Medicine Hack

Whether you are using the threadmill, the elliptical, the rowing machine or the stationary bike for your indoor workout, it is always better to start with around 5 minutes of warm up. Traditionally people go on the threadmill at a constant speed for around 30-45 minutes. In the first few days it will help you lose some weight but eventually no. The best way of losing weight is to do intensity training. This means doing intense activity for a short time and then continue at a lower pace and repeat this over. The best machine should have a built-in heart monitor and a digital watch. Calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Max Heart rate= 220-age (in years) For women it is better to use this formula: Max heart rate=206-0.88 age (in years) 1) After warming up, start at 80-90% of your max heart rate for 1 minute. 2) Then, recover for 2 minutes at 50-60% of your max heart rate. 3) These 3 minutes make 1 interval. Do 8 intervals in all. For beginners:

It is healthier to eat small, oily fish like sardines, herring and anchovies than larger predators like swordfish or king mackerel. Recent studies found that the level of mercury in the sardines was much lower and as we move up the food chain, there is more mercury concentrated in the fishes. So, it is better to get the omega 3 from the smaller fishes.

It is also known as the Common/Purple Foxglove or the Lady's Glove. The flowers are typically purple in colour but they can be pink or even white in some cultivations. At the end of the 18th century,  William Withering  introduced digitalis leaves as a tea into  the treatment of “cardiac dropsy” (edema  of congestive heart failure) and it helped many people . The active principles in these  plants are steroids with one or more sugar  molecules attached at C3. Proven  clinically , digoxin continues  to be obtained from the plants Digitalis  purpurea or D. lanata because its chemical  synthesis is too difficult and expensive.

The search for and use of an antidote should never replace good supportive care. Specific systemic antidotes are available for many common poisonings as shown in the table above. Inadequate availability of antidotes at acute care hospitals can complicate the care of a poisoned patient.  An evidenced-based consensus of experts has recommended minimum stocking requirements for 16 antidotes for acute care hospitals. These recommendations may provide guidance to pharmacy and therapeutics committees in establishing a hospital’s antidote needs. Drugs used conventionally for non-poisoning situations may act as antidotes to reverse acute toxicity, such as glucagon for β-adrenergic blocker or calcium channel antagonist overdose and octreotide for sulfonylurea-induced hypoglycemia. As our understanding of drug toxicity increases, antidotes may have applications beyond contemporary indications, such as for acetylcysteine, which has shown promise for treating approximately 25 different

It all started when Alexander Fleming discarded some of his culture plates that had been contaminated with mold. But fortunately, he had a second look to those cultures afterwards. He was amazed to see that in the area around the mold, the growth of bacteria was inhibited. The mold was identified as Penicillium notatum, the active inhibitor named penicillin. Above is a photo taken by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

He was a Dutch merchant and amateur scientist. He was probably the first person to observe live micro-organisms under magnifying lenses. He made a series of drawings of what he called as 'animalcules' i.e. small animals. He observed these by looking through his single-lens microscope at rainwater, his own feces and scrapings from his teeth. He made the drawings shown below.

1) Hydrocodone combined with acetaminophen, 2) Simvastatin, 3) Lisinopril, 4) Levothyroxine, 5) Amlodipine, 6) Omeprazole, 7) Azithromycin, 8) Amoxicillin, 9) Metformin and 10) Hydrochlorthiazide.

1. For adults requiring a peripheral catheter, upper extremity site is preferred. If it is for a child, then we can use both upper or lower extremities as well as scalp sites. 2. The catheter site should be evaluated everyday and if there is any sign of phlebitis, the catheter should be removed immediately. 3. For central catheters in adults, it is better to use the jugular or subclavian route rather than the femoral one. 4. Systemic antimicrobial prophylaxis is not essential when using I.V catheters.

Sleep is an integral part of our lives. An average adult should sleep around 7-8 hours per day. Sleep is important to maintain metabolic-caloric balance, thermal regulation and even immune competence. Sleep is also essential for learning and memory consolidation as well as increasing one's concentration. An advice to students will be to sleep well after studying. Your learning sessions will not show any improved performance until you have a slow wave or slow wave plus REM sleep. Slow wave sleep refers to a deep sleep while REM sleep refers to the period in sleep whereby there is a characteristic movement of the eyeballs during the sleep. Medical interns and residents are known to burn the midnight oil. But unfortunately for them, working for more than 24 continual hours make them around 40% more prone to make medical errors. Residents are twice more likely to have attentional failure i.e. they forget what they are actually doing. Studies  have shown that 1 in 5 residents believ

Ginkgo extracts are derived from the leaf of the ginkgo plant. It is the most commonly purchased herbal remedy in the USA. It is believed to help in non-dementia related memory problems, Alzheimer's disease, vertigo and even peripheral vascular diseases. There is documented evidence that ginkgo inhibits platelet activating factor and hence it is useful to decrease blood viscosity. The dosage to treat claudication is 40-80 mg three times daily. Caution must be taken if patient is taking heparin, warfarin, clopidogrel or aspirin as there may be increased chances of bleeding.

a.c - ante cibum i.e. before food. p.c - post cibum (after food). o.m - omni mane (every morning). o.n - omni nocte (every night). o.d - omni die (once daily). b.d - bis die (twice daily). t.i.d - ter in die ( three times daily). t.d.s - ter die sumendum (to be taken three times daily). q.d.s - quater die sumendum (to be taken four times daily). p.r.n - pro re nata (when required). stat - immediately.

Life expectancy in the United States has changed from 48.3 yr in 1900 to 78.4 yr in 2011. That of the United Kingdom from 46.4 yr to 78.0 yr. Both countries have passed through the age of pestilence and famine, the age of pandemics, the age of degenerative diseases to finally enter into the age of inactivity and obesity.