What Is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), also known as sudden cardiac death, is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When this occurs, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. SCA usually causes death if not treated in minutes.

The heart has an internal electrical system that controls the rhythm of the heartbeat. Problems with the electrical system can cause abnormal heart rhythms, called arrhythmias (ah-RITH-me-ahs). There are many types of arrhythmia. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or it can stop beating. SCA occurs when the heart develops an arrhythmia that causes it to stop beating.

SCA is not the same thing as a heart attack. A heart attack is a problem with blocked blood flow to a part of the heart muscle. In a heart attack, the heart usually does not suddenly stop beating. SCA, however, may happen during recovery from a heart attack.

People with heart disease have a higher chance of having SCA. But most SCAs happen in people who appear healthy and have no known heart disease or other risk factors for SCA.

Outlook

Ninety-five percent of people who have SCA die from it, most within minutes. Rapid treatment of SCA with a device that sends an electrical shock to the heart (called a defibrillator) can be lifesaving. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which are often found in public places like airports and office buildings, can be used to save the lives of people having SCAs.
(extracted from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/scda/scda_whatis.html)

More and more people in Singapore has gone down with sudden cardiac arrest. They were the people at large, some were athletes, some professionals too. To understand this problem and to prevent it to happen to us, could help our love ones live more happily. It also help ourselves to have a better quality of life.

The following clip is taken from YouTube, with Dr Wu giving very detail discussion in this area. The clip is half an hour long, be patient while it is buffering, but it is worth to listen.

Canon 5D Mark 2

I waited very long for this model of camera to be released by Canon. Finally, today my son Kelvin message me that it is released in US. This could be the ideal camera for most of the serious photographers who would not spend too much of money for Canon 1D series. By reading its specifications, I noticed Canon has made lots of improvement to this model. By the way, it is using Canon's new gadget Digi 4 to process captured image.

Can't wait for it to be in Singapore and have a grip on it.

The only disappointment is: It does not have attached built-in flash. Which could be crumble-some to bring along an extra heavy flash in traveling. By the way, the body itself was listed as US 2599.00

Hooray, this is my dream camera!

Local Musical Talents

Today, 7th September 2008, I went to Fast East Shopping Centre to take my lunch. After my lunch, as I walked out from the eating house, I heard live music playing at the lobby of the centre. I took the escalator to the ground floor, and found a band playing beautiful music there. It was a free performance. I sat and read the given brochure, and I realised that it was a performance related to the International Guitar Festival.

The band playing is name 'Sham and Hassan'. They sang sentimental oldies in English, popular songs in Italian and Spanish. I was entertained for an hour of beautiful happy music with no cost!

Amazingly, I noticed this band really has standard, especially the male singer. His voice is on the high notes, but it was smooth and clear. The drumer played in a very light hearted but creative way. The other base guitarist is good in fast fingering techniques. Three man team could play such entertaining music is really fantastic. A big group of audience sat quietly and give their ears a feast of soothing notes at this lunch hour.