Lack of sleep kills!

Time and again, we hear of health issues arising which we normally tend to ignore till it's too late. I've been hearing news of acquaintances with heart problems and cancer for the past one year.

Today, I received an email from one of my ex-boss which is as appended below. This is getting scary and people are just way too ignorant about their precious life.

This story reminds me of a top CEO guy in Malaysia many years back, who died upon touching down at the airport, after coming back from a holiday with a fiance.

Here's the story which appeared in newspapers in India not too long ago :

Ranjan Das Passed Away on Wednesday, 21-October-2009
SAP India CEO Ranjan Das Dies After Gym Workout

Carried : Wednesday, 11-November-2009
What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India . He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road . Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India . However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner ( in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away ), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

Was it the stress?

A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.

The Real Reason

However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out'.

Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep ( and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled ).

The Evidence

Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of 'Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep'. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the
key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

* Short sleep duration ( less than 5 or 5-6 hours ) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know, high BP kills.

* Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

* Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

* Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

* Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.

* Sleeping for less than 5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for less than 6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep

For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down ( I've been there, done that ).

Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep, take Epworth Sleepiness Test.

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don't like to drive (maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that line ).

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising ( marathoning! ), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him. If you are not getting enough sleep ( 7 hours ), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set
the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the  same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail/article to as many of your colleagues/friends as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.


Source : news

TwoPixels anniversary giveaway

"A picture paint a thousand words", especially with photos, which brings tons of sweet memories.

I first came across Two Pixels when it first started out.

TwoPixels was started by Jazz and Sue, two wonderful women I know through the mummy blogsphere, who self-taught themselves to take superb photos through their special touch and very attentive details. They're so specialised in taking beautiful photos, focusing on babies, children, families and even pregnancy. I remember a friend, Caitlyn, telling me that Jazz and Sue are just so patient, creative and they're very good with babies.

TwoPixels is giving away three photo sessions and I just have to participate in this contest. I simply can't resist a photo session with the two lovely mummies. The only time I had a real photography session was for my wedding album taken about eight years back I think. Our family has also not taken one before.

TwoPixels creates a memory for a life through their natural shots, made to pefection in their self-learnt skills which I've never seen. So, I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be one of the chosen one (^-^).

Happy anniversary to you, TwoPixels! All the best in the coming years!

Dentist Dentist here we come

It was about a year ago, when we were experiencing Eryn's tooth problem. I called up numerous dentists and finally found ourselves the best dentist for Eryn with the best advice I've ever heard after many attempts in finding a suitable dentist for Eryn.

Lately, Eryn has been complaining of food getting stuck in her bottom right molar while Brendan seems to get food stuck in his molars on both side. Their molars seem to have small holes which could be the cause of food getting stuck. So far, there's no pain, but we will have to nip the problem, if any, before it gets worse.

The kids used to brush their kids on their own but now, hubby and I have taken the task of brushing it again and flossing it as well after they've brushed their teeth.

Looks like I have to take the two kids to Pristine Jalan Gasing. I called them up and booked a time for them some time next week and it was such a great pleasure to know that the nurse, Ms Prema, actually remembers Eryn.

academic result

Brendan and Eryn did extremely well in school and was positioned number two and number four respectively.

During the exam week, Brendan came back from school everyday saying that he can't answer some questions and don't think he can get good results. Well, I scold him to pay more attention in class instead of disturbing his little sister all the time. Deep in my heart, I wasn't particularly concern whether he'll be at the top in his age group especially Mandarin, since I can't read Chinese and was never the top in my class. I was placed in the top class through school but was never the top in class due to the pressure I felt from the top students and my involvement in extra curricular activities and practice in sports and netball.

Coming out from school, I was satisfied though, for being all-arounded and I didn't do too bad at all. Likewise, I would hope my kids to be well-rounded as well instead of being too studious. Emphasis would still be placed in their studies still, without giving the pressure that they're already facing in school.

Anyway, for Brendan to achieved 2nd place was indeed a surprise for the school principal and teachers and for me and hubby. The subject that pulled him down was Moral, which was really wierd for us. He achieved 100 for mathematics, 91.5 for Chinese, 98 for maths, 89 for BM and 82 for Moral. A big, big clap to you, Brendan.

They have very tough questions like identifying the Abdul Samad building, Twin Tower, Planetarium and KL Tower and stuffs like grammar errors and spellings. I think I only studied what Brendan is studying now when I was in year 2 or year 3!

Eryn was an even bigger surprise at 4th place as she only started school middle of this year. She has adopt a keen interest in books now and achieved 100 for Maths, 94 for English, 98 for Mandarin and 88 for English.

I wasn't very happy with the academic based in the beginning, but am now very pleased that I sent them there cos they seem to enjoy their kindergarten school. The teachers are very patient and kind in guiding them in all the reading and writing. They only need to come home and play and watch TV, without having to do any homework. For Brendan, going to primary school will not be the same anymore. I hope things turn out fine.

An example of Brendan's chinese paper - I don't understand what it's all about.

A page taken from Brendan's Moral paper - I don't understand this as well.

A page from Eryn's BM paper. "Ekor"?

kaya fun

Whenever we go back to our hometown, my mum will make a big pot full of kaya (a sweet and creamy coconut pandan jam cooked in gula melaka). Brendan and Eryn loves the kaya so much and will wait for their grandma (my mum) to finish cooking the kaya before they pester grandma to give them the empty pot.

They just love to lick from the pot. We pour the kaya out into a few jars but the kids only want to lick it from the pot. And they'll lick it clean. Brendan says that it's more fun to eat it that way. Oh boy!

When Brendan and Eryn knows that grandma is making kaya, they'll go chanting "I want kaya pot! I want kaya pot!" If only the kaya they want is the malay word kaya that means "rich". hehe

Brendan's entering Standard One

It was a tedious hassle more than two months ago when I learnt that my application for Brendan into SJK(C) School A was rejected. Thus, began my journey for appeal, going to School A and School B, the other school that Brendan was assigned to.

So, up and down I went, again and again. In my appeal form, I have to give two options for the appeal and all parents were advised by the parents to put two options in case the first option for School A was rejected.

Imagine, 90% of the application to School A were rejected. All because another school, let's call it School X, was undergoing renovation and were therefore, transferred to School A and School A has to be transferred to School B! I do wonder why can't they just transfer School X to School B instead.

So, back to my appeal form, I decided to only put one option and that is back to School A despite hearing that it's quite impossible to go back to School A. Well, I decided that's the way I want it to be and then, the waiting began.

I have yet to received the second letter, but went direct to School A yesterday morning to check for myself. The teacher was very doubtful that I could get it and went through the list, which is not in alphabetical order, one by one, and at page 3, I decided to help the teacher to search for it and immediately stumbled upon Brendan's name!! The other teachers were surprised and asked to double check on the full name and IC number.

Boy, am I glad to see that, but there were fury coming from other parents nearby, who were still appealing for the third time.

I don't know how good School A is as claimed by some parents, but the convenience is something that I've been asking for. I personally felt that our local kebangsaan school standard has dropped, unlike my time, when our teachers were so good.

In my search for schools early last year, I've checked out a few kebangsaan school and found that the teachers can't even speak proper English, what more teach! Oh dear... I can't read Chinese myself, but am glad that Brendan's current kindergarten principal is a well-qualified educator, who is able to provide some tutoring to Brendan in his early years.

It's going to be a new challenge next year. We'll see how it goes.

My boy turns 6

This post is so over-delay cos' Brendan celebrated his 6th birthday 2 weeks back and I'm only posting this up now.


I was looking back at old photos of Brendan and he has just changed so much, not just the look but the personality and his own independent decisions in knowing what to do at times. Then, looking back at my own pics then, I can see that I'm getting older as well!! aaarrgh...

Now, that's the sign of 'growing gracefully' cos I didn't know that I've aged (knock head!). I mean, the tell tale signs are there, I'm having backaches sometimes and getting tired and lack or energy at other times. To think I was a school sprinter and sports girl. Where has all the vim gone? I know! It went to the kids! haha



Anyway, just want my boy to grow up and enjoying his childhood fun..

girls will be girls

My little Eryn can be quite picky as to the type of clothes she wants to wear. On weekends, she'll want to wear a dress as I normally tries to avoid letting her wear a dress in the daycare as she runs and climb like a monkey. Imagine a girl in dress behaving so tomboyish. Nothing bad about that, but I don't trust perverts out there.

Whenever we go out, she'll sometimes request that she only wear a dress or skirt and not pants. She'll says, "all my girl friends wear pretty dresses every time". Oh well, she's a girl afterall. So, I'll let her be, depending on situation, but definitely not when we go to the park and swing on the monkey bars.

She likes to play make-up, comb her hair and look at the mirror, dance, sing, play princess and do the things most little girls like to do.

Monopoly

Now that I've left my full-time job and do my own business in freelance media and also, being in the financial services sector, I sometimes, teach my kids the value of money and the importance of not spending unnecesssarily.

And there's no better way I've found than the game of monopoly. Though, my kids may get frustrated when they're out of money and cry when they lose, the games somehow taught them the importance of proper planning and knowing what to invest when their monopoly money runs out.

At only age 6 and 4, I would never expect them to really grasp the importance of savings until Brendan came up to me and say, "Mummy, I think we don't buy this because it is not really important. We save the money and buy it next time ok?" or when Eryn came up to me in the shopping mall and say, "Mummy, I like this beautiful dress but no need to buy because I think it is expensive.."

Oh well, I was pleasantly surprised at their mature thinking. Well, they don't always say these unless something strucks their little mind, like the game of monopoly. Anyhow, instilling this experience is somehow fulfilling for me as a mother.

I remember starting my first investment into unit trust in my early 20s and buy my own insurance at the age of 20, and I'm glad that my own kids are beginning to understand the importance of savings at an even younger age.

naked fella next door

Oh boy! Our backdoor neighbour is undergoing some renovation and there's some contractor worker staying there at night. And this fella always walk around the house naked, except for his underwear. And there's no curtain over the windows.

What's he up to, I wonder.. He'll walk around like superman, drinking water while standing IN HIS UNDERWEAR, walk around IN HIS UNDERWEAR, scratching his crotch while IN HIS UNDERWEAR... aiyo

I'll always ask hubby to quickly come and stand with me when I'm washing dishes in case he sees me and thinks that I'm watching him. So susah payah have to close curtain now..

Eewww...........

Damn it!! It's so disgusting. Disgusting!! Must grab my camera next time and record it down.

Concert 2009

It's Brendan's and Eryn's very first concert and it was such a wonderful feeling having to attend my own two kids' performance 2 weekends ago.

Brendan was in a Mexican dance and he has grown from a very shy boy to a boy that is willing to dance in front of the crowd. Though his movements were a little stiff, he did give his very best and it was such a wonder how he has changed over two years.

Eryn, on the other hand, seems to be the 'leader' of the dance group, ever so talkative and so confident in her dance. She loves to dance and her body movement is just so natural. I'm considering sending her for a dance class - probably hip hop or modern dance. Ballets would be too rigid for her. hmm....

cooking made easy!

I finally found the way to save tons of time cooking yummy food, without needing much oil and eating it healthy.

Hubby has been telling me to get this cooker, but I had repeatly told him that I wasn't interested until I recently saw the demo done by our babysitter at a birthday party. She cooked 2 different dishes - marmite ribs and curry chicken. The marmite ribs were just simply delicious, one of the best that I've ever eaten, and all it needs is only 30 minutes in the cooker. The curry chicken was surprisingly lip-smacking good, with just 45 minutes cooking time in the cooker. She even made cheese cake using the cooker too! Altogether, there were 3 cookers. She just left it there for the whole 45 minutes, and only opening the curry chicken and ribs cover once to stir it a little, and that's it! No oil was added as well.

There are weekend cooking classes and recipes available at their outlets as well. We can even cook "pak cham kai", porridge, soup, and yummy dishes with it.

I was so convinced I had to just get one on the spot. I'm perfectly thrilled by this new found secret and just have to share it here. It's the buffalo brand smart cooker and it cost me RM768, but I'll be assured of nutritious food, easy cooking while I do my own stuffs and tah dah!... ready to eat..

Our babysitter is happy to organise a cooking demo for any group of mummies or anyone who is keen to learn more at her own house or at your own place. . I'd be most happy to join as well to see what new recipe she's introducing. hehe...

Love is in the air

This sight made me felt so warm and feeling good. I was eating my KFC, when out of the blue, Eryn started hugging Brendan.

Back at home, when Eryn give Brendan a hug, he'll scream at her. When Brendan tickles Eryn, Eryn will start whining for me. Oh boy! It was always a little battlefield at home. They tend to chase each other round the house and play 'catch me if you can', sometimes driving me up the wall with their non-stop action!

But this particular day, they both were just so good and I can't help but pull out my camera phone to snap photos of them.

Such a pretty sight, don't you think so?

medical attention?

My little girl was sick the whole of last week. She started having fever on last Monday and on Tuesday, we took her to see the dr and her temperature was at 38 degrees. She had fever, flu, cough, sore throat and was feeling very lethargic. We enquired on H1N1 and the dr says that she was merely having the normal viral infection and shouldn't be having H1N1 as the main concern would be for suspected patients who have just returned from infected countries as well as those who have direct contact with someone who is having H1N1.

We were relieved and were given the normal flu, cough & throat medicine for her. 2 days later, her fever hasn't gone down, and instead went up to almost 39 degrees. We send her to a 24 hours clinic in the middle of the night and was merely given suppositories to immediately reduce her fever.

By time time, I was furious as I requested for a blood test and was denied one, as the dr was not willing to do one. We sent her to a paeditrican the following day, for her third check-up and this dr too says that there is no need for concern. Our request for blood test again was denied. So, what does it take to get an ACTUAL medical test done?

There are so many deaths happening among children these days and what does it take for the medical centres to give prompt and MORE concern for such cases?

After having fever for one week, Eryn's fever has gone down, but I had shudder to think if something could have happened to her.

And with so many people coughing and hacking and sneezing around me, do I continue life as usual without being paranoid?

Lunch at Jogoya

Hubby and I took some 'couple time' off on one of the weekdays recently to have a Japanese buffet lunch at Jogoya Restaurant at Starhill, KL.

It was hubby's first time and a second time for me. I wasn't much excited this round compared to the first round when I ate and ate. Hubby and I love the sashimis, grilled eel, steamed garoupa, fresh oysters, steamed crabs, stir-fried beef and the soup. The garoupa was as big as me and the oyster was huge. The fragrant coconut was very nice - sweet and refreshing. The free flow of Haagen Dazs didn't seem to be satisfying as it was very hard to scope out from the ice-cream tub. Oh, of course, there's lots to offer - the tempuras, stir-frieds vegetables, claypot stuffs, pastas, handrolls, sushis, grills and teppanyakis, alcohol and wine, coffee and tea, fresh fruits and more..

I guess I shouldn't have taken my breakfast that morning and should have went on an empty stomach to fully feast on the spread they offered there.

Happy Mother's Day

Tomorrow morning, we'll all be going back to my hometown to celebrate Mother's Day with my mum as well as her birthday celebration.


As I was driving to work this morning, I heard a live call on radio about this lady who lied to her mother about busy to avoid going back to visit her mother during one Mother's Day weekend. Her mum was really upset. The most unfortunate thing that happen in that same week was that her mother passed away very suddenly and she didn't even got the chance to see her to say goodbye for the last time. It brought tears to my eyes to think of that.


Today, I had lunch with two lovely mothers and bought quite a number of gifts to give away to some friends who are mothers. Most of them were surprised by the gift, but for all that these mothers went through, and for all their devotion to their families, I thought that would bring joy to these lovely mummies...


Here's wishing all mummies, Happy Mother's Day to all.


Would love to share this story tand some beautiful verses that I received via email quite some time ago.


As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother".


But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars." The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."


He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."


She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.




The Mother's Day artcraft card that my darling Brendan made for me :-)