Friday, October 19, 2012

A bit on Tanah Rata history

I have seen a plaque on the front wall of a post office in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, which commemorated its opening on June 25, 1956 by then Chief Minister of Pahang, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra. He was to become our first Prime Minister just over a year later!

It was before Malaya's independence on August 31, 1957, which explains why Tunku's position was described as Chief Minister instead of Menteri Besar. This bit on our local history was overshadowed by someone's bad news.

Today, while window shopping in Tanah Rata, we met our Dutch friend who related to us how her 11-year old daughter was diagnosed with POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). It took them a year before the doctors discovered her rare condition. The mother said earlier, she even doubted her complaints and dismissed them as her excuses for not wanting to attend school. Based on present medical knowledge, it is incurable and strict diet and medicine could only alleviate her symptoms.

I did a quick search and found the following in Wikipedia:

"Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS, also postural tachycardia syndrome) is a condition of dysautonomia,[1] to be more specific orthostatic intolerance, in which a change from the supine position to an upright position causes an abnormally large increase in heart rate, called tachycardia. Several studies show a decrease in cerebral blood flow with systolic and diastolic cerebral blood flow (CBF) velocity decreased 44% and 60%, respectively.[2] Patients with POTS have problems maintaining homeostasis when changing position, i.e. moving from one chair to another or reaching above their heads. Many patients also experience symptoms when stationary or even while lying down.
Symptoms present in various degrees of severity depending on the patient. POTS can be severely debilitating. Some patients are unable to attend school or work, and especially severe cases can completely incapacitate the patient."
Over the years, we watched Joy grew from baby to her present age. Now she is debilitated by this dreadful health problem. So sad. We hope her health will improve despite all the pessimistic prognosis.

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