Chronic Disease

How to Manage Chronic Disease

What are Chronic Diseases?
দীর্ঘস্থায়ী রোগগুলি কী কী ?
நாட்பட்ட நோய்கள் என்றால் என்ன?
什么是慢性疾病?

Chronic diseases are long-term health conditions that usually last more than a year. They typically develop gradually and may have no cure. Chronic conditions often require continuous medical care and lifestyle changes to control symptoms and prevent further complications.

Chronic diseases are very common. According to the World Health Organization, chronic diseases kill 41 million people each year, which makes up 74% of all deaths globally.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are some of the most common chronic conditions. In this blog post, we’ll cover what these three conditions mean and how you can prevent them.

Diabetes
ডায়াবেটিস
நீரிழிவு நோய்
糖尿病

Diabetes is a chronic medical condition that affects your body’s ability to break down sugar. This means a higher than acceptable level of sugar is left in your blood.

If it is left untreated, diabetes may cause blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke or amputation.

How to Know If You Have Diabetes
কীভাবে জানবেন যে আপনার ডায়াবেটিস আছে
உங்களுக்கு நீரிழிவு நோய் உள்ளதா என்பதை எப்படி அறிவது
如何知道自己是否有糖尿病

Common symptoms of diabetes include:

  • Excessive urination

  • Thirst

  • Unexplained weight loss

  • Exhaustion

  • Dizziness

  • Excessive hunger

If you suspect that you have diabetes, check with your doctor at the nearest medical clinic in your dormitories or recreation centres, or visit Polyclinics or GPs.

How to Prevent Diabetes
ডাায়াবেটিস কীভাবে প্রতিরোধ করবেন
நீரிழிவு நோயை எவ்வாறு தடுப்பது
如何避免糖尿病

To reduce your risk of getting diabetes, make healthier lifestyle choices such as:

  • Choose healthier foods

  • Drink water instead of sugary beverages

  • Exercise for 150 minutes each week

  • Have well-balanced meals with wholegrain food (e.g. brown rice, wholemeal bread)

  • Quit or cut down on alcohol and smoking

 

High Blood Pressure
উচ্চ রক্তচাপ
உயர் இரத்த அழுத்தம்
高血压

High blood pressure happens when your heart forcefully pumps more blood because of blockages in your blood vessels.

If it is not treated, it may lead to heart attack or stroke.

How to Know If You Have High Blood Pressure
পায়ের ব্যথা কি করে সারবেন
கால் வலியை எவ்வாறு நிர்வகிப்பது
如何舒缓腿痛

There are usually no symptoms of high blood pressure, even for those who have dangerously high blood pressure. A few people may experience headaches, shortness of breath and nose bleeds.

It is possible to find out if you have high blood pressure from health screenings. Go for regular check-ups once a year and have your blood pressure checked by a doctor.

How to Prevent High Blood Pressure
কীভাবে জানবেন যে আপনার উচ্চ রক্তচাপ আছে
உங்களுக்கு உயர் இரத்த அழுத்தம் உள்ளதா என்பதை எப்படி அறிவது
如何知道自己是否有高血压

These simple tips can reduce your risk of getting high blood pressure:

  • Sleep well

  • Exercise and keep a healthy body weight

  • Quit or cut down on alcohol and smoking

  • Manage stress – seek help and practice healthy habits (e.g. exercise, do relaxing activities)

  • Have well-balanced meals

  • Eat less salty foods

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View this as an infographic in another language: বাংলা | தமிழ் | 华语 | हिन्दी | తెలుగు | ไทย | မြန်မာ

View this as an infographic in another language: বাংলা | தமிழ் | 华语 | हिन्दी | తెలుగు | ไทย | မြန်မာ

 

High Cholesterol
উচ্চ কলেস্টেরল
அதிகக் கொழுப்புச்சத்து
高胆固醇

High cholesterol occurs when bad fats build up in your blood vessels. It is usually linked with high blood pressure.

If it is untreated in the long run, the build-up of fats can block your blood flow completely, causing chest pain, heart attack or stroke.

How to Know If You Have High Cholesterol
কীভাবে জানবেন যে আপনার উচ্চ কলেস্টেরল আছে
உங்களுக்கு அதிக கொளுப்புச்சத்து உள்ளதா என்பதை எப்படி அறிவது
如何知道自己是否有高胆固醇

High cholesterol does not show symptoms. Most people find out from a blood test. It is important to detect and manage early to prevent heart diseases. Go to the doctor for a regular health screening once a year.

How to Prevent High Cholesterol
উচ্চ কলেস্টেরল প্রতিরোধ করবেন কীভাবে
அதிக கொழுப்புச்சத்து நோயை தடுப்பது எப்படி
如何避免高胆固醇

Follow these simple tips to reduce your risk of getting high cholesterol:

  • Have a balanced diet

  • Make healthier food choices

  • Reduce fat intake. Eat less animal fat and oily food. Choose food with healthier fats like nuts or low-fat yogurt.

  • Stay active. Play sports like soccer or badminton.

 

Chronic diseases can significantly impact a person’s quality of life, affecting their physical, emotional, and social well-being. It can also be a financial burden, as money needs to be spent on medication or treatments. Choose to prevent chronic diseases today by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Remember, the key to managing chronic diseases is early screening and detection. Visit the doctor for a health screening at least once a year to make sure your health is in good shape. For migrant brothers who stay in dormitories or work in the Construction, Marine and Processes (CMP) sectors, check with your employers if you have Primary Care Plan (PCP) coverage. The PCP includes one annual basic health screening.


Find more resources on chronic diseases here.

Collaborating with Project KURA for an Outreach at Cochrane Recreation Centre

Our team organised an outreach at Cochrane Recreation Centre in collaboration with Project KURA (NUS Nursing School) in July.

We worked with the NUS Nursing students to provide basic health screening and education for migrant workers, focusing on high blood pressure and high cholesterol. We shared tips to reduce the risk of developing such chronic illnesses.

Our team supported the students in the contextualising, planning and development of the outreach programme by sharing various health-related initiatives and educational content they can create to support migrant workers’ wellbeing.

We were glad to have served over 200 migrant brothers with the students.  

 Here are some testimonials that the students shared:

“This outreach allowed me to interact with migrant workers and better understand their diets and jobs. I hope that the information we shared with them will allow them to be prepared and empowered to take good care of their health.”

“This experience made me realise that our migrant workers are really busy with work. I think it’s very important for us to find a way to improve migrant workers’ work-life balance and we should always be appreciative of their contributions to our society!”

Volunteers from My Brother SG and Project KURA at Cochrane Recreation Centre

Education on Nutrition and Chronic Illness

From January to March, we created content that focused on the topics of nutrition and chronic disease, encouraging migrant brothers to lead healthier lifestyles.

Our nutrition graphics give suggestions for healthy, affordable meals and remind brothers to have balanced diets. For chronic diseases, we covered how to detect and prevent diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Below are some of the graphics we produced. View the full collection here.

Brother Milon Ahammed partnered with us to produce TikTok videos on healthy eating habits and simple exercises that one can follow to stay healthy.

Dr Hamid and Dr Muntasir also produced videos to answer frequently asked questions on chronic illness management.

Outreach at Penjuru RC: Health screening and raising awareness on chronic diseases

On 26 March, we organised an outreach at Penjuru Recreation Centre in collaboration with HealthServe. We provided health screening and conducted fun, educational activities.

One of the activities educated migrant brothers on the Healthier Choice symbol. We shared this quiz with them on Facebook and asked them to comment their answers.

We also raised awareness on chronic disease prevention through a puzzle game. Our team prepared two different puzzles on healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyle habits. As the brothers were completing the puzzle, volunteers shared with them some common chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and the various habits they can adopt to reduce the risk of getting them.