Pak Community Health Blog

The US says that Wikileaks disclosures are a crime. Since when has disclosure of a crime become a crime, wasn’t explained. Apart from the fact that the reaction of the United States’ Government borders on the ridiculous, it does remind one of that famous quote from the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , “Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals.” Days after the damning disclosures, while surfing the net, the scribe stumbled upon excerpts from a guidebook called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM. It is a comprehensive handbook published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a classification of mental disorders. It is used around the world. Allow me to explain. In our general discussions we refer to each other as the American, the Brit, the French, the Pakistani etc. But when pre-qualifiers like the loud American, the frugal French, the Pakistani way are added, whether with prejudice or othe...

If you've ever used a laptop computer, you've probably sat with it on your lap (hence the name) while watching television or sitting in an airport and noticed that it can get quite hot. And you may have heard that having that laptop on your lap can potentially be hazardous to your health. Because, while the computer does not get hot enough to actually  burn  you, it can lead to problems. Read on for some sound advice on what you should be concerned about the next time you boot up. The Claim:  Hot Laptops Cause " Toasted Skin Syndrome " What We Know:  In a recent case, a 12-year-old boy developed a  sponge-patterned skin discoloration  on his left thigh after playing a computer game for several hours a day over a period of a few months. Even though he noticed that the laptop was getting hot, he didn't move it. In another case, a Virginia law student sought  medical  attention after developing a skin discoloration on her legs. Dr. Kimberl...

There are so many weight loss programs available nowadays. Each one has its own different spin on the best food to eat, the best exercise to perform, the best everything to help you lose weight. Well, if you peel away all those differences, what you SHOULD get from each of the programs are medically sensible and healthy weight loss ideas. (If you don’t find the following points in your current weight loss program, chances are that program is useless.) Here are the weight loss guidelines that you SHOULD find in each of the weight loss programs out there today: 1. Self-evaluation: each program should have some portion that focuses on discovering the source of your weight issues. This can range from genetic to habits based on emotional or mental states of stress. Make sure your program has this aspect because it is important to know where the problem is coming from to effectively fix it. 2. Plan and prepare: as with all ventures worthwhile, it is important to plan and prepare fully ...

What is Sinusitis and how does it affect the four sinus cavities?   The term sinusitis means an inflammation of one or more of the sinus cavities.  When an irritation or allergy is inhaled through the nose it often lands on the mucus membranes surrounding the sinus cavities. These membranes are highly sensitive and can become irritated very easily. When this happens, the mucus membranes begin to swell and become thick. They also start to product more mucus. Any thickening in these areas can result in the narrowing of the exit pathways or ostia making it difficult for mucus to drain freely. As mucus becomes trapped and builds up in the sinus cavities tremendous pressure, pain and headaches can be felt. It is this blocked or trapped mucus that is the main reason why one develops sinusitis or sinus infections (acute, chronic or recurrent) as any accumulated mucus can become a haven for bacteria propagation and growth. Fever and fatigue are two of the body’s natural, syst...

This one is serious. .. Let's say it's 4:17 p.m. and you're driving home, (alone of course) after an unusually hard day on the job. Not only was the work load extraordinarily heavy, you also had a disagreement with your boss, and no matter how hard you tried he just wouldn't see your side of the situation. You're really upset and the more you think about it the more up tight you become. All of a sudden you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest you home, unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course neglected to tell you how to perform it on yourself. Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed in order.) Without help the person whose heart stops beating properly and who begins to feel Faint,...

Prozac, the popular antidepressant, might also be an effective treatment for adults with a “lazy eye,” according to new research.  A team of Italian and Finnish scientists said on Thursday that the medicine helped correct the eyesight of rats whose vision had been impaired in early development and it could well do the same for humans. The medicine appears to work by returning neurons in the adult brain to a more “plastic” state normally only seen in youth. This allows the visual perception system to develop its proper connections between the eye and the brain. The discovery could also help explain exactly how antidepressants help regulate mood in depressed patients, by suggesting brain plasticity is a key part of the process. Prozac was initially introduced by US drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co in 1987 and belongs to a class of compounds called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It is now off patent and widely available generically as fluoxetine. Jose Fernando Maya V...

Names You Need To Know: Addiction Cure Baclofen Names You Need To Know: Addiction Cure Baclofen Baclofen may just be the little pill that could prevent the deaths of the approximately two million people around the world who die from the effects of alcohol each year, according to the  World Health Organization . Not to mention countless lost jobs and productivity hours, failed marriages and children born with defects. Expect to hear a lot more about  baclofen . Or just ask  Olivier Ameisen, M.D. , cardiologist at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical College, Légion d’Honneur medalist for his “contribution to the image of France abroad and to cardiology,” friend of Elie Wiesel, talented pianist–and recovered alcoholic. Despite running a thriving private practice in New York, he had become a binge drinker, notes  The Guardian  in a May 2010 profile , and by 1997 was regularly being admitted to the hospital. He tried the five As of alcohol treatment: Antab...

Here are 10 reasons why doctors are falling in love with the Apple iPad: They already use the iPhone, so the iPad just makes sense. Long battery life means they don't need to walk around the hospital carrying an  AC adapter  with their tablet PC. The iPad is simple. Doctors don't like complicated technology. They prefer simple. Thus, they don't feel threatened by the iPad. They can use the iPad to entertain patients who are waiting in the waiting area of the exam room. They'd rather carry a light iPad over a heavy tablet PC when they're using an electronic health record  (EHR). They can use the iPad to explain complex medical anatomy to their patients. If they can't figure out how to do something on the iPad, they can ask their 10-year old kid. The iPad is a true multipurpose tool: robust productivity in the clinical setting and pure entertainment for the kids at home. They just like having the latest gadgets (even if they don't know how to use th...

Mobile Health Computing [part of HCPLive]

Clinicians in all settings can teach their patients to use relaxation, meditation, hypnosis, guided imagery, and other techniques that utilize the mind-body connection to achieve relief from chronic pain conditions. The key for providers is to build a good rapport with their patients, be aware of the power of suggestion and the language that they use when creating expectations in patients, and to practice what they preach when it comes to these techniques. Daniel F. Cleary and Michael B. Ellner, Cht, MSH, began their presentation, titled “Introduction to Mind/Body Techniques That Relieve Chronic Pain,” by asking the audience to repeat the phrases “I feel good,” “I feel great,” and “You are great” to illustrate the relaxing effect of self-affirmation and demonstrate the power of language and the effect it can have on patients’ state of mind. Cleary reminded attendees that "the mind-body connection is an amazing interaction that has been known for thousands of years.” It is o...