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It was three long months ago when Associate Professors Mikael Hartman from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Philip Iau from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine set off on an extraordinary adventure. The two trauma and breast cancer surgeons would journey 20,000km by motorcycle across 17 countries in Asia and Europe for The Long Ride 2014: From Singapore to Sweden for Breast Cancer Research to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research in Asia. Since then, they’ve braved nasty sandstorms, conquered challenging terrain, and altogether encountered many interestingRead more

Poor eyesight may cause a poorer quality of life than suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity and hypertension, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Eye Research Institute. The study combined data from three population-based eye studies and found that for every 100,000 people in Singapore, the burden for visual impairment was 512 healthy individuals dying every year, for the Chinese, 707 for Malays and 609 for Indians. One explanation is that while chronic conditions can lead to life-threatening diseases

A local study of 63,000 Singaporean Chinese has found that Omega-3 fatty acids in seafood and nuts are beneficial in reducing the mortality risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, led by Professor Koh Woon Puay from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health found that the 25% of the study cohort who consumed the most Omega-3 fatty acids from seafood like fish and shellfish as well as plant-based Omega-3 fatty acids from seeds, nuts and grains were 17% less likely to die from cardiovascular complications

Many of us spend at least 8 hours at the office, so how can you ensure that you stay healthy and safe at a sedentary environment like the workplace? 938LIVE’s Need to Know speaks to Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Chairman of the Workplace Health Committee at the Workplace Safety and Health Council, to find out more. To begin with, you could find ways to increase physical activity as part of the daily routine both inside and outside the office, for example

7 May 2014 marked the first day of the Singapore Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Conference 2014, held in conjunction with the launch of the National Workplace Safety and Health Campaign for this year. The conference saw regional workplace safety and health professionals and stakeholders, businesses and organisations convene to share and learn about how to adopt a holistic approach in managing health and safety risks in the workplace. Co-organised by the WSH Council, WSH Institute and the Ministry of Manpower, the theme for this year’s conference was “Integrating Safety

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is pleased to announce that Professor Saw Seang Mei has made it to the list of the world’s 100 most influential people in ophthalmology. In addition to Prof Saw, Singapore saw two other eye doctors make the top 100 list, including Professor Donald Tan from the Singapore National Eye Centre and Professor Aung Tin from the Singapore Eye Research Institute. Prof Saw is noted for her extensive work in the area of myopia, including environmental factors that affect short-sightedness, and is one of only

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is pleased to announce that two of our colleagues were awarded at the recent Stars@NUHS Awards. Assistant Professor Alex Cook received the NUS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (FTEA) AY2012/2013 in recognition of his many contributions and commitment to teaching excellence at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in the last academic year. Ms Lim Hui Ping from the Centre for Molecular Epidemiology received the Values-in-Action (VIA) Award (Top 6 – Individual) for demonstrating the NUHS TRICE Values (Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Excellence)

Regular consumption of vegetables, fruit and soy can reduce the risk of lower hip fracture among Singaporean Chinese by more than three times, according to a study on the dietary and lifestyle habits of 63,000 Chinese Singaporeans over the last 15 years. Lead researcher of the study, Associate Professor Koh Woon Puay from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, added that soy-based foods contain a rich source of isoflavones, which are beneficial to womens’ health, while green leafy vegetables contain carotenoids, which helps strengthens bones

Drinking at least two cups of coffee a day may help sufferers of liver cirrhosis reduce the chance of dying by 66 per cent, according to a study on the dietary and lifestyle habits of 63,000 Chinese Singaporeans over 15 years. However, the study found that only patients with cirrhosis that had been caused by alcohol consumption or liver disease saw a decrease in mortality risk; those who had viral hepatits-related cirrhosis did not see any significant drop is mortality risk. “The benefit of coffee on reducing the risk of

Monetary incentives have been used numerous times in weight-loss programmes or campaigns, such as in the case of the Health Promotion Board’s recent “1 Million Kg Challenge”, where participants can win prizes such as shopping vouchers, vacation packages and a car. A study conducted by Duke-NUS Graduate Medical aims to find our if getting participants to pay a deposit will be a motivating factor in behavioural change. Associate Professor Joanne Yoong from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, who researches in health economics, says that although incentivising personal health