The use of herbs as documented in Malay Medical Manuscripts for female sexual dysfunction (mati putik) among women in Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia

Female sexual dysfunction (FSD), also known as "mati putik," is a disorder that affects sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm in women, with a global prevalence of 12% in 2020. Traditional Malay medicine based on herbal consumption is a common alternative to treat or prevent FSD. As recorded in the Malay Medical Manuscripts (MMM), Manjakani, Halba, Adas Pedas, Zafaran, and Sirih were herbs described to treat FSD. Even the use of herbs has become a trend nowadays; however, the knowledge regarding herbs among women in Malaysia is inconclusive which might contribute to the increasing diagnosis of FSD. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of herbs used to treat FSD among women in Kuantan, Pahang. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kuantan, Pahang between April and July 2021. A total of 100 respondents were recruited among women that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this study. Convenience sampling and self-administered online questionnaires were distributed among the respondents. All the data from the respondents were analysed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It has been found that the respondents had low knowledge (n=86; 94.5%), a moderate attitude (n=62: 68.1%), and low practice (n=68; 74.7%) on the use of herbs for FSD. There was a significant association detected by using the Kruskal-Wallis test in terms of occupation and the practice score of the respondents. The Spearman coefficient revealed a significant correlation between respondents' knowledge and attitude (r = 0.309, p = 0.003) and knowledge and practice (r = 0.435, p 0.001). The findings revealed that promotion and awareness of this issue, as well as appropriate guidance on the use of herbs among women by healthcare provider, are demanded so that women with FSD can live a better quality of life

Synthesis and characterization of putrescine-sulfur analogue/ Adzly H. Sahabudin, Fiona How Ni Foong and Radiah Abdul Ghani

Cancer is a disease which has high motility rate worldwide. The current treatment has a high potential to kill cancer cells, however it is lacking of specificity and therefore cause the side effects in normal cells. The alternate pathway has been explored including targeting to cancer cells via polyamine transport system (PTS). The PTS activity is highly upregulated in cancer cells compared to normal cells. In this study, one of the polyamines called putrescine was being exploited to be a vector for sulphur. This putrescinesulphur analogues were synthesized using two different methods. The synthesized product was later characterized using various physicochemical techniques such as gas-chromatography and Fourier transformed-infrared spectroscopy for structural determination. Several putrescine-sulphur analogues was succesfully synthesis with the expected structure

The use of Malaysian herbs for female sexual dysfunction among women in Pahang, Malaysia

Female sexual dysfunction (Mati Putik) is a disorder related to sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm among women and the prevalence worldwide has reached 12% in 2020. Traditional medicine such as herbal consumption is a common alternative to treat or prevent female sexual dysfunction (FSD). As recorded in the Malay Medical Manuscripts, Manjakani, Halba, Adas Pedas, Zafaran, and Sirih were herbs described to treat FSD and thus is the focus of this study. Even the use of herbs has become a trend nowadays, however the knowledge regarding the herbs among the users in Malaysia is inconclusive. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on herbs used to treat FSD among women in Kuantan, Pahang. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kuantan, Pahang between April 2021 and July 2021. A total of 91 respondents were recruited among women that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this study. Convenience sampling has been done for this study and self-administered online questionnaires were distributed among the respondents. All the data from the respondents were analysed through the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) (IBM SPSS Statistic 20). This study shows that the respondents had low knowledge (n=86; 94.5%), moderate attitude (n=62: 68.1%), and low practice (n=68; 74.7%) on usage of herbs for FSD. There were significant association has been detected by using Kruskal-wallis test in terms of occupation with the practice score of the respondents. A significant correlation was identified using Spearman coefficient between knowledge and attitude (r=0.309, p=0.003) and knowledge and practice (r=0.435, p<0.001) of the respondents. It is recommended to have more future studies in relation to the knowledge attitude and practice on the usage of herbs among women who were diagnosed with FSD especially in larger community. In future, these studies will result in promoting further initiatives to strengthen the knowledge and give a right guidance on the usage of herbs among women for them to lead a better quality of lif

The association of maternal diet and polyamines in human milk: a study among Malay ethnic mothers in Kuantan, Malaysia

Human milk contains a lot of nutrient and it offers advantages to infant age less than six months. Polyamines in milk accelerate the in-fants’ gut maturation and protect babies from the harsh environment. Maternal diet is a factor which can affect the polyamines variability in milk. To date, no research on local diet and the composition of human milk has been investigated. This study aimed to identify an association between Malaysian maternal diet and composition of polyamines in human milk. Seventy nursing mothers were recruited in Pahang and each mother recorded their 24-hours food consumption within a week. Maternal diets were recorded in Nutritionist Pro-software and the macronutrients were calculated. Milk samples were collected from each mother after24 h of food diary. Polyamines in milk were extracted using 0.4 M Perchloric acid, dansylated and quantified using HPLC. The mean age of the respondent was 30.13 years [SD= 3.145].Nursing mothers consumed high carbohydrate [41.4%] compared to fat [23.1%] and protein [13.7%].Spermidine [49.1%] was the highest polyamines in the breast milk samples. A significant correlation were shown between putrescine and dietary carbohydrate [p=0.027] and putrescine and dietary protein [p=0.031].The maternal education levels has no association with maternal diet pattern and breastfeeding practice in this study [p=0.657]. It is suggested that polyamines composition in human milk may be modulated by carbohydrate and protein intake among maternal mothe

Knowledge, attitude and practice on postpartum haemorrhage among women in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is defined as excessive bleeding of 500 ml or more within 24 hours after birth. It is known as one of the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. In Malaysia, from the year 2009 to 2014, PPH remained as one of the top contributors to maternal deaths; this suggests that the knowledge, attitude and practice on PPH among mothers in Malaysia still need to be improved. This cross-sectional study is aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on PPH, in addition to examining the association of socio-demographic factors with knowledge, attitude and practice of women in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. This study involved 105 women who have experienced pregnancy and delivered at least once and is living in Kuantan. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed from February until March 2018. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package Software for Social Sciences (SPSS). From the findings, the level of knowledge on PPH among women in Kuantan was average (n=73, 69.5%), whereas the level of attitude and practice of most respondents was found in a good level, 101 (96.2%) and 98 (93.3%) respectively. The factors that have significant associations with knowledge on PPH in this study were age group (p=0.016)and background of education (p<0.001). In conclusion, this study showed that most of the participants in Kuantan have a moderate level of knowledge on PPH yet possess a good attitude and practice on the management of PPH

A secondary research on human endocrine physiology in Al- Qur’an and Hadith

Understanding physiology, its purpose and function has a great impact on human understanding of themselves. Despite positive progression on the scientific findings in physiology, it is not reflected with the worldview of Islam, and such system produces individuals with little concern towards remembrance of Allah. Thus, this paper aims to review the relevant scientific knowledge in endocrine physiology and relate with Qur’anic verses and Hadith. The view from Islamic perspective has been elaborated with the role of melatonin and cortisol with the change of the day and night. Moreover, the role touch and the release of oxytocin has been described based on Sunnah by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is suggested that the view of more integration of Islamic perspective with other ‘key’ systems in human physiology such as cardiovascular and digestive system should be elaborated. It is hoped that in future serious effort will be done to integrate the scientific knowledge with Islamic perspective therefore the next generation will be able to feel the oneness and greatness of Allah

The role of polyamines in beta vulguris (beetroot), zizhipus jujube (jujube) and vitis venefera (raisin) on human lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549) proliferation and apoptosis

Introduction: Polyamines are vital in maintaining human health because they are crucial for cell growth. Excessive intracellular polyamines in diet may promote unwarranted cell proliferation. Objective: This study aimed to investigate polyamines as a chemopreventive agent in selected fruits against human lung adenocarcinoma cells, A549. Materials and Methods: Beta vulgaris (beetroot), Ziziphus jujube (jujube) and Vitis vinifera (raisin) were freeze dried and kept at -80 °C until analysis. The anti-proliferative activity of selected fruits was assessed on A549 cells using MTT assay and the effect on A549 growth was completed via Trypan bluedye exclusion assay. Cell cycle profile and apoptosis were conducted with flow cytometer, while caspase assay was done using microtiter plate-reader. The quantification of intracellular polyamines was done using HPLC and the effect of these medicinal plants on the gene expression of selected polyamine metabolic enzymes was determined using qPCR. Results: The IC50 ranged between 15 to 30 mg/ml for these three fruits. A549 growth indicated significant decreased in cell viability after 48 h. Annexin-V/PI demonstrated significant increase in early apoptosis in beetroot treated cells while other fruits caused significant increase in late apoptosis at 48 h of treatments. There was a significant downregulation of ODC gene in cells treated with jujube and raisins while upregulation of SSAT gene in beetroot treated cells. Conclusion: These medicinal fruits are the promising candidates for food-based chemoprevention strategy for their low polyamine content, vital in modulating polyamine metabolism and promoting cell death

Knowledge, attitude and practice on female sexual dysfunction ( mati putik) among women in Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia

Female sexual dysfunction or also known as ‘mati putik’ can be defined as women with lack of sexual desire, difficulty in arousal, inability to reach orgasm, pain during intercourse, failure to feel pleasure from sex or anxiety about sex performance. In Malaysia, infidelity or sexual relationship was the top reasons of divorce cases. Hence, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on female sexual dysfunction among females in Kuantan, Pahang. A total sample of 100 married women was randomly selected based on the classification in inclusive and exclusive criteria. The response from participants was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) with 95% confidence interval. The result of this study revealed that more than half of the respondents are found to have a high level of knowledge (n=59, 59.0%) only. Other than that, there was no significant association between the scores of knowledge, attitude and practice with socio-demographic characteristics. Besides, the correlation between knowledge-attitude and attitude-practice scores were identified to be significantly associated but not for knowledge-practice scores. In conclusion, this study has revealed that respondents possess good knowledge level regarding female sexual dysfunction differ from the level of attitude and practice. These findings proved that women in Malaysia were not aware of their sexual health and contribute to the number of divorce cases. Hence, it is recommended that future study may be able to increase the sample size and ought to emphasize the rural area more than an urban area for a better outcome. It is also suggested for the upcoming study to discover more factors that may contribute significantly to the level of knowledge, attitude and practice on female sexual dysfunction

Association between social media use and depression among students in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan Pahang

Depression is a vital issue as it is expected to be among the major health problems affecting Malaysia in the upcom-ing years. With the rise of technology used nowadays, social media has become one of the leading factors towards depression among youths in several western countries. To further validate this hypothesis, the aim of this study is to investigate the association between social media use and depression among International Islamic University Malay-sia Kuantan students. This cross-sectional study involved 227 students of IIUM Kuantan from three Kulliyyahs; Kulli-yyah of Allied Health Sciences (KAHS), Science (KOS) and Dentistry (KOD). Convenience sampling was applied, and self-administered questionnaires were distributed from January 2019 until March 2019. Data were analysed using Statistical Package Software for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. This study indicated that the level of social media-related depression among students in selected Kulliyyah in IIUM Kuantan was low (n=61, 26.9%). Body im-age dissatisfaction, online harassment, sleep disturbance and high self-esteem were significantly associated with low depression level. Socio-demographic factors which are the types of kulliyyah and working part-time were found to be significantly associated with depression, with the p-value of 0.002 and 0.012 respectively. Social media use and depression were significantly associated, where it involved body image, online harassment, sleep and self-esteem

The prophetic foods consumption among exclusively breastfeeding mothers in Kuantan, Pahang: An exploratory study

The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) strongly advocate exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months after birth as the optimal way of feeding infants. Nutritional inadequacy during breastfeeding period may lead to breastfeeding problems such as inadequate milk production which is a common reason to early breastfeeding termination. Galactagogue is one of the solutions seek by breastfeeding mothers to overcome this problem. Within the topic of prophetic medicine, scholars discussed the foods consumed by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and their health benefits. Among the plants mentioned in Islamic literature are F.carica (figs), O.europea (olive), P.granatum (pomegranate) and N.sativa (habbatussauda). Studies on prophetic foods consumption among lactating mothers is limited in the literature. Thus, the aims of this study to explore on prophetic food consumption, among Malay mothers during exclusive breastfeeding period. Ten subjects are interviewed by in-depth semistructured interview guide. Inclusion criteria include Malay mothers aged 18 to 40 years, deliver full term babies and were exclusively breastfeeding. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim in Malay and translated into English. Translated transcripts were then analysed thematically with the help of NVivo software. Thematic analysis revealed three themes that represents participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice on prophetic foods consumption. The themes were 1) prophetic diet is related to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)’s practice on foods and eating manners, 2) perceived benefits and effectiveness of prophetic foods consumption, and 3) Practice of prophetic foods consumption during exclusive breastfeeding period. This study provides an insight to the understanding and perception on prophetic foods consumption during exclusive breastfeeding period among breastfeeding mothers. It is acknowledged that prophetic foods, particularly dates may have lactogenic function. Further studies should be carried out to investigate the relationship between prophetic foods consumption and lactogenic activity