admiralty medical centre whatismonogenicdiabetes? hassle ... visitors/documents... · with...

Hassle-Free CareAdmiralty Medical Centre (AdMC) o�ers surgical procedures for non-complex

cases which do not require the facilities of an acute hospital.

E�icient processesOur Eye Centre has transformed cataract surgery and improved patient

care by streamlining the process steps. Suitable patients enjoy many benefits when they undergo non-complex cataract surgery at AdMC.

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AdmiraltyMedical Centre

BeforePatient requires

ECG and blood test

NowECG and blood test is no longer needed;

Patient saves around $55

BeforePatient needs 8 eye drops administered

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BeforePatient must fast at least 8 hours before surgery

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Jose Hong

For most people, detecting dia-betes is a relatively straightforwardmatter of taking a blood test. Butfor Ms Tan, 23, it took a genetic testto confirm that she has diabetes.

She does not have type 1, type 2 orgestational diabetes, but a separateand almost unknown type calledmonogenic diabetes.

Ms Tan, who declined to revealher full name, is among an esti-mated 2,500 to 5,000 people herewith monogenic diabetes. This isbased on the prevalence of those af-flicted in other populations, such asin Britain.

To better understand this rareform of diabetes, a group of physi-cians, nurses and scientists fromKhoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH)has started a registry of patientsfound to have the disease, alsoknown as maturity-onset diabetesof the young (Mody).

This will help patients afflictedwith it, as monogenic diabetics maynot respond well to traditional dia-betes treatments, they say.

Caused by a gene abnormality,the condition often remains undiag-nosed till adulthood. Genetic test-ing is the only method to accuratelydetect monogenic diabetes.

While monogenic diabetes usu-ally causes a reduced ability to pro-duce insulin – a hormone that regu-

lates blood sugar levels – the af-fected people do not usually haverisk factors that are common withstandard diabetes, such as highblood pressure.

Diabetes afflicts one in nine Singa-poreans, among the highest rates inthe world. It has prompted HealthMinister Gan Kim Yong to declare a“war against diabetes” in 2015.

Said Associate Professor Lim SuChi, senior consultant at the dia-betes centre of KTPH and Admi-ralty Medical Centre: “While we’rehaving this war against diabetes,we have this very niche subset popu-lation who have very special needs,which requires very specific treat-ments, which means that the rightpatient is given the right treatment at the right time.”

Dr Ang Su Fen, KTPH’s senior re-search officer, said the registry be-gan in April. There are now about35 people on it.

The KTPH clinicians behind theregistry, which is supported by Na-tional Healthcare Group, said thatthe initiative will benefit patients inseveral ways.

First, this would allow them toknow exactly what type of Modythey have and prevent them fromtaking ineffective treatment meantfor type 1 or type 2 diabetics.

It will also help in providing rele-vant counselling to these patientsand their family members.

Also, by tracking these patients

throughout their lives, doctors withthis information can tailor treat-ments for specific complicationsthat may arise for each of them.

The hospital in Yishun is cur-rently focusing on testing sus-pected Mody sufferers in northernSingapore, including Yishun, Wood-lands and parts of Sembawang.

But the hospital will not turnaway people from other parts of Sin-gapore who want to test for mono-genic diabetes, said Prof Lim.

Two other places that test formonogenic diabetes are NationalUniversity Hospital and SingaporeGeneral Hospital (SGH).

SGH also has its own database ofMody patients, started in 2013,with around 30 patients on it so far.

Dr Daphne Gardner, a consultantat SGH’s department of endocrinol-ogy, said that the hospital runs abi-weekly clinic for the assessment,diagnosis and management of

monogenic diabetes.Eventually, it hopes to expand its

database nationwide. Dr Gardneralso said that SGH is open to collabo-rating with KTPH in the future.

In Ms Tan’s case, she first de-tected something amiss two yearsago during a pre-employmenthealth check-up for a job in the uni-formed services.

Then, her fasting blood glucoseexceeded the normal range. Cou-pled with her family history of dia-betes – her mother had gestationaldiabetes, followed by type 2 – shewent for genetic testing.

Now, the civil servant watchesher diet and eats smaller meals tokeep her blood sugar level in check.She said: “With my usual positiveoutlook in life, I believe that havingdiabetes will not deter me from do-ing things that I like.”

[email protected]

Monogenic diabetes, alsoknown as maturity-onset dia-betes of the young (Mody), is arare form of diabetes estimatedto afflict about 1 per cent ofthose with diabetes.

People with this type of dia-betes often show signs andsymptoms before they are 25years old and have a strong fam-ily history of diabetes. They areusually not obese.

There are different types ofMody, each with its own set ofsymptoms and treatment.

Sometimes it is enough to con-trol it by managing one’s diet,though some patients mayneed to take medication.

Monogenic diabetes can bedetected only by genetic screen-ing because many of its symp-toms are similar to those of type1 and type 2 diabetes.

So patients can be misdiag-nosed, leading to unnecessarytreatment like insulin injec-tions, which can become costlyin the long run.

Even if a patient with Modydoes not respond well to treat-ment typically prescribed fortype 1 or type 2 diabetes, doc-tors may not immediately sus-pect monogenic diabetes asthere could be other factorsthat affect the patient’s re-sponse to treatment.

Ms Tan, 23, is among an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 people here with monogenic diabetes. She first detected something amiss two years ago during a pre-employmenthealth check-up, and later went for genetic testing. Now, she watches her diet and eats smaller meals to keep her blood sugar level in check. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

KTPH says data will help those with monogenicdiabetes get right treatment and counselling

What is monogenic diabetes?

Patients withrare diabetestracked withnew registry

A16 | Home TheSundayTimes | Sunday, October 15, 2017


无忧便捷护理海军部医疗中心（Admiralty Medical Centre，AdMC）

提供无需急症医疗设施的非复杂型普通手术。

高效流程通过简化业务，我们的眼科中心大大改善了

白内障手术的实施以及患者护理服务。患者在医疗中心进行简单白内障手术时将享有诸多便利之处。

省钱

过去患者需要

进行心电图和血液检查

现在无需心电图

和血液检查，节省大概$55

的费用

省时

过去患者需要在

40分钟内滴8次眼药水

现在只需在

20分钟内滴4次眼药水

省力

过去手术前要禁食至少 8 小时

现在无需禁食

Jose Hong

For most people, detecting dia-betes is a relatively straightforward matter of taking a blood test. But for Ms Tan, 23, it took a genetic test to confirm that she has diabetes.

She does not have type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes, but a separate and almost unknown type called monogenic diabetes.

Ms Tan, who declined to reveal her full name, is among an esti-mated 2,500 to 5,000 people here with monogenic diabetes. This is based on the prevalence of those af-flicted in other populations, such as in Britain.

To better understand this rare form of diabetes, a group of physi-cians, nurses and scientists from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) has started a registry of patients found to have the disease, also known as maturity-onset diabetes of the young (Mody).

This will help patients afflicted with it, as monogenic diabetics may not respond well to traditional dia-betes treatments, they say.

Caused by a gene abnormality, the condition often remains undiag-nosed till adulthood. Genetic test-ing is the only method to accurately detect monogenic diabetes.


lates blood sugar levels – the af-fected people do not usually have risk factors that are common with standard diabetes, such as high blood pressure.

Diabetes afflicts one in nine Singa-poreans, among the highest rates in the world. It has prompted Health Minister Gan Kim Yong to declare a “war against diabetes” in 2015.

Said Associate Professor Lim Su Chi, senior consultant at the dia-betes centre of KTPH and Admi-ralty Medical Centre: “While we’re having this war against diabetes, we have this very niche subset popu-lation who have very special needs, which requires very specific treat-ments, which means that the right patient is given the right treatment at the right time.”

Dr Ang Su Fen, KTPH’s senior re-search officer, said the registry be-gan in April. There are now about 35 people on it.

The KTPH clinicians behind the registry, which is supported by Na-tional Healthcare Group, said that the initiative will benefit patients in several ways.

First, this would allow them to know exactly what type of Mody they have and prevent them from taking ineffective treatment meant for type 1 or type 2 diabetics.

It will also help in providing rele-vant counselling to these patients and their family members.


throughout their lives, doctors with this information can tailor treat-ments for specific complications that may arise for each of them.

The hospital in Yishun is cur-rently focusing on testing sus-pected Mody sufferers in northern Singapore, including Yishun, Wood-lands and parts of Sembawang.

But the hospital will not turn away people from other parts of Sin-gapore who want to test for mono-genic diabetes, said Prof Lim.

Two other places that test for monogenic diabetes are National University Hospital and Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

SGH also has its own database of Mody patients, started in 2013, with around 30 patients on it so far.

Dr Daphne Gardner, a consultant at SGH’s department of endocrinol-ogy, said that the hospital runs a bi-weekly clinic for the assessment, diagnosis and management of


database nationwide. Dr Gardner also said that SGH is open to collabo-rating with KTPH in the future.

In Ms Tan’s case, she first de-tected something amiss two years ago during a pre-employment health check-up for a job in the uni-formed services.

Then, her fasting blood glucose exceeded the normal range. Cou-pled with her family history of dia-betes – her mother had gestational diabetes, followed by type 2 – she went for genetic testing.

Now, the civil servant watches her diet and eats smaller meals to keep her blood sugar level in check. She said: “With my usual positive outlook in life, I believe that having diabetes will not deter me from do-ing things that I like.”

[email protected]

Monogenic diabetes, also known as maturity-onset dia-betes of the young (Mody), is a rare form of diabetes estimated to afflict about 1 per cent of those with diabetes.

People with this type of dia-betes often show signs and symptoms before they are 25 years old and have a strong fam-ily history of diabetes. They are usually not obese.

There are different types of Mody, each with its own set of symptoms and treatment.

Sometimes it is enough to con-trol it by managing one’s diet, though some patients may need to take medication.

Monogenic diabetes can be detected only by genetic screen-ing because many of its symp-toms are similar to those of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

So patients can be misdiag-nosed, leading to unnecessary treatment like insulin injec-tions, which can become costly in the long run.

Even if a patient with Mody does not respond well to treat-ment typically prescribed for type 1 or type 2 diabetes, doc-tors may not immediately sus-pect monogenic diabetes as there could be other factors that affect the patient’s re-sponse to treatment.

Ms Tan, 23, is among an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 people here with monogenic diabetes. She first detected something amiss two years ago during a pre-employment health check-up, and later went for genetic testing. Now, she watches her diet and eats smaller meals to keep her blood sugar level in check. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

KTPH says data will help those with monogenic diabetes get right treatment and counselling


Patients with rare diabetes tracked with new registry


Jimat Kos

Jimat Masa

Senang


Sebelum Pesakit memerlukan ujian ECG dan darah

SekarangUjian ECG dan darah tidak lagi diperlukan;

Pesakit boleh menjimat sekitar $55

SebelumPesakit memerlukan

8 kali titisan mata yang diberikan dalam tempoh lebih daripada 40 minit

Sekarang Pesakit memerlukan

separuh bilangan titisan mata dalam

separuh tempoh masa

SebelumPesakit mesti berpuasa sekurang-kurangnya

8 jam sebelumpembedahan

SekarangTidak perlu berpuasa

Penjagaan Mudah

Pusat Perubatan Admiralty (AdMC) menawarkan prosedur pembedahan untuk kes-kes yang tidak sukar dan tidak memerlukan kemudahan di hospital.

Proses yang cekapPusat Mata kami telah mengubah suai pembedahan katarak dan memper baiki penjagaan

pesakit dengan memudahkan semua proses. Pesakit boleh menikmati banyak faedah apabila mereka menjalani pembedahan katarak di AdMC.

Jose Hong



























[email protected]













Jose Hong



























[email protected]














சிரமம் இல்லாத பராமரிப்பு அட்மிரால்டி மருத்துவ நிைலயம் (AdMC), மருத்துவமைனயின் வசதிகள்

சிக்கலற்ற மருத்துவப் பிரச்சைனகளுக்கு அறுைவ சிகிச்ைசகள் ெசய்கிறது.

ெசயலாற்றல்மிக்க நைடமுைறகள் எங்களது கண் நிைலயம் பணிகைளச் சீரைமத்து கண்விழி ெவண்படல அறுைவ சிகிச்ைசையப் புதுவிதமாக மாற்றியைமத்தேதாடு, ேநாயாளி பராமரிப்ைபயும்

ேமம்படுத்தியிருக்கிறது. அட்மிரால்டி மருத்துவ நிைலயத்தில் சிக்கலற்ற கண்விழி ெவண்படல அறுைவ சிகிச்ைச ெசய்துெகாள்ளும் ேநாயாளிகள் பற்பல

நன்ைமகைள அைடகிறார்கள்.

ெசலவு மிச்சம்

முன்பு ேநாயாளிக்கு இசிஜி

மற்றும் இரத்தப் பரிேசாதைனகள் ேதைவப்பட்டன

இப்ேபாது இசிஜி மற்றும் இரத்தப்

பரிேசாதைனகள் ேதைவயில்ைல;

ேநாயாளிக்குச் சுமார் $55 மிச்சமாகிறது

ேநரம் மிச்சம்

முன்பு ேநாயாளிக்கு 40

நிமிடங்களுக்குள் 8 முைற கண் ெசாட்டுமருந்து

ேபாடப்பட ேவண்டியிருந்தது

இப்ேபாது ேநாயாளிக்குப் பாதி

ேநரத்தில் பாதி முைற மட்டுேம கண் ெசாட்டு

மருந்து ேதைவப்படுகிறது

சிரமம் குைறவு

முன்பு ேநாயாளி அறுைவ

சிகிச்ைசக்கு முன்பாகக் குைறந்தது 8 மணிேநரம்

சாப்பிடாமல் இருக்க ேவண்டும்

இப்ேபாது ேநாயாளி சாப்பிடாமல்

இருக்க ேவண்டியதில்ைல

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