24 April 2006

Thank You, Bayi!

I'm back. I spent my Holy Week on neighboring Malaysia and.....inadvertently on Singapore, too, because of a missed flight. It's a long story, and I'd rather not ruin your Monday with my misadventures.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Malaysian friend and gracious host, Bayi, and his wonderful, kind wife, Sok Kin, for the warm welcome, good food, great gifts, and tour my soulmate and I thoroughly enjoyed during our brief stay in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a wonderful country. The progress I saw there confirms the vision its leaders have in seeing that country transform from developing to a fully developed country by 2020. Putrajaya, for example, where Bayi and his wife toured us, is wonderful city within a city. It houses the government's main agencies and boasts of impressive bridges and infrastructures one would only see in a first-world country.

Go and visit Malaysia if you have time, and see what you have been missing. For photos, you may refer to SIGHTSEER from time to time.

Back to the main program. I see that Bayi has placed a query in my message box below and I'd like to answer it now. He asks:
what is pulmonary hypertension compared to the normal use of the term "hypertension?"

Hypertension is your basic high blood pressure. When a doctor or nurse places a cuff on your arm and they get a blood pressure reading in the range of 140-160/90-100, that is a clear hypetensive reading. Pressure comes from the force of blood pushing against blood vessel walls. If the blood vessels are clear with no blocks like fatty deposits, then the sole pressure comes from the force of the heart as it pumps blood throughout the body. The causes of hypertension or high blood pressure are many and varied. A thorough physical and diagnostic examination coupled with a good clinical history can uncover the real cause(s) of any abnormal blood pressure reading.

Pulmonary hypertension, on the other hand, is high blood pressure limited to the arteries that supply the lungs. The main artery involved is the pulmonary artery which carries blood from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs for oxygenation. How do you know you have pulmonary hypertension? To be accurate, a doctor might perform a right heart catherization in order to find out. Like basic hypertension, the causes of pulmonary hypertension are many and varied. A comprehensive clinical examination is needed to know the true cause(s).

7 reactions:

ipanema said...

Looks like you had a swell time with Bayi and family in Malaysia Dr. emer, welcome back.

Malaysia is really, truly Asia as the advert goes :)

Putrajaya is beautiful so as Genting and Cameroon Highlands.

rolly said...

Welcome back, doc and jane. When you said you were going to meet Bayi and his wife, I never have any doubts that you were going to have a really good time.

Pogi ni Bayi ah.

ipanema said...

Bayi, ni hen xiang dian ying ming xing. :)


Aiyah, ok lah, translation: Bayi, you look like a movie star.

Di ba rolly?

ipanema said...

Bayi, my name is IPANEMA, not impanema (sounds like empanada-like your curry puff), ipamana,etc. k? :)


My hanyu pin yin is so-so. Unlike my children, they speak and write Mandarin. Anyway, thanks for the invite, I've been to KL many times. Drive through Singapore where my sister lives. And other parts of Malaysia as well.

You know what I love about Malaysia other than what've been mentioned here? AIR ASIA! Sooo cheap! Check the internet, KL- Bangkok, Vietnam, Bali only 19.99 ringgit. But no time to go.

Dr. Emer said...

Thanks, Bayi, Tito Rols, and Ipanema.

I'm happy that Ipanema and Bayi have met here and made their introductions. I really had a wonderful time in KL, and I'm looking forward to my next trip there.

I fully agree. Bayi looks like a movie star.

ipanema said...

No worries Bayi, not a big deal. My husband is a Filipino, my children used to enroll in a Chinese school since kindergarten, now they're with the international school. Always told them that it is to their advantage if they learn several languages. So, they know the 3Rs in Mandarin and two other languages.

Yes, Air Asia is a no non-sense airline. People's philosophy? They dont need to be pampered while on a regional travel anyway. They just want to be transported to the other country and it will take a few hours, what's the fuss right?

I know you belong to the old school, like my older Malaysian Chinese friends. But your generation speaks better English than the young ones nowadays. For being nationalistic, Mahathir veered from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) and before he retired, Malaysia joined UCLES Assessment again. He probably realised how important English is.

Dr. Emer a flatterer << he's in the right company...lol.

Unknown said...

Good evening Doc Emer! And I totally agree with you that KL is nice and Malaysia is a wonderful country. Just look also at the countrysides. Fascinating...