The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.
Voltaire
Voltaire
1. Doctors and Specialities
2. Understand Bacteria
and Virus
3.Sleep well and wait
for next post
If you know a doctor or have visited a doctor in your life time(who hasn't?) then you should know that every Doctor practising Allopathic/ western/English Medicine has taken Hippocratic Oath.
They raised their hand (mostly right) and took this pledge to 'First, do no harm' - Primum non nocere.
Why would the father of English/Western medicine - Hippocrates(I will refrain from calling it Modern) make every doctor say these words in Greek and ask every Doctor who may or may not understand 'Greek or Latin' to refrain from doing any harm to patients?
Doctors by nature are in the profession of saving life,enable us to live quality life and if needed - help us die peacefully(part of their profession). Bioetchics - dictates
(from where else - wikipedia)
"given an existing problem, it may be better not to do something, or even to do nothing, than to risk causing more harm than good."
It reminds the health care provider that they must consider the possible harm that any intervention might do. It is invoked when debating the use of an intervention that carries an obvious risk of harm but a less certain chance of benefit.
Medical specialties can be classified along several axes. These are:
Surgical or internal medicine - Doctors can do surgery on the body or treat with medicines.. Simple. You always need the friendly Anesthesiologist who can help patient get in and out of sleep while the surgeon works on the patient. Anesthesiologist do this using medicine but they will always be on the side of the surgeons. So is the Anesthesiologist a Surgeon or not? (Debatable and check online for debates like these)
Age range of patients - Pediatric doctors are an example of this. They might work only a certain age group.
Diagnostic or therapeutic - Is the doctor figuring out what is wrong or treating what is wrong? So the x-Ray Radiology will be diagnostic while Radiotherapist will be a Therapeutic specialty.
Organ-based or technique-based - is the doctor working on a single organ - eye or heart .Is the doctor working on a technique... check Da vinci technique (the highest paid doctors in US need to master this technique) which includes minimally invasive robotic technique.
(from where else - wikipedia)
"given an existing problem, it may be better not to do something, or even to do nothing, than to risk causing more harm than good."
It reminds the health care provider that they must consider the possible harm that any intervention might do. It is invoked when debating the use of an intervention that carries an obvious risk of harm but a less certain chance of benefit.
Medical specialties can be classified along several axes. These are:
Surgical or internal medicine - Doctors can do surgery on the body or treat with medicines.. Simple. You always need the friendly Anesthesiologist who can help patient get in and out of sleep while the surgeon works on the patient. Anesthesiologist do this using medicine but they will always be on the side of the surgeons. So is the Anesthesiologist a Surgeon or not? (Debatable and check online for debates like these)
Age range of patients - Pediatric doctors are an example of this. They might work only a certain age group.
Diagnostic or therapeutic - Is the doctor figuring out what is wrong or treating what is wrong? So the x-Ray Radiology will be diagnostic while Radiotherapist will be a Therapeutic specialty.
Organ-based or technique-based - is the doctor working on a single organ - eye or heart .Is the doctor working on a technique... check Da vinci technique (the highest paid doctors in US need to master this technique) which includes minimally invasive robotic technique.
Again from
wikepedia...
Allergy and Immunology
|
Allergic reactions, asthma, and the immune system
|
Anesthesiology
|
Anesthesia
|
Cardiology
|
Disease of the cardiovascular system
|
Cardiovascular surgery
|
The operation of heart and major blood
vessels of the chest.
|
Clinical laboratory sciences
|
Application of
diagnostic techniques in medical laboratories such as
assays, microscope analysis.
|
Dermatology
|
Skin and its
appendages (hair, nails, sweat glands etc.).
|
Dietetics
|
Food and nutrition
|
Emergency medicine
|
The initial
management of emergent medical conditions, often in hospital emergency
departments or the field.
|
Endocrinology
|
The endocrine
system (i.e., endocrine glands and hormones) and its
diseases, including diabetes and thyroid diseases.
|
Family Medicine
|
Continuing,
comprehensive healthcare for the individual and family, integrating the
biological, clinical and behavioral sciences to treat patients of all ages,
sexes, organ systems, and diseases.
|
Forensic Medicine
|
|
Gastroenterology
|
The alimentary
tract
|
General surgery
|
|
Geriatrics
|
Elderly patients
|
Gynecology
|
Female reproductive
health
|
Hepatology
|
The liver and biliary
tract, usually a part of gastroenterology.
|
Infectious disease
|
Diseases caused by
biological agents
|
Intensive care
medicine
|
Life
support and management of critically ill patients, often in an ICU.
|
Medical research
|
|
Nephrology
|
Kidney diseases
|
Neurology
|
Diseases involving
the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems
|
Neurosurgery
|
Disease of
the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and spinal
column.
|
Obstetrics and
gynecology
|
|
Oncology
|
Cancer and
other malignant diseases, often grouped with hematology.
|
Ophthalmology
|
Diseases of the
visual pathways, including the eyes, brain, etc.
|
Oral and
maxillofacial surgery
|
Disease of the head,
neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial
region.
|
Orthopedic surgery
|
Injury and disease
of the musculoskeletal system.
|
Otorhinolaryngology,
or ENT
|
Treatment of ear,
nose, and throat disorders. The term head and neck surgery defines
a closely related specialty that is concerned mainly with the surgical
management of cancer of the same anatomical structures.
|
Palliative care
|
A relatively modern
branch of clinical medicine that deals with pain and symptom relief and
emotional support in patients with terminal illnesses
including cancer and heart failure.
|
Pathology
|
Understanding disease through
examination of molecules, cells, tissuesa nd organs. The
term encompasses both the medical specialty that uses tissues and
body fluids to obtain clinically useful information and the related
scientific study of disease processes.
|
Pediatrics
|
deals with the
medical care of infants, children, and adolescents (from
newborn to age 16-21, depending on the country).
|
Pediatric surgery
|
|
Physical medicine
and rehabilitation Or Physiatry
|
Concerned with
functional improvement after injury, illness, or congenital disorders.
|
Plastic surgery
|
Elective cosmetic
surgery as well as reconstructive surgery after traumatic or operative
mutilation.
|
Podiatry
|
Elective podiatric
surgery of the foot and ankle, lower limb diabetic wound and
salvation, peripheral vascular disease limb preservation,
lower limb mononeuropathy conditions.
|
Proctology
|
(or Colorectal
Surgery) Treats disease in the rectum, anus, and colon.
|
Psychiatry
|
The bio-psycho-social study
of the etiology, diagnosis, treatment and
prevention of cognitive, perceptual, emotional and behavioral disorders.
Related non-medical fields include psychotherapy and clinical
psychology.
|
Pulmonology
|
The lungs
and respiratory system. Pulmonology is generally considered a
branch of internal medicine, although it is closely related
to intensive care medicine when dealing with patients
requiring mechanical ventilation.
|
Radiology
|
The use of expertise
in radiation in the context of medical imaging fordiagnosis or
image guided minimally invasive therapy. X-rays, etc.
|
Rheumatology
|
Autoimmune and
inflammatory diseases of the joints and other organ systems, such
as arthritis and other rheumatic diseases.
|
Stomatology
|
Diseases of the
mouth
|
Surgical oncology
|
Curative and
palliative surgical approaches to cancer treatment.
|
Thoracic surgery
|
Surgery of the
organs of the thoracic cavity: the heart, lungs, and great vessels.
|
Transplant surgery
|
Transplantation
of organs from one body to another
|
Urgent Care Medicine
|
Immediate medical
care offering outpatient care for the treatment of acute and chronic illness
and injury
|
Urology
|
Urinary
tracts of males and females, and the male reproductive system. It
is often practiced together with andrology ("men's
health").
|
Vascular surgery
|
The peripheral blood
vessels – those outside of the chest (usually operated on
by cardiovascular surgeons) and of the central nervous
system (treated by neurosurgery)
|
Now to the critical
question - what are virus and bacteria?
Every time you are
sick you must realize this is a virus,bacteria or fungus. While you
may recognize fungus on some skin rashes it is not easy to understand
the difference between bacteria and Virus.
First thing - Virus is
not a living thing.
So What is Life?
From http://www.virology.ws/2004/06/09/are-viruses-living/
Life is “an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.”
Wow..
Life is “an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.”
Wow..
.
So if you say you are
living (if you say you are living you must not dead!!!) then
1. You metabolism
works which means you are able to consume food and generate useless stuff. Most
of us live our life doing this job of taking what nature has to offer and give
back what nature expects us to give back..simple.
2. You grow - yes.
When you are young you grow vertical - tall and horizontal - put some weight on
parts of your body. Once old you grow horizontal not vertical and your body
grows new cells.
3.You react to stimuli
- philosophy dictates that you have the ability to choose the
response but in any case not responding is also a choice which will be a
reaction to the stimuli. If you are Gandhi or Jesus and someone hits you on one
side of the face you react to stimuli by showing the other side . For us
mortals we show our back and run.....
4.You reproduce
- in all sense including multiplication of your cells. Your body produces
millions of cells and you are not the same you that were there last week. This
week - you lost millions of cells and got extra millions of cells.
So in short Virus is
not a living thing! (if
that was short think what might be long....)
Virus is more like a chemical which can go into a living cell and multiply using the host cell. Once in it invites its friend - bacteria to come and infect.
Bacteria are living things and are single celled organisms.
From webmd.com
Bacteria are relatively complex, single-celled creatures with a rigid wall and a thin, rubbery membrane surrounding the fluid inside the cell.
They can reproduce on their own.
Fossilized records show that bacteria have existed for about 3.5 billion years, and bacteria can survive in different environments, including extreme heat and cold, radioactive waste, and the human body.
Most bacteria are harmless, and some actually help by digesting food, destroying disease-causing microbes, fighting cancer cells, and providing essential nutrients. Fewer than 1% of bacteria cause diseases in people.
Viruses are tinier: the largest of them are smaller than the smallest bacteria. All they have is a protein coat and a core of genetic material, either RNA or DNA.
Unlike bacteria, viruses can't survive without a host. They can only reproduce by attaching themselves to cells. In most cases, they reprogram the cells to make new viruses until the cells burst and die. In other cases, they turn normal cells into malignant or cancerous cells.
Also unlike bacteria, most viruses do cause disease, and they're quite specific about the cells they attack. For example, certain viruses attacks cells in the liver, respiratory system, or blood. In some cases, viruses target bacteria.
Bacteria are good and bad. Not Virus. Virus always bad!
You always have 2 options in medicine (and even in life) - prevent or fix.
To prevent Virus we have vaccines - inject live virus and let the body develop immunity.
Polio
measles
Chickenpox
Flu
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Don't forget the common cold is also a virus and there are no cures.
HIV/AIDS, and influenza are 2 examples of the viral infections for which we have antiviral medicine.
For Bacteria there is anti-bacterial drugs.
Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillium and named the substance from mold penicillin which is one antibiotic.
So what happens when doctors infect patients with bacteria? (Wikipedia my friend!)
In the 1800s Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that women giving birth at home had a much lower incidence of childbed fever than those giving birth in the doctor's maternity ward. His investigation discovered that washing hands with an antiseptic solution before a delivery reduced childbed fever fatalities by 90%. Publication of his findings was not well received by the medical profession. The idea conflicted both with the existing medical concepts and with the image doctors had of themselves. The scorn and ridicule of doctors was so extreme that Semmelweis moved from Vienna and was eventually committed to a mental asylum where he died
If you call a doctor and say I have a high fever(104) ,cold ,cough et all the doctor will first ask 'How long have you had this?" - my theory is if you say any answer more than 3 you will get antibiotics else nothing. Nothing sometimes means treating the symptoms - some zinc chewables, lots of fluids to keep the body from dehydrating,techniques to cool the body - warm/cold cloth/bath etc. This doesn't mean the doctor is not competent. This just means the Virus is still a virus. There is no known cure to Virus. So wait and watch.
Once 3 days or more have passed time to check if you have bacteria - strep or something else.
Doctors rely on available techniques to analyze the symptoms and identify the cause.
'First, do no harm' - Primum non nocere - principle applies to you too. Once you find symptoms you start self medicating and if you get antibacterial medicine for viral infections - good luck!! If you recommend people medicine without knowing their medical conditions - good luck. In short , don't do it. Always visit your friendly doctor (if you are sick many times you will be friends with the doctor anyways!)
Finally when you hear the doctor mention Idiopathic to another doctor or to you - they mean
- "I don't know why you're sick."
So I always ask my doctor - "Doctor, is my condition Idiopathic" and they laugh and that is one way to become friends with doctors! - knowing their terms and conditions!!
Keep Learning
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran
For Bacteria there is anti-bacterial drugs.
Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillium and named the substance from mold penicillin which is one antibiotic.
So what happens when doctors infect patients with bacteria? (Wikipedia my friend!)
In the 1800s Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that women giving birth at home had a much lower incidence of childbed fever than those giving birth in the doctor's maternity ward. His investigation discovered that washing hands with an antiseptic solution before a delivery reduced childbed fever fatalities by 90%. Publication of his findings was not well received by the medical profession. The idea conflicted both with the existing medical concepts and with the image doctors had of themselves. The scorn and ridicule of doctors was so extreme that Semmelweis moved from Vienna and was eventually committed to a mental asylum where he died
If you call a doctor and say I have a high fever(104) ,cold ,cough et all the doctor will first ask 'How long have you had this?" - my theory is if you say any answer more than 3 you will get antibiotics else nothing. Nothing sometimes means treating the symptoms - some zinc chewables, lots of fluids to keep the body from dehydrating,techniques to cool the body - warm/cold cloth/bath etc. This doesn't mean the doctor is not competent. This just means the Virus is still a virus. There is no known cure to Virus. So wait and watch.
Once 3 days or more have passed time to check if you have bacteria - strep or something else.
Doctors rely on available techniques to analyze the symptoms and identify the cause.
'First, do no harm' - Primum non nocere - principle applies to you too. Once you find symptoms you start self medicating and if you get antibacterial medicine for viral infections - good luck!! If you recommend people medicine without knowing their medical conditions - good luck. In short , don't do it. Always visit your friendly doctor (if you are sick many times you will be friends with the doctor anyways!)
Finally when you hear the doctor mention Idiopathic to another doctor or to you - they mean
- "I don't know why you're sick."
So I always ask my doctor - "Doctor, is my condition Idiopathic" and they laugh and that is one way to become friends with doctors! - knowing their terms and conditions!!
Keep Learning
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran
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