Spa offers organic treatment oils at Cebu facility, eyes expansion

Sun.Star Cebu <> Friday, May 15, 2009

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

TO help uplift the local spa industry and promote wellness, a new spa opened at Parkmall.

Langkawi Discovery Spa offers the “preventive approach” in taking care of one’s body through the use of organic and natural materials.

The spa is eyeing health buffs, nature lovers and environmental protection advocates as potential clients.

Langkawi spa director Sheila Mendez said the facility houses 16 beds and 18 therapists who provide spa services like organic body scrub and foot spa, as well as non-pricking non-surgical facial treatment called Biodroga.

Biodroga is considered a popular anti-aging treatment in Europe, said Mendez.

Ed Mendez, Sheila’s husband, said the family initially invested P3 million for the new facility.

The use of natural essential oils sets Langkawi apart from other spas in Cebu, Ed said.

“Essential oil has a therapeutic effect on our bodies. Our base carrier oil is (from) grape seeds mixed with lavender, cedar wood, rosemary, lemon grass and jojoba, among others.

The smell of essential oil triggers our olfactory senses. Upon massage, it opens up skin pores and penetrates into our circulation system,” said Ed, also Spa Association of the Philippines Inc. national board director for the Visayas and Mindanao.

Langkawi’s signature massages include Kondalini energy revitalizing massage or deep tissue massage, Swedish touch therapy, and Namikotsi shiatsu.

Ed said Langkawi is the only day spa that carries Biodroga products outside Metro Manila since these items can only be found in the country’s resorts and hotels.

When demand for Lang-kawi’s services grows, he said the company will consider opening another outlet in Cebu City.

The spa will formally open on May 30.

Meanwhile, Langkawi is supporting the preservation of the Danajon Reef located near Bohol, Cebu and Leyte.

Filed under: Business, Fun/Entertainment, Health, Health and Wellness, Small and Medium Enterprises, Tourism

Dengue killed 25 in first 2 months

Sun.Star Cebu <> Thursday, March 06, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE Department of Health (DOH) 7 recorded a total of 1,045 dengue cases admitted in different hospitals from Jan. 1 to March 1. Within these two months, at least 25 died of dengue fever in Central Visayas.

The Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Resu) estimated the case rate to be about 76 percent higher than in the same period last year, when there were only 594 cases with seven deaths in the region.

Most of the patients were six to 10 years old, although a five-month-old baby was recorded as the youngest and a 74-year-old adult as the oldest cases. Resu also recorded an equal number of male and female patients.

Cebu City still ranks first in the top 10 list of municipalities and cities with a high number of dengue cases in Region 7, with its 251 cases and 10 deaths. In the same period last year, there were only 168 cases and two deaths in the city.

However, according to the City Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit, the City already documented 408 cases with 12 deaths as of March 1.

This is about 172 percent higher compared to the figures from the same period last year.

Barangay Inayawan is first in the top 10 list, with 28 cases and one death, followed by Talamban (27 cases, two deaths) and Guadalupe (25 cases, two deaths).

In order, the other barangays in the top 10 list are Labangon (24 cases), Tisa (22 cases, one death), Mabolo (19 cases), Basak-Pardo (14 cases), Bulacao (13 cases, one death), Cogon-Pardo (11 cases, one death), and Poblacion Pardo (11 cases).

In 2007, Labangon topped the list of barangays with the highest number of dengue cases, with 80 cases and four deaths.

Last month, Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo identified Talamban and Guadalupe as having the highest number of dengue cases, replacing Labangon and Lahug.

This prompted DOH officials to make the City Government an example for other local government units on how it reduced the number of dengue cases in Barangay Labangon.

Spray

Last year, the dengue virus hit 2,107 Cebu City residents, 51 of whom died. This number was 120 percent higher than in 2006, when only 957 cases and 27 deaths were recorded.

City Hall already recorded 234 cases in January and 174 last month. In 2007, it only recorded 69 cases for January and 81 for February.

City Hall’s Anti-Dengue Task Force task force plans to continue meeting with barangay officials and City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to come up with strategies in fighting the dengue virus.

It also intends to mobilize the massive spraying of anti-dengue chemicals in Barangay Inayawan this week in close coordination with the City Health Department.

Carillo was scheduled to present his progress report on dengue and the use of calamity funds in yesterday’s council session but had to make an official trip outside Cebu.

Double

Meanwhile, dengue cases in other cities in Central Visayas also doubled. For instance, Mandaue’s dengue cases doubled in two months since the start of the year from 43 cases as of Feb. 1 to 86 cases as of March 1.

It is followed by Lapu-Lapu City with 70 cases and four deaths. During the first month this year, it only had 38 cases and one death.

Talisay City is still in the list with 62 cases, though no deaths were recorded. Toledo City, from its eighth rank in the first month, went up to the sixth with 37 dengue cases and two deaths.

New to the updated list is Moalboal town, with 26 dengue cases but no deaths.

Dengue fever continues to hound even city-states internationally recognized for their vector control programs, like Singapore. It is spread by the day-biting aedes aegypti mosquito. Residents are urged to help prevent it by ridding their homes and surroundings of open receptacles where water may gather and mosquitoes breed.

Filed under: Health

Dead baby ‘stirs,’ shocks Lorega folk

Sun.Star Cebu <> Friday, January 25, 2008

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

A THREE-MONTH-OLD baby boy who died of pneumonia showed signs of life yesterday morning, his family said, before he was again declared dead at a private
hospital.

Adrian Linte, the only boy among four siblings, died at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) at 2:20 p.m. last Jan. 23. His family brought him home to their shanty in the cemetery area of Barangay Lorega, Cebu City, where his small white wooden coffin was made and a grave was prepared for him, not far from their house.

That night, family, friends and neighbors prayed for the dead baby boy.

However, past 9 a.m. yesterday, the neighborhood in Barangay Lorega was abuzz after Adrian reportedly grew warm, registered a pulse, and peed two times in his casket. Mimi, the mother, even breastfed the baby and rubbed him with holy water.

The situation raised Mimi’s hopes and also prompted her to rush Adrian to Gaga Longakit, a folk healer, who advised her to let the baby rest at home.

Other neighbors prodded Mimi, who was restless, to rush Adrian to a hospital so that doctors can check on him.

At this time, local broadcast media reporters already heard the news and visited the neighborhood. Mimi, accompanied by a barangay health worker, rushed the baby to Perpetual Succor Hospital, with the media on her heels.

Neighbor Raul Bordador said they did not even tell the driver of the taxi, which Mimi rode, about the baby’s condition.

Mimi’s husband, taxi driver Alex, was at the barangay hall when the fuss began. He looked after their three other children-Angelie, 12; Anna Marie, seven; and Anna Mae, 4—at home.

At the hospital, the baby was declared dead on arrival.

It was nearly noon when Mimi and Adrian went back home. The baby was scheduled for a blessing at the Blessed Sacrament Parish in the reclamation area at 1 p.m.

Before the coffin was closed and nailed, Mimi wrapped Adrian in thick baby clothes, powdered him, and kissed him.

After a funeral procession from the church, Adrian was buried near their shanty.

“Pagkahibalo nako nga namuwa-muwa ang bata, nalipay ko. Pero mao man na ang nahitabo, unsaon ta man? (When I heard that the baby appeared flushed, I was happy. But now that this has happened, there’s nothing I can do),” said Alex, who wanted to believe the situation as a miracle.

Mimi told Sun.Star Cebu she felt the baby’s pulse.

In a separate interview, Adrian’s attending physician at CCMC, Dr. Jee James Maratas, explained that the peeing could be a delayed reaction to the medicine prescribed for the baby, or the result of the baby’s last reflexes when relaxed.

“We provided everything. We attended to him for more or less 30 minutes. We did our best to bring him back,” he said.

Maratas himself explained the death to the family, whom he described as still in the stage of denial. He said he could not attest to the reported signs of life, saying that was impossible since the baby was “already very deteriorated.”

The Lintes did not push for the baby to be embalmed or undergo an autopsy.

“Even when they had doubts or speculations that the baby might still be alive, the family did not send the baby to another hospital or doctor for a second opinion. This is not a first case. There are many families who deny that their loved ones are already dead,” Dr. Maratas said.

Filed under: Health

Fewer victims of firecrackers Dec. 21 to 25, compared to same period in 2006

Sun.Star Cebu <> Thursday, December 27, 2007

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE number of persons hurt in firecracker accidents during the Christmas holidays dropped by half, in comparison with last year’s figures, said the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (Resu) of the Department of Health 7.

From Dec. 21 to 25 last year, 31 were recorded as hurt in firecracker-related accidents in Region 7. Only 16 victims were recorded in the same period and area this year.

Epidemiology nurse Rennan Cimafran-ca attributed this year’s drop to the growing awareness of the risks involved in using firecrackers.

The bulk of the victims come from Cebu City, with 14 cases. There is only one from Tagbilaran City, Bohol Province and another one in Oriental Negros.

Majority of them were rushed to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Cebu City Medical Center, according to Cimafranca.

This year’s victims ranged from five years to 52 years old. Those at both ends of the range were merely bystanders and didn’t set off the firecrackers themselves, Cimafranca said.

Eleven of them were treated for burn injuries and did not need amputation, while four were treated for eye injuries. Only one was recorded to have required amputation.

Last year, there were three reported cases of injuries caused by stray bullets. This year, there were several similar incidents, but the Resu will still determine if these were related to the Christmas holidays or not.

The most common firecrackers used were shotgun and triangle, among others.

New Year

“The trend is that only few use firecrackers during Christmas compared to New Year, so we are expecting that the number of victims may increase by New Year,” said Cimafranca.

To try to preempt this, Resu is intensifying its advocacy with the help of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama also sought the help of the PNP in running after users of illegal firecrackers, with New Year’s Eve just around the corner.

Rama recently had a command conference with PNP officials, whom he urged to unite all police stations.

“I received reports that someone called up this station but was referred to another station because the case did not fall under the former station. I don’t want to hear that kind of report during my watch,” said Rama, who is currently acting mayor.

“If we are united, fast, efficient, then there will be more mobility, peace and order,” he said.

Filed under: Health