E-SENSE

Hong Kong’s lifestyle and its impact on health

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 22:00:41 -0700

Have you ever stopped to think about how your daily routine is affecting your health? In Hong Kong, convenience often comes at the expense of conscious choices. In between the long working hours, the abundance of Cha Chaan Tengs, and the constant rush, many of us are falling into patterns that quietly take a toll on our well-being without us even realising it.

The Department of Health found that the vast majority of people in Hong Kong are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, with only a small fraction meeting the recommended daily intake¹. In addition, physical inactivity remains common, and drinking habits are shifting in the wrong direction. In fact, a significant portion of Hong Kong women have never had a health check-up, with many citing cost as the main barrier². This means that even if problems are developing, they're going unnoticed and untreated until they become far more serious in the long term.

The consequences go beyond just what we eat. The typical Hong Kong lifestyle consists of hours sitting at a desk, irregular meal times, and the constant pressure to keep up, accumulating all this constraint in our bodies. Research shows that prolonged sitting is linked to increased risks, regardless of your exercising habits³. When you combine that with poor dietary choices and chronic stress, it puts immense strain on the cardiovascular system, acting as a catalyst to high blood pressure and other metabolic issues. What makes this dangerous is how hidden these conditions develop as time goes on. Symptoms start to appear, significant damage may have already been done, making it hard to recover from this process.

The good news is that small, consistent changes can break this cycle. Research shows that incorporating short bursts of activity throughout the day, even without structured exercise can help improve metabolic health⁴. For instance, try taking the stairs instead of the...Read More

What is Spirometry?

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 22:00:25 -0700

You’ve probably had your blood pressure and heart rate checked when you were a child, even until now. Ask yourself this, when was the last time someone actually looked at how your lungs are doing? The lungs are as important as your blood pressure and heart rate, and are one of the vital organs that keeps you moving in life. So, how could we monitor it? Let me introduce you to Spirometry. Spirometry is a simple, painless test that helps monitor response to treatment, measuring how well your lungs are working, and can help guide your doctor to make the next important decision.¹

The medical device records how much air you can breathe in and out over a period of time. It just requires you to breathe into a mouthpiece that is connected to a spirometer.² Simple and straight forward right? Doctors use it mainly to figure out if you are having respiratory problems such as coughing, and struggling to breathe. In fact, it's one of the main tests that is used to test asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)³ Not only that, it is useful for monitoring existing conditions, checking if you are fit for surgery, and catching early signs of trouble in people who work around dust or chemicals.⁴ It is quite breathtaking that such a simple method can help detect several issues in the lungs that may cause harm in the future. That said, if you’ve recently had a heart attack, eye surgery, or a collapsed lung, your doctor might advise against it.⁵

The test takes about 15 to 30 minutes. You sit upright with a nose clip on, take a deep breath, then blow out as fast and forcefully as possible into the mouthpiece.⁶ You will have to repeat this process to get more accurate results. It could happen that you get light headed, but that is completely normal. Most likely, a trained...Read More

COPD

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 22:00:06 -0700

A cough escapes you, then more and one more, until suddenly you're wheezing and begging for any air to enter your lungs. Your chest tightens and your lungs quiver and shake within you until the fit peters out. It may be hard to imagine for you but this is the reality for more than 400 million people worldwide today, and it’s all because of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD)¹.

COPD is a disease that hinders the breathing of a patient due to damage on either the airways or different parts of the lung³. It affects more than 400 million people worldwide and the number is only expected to grow to 600 million cases by 2050^1,2. So what does COPD actually look like? The most common symptoms of COPD are difficulty in breathing, chronic cough & constant tiredness and the worst part is that the disease is not curable. With the disease being the 3rd leading cause of death in 2023, it can be assumed that the fatality of COPD is one that is alarming³. A study shows the mortality rate of individuals diagnosed with COPD was 25.4% over 5 years; and yet the awareness of the disorder remains to be low, only a fraction of the population is informed about the disease⁴. Another study showed that even smokers themselves, some of whom experience the symptoms above, only 20% of them were familiar with the illness5.

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The lungs

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:13:00 -0700

A human being cannot survive for long without oxygen, it is an essential element and without it we cannot endure. We get this miracle element into our bloodstreams through our lungs, an organ crucial for ensuring a continuous supply of oxygen to our bodies.. It does pose the interesting question of what are the lungs actually and how do they function?

The lungs have the simple function of getting oxygen in and carbon dioxide out, a task carried out 24/7 with no breaks. From the moment you are born until the day you die, your lungs work every second. In fact everyday, we breathe in roughly 11,000 litres of air everyday and take around 22,000 breaths⁷. Not to mention the organ itself has strange quirks of its own; for one the left lung and the right lung are not exactly the same. The left lung is divided into 2 lobes and the right one is split into 3 to guarantee space for the heart⁶! Furthermore the organ contains 2400 km of airways and is the only body part that can float^7,9. It’s evident that the lungs are a mystical structure working tirelessly but how does oxygen actually get into the body through them?

When breathing in, oxygen-rich air enters the body, travels through the bronchi and finally reaches the alveoli. With each air sac encompassed in a network of blood vessels called the capillaries. The air is passed through the lining of the air sacs, where only oxygen is picked up via the red blood cells because of a special protein and a difference in oxygen levels in between the lungs and the blood vessels. This very oxygen then travels throughout the body to reach every cell, while carbon dioxide is exchanged when oxygen is delivered. This deoxygenated blood is carried back to the lungs so the carbon dioxide can pass into the air sacs and...Read More

What is CAP?

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 22:00:00 -0700

Pneumonia, an infection of the lung tissue caused by bacteria or viruses that can lead to various symptoms of coughing, fever and difficulty of breathing¹. But what about Community acquired pneumonia? Not many people are aware of this type of disease, and awareness should be increased regarding it. Simply put, Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a lung infection that you pick up outside of a hospital setting². This could happen at work, school, the supermarket or even our own homes. It is actually one of the most common types of pneumonia people get, but not many people know what it is².

You might be asking, why is CAP such a big deal? It is actually one of the leading infectious causes of death worldwide, responsible for millions of deaths each year². While it can affect anyone, the people most at risk are the younger children, older individuals, as well as those with chronic conditions, and anyone with a weakened immune system³. In fact, in the United States alone, CAP results in around 1.4 million emergency department visits and 740,000 hospitalizations every year³. Symptoms? Common signs include a persistent cough, fever, shortness of breath, and chest pain that worsens with breathing⁴.

The tricky part about CAP is that it is not caused by just one germ. A range of bugs can trigger it, including bacteria, viruses, microbes and even fungi in rare cases⁵. But here is the challenge, doctors can only pinpoint the exact germ in about 38% of hospitalised patients³. Viruses like influenza and SARS-CoV-2 are responsible for a significant portion of these cases, making it increasingly common to find both virus and bacteria together in a polymicrobial infection⁶.

Now that we have addressed the causes and symptoms, it is good to know that diagnosing CAP usually starts with a physical exam and a chest X-ray to confirm the infection⁷. Which is why it is really important to get regular...Read More

The liver

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 22:00:15 -0700

Famous author F.Scott Fitzgerald supposedly once said "First, you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you". Food and drink are a constant in life these days, be it for survival or socialisation. Alcohol is similarly present throughout our lifetime, it's at parties during college, it's for bonding during work, and of course, for celebrations. It does leave one wondering, though what exactly happens to all the alcohol, it is greatly toxic to our body after all. Well the liver deals with just that.

What is the liver exactly? We are aware that it is an organ and that it filters out toxins but how does it actually carry out those functions? The liver is situated in the upper right hand portion of the abdominal cavity, and is underneath the diaphragm but above the stomach, right kidney and intestines. It is shaped like a cone and weighs around 1.36 kilograms. 500 vital functions in the body can be attributed to the liver, not only does it filter out wastes but it also maintains blood sugar levels. Along with the production of proteins, bile and cholesterol, with each process being carried out in a procedure of its own¹. The liver works tirelessly day and night to ensure that toxins do not pass into the body.

However, what happens when the liver can no longer keep up with the workload it's been administered? In that case the liver starts to fail, time is not on your side, and it will continuously dwindle until your death. This is not even mentioning the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), which affects 1.66 billion globally². MASLD rates continue to increase at an alarming rate, as the disease is caused by physical inactivity and diets with high added...Read More

What do you drink in a day?

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 22:00:00 -0700

Have you ever stopped to consider what you drink in a day? A can of soda with lunch, a sweetened coffee on the way to work, a "diet" drink to cut calories. These seemingly harmless choices are silently shaping the health of your most vital organs. Just as the food we eat fuels our bodies, every sip we take delivers chemicals that our livers and kidneys must process, filter, and eliminate. Are we giving them a manageable load, or are we slowly overwhelming them?

Sugar-sweetened beverages remain as the leading source of added sugars in modern diets. Research shows that consuming sugary drinks, as well as alcoholic beverages, can significantly increase the risk of developing metabolic dysfunction associated with steatotic liver disease (MASLD)¹. Fructose, a type of sugar found in many sweetened drinks, is processed almost entirely by the liver². When we consume too much, the liver converts this excess sugar into fat, which gradually accumulates in our liver cells, creating a stark impact on our health².

Even more alarming is the recent discovery about artificial beverages. They are often marketed as a healthier alternative, where studies have found that consumption of a high quantity of non- or low-sugary products increases the likelihood of MASLD more than the consumption of the sugar-filled ones do¹. This contradicts the statement that diet drinks are completely safe¹.

Replacing these beverages with our everyday natural liquid, water, is able to significantly reduce liver fat risk, but swapping one for the other offers no real benefit¹. In fact, the damage doesn't just stop at the liver. These artificial beverages have been linked to chronic kidney disease⁴, thanks to the uric acid that is produced when our bodies break down the sugar found in the artificial beverages³.

Liver and kidney diseases usually go unnoticed until serious damage is done. So, even if you...Read More

運動是有益還是有害？

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 22:00:00 -0700

健身如今已成為一種全民潮流。從食品飲料廠商瘋狂在包裝上印標「高蛋白」、「高纖」，到各式各樣的新型運動項目層出不窮。回顧過去那些實際上有害健康的荒謬流行（例如 2017 年危險的「洗衣膠囊挑戰」），如今這股注重健康的風潮，看起來簡直是一次完美的大升級……對吧¹？

乍看之下，想照顧好自己的身體絕對是一件好事。現代消費者越來越重視吃進肚子裡的食物，也終於願意走入戶外「接觸大自然」。多虧了網路上無數健身創作者提供免費的訓練計畫（例如知名創作者 Chloe Ting），追求健康不再被高昂的金錢門檻所阻擋²。

然而，看似豐富的選擇背後，卻暗藏隱憂：我們看待與執行運動的方式，是否反而開始弊大於利？

儘管健康養生的觀念普及了，矛盾的是，許多人卻因為這個產業過度商業化而深受其害。我們必須釐清的是：運動本身絕對值得鼓勵，但「怎麼動」才是關鍵。

首先，運動姿勢與動作指導必須來自經過認證、專業可靠的來源，這一點至關重要。更不用說，網路上充斥著大量極不可靠的飲食建議——許多未經認證的網紅為了推銷自家產品，不惜散播錯誤資訊，甚至刻意製造健康焦慮。身為消費者，我們必須保持警覺、主動查證，避免落入這些行銷圈套³。畢竟，錯誤資訊往往比真相傳播得更快，一旦深植人心就更難糾正⁴。

除此之外，很多人在運動時，還會在無意間「搬石頭砸自己的腳」。

研究顯示，一個人的估算腎小球濾過率（eGFR）——也就是衡量腎臟功能的重要指標——在運動後往往會暫時下降⁵。這聽起來很違背直覺：我們總以為運動時流汗能幫忙「排毒」，腎臟負擔應該會減輕，對吧？

但事實正好相反。運動時，身體為了全力支援正在運作的肌肉，會主動將血液從內臟器官調離。此時如果水分補充不足——特別是在中等強度運動中，你可能覺得自己沒流什麼汗而忽視補充水分——這種「隱性脫水」就會讓腎臟負擔雪上加霜，導致 eGFR 下降。

說到底，我們正處於一個健康與健身資訊鋪天蓋地的時代。正因如此，具備批判性思考、嚴格核實資訊來源，才不至於落入錯誤資訊的陷阱。為了確保你的健身之旅是真的為健康加分，建議定期進行健康檢查，及早發現潛在問題；同時，在調整飲食與訓練時，務必諮詢合格的醫事人員與營養師。

This brings up the question “How does CKD actually happen?.” Chronic kidney disease may occur in people due to a number of reasons, such as kidney injuries, infections, toxic drugs etc. Yet, despite the other causes, there are two main culprits behind CKD, diabetes and high blood pressure. This is due to the high blood sugar levels that occur during diabetes, which tend to damage the kidney and its filtration system over time. To the point that the kidneys are no longer able to filter out waste efficiently and allow molecules such as proteins to pass into the urine. As it is caused by diabetes this is also referred to as diabetic kidney disease⁵.

When it comes to high blood pressure, the story of how the kidney stops working is similar to the above. High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels and negatively impact the filtration process of the kidney. Due to it, waste and extra fluid are not excreted from the body, which is dangerous, as the...Read More

What is eGFR?

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 22:00:00 -0700

Kidney filtration is a complex process involving multiple structures and discrete stages wherein nutrients are continuously filtered out and into the body. With a procedure that happens ceaselessly, determining how to measure kidney health to assess whether daily habits need changing can be challenging. Understanding kidney function early is critical because chronic kidney disease is largely asymptomatic in its initial stages, with noticeable symptoms often failing to appear until up to 90% of kidney function has already been lost¹. Without proactive screening by the time we realise something is wrong, death is not far behind. This urgent diagnostic challenge is where the estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) becomes essential.

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR/ mGFR) was first introduced by Ludwig in 1844; however measurement of the filtrate was discovered 100 years after by Rehberg in 1926^2,3. And with further experimentation to determine the best biomarker to measure GFR, inulin was elected as the most optimum marker by Richards AN, Westfall BB and Bott PA. It is due to their work that the modern gold standard regarding mGFR was established, with inulin being used throughout it all⁴.

That is how GFR/mGFR works, eGFR on the other hand is calculated by measuring creatinine levels in the blood and applying a standardized mathematical formula to capture overall filtration capacity. Although eGFR and mGFR employ distinct procedures and have different terminology, they serve the same purpose of finding the filtration rate in order to evaluate kidney health.

Every medical assessment has inherent limitations; eGFR can occasionally be imprecise and...Read More