ABU DHABI // Nurse Marilyn Parro knows exactly what corrective surgery means to children born with cleft conditions - and their parents.
The 44-year-old, who works as a recovery room nurse at Al Ain Hospital, has seen the results first-hand. She has been on six missions abroad in the last year after volunteering through Operation Smile UAE, a children's charity that recruits medical volunteers and funds free surgery and aftercare to those affected by cleft lips and palates.
"It's my passion. I have been volunteering since college. As you grow older, you are looking for something else that's better and higher," said Ms Parro, from the Philippines.
"It's an honour to do something different, something that not everybody can do, something to give service.
"I'm learning as well and not only helping."
On her trips abroad she looks after patients, normally children, in a recovery room immediately after they have undergone surgery to repair clefts.
Some of her patients have suffered by being ostracised because of their facial deformity, she said, and the operation makes an enormous difference to their lives.
"Everything will be changed. It's difficult if you are different from others," she said.
The delight and gratitude of the parents is also plain to see.
"One patient in India, when I called the mother to recovery to get her child, she was crying. She had food with her and she tried to give it to us and I said, 'it's OK, it's for you'. She was so grateful," added Ms Parro.
The UAE resident of 12 years has been on missions to Jordan, China twice, India, Rwanda and, last September, her hometown of Naga City, where the mission took place at a hospital she worked at 28 years ago.
"It was very special. It's nice to be able to go back and help people where you come from," she said.
Ms Parro said she comes across children with cleft lips and palates through her work as a nurse in Abu Dhabi and would like to see the charity offer operations in the UAE.
"It's very distressing for the parents. There are so many complications for them, especially if the parents are not educated in taking care of them," said Ms Parro. Her next medical mission is to Morocco at the end of this month.
Operation Smile UAE hopes to offer surgery to a group of suitable people in the UAE in February next year, in conjunction with an as-yet-unnamed hospital.
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Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
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Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
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Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
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MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
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Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
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5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
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8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
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4.35pm Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m
5.10pm Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m