:00 AM | 
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
There was a time when Acai Berry suddenly become so popular, like really mad crazy - I think it was after being featured on Oprah show or something (I didn't watch that particular episode by the way). Every time when I went online on my Yahoo Messenger, I would get lots of spam messages about acai berry weight loss thingy which got really annoying! There's just so much hype about it and I wasn't the least bit interested. In fact I got really fed up that I decided not to get connected to YM whenever I'm online like I used to because that's the only way to get rid of those spams! (yes well, that kinda explains my "YM disappearance").
Then last year during Hari Raya I had my very first encounter with acai berry, in the form of a juice. We were visiting my dad's cousin and after having lunch, the wife was telling us about this "special juice" that they have been consuming. She took out a bottle from the fridge and gave each of us a taste (one tablespoon each, to be exact). My first thought, it tasted somewhat like Ribena, but a little thicker and not as sweet. It was kinda sour-ish (which I like) and is so yummy!
Mind you, I was attracted to the pretty bottle. I want one! It would be nice to have it in my fridge. And that was when I saw "acai berry" in the ingredient and went like "so this is the ever-so-famous acai berry!". It wasn't a weight loss supplement as I thought, at least the one that we tried is not. It's actually a health supplement. And the name is MonaVie. Unfortunately, I was told that they bought the MonaVie from Singapore because it wasn't available in Malaysia at that time.
Fast-forward to end of last year, 2009. We managed to track down MonaVie from my father-in-law (who knew it from his friend) and we have been religiously consuming it every day until now. That's almost half a year. Just like my dad's cousin, the MonaVie supplies that we got were from Singapore too, until recently when MonaVie finally launched in Malaysia.
MonaVie is a blend of 19 fruits and its key ingredient is acai berry. It's highly packed with antioxidant (10x more than red grapes!), can increase energy, boost immune system, combat premature aging and reduce inflammation. The thing I love most about MonaVie juice besides the yumminess is that, 1 serving (30ml to 60ml) is the equivalent of about 3 servings of fruits and veggies! And it's recommended to drink only twice a day. Of course I drink more than that because I couldn't get enough of it (just so you know, I'm a sucker for yummy fruity drinks)! Even Ayra likes it.
Now I don't know if there's any difference or changes that I experienced after drinking MonaVie because the thing about health supplement is, you don't get the result right away especially if you're in a good health condition. It's not like losing weight - like losing 1 kg after consuming Herbalife shake for 3 days or whatnot. It's like an investment for future health. You know, like vitamins.
But I think people have started to notice how "flawless" my skin has become. At first I wasn't aware of it; I thought it was just pregnancy hormones or something. But then I remembered I started drinking MonaVie at around the same time when I first found out I was pregnant so my flawless-ness could also be because of MonaVie. And I get compliments from my family, my friends, even strangers (makeup sales assistants mostly) like never before. Some of them asked what skincare product I'm using but I wasn't sure what to tell them because I have a few cleansers, toners and moisturizers from various brands, and believe me, saya selang-selang pakai ikut mood - like hari ni nak pakai cleanser Hada Labo. Then 3 days later, tiba-tiba rasa nak pakai Shu Uemura. Then a week later nak pakai L'Oreal pulak. And sometimes when I'm too lazy, I just use water! ;p It's like that one, no kidding (I know it's not good!)
But one thing I know, MonaVie is really good! Sedap giler, tolong laa...
Then last year during Hari Raya I had my very first encounter with acai berry, in the form of a juice. We were visiting my dad's cousin and after having lunch, the wife was telling us about this "special juice" that they have been consuming. She took out a bottle from the fridge and gave each of us a taste (one tablespoon each, to be exact). My first thought, it tasted somewhat like Ribena, but a little thicker and not as sweet. It was kinda sour-ish (which I like) and is so yummy!
Mind you, I was attracted to the pretty bottle. I want one! It would be nice to have it in my fridge. And that was when I saw "acai berry" in the ingredient and went like "so this is the ever-so-famous acai berry!". It wasn't a weight loss supplement as I thought, at least the one that we tried is not. It's actually a health supplement. And the name is MonaVie. Unfortunately, I was told that they bought the MonaVie from Singapore because it wasn't available in Malaysia at that time.
Fast-forward to end of last year, 2009. We managed to track down MonaVie from my father-in-law (who knew it from his friend) and we have been religiously consuming it every day until now. That's almost half a year. Just like my dad's cousin, the MonaVie supplies that we got were from Singapore too, until recently when MonaVie finally launched in Malaysia.
MonaVie is a blend of 19 fruits and its key ingredient is acai berry. It's highly packed with antioxidant (10x more than red grapes!), can increase energy, boost immune system, combat premature aging and reduce inflammation. The thing I love most about MonaVie juice besides the yumminess is that, 1 serving (30ml to 60ml) is the equivalent of about 3 servings of fruits and veggies! And it's recommended to drink only twice a day. Of course I drink more than that because I couldn't get enough of it (just so you know, I'm a sucker for yummy fruity drinks)! Even Ayra likes it.
Now I don't know if there's any difference or changes that I experienced after drinking MonaVie because the thing about health supplement is, you don't get the result right away especially if you're in a good health condition. It's not like losing weight - like losing 1 kg after consuming Herbalife shake for 3 days or whatnot. It's like an investment for future health. You know, like vitamins.
But I think people have started to notice how "flawless" my skin has become. At first I wasn't aware of it; I thought it was just pregnancy hormones or something. But then I remembered I started drinking MonaVie at around the same time when I first found out I was pregnant so my flawless-ness could also be because of MonaVie. And I get compliments from my family, my friends, even strangers (makeup sales assistants mostly) like never before. Some of them asked what skincare product I'm using but I wasn't sure what to tell them because I have a few cleansers, toners and moisturizers from various brands, and believe me, saya selang-selang pakai ikut mood - like hari ni nak pakai cleanser Hada Labo. Then 3 days later, tiba-tiba rasa nak pakai Shu Uemura. Then a week later nak pakai L'Oreal pulak. And sometimes when I'm too lazy, I just use water! ;p It's like that one, no kidding (I know it's not good!)
But one thing I know, MonaVie is really good! Sedap giler, tolong laa...
Labels: Health
She slipped off her pink stilettos at 2:00 AM |