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Death comes to all, but when it comes early, to someone known to be fit and healthy, it jolts people out of their comfort zones and forces them to confront their mortality.
Teen triathlete Thaddeus Cheong's heart gave way last June, right after he finished third in a selection trial for the South-east Asia Games (Read the news here). Just 17 years old, his abrupt death prompted many questions among the public as to how a young person can die suddenly without apparent cause - something that happens to just one in 50,000 to 250,000.
AsiaOne readers voted this unfortunate incident their top health story of the year (34.8 per cent of votes). Taking the second spot (23.9 per cent) was the story on the eighth dengue death in Singapore (Read the news here). It was thought that the death of 60-year-old Madam Tan Ai Liang was the last from the disease in 2007, but the truth has since emerged - dengue killed at least 20 last year. The error in the figure was due to a loophole in the reporting system, said the Health Ministry. In all, 8,826 people came down with dengue fever last year.
A woman with lips no one will like to kiss is the focus of our number three story (15 per cent) (Read the news here). The Health Promotion Board's anti-smoking TV ad aimed to shock smokers into quitting the habit by featuring a model stricken with oral cancer, her mouth made to look disfigured and her teeth, decaying. Those frightened by the ad complained that it was too gruesome for young kids.
Readers' Choice Top 10 Heath Stories
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