Category Archives: Health

Appointments – Manage Your Time Better At Home to Be Effective

Posted on by

What would happen to you if your home life was more organized than it is right now? Can work-life balance be achieved? What are the tools at our disposal? Could scheduling appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize?

What is the challenge we face? I sometimes find that time spent at home can be the busiest time, especially in the times we live in. Imagine someone working from home, home-schooling children, and sometimes even doing a side hustle. Imagine also the full-time home-based entrepreneur. How do they manage to do all they need to do in a day?. We are living in a time when many entrepreneurs and even company employees have adopted work- at – home culture. This comes with its challenges as the lines become blurred between home and work. These blurred lines and constraints on the limited resource called time result in over-worked, under-rested, burnt-out individuals. Whilst good time management has been encouraged and indeed, embraced in the workplace, I believe more needs to be done in changing the mindset for the elusive work-life balance to be achieved.

What are the tools at our disposal? To manage time effectively at home, there are many interventions one can employ including setting goals for the day, prioritizing wisely, setting a time limit for every task, organizing oneself, and instituting the discipline of appointments. Yes, an appointment at home! We can spend time pontificating on the pros and cons of each intervention, however, I believe we need to focus on appointments and see how this can powerfully change the course of one’s day regardless of whether it’s a workday or weekend. Life is busy as it is without any intrusions. The question is how do you handle the one who announces that they are at the gate. These can be friends, neighbors, a salesman of some product you do not even need. I am not promoting regimentation here but rather a culture of filling your day with what’s important. Everything that we succeed at is because we carefully plan and execute it. I am a firm believer that you cannot manage time if you do not manage yourself thus I implore you to incorporate planning and appointments into your repertoire. I am not talking about something I do not do. I have to achieve many things in a day therefore I set appointments with my work, others, and myself.

Could scheduling appointments and keeping them on the home front help us save time and prioritize? Whereas we have established that it is a normal business practice to set appointments and keep them, we need to abandon the liberal open-door policy of allowing all and sundry to have access to us as and when they please on the home front. Please understand where I am coming from. We each have greatness within us but for us to achieve it we need to culture great habits. Employing the use of appointments at home and seeing only those people you had agreed to see removes non-essential encounters especially during the most productive hours. I know this will vary with culture, geographical region, or even level of affluence, whether you live in a low density or high-density residential area, but doesn’t negate the need to be organized and effective. Controlling access determines how organized you are and how well you will work and rest when the time for scheduled rest comes.

What do we need to do differently? We need to be disciplined and diligent, learn to say no, now is not a good time, let’s make an appointment for next week. What are the benefits of this approach? You are not always fire-fighting to meet deadlines, You are not always tired because you have not taken time out to rest. You have set aside enough time to spend with your loved ones or a loved one. If you are a busy person, I am sure you appreciate what I am saying. Whether it’s time to work uninterrupted, family time, or “me-time”, it takes some kind of order to enjoy it.

I am not saying that those that come unannounced are bad people. No, not at all, they probably are people you enjoy spending time with. Nevertheless, there must be prior communication so that you can attend to your visitor(s) when it is convenient for both you and them. It can be quite disrupting and a whole day can just pass by without achieving anything that you had planned to do.

As we grow older we begin to appreciate that rest and recovery need to be scheduled. The fact that I am relaxing doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to do. One therefore cannot assume that just because you are at home you are available. Maybe you have scheduled that time to rest. That is important. You need to make an appointment with yourself, spouses need to also set aside time for each other. Parents need to schedule a time to spend with their children. When you have some sort of order in your life you determine who sees you and who you see. It also means that your relationships will be healthy and that makes you a happier person.

In conclusion, I believe that the work-life balance can be achieved. There are many tools at our disposal just like it is in the workplace.I believe we could do more and be happier if we are disciplined enough to make only the commitments we can keep.I am certain that setting appointments and keeping them at home help us save time and prioritize.

Things That Are Expected From a 24 Hour Emergency Doctor

Posted on by

More than the regular doctor who visits a clinic or a hospital, a 24 hour emergency doctor service is essential. Medical emergencies may crop up anytime. These situations are inevitable and irrespective of the nature of the emergency, an immediate helping hand is essential. Numerous hospitals have emergency medical services like a 24 hour emergency doctor service even after the visiting hours. Though any helping hand is welcomed at the time of adversity or an emergency, there a couple of things that are expected from a doctor, regardless the situation at hand.

• Always available: Emergency medical services comprises of two different parts. First is the pre-hospital care given to a patient and this includes the first aid measures taken. It also includes the transportation of the patient from the place of emergency to a hospital for which the ambulance services are used. The second division of the emergency service involves the transfer of the patient from one hospital to another in the case of an emergency or a need of better treatment and care.

• Transparency: A long drag speech in medical jargons and a series of tests and an illegible prescription is not what is expected of a doctor. In the case of an emergency, you need a clear picture of what is happening and not a haphazard answer. A 24 hour emergency doctor is expected to be dedicated and passionate about his work and understands the mental state of not only the patient but also the people with him. Telling what things mean, and what is to be done immediately is well appreciated.

• Respects you and your emotions: An ideal doctor must be able to listen to you actively, your problems and your worries without interrupting and intimidating you. In this busy world, rushed appointments have become a common thing, and it neither benefits the patients nor the doctor. More than respecting your time, it is essential that you are able to connect with your doctor emotionally as well. A certain level of trust and confidence is essential to make things easier for both. A clear idea of the big picture is essential before coming to conclusions and taking a decision.

• Makes decisions with you and not for you: You should always be a part of any decision that is taken for you. An ideal doctor must be able to understand that you know your body and routines better than anyone else. You have the right to ask questions regarding any tests or medicines prescribed to you, and a doctor is answerable to any of your doubts.

• Shouldn’t Keep money in mind: Doctors are one the most respected people in the society. It is a service that requires a lot of ethics, commitment and passion. A doctor cannot be successful if he just money-minded. The life-saving profession should be done as a service and not as a job.

Understanding Arthroscopy Surgery

Posted on by

Arthroscopy can be the solution to many types of arthritis and various injuries inside the joint. Also called as key hole surgery, it is the minimally invasive procedure used to examine the inside structure of the joint for the diagnosis and treatment.

The instrument used for this is called arthroscopy. The surgeons can view the area using the video monitor to diagnose and treat the joint tissues. Majorly all the joints in the body can be examined using the arthroscopy. Apart from examining the joint if any other procedure is performed using this, we call it arthroscopic surgery. This kind of surgeries requires lesser recovery times and pain. The tissue trauma will also be minimum. Because of the benefits, it offers arthroscopy is becoming essential for many orthopedic surgeries.

In the arthroscopy procedure, there is no blood loss expected and will have no or minimal complications. Only small incisions are made to examine and insert the arthroscopy. There is no need for opening the joint fully. The incisions are relatively very small and should be maintained dry for few days. And after the surgery, the patients need to stay for little time in the hospital will be recommended different exercises for strengthening the joints.

As said above, arthroscopy is considered in treating many types of arthritis like non-inflammatory and inflammatory. For example, patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have isolated joint swelling can be benefited with this by removing the inflamed joint tissue and examining it to discover any type of infections. This helps the doctors get more information where the diagnosis is difficult just by analyzing joint fluid alone for treatment.

Arthroscopy is also used for treating many knee joint injuries like ligament strains, meniscustears, posterior cruciate ligament, ligament strains etc; not only to treat knee joints and arthritis, arthroscopy is also considered to treat and examine many hips, wrist, feet, spine, ankle and elbow conditions. The arthroscopy is used to treat the wide range of sports injuries involving hips, wrists, ankles, and elbows as well.

Using arthroscopic procedures we can treat spine conditions like spinal deformity, tumors, spine trauma, spine disc herniation and degenerative discs.

The common conditions we treat using arthroscopy include shoulder dislocations, inflammation in knees, shoulders, elbows, and ankles, unstable shoulders, cartilage tears, rotator cuff tears, arthritis and shoulder joint degeneration, shoulder capsule release, cartilage tears and many more.

Arthroscopy surgery is generally performed by orthopedic surgeons. Even though it is a low risk surgery it is highly recommended to get it done by the expert surgeons for the speedy recovery and complete results. So considering arthroscopy over traditional surgery to treat any of the above conditions will assure the patients less pain, minimal complications and faster recovery.

The Health Care System is Broken – Should Big Parma Buy Hospitals?

Posted on by

We all know that the health-care system in the United States of America is broken and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. As podium pushers and politicians tell us that they will give us universal health care we all know that that is impossible. We also know that the Social Security system is running dry and we can barely afford that.

We know that there are all kinds of lobbyists from the health-care industry in Washington, DC trying to keep it going and keep the government paying for all these health services in our hospitals. The truth this is the Medicare system in the United States was originally ill-conceived and it is only gotten worse throughout the years. Today it represents a huge cost that we can no longer afford.

Indeed the health-care system is broken, but who is coming to the rescue and how come these politicians keep promising us universal health care – a scheme that would clearly bankrupt our nation? So who is going to bail out all the hospitals if the government stops footing the bill?

Maybe big Pharma and the pharmaceutical companies might buy up all the hospitals in order to make sure that those hospitals only sell their drugs? America is on drugs there is no doubt about that and the average Grandma now is probably taking 13 different medications all counter-acting each other, wow, now that is certainly quality of life.

It is incredible this crisis – maybe we should combine these two crisis – the health-care industry and big Pharma and put them together so we can manage them better as we cut off some of this excessive corporate welfare? Too hard hitting for you? So, what’s your solution then?

Antibiotics And The Mode Of Action

Posted on by

Technically, an antibiotic is a substance that is produced by one microorganism and it is capable of killing or inhibiting the growth of another microorganism which can a virus, bacteria, fungi, yeast, protozoan or any other pathogen.

The first antibiotic that was developed was Penicillin, a biological compound that is produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium. It was discovered by Alexander Fleming in the year 1928. After that, several other types of antibiotics produced by different species of bacteria and fungi were isolated. Some of these include cephalosporins; aminoglycosides such as streptomycin, gentamicin and kanamycin; ansamycins such as geldanamycin and carabecephems; glycopeptides like vancomycin; macrolides like erythromycin and azithromycin, penicillin, quinolone, polypeptide and sulfonamide.

All these antibiotics have different mode of action by which they act as therapeutic agents. Some of the modes of action by different antibiotics are mentioned below:

Cell Wall Synthesis Inhibitors:

Bacteria contain murein or peptidoglycan that is highly essential in maintaining the cell wall structure. Cell wall synthesis inhibitors such as beta-lactams, cephalosporins and glycopeptides block the ability of microorganisms to synthesize their cell wall by inhibiting the synthesis of peptidoglycan.

Interfering with Protein Synthesis:

These classes of antibiotics inhibit the protein synthesis machinery in the cell. Some examples include tetracyclines, chloramphenicol, aminoglycosides and macrolides.

Cell Membrane Inhibitors:

Antibiotics such as polymyxins disrupt the integrity and structure of cell membranes, thereby killing them. These set of antibiotics are mostly effective on gram negative bacteria because these are the bacteria that contain a definite cell membrane.

Effect on Nucleic Acids:

DNA and RNA are extremely essential nucleic acids present in every living cell. Antibiotics such as quinolones and rifamycins bind to the proteins that are required for the processing of DNA and RNA, thus blocking their synthesis and thereby affecting the growth of the cells.

Competitive Inhibitors:

Also referred to as anti-metabolites or growth factor analogs, these are antibiotics that competitively inhibit the important metabolic pathways occurring inside the bacterial cell. Important ones in this class are sulfonamides such as Gantrisin and Trimethoprim.