…my cuppa iced coffee…

If you’re a regular user of the sports facilities at Tasik Titiwangsa, I’m sure you agree with me that booking a court is really troublesome. You would need to go there, fill up a form and pay the fees before you can play. Since they have limited number of courts available, especially volleyball, you have to actually fight for the slot you want.

Now no more.

Two thumbs up to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for the initiative taken to enable online booking of the said facilities. And not just for the courts at Tasik Titiwangsa, the first phase also involves 11 other sports facilities around the city, including community halls and stadiums.

Good, eh? It’s definitely going to get nods of approval from the populace.

Called “My Tempahan”, the system is still under test from 8 September till 8 December involving these facilities:

1. Stadium Titiwangsa
2. Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium
3. Taman Tasik Titiwangsa Sports Complex
4. Bandar Tun Razak Sports Complex
5. Desa Tasik Sports Complex
6. Bangsar Sports Complex
7. Seri Delima Sports Complex
8. Sentul Perdana Community Centre
9. Taman Koperasi Polis Fasa 2 Community Centre
10. Taman Ibukota Community Centre
11. Sri Petaling Community Centre
12. Taman Tun Dr Ismail Community Centre

The only downside is that the online payment will only be available in the second phase of the project. So, whether you like it or not, you still have to go to the pay counter to make payment.

Ah well.. you can’t have everything, I guess. But it would’ve been much better if the payment part is also included in the first phase.

Bookings can be made 2 weeks in advance on first-come-first-serve basis via the DBKL website.

It promised to be a hot Saturday when Urban Spikerz made their way to Cyberjaya for the first ever beach volleyball tournament organised by Cyberview Sdn Bhd in conjunction with the 51st Merdeka Carnival last August 23rd, 2008. Held at the Cyberjaya Community Lake Club, it was one of the 3 sport events open for participation to the public. The other 2 were 3-on-3 basketball and street soccer.

Urban Spikerz registered 3 teams for the tournament: Urban Legend, Urban Neo and Urban Elite. Each team consists of 3 guys and 1 girl. The organiser was expecting 24 teams to participate but on the tournament day, only 13 teams registered. During the game itself, one team pulled out — the organiser’s, no less, leaving only 12 teams in the end.

Preliminary rounds

The matches were played under the hot sun on a newly-made sand court (which the organiser plans to make permanent, I was informed, for future tournaments). They really need to do something about the sand, though. The type they use was definitely not suitable for beach volleyball. More like for building construction.

Anyway, here are the results for the preliminary rounds:

Quarter, Semi &  Final

All Urban Spikerz teams got through to the quarter finals, although it was a bit unfortunate that Urban Legend and Urban Elite met each other here instead of at the semis. But at least we reached our minimum target: qualified to the quarter finals. Why? Because you win RM100 if you reach quarter final. So we got RM300 in hand already.

The weather turned bad just as the quarter final matches were about to start. It rained heavily and all games had to be put on hold. Half an hour later (it felt longer), the rain changed to a drizzle. Not wanting to delay the tournament further (it started a bit late), we continued with the quarter final matches.

Have you played beach volleyball on wet sand? Definitely not a good feel.

Anyway, here are the results for the quarter and semi-final.

Despite valiant efforts, none of the Urban Spikerz teams made it to the final. However, reaching the semi-finals itself was a major achievement since it was the first time ever we participated in a beach volleyball tournament.

It rained heavily again as Urban Neo and Urban Elite fought for the third place. After a fierce battle, it was won by Urban Neo with a score 20-18.

…pause…

Okay, the match was actually decided by a coin toss since none of them wanted to get wet. Kambing!

The final between Red and Gibaok A was pretty much even. In the end, team Red made more mistakes than Gibaok A resulting in the latter bagging the tournament with a score 15-12. They won cash money RM1,500. Congratulations! Second, third and fourth won RM700, RM500 and RM300 respectively while quarter final qualifiers received RM100 each.

So alltogether Urban Spikerz won RM900. Excellent work guys! Not bad for a one-day effort. Let’s hope we’ll do better next time. Esprit de volley! Yeyy!!

A teacher, Harthono Isnanthomo, from Sandakan, Sabah successfully stood for 30 hours on top of the Kuala Lumpur Tower last Saturday, 23/08/2008. It earned him a place in the Malaysia Book of Meaningless Records. Honestly, I don’t see any significance to the feat. Heck, I don’t even think it deserves to be called a feat. Not to my definition, it’s not.

“I am happy that I can contribute something to the country and hope that my inspiration will inspire patriotism in fellow Malaysians”.

By standing on top of a tower?! No, really. How could something like that inspire patriotism?  Do you feel inspired? I honestly say I’m not.

I’m sorry but to me, this is just another one of those achievement useless efforts that do not deserve to be included into the Malaysia Book of Records. We have so many of them already.

Now, if those efforts are at par with the achievements of Lee Chong Wei in the Beijing 2008 Olympics or Nicol David in the various squash championships, for example… then yes, I would feel inspired.

After outlining the risk factors and the stages of the window-shopping disease in Part 1 and Part 2, the final part of the article by Professor Roswitha Wolfram describes the treatments that are currently available.

Treatment of PAOD

There are multiple approaches to treat circulatory disorders of the legs according to the various stages of the disease: Functional training (gait training), medication, invasive approach by utilizing catheters and stent grafts, and occasionally, a bypass operation may be necessary.

1. Gait training: Many small steps in the right direction

In early stage of PAOD, gait training and specific physical exercise are fundamental. The training is aimed to reduce the symptoms and improve the walking capacity of the patient. Your doctor will decide whether this form of treatment is suitable for you as in later stages of disease, especially when rest pain occurs or tissue is damaged, training is no longer an option. Regular exercise stimulates the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) which can act as natural small bypasses for the blocked artery and will allow supplying the muscle with the oxygen he needs. Pain is reduced and the pain free walking capacity increased substantially.

Walking distance, speed and duration of walking during gait training need to be tailored to the individual needs and capabilities of the patient, gait training is not supposed to cause too much pain otherwise the patient will be discouraged. Training in intervals has proven very efficient in this context: during exercise you stop briefly just before the pain kicks in, you rest a little bit and continue with the training, another break and continue afterwards. This form of training should be performed during a 1-2 hourly walk on a daily basis. You will see that it will get easier every day with fewer necessary stops.

Other activities that have been proven to be beneficial are cycling, walking up stairs and standing on the tip of your toes. During the latter mentioned exercise you repeatedly stand on the tip of your toes until again the pain kicks in then you rest a little, and then start again and so on. For all the exercises, the most important message is to do to them regularly, multiple days a week (preferably daily), it is not necessary to do strenuous exercise and power yourself out.

2. Medication

For the treatment of PAOD, there is some pharmacotherapy available. The cornerstone are the so-called platelet function inhibitors, among them are aspirin (the same aspirin the doctor prescribes when you have a heart condition, for example) and Colopidogrel (Plavix is the brand name). The aim of this therapy is to prevent or, at least, delay progression of disease. In addition, there are some so called vaso-active substances available which are able to improve the blood flow. These medications are prescription only and will require a previous thorough examination of your vessels by your treating physician.

3. Non-surgical and surgical procedures

Balloon dilatation is a standard procedure for the treatment of PAOD. During this intervention a catheter is inserted into the artery and advanced through the narrowed part of the vessel. After that, a balloon is inflated to re-open the segment that is either narrowed or occluded. With this technique it is possible to dilate the artery and re-install proper blood flow. Sometimes it is necessary to put an additional stent (supportive corset for your vessel) which will help the artery to stay open after successful balloon dilatation.

Surgery is usually only performed if the disease is in a very advanced stage and there is a severe risk to loose a limb. Which technique will be applied in the individual case depends on various factors: stage of disease and exact location of the involved arteries. In some cases a bypass surgery will be beneficial. During this procedure, the occluded part of the artery is bypassed and blood flow re-installed. How successful these procedures will be in the long run mostly depends on the patient and how consequently he takes care to minimize his risk factors, as progression of anthrosclerosis can only be prevented by tight control of its underlying causes.

Taking good care of your legs and feet

Impaired blood flow in your limbs in the context of PAOD also implicates that even the smallest injury will not heal properly and can lead to tough infections. To prevent such complications, you should take special care of your legs and feet and avoid injuries. Furthermore, you should avoid wearing tight shoes and stockings. While sitting you should not cross your legs. If you are diabetic, you should be especially careful as diabetes can cause a loss in sensitivity which may result in a tendency to get injured much easier but also to detect it much later.

A daily self-inspection of your feet is therefore very important. Please consult your physician immediately if you discover new injuries, your conditions deterioriate or if you develop new symptoms. Do not try to cure yourself alone. Only your doctor will be able to identify your problem properly and advise you on the best treatment option.

Images from:

1. Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta
2. Pharmaceutical-Technology.com
3. Calgary Foot Clinic
4. Detox Secret

• The Window-Shopping Disease - Part 1
• The Window-Shopping Disease - Part 2

While Part 1 of the article by Professor Roswitha Wolfram deals with the contributing factors, Part 2 will be on the stages of the window-shopping disease.

Stage 1: Asymptomatic narrowing of the arteries

PAOD develops slowly, can remain undetected for a long time period and may only become symptomatic at older age. The rate of progression of this disease, however, varies between individuals. During the first stage, PAOD rarely causes any symptoms.

Stage 2: When pain forces to stop

If the legs are involved, which happens in 90% of cases, the patient will experience pain after walking for a certain distance in either the lower leg or, to a lesser extent, the upper leg, buttock or the feet. Through this pain, the muscles signal that there is a severe lack of oxygen. While walking, the muscles are stressed and require more oxygen supply than during resting periods, thus the blood perfusion needs to be increased. In PAOD, this does not happen as the narrowed arteries do not allow adequate blood flow to reach the muscles. The pain results in frequent stops while walking to allow the muscles to rest, leading to intermittent limping. Its medical term is claudication.

Stage 3: Rest Pain

If it is not possible to prevent further progression of this disease, blood flow will become increasingly impaired. Patients will reach a stage where even at rest, the oxygen supplied is not sufficient for the demands of the muscles, finally resulting in rest pain. This pain will occur primarily at night when the legs are rested in bed.

Stage 4: Ulcerations and loss of tissue

A further consequence of impaired blood flow is that even the smallest injuries will not heal properly, leading to severe infections and lesions. Tissue may be lost and sometimes if an adequate blood flow cannot be reinstalled, an amputation may even be necessary. Unfortunately, this is not the end of the story: PAOD patients also have a highly increased risk of developing a heart attack and/or a stroke.

The final part will be on the treatment of PAOD.

• The Window-Shopping Disease - Part 1
• The Window-Shopping Disease - Part 3