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Showing posts from June, 2008

Treasure of Life....... Are we better than others?

A natural harvest of lives has been done again through a force named "Frank". This is not saying that the tragedy was expected and should be accepted as is, forgetting about investigating the probable causes and the culprits behind it, I just believe that at the end of the day, what happened was meant to be... and only God knows the reason why. With that said, I hope we come to realize that our life could end just like that, without a warning, anytime, anywhere. We should remember again that this life is not ours, and therefore, while we still have it, let's make the best out of it. Here's one picture-inspired reminder why we should be thankful always of our lives, despite all of the so-called 'trials'! As I jumped off the building, I saw the known loving couple in the 10th floor hitting each other... I saw the usually tough and strong Peter in the 9th floor crying... 8th Floor.. Ah Mei just found her fiance in bed with her best friend...

The Fuss About Champix

Last night, I attended an RTD sponsored by Pfizer regarding advantages of short term antibiotic therapy in respiratory tract infection. While waiting for the speaker, a presentation/discussion was made regarding Pfizer’s product, Champix. I remember to have mentioned this drug in my previous post on ‘quitting smoking’. Apparently, there’s an ongoing smear campaign in the tabloids and broadsheets regarding the efficacy and side effects of the drug. The Pfizer representative explained the company’s side regarding the matter. One doctor who was present claimed that 3 of his patients who completed the 12 weeks regimen have already quit smoking. Here’s a post to give you an idea of what’s this fuss about Champix is all about. Champix, generic name varenicline , is a prescription pill introduced by Pfizer designed to help smokers stop smoking. It apparently reduces the smoker's craving for nicotine by binding to nicotine receptors in the brain and reduces the symptoms of withd

5 Lessons on Management

Often, even as doctors, we find ourselves in a position where we have to deal with people management. Actually, even from med school, we are already exposed to organizations and 'study groups' that we sometimes head. More so during specialty training where hierarchy is very much observed. I am sure there are doctors out there acting as managers or CEO's of different corporations or companies. Indeed, we are no longer limited to the confines of the clinic and hospital. We have evolved to become much more than being members of the 'noble' profession. Here are 5 lessons on management shared to me by a colleague. The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.. . Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.' MLK, Jr. Lesson 1: A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstai

The Need for Sleep

Last Saturday, we had a successful medical mission in Pasig. We saw 300+ people, mostly kids. Majority of them, just like in most free clinics I participated in, presented with upper respiratory problems, i.e. cough and colds. What I noted rather unusual was the increased number of adults complaining of difficulty in going to sleep. Of course, I digged in at the possible causes and I found out most can probably be attributed to so much stress, related to domestic problems, more so with keeping both ends meet for their families. I offered no medicine for it, rather, advised them to find ways to relax and get rid of their stressors. With the present crisis, it is not surprising to see more and more people having difficulty in going to or getting sleep. The mind is at its busiest, thinking of a lot of things to cope up with the economic crisis. Although, we really can't do much about it, until life becomes easier, we should remember that 'sleep' is a necessity for our w

Cough Headache

Last Saturday, a 57 year-old man came for consult because of ‘cough headache’ for 2 months. He was apparently seen by a neurologist already and an almost complete work-up, i.e. Cranial CT Scan, Cranial MRI, duplex scan, blood chemistry, etc., has been done. However, no definite diagnosis has yet been made and the medications given did not relieve the condition. It was his first ENT consult. I could not think of an impression that the neurologist might not have considered. With the diagnostics done, I am sure he/she has thought of all the possible causes of this cough induced headache. All I could come up as a working diagnosis then was nonspecific neuralgia versus a vasculitis, to consider temporal arteritis. Here’s what Mayo Clinic say about this condition. Cough headaches are an unusual type of headache triggered by coughing and other types of straining — such as sneezing, blowing your nose, laughing, crying, singing or bending over, and straining when having a bowel mo

Women: More Children, Fewer Teeth?

I remember an aunt of mine who is on her early 40's, blessed with 16 kids, who asked me one time to fabricate a complete denture for her. I jokingly told her I'd rather not because it might make her prettier and cause her to get pregnant again. This is the best illustration to the following article regarding the relationship of a woman's parity and teeth. Quite interesting. Read on. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A German folk saying that means "every child costs the mother one tooth" may hold a lot of truth, research published on Thursday indicates. Women who gave birth to more children tended to lose more teeth during their lives, regardless of whether they were rich or poor, U.S researchers found. They examined data on 2,635 U.S. women ages 18 to 64, sorting the nationally representative sample into three categories -- low, middle and high socioeconomic status . In the highest socioeconomic group, women with no children were missing on av