EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes mention of suicide and self-harm. September is Suicide Prevention Month. BAGUIO CITY—Last year, my friend died by suicide. It took us all by surprise and the grief that those of us who were left behind felt was unfathomable. According to the University of the Philippines Population Institute’s Young Adult Fertility...
Category: Health
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We need mental health care in times of calamity
During extreme events that upend our collective life, we should also be concerned about each other’s mental, spiritual and psychological health aside from the urgent need for food, clothing and shelter. After all, emergencies require attention to both the corporeal and the psychological. The intensity of the southwest monsoon rains exacerbated by Supertyphoon “Carina” (Gaemi)...
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We need to decolonize our understanding of teenage motherhood
There is a long umbilical cord that connects the contemporary framing of teenage motherhood in the Philippines and the country’s colonial experience. Teenage motherhood is currently framed as a developmental problem due to its impact on health and education, which are vital aspects of a country’s human capital. According to the narrative, teenage motherhood is...
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Advocates assail ‘fear-mongering’ on use of cannabis to treat ailments
Groups advocating the use of cannabis to treat various illnesses have criticized the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) for “conflating” its medical and recreational uses and exaggerating its supposed harmful effects in blocking a proposed law that will allow Filipinos to legally acquire the drug. A measure at the House of Representatives, consolidated from 10 bills,...
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Proponents urge ‘a little compassion’ in legalizing medical cannabis
When her daughter Joy’s doctor told Gay matter-of-factly that she could lose her anytime to epilepsy, she was stunned and realized she had to look for other medicines to stop the seizures which started when her child was a baby. After years of trying up to 11 different medicines to quell Joy’s seizures, Gay was...
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TIP alumni produce a therapy glove to benefit stroke survivors
Stroke, also known as “brain attack,” is among the leading causes of long-term disability and mortality worldwide. Anyone can be at risk of a stroke, although it mostly affects older adults. In the Philippines, stroke survivors may struggle to regain their vitality due to damage in their central nervous system, which generally leads to poor...
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Make the fight against breast cancer stronger
CALAPAN CITY, Mindoro Oriental—Dr. Patty Caballero-Cabral had been undergoing mammography and ultrasound examinations yearly since 2013, and all results turned out normal. In 2020, however, when the Covid-19 pandemic upended life all over the world, her checkup routine was disrupted and she found herself spending most of her time attending to patients in the public...
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What’s a guy in his 70s doing trying to ride a bike?
Sometime last April, I had nerve pain in my right leg. In previous bouts with such pain in my leg or bum, I simply waited a few days and the pain went away. This time a week went by but the pain stayed. I checked medical websites for a clue. I found that in the...
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‘Passionate’ tweeter Ted Herbosa is now health chief
The reputation of newly appointed Health Secretary Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa has preceded him, and certain sectors do not find it encouraging. In December 2017, while speaking at a leadership forum in New Delhi, former US president Barack Obama was asked about the perils of using Twitter where he had more than 97 million followers...
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For a healthier lifestyle, wake up earlier
When the 3 a.m. alarm went off it should have started a familiar routine that involved hitting the snooze button a number of times, closing my eyes again, and thinking of excuses for welshing on a commitment. To say that mornings are rough is to make an understatement. But this was no ordinary morning engagement,...