Wondrous paths of Botanic Gardens

By Sharon Siddique
MDS President

About 30 of our “regular” MDSers gathered at the Botany Centre, Green Pavilion for our annual outing on Nov 5. At 10am we were offered a fascinating tour of “Edible and Medicinal Plants, which was conducted by Botanic Garden staff.

They were so well informed, that we all picked up numerous bits of information – rather than walking through “trees and bushes”, we actually were introduced to them, and I don’t think any of us will again walk through the garden ignorant of how dependent we are upon these many “edible and medicinal” plants.

To give just a few examples:

We were introduced to a nutmeg tree – fascinating to see the flowers, the fruits, and to actually see the connection to the tree itself. Now nutmeg has much more meaning than powder in a spice bottle! Or the introduction to a kaffir limebush (limau purut in Malay). The pungent leaf is so familiar to anyone who cooks or indulges in Southeast Asian dishes, but to break off a fresh one for a smell was quite an experience.

Question: And did you know the difference between wild and cultivated bananas?

Answer: wild banana bunches grow down, while cultivated ones grow up.

Multiply these insights by 100, and you have some idea of what knowledge we acquired. Our one and a half hour tour wound around the wondrous paths, ending up at the ginger garden, our next-to-last edible stop. We then retired to the benches outside the Orchid Pavilion for a VERY edible, delicious box lunch, and welcome drinks. (Yes, it was HOT!) We wrapped up at 12pm, with loads of good fellowship, and much food for thought.

For those of you who missed this tour, we would highly recommend it. The tours run every first Saturday of each month, - one at 9am and another at 10am.

They are free of charge, and you can sign up on the spot at the Green Pavilion at the Botany Centre, near the main Holland Road entrance. In addition we found lots of other tours and classes offered on the Botanic Garden website, so those of you who would like to follow-up, you can do so.

We will be holding our next MDS meeting in February 2012, after Chinese New Year, which falls on the Jan 23-24. We wish all MDSers a very happy holiday season, and don’t forget to check the website, blog or facebook for updates and informative entries. Look forward to seeing you all next year!

Phone check-ups for cataract

The Straits Times

Nov 5, 2011

By Fiona Low

Patients recovering from cataract surgery could be given follow-up consultations over the telephone under an initiative by Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Its eye centre is exploring ways to cut the number of return visits by those who have had the operation.

The idea is to make life more convenient for patients, who will be spared a journey, and free up doctors to focus on more complicated cases. Only patients whose surgery had gone without a hitch and who are deemed to be at low risk of complications are eligible for phone consultations.

Trained nurses will call them and go through a list of eight questions designed to check they are recovering smoothly and are free of problems such as infections. The initiative follows a successful pilot study in 2009. Phone consultations have been used to follow up cataract surgery in places such as the United States and Europe. However, this is the first time the system has been implemented here.

Patients who undergo the operation normally have to return to the hospital for three follow-up visits. The first is the day after surgery, the next is a week later and the third is a month after that. The phone consultations replace only the first visit. Dr Wong Hon Tym, head of the hospital’s ophthalmology department, said the questionnaire used by nurses is a safe way to pick up complications because they are usually easy to identify. Signs include obvious pain, blurry vision and redness in the eye.

Cataracts occur when the crystalline lens in the eye becomes cloudy, blurring the patient’s vision. The surgery involves removing it and replacing it with an artificial lens. Seven of the hospital’s 26 consultants routinely use phone consultations with their patients, and there are plans for all to do so eventually. Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed operation in the department. It is carried out on between 4,000 and 6,000 patients a year.

By the time the programme is implemented fully, about 1,000 10-minute clinic slots will be saved in a year. The eye centre is also looking into using telemedicine to reduce the number of follow-up visits by cataract patients. 

This means that instead of returning to the hospital, they can go to an optometrist at a polyclinic instead. Pictures and videos are taken of the eye and sent to the consultant at the hospital, who then conducts the check remotely.

Findings from a pilot study of the technique this year have been encouraging. It found that advances in technology mean the transmitted images are nearly as clear as if the doctor was examining the patient in the flesh. Telemonitoring is intended to be used with the patient’s third follow-up visit. Dr Wong said that although larger studies are needed, the promising data indicates that in future, post-operation visits will be carried out in a non-hospital setting.

fionalow@sph.com.sg