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.

History: The three most common symptoms in COPD are 1) cough, 2) sputum production and 3) exertional dyspnea. Many patients will have the above named symptoms for months or years. They will seek medical attention only when there will be an episode of acute exacerbation. However, a careful history usually reveals the presence of symptoms prior to the acute exacerbation. Exertional dyspnea is often described as 1) increased effort to breathe, 2) heaviness, 3) air hunger or 4) gasping. The dyspnea is more when the patient does activities involving significant arm work, particularly at or above shoulder level. Conversely, activities that allow the patient to brace the arms and use accessory muscles of respiration are better tolerated.e.g. pushing a shopping cart, walking on a treadmill or pushing a wheelchair. As COPD advances, the principal feature is worsening dyspnea on exertion with increasing intrusion on the ability to perform vocational or avocational activities. In

Barrel shaped chest is commonly encountered in the clinical setting. It is seen in emphysema, hence also called as emphysematous chest. The anteroposterior diameter is increased (normally transverse:AP diameter is 7:5). The subcostal angle is wide (usually it is acute at around 70 degrees). The angle of Louis is unduly prominent with the sternum more arched. The spine is concave forwards and the ribs are less oblique. The respiratory movements are diminished bilaterally, with the mediastinum remaining in the central position. On percussion, the lung is hyper-resonant. On auscultation, there is a diminished vesicular breathing with a prolonged expiration. Rhonchi may be present.

Body Mass Index is also known as the Quetelet Index, after the Belgian astronomer, statistician, sociologist and mathematician Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. It is a very easy and frequently used method to assess obesity, though it is not a direct measure of adiposity. It is c alcula ted by dividing the patient body mass (kg) by the square of his/her height (m). BMI = kg/ m 2 Classification of weight status: BMI (kg/m 2 ) Obesity Class Risk of Disease Underweight < 18.5 Healthy weight 18.5–24.9 Overweight 25.0–29.9 Increased Obesity 30.0–34.9 I High Obesity 35.0–39.9 II Very high Extreme Obesity > 40 III Extremely high Obesity is defined as a BMI varying from 30-39.9 kg/ m 2 . It is further classified into grades I, II and III. Extreme obesity with a BMI of greater than 40 is also called as morbid obesity. As seen on the right side of the table above, being overweight and the various classes of obesity is closely related t

This type of gait can be seen in cases of cerebellar or sensory ataxia. Cerebellar ataxia and gait: The problem here lies with the coordinating mechanisms in the cerebellum and its connecting systems. The gait is a clumsy, staggering, unsteady, irregular, lurching, titubating and wide-based. The patient may sway to either side, back or forward. Leg movements are erratic, and step length varies unpredictably. The patient is unable to follow a straight line on the floor (to walk tandem). With a lesion of the cerebellar vermis, the patient will exhibit a lurching, staggering gait but without laterality, the ataxia will be as marked toward one side as the other. Cerebellar ataxia is present with eyes both open and closed; it may increase slightly with eyes closed but not so markedly as in sensory ataxia. A gait resembling cerebellar ataxia is seen in acute alcohol intoxication. With a hemispheric lesion the patient will stagger and deviate toward the involved side. In disease l

 DEFINITION  Edema is an abnormal presence of excessive fluid in the interstitial space.  PATHOPHYSIOLOGY  The movement of water and low molecular weight solutes such as salts between the intravascular and interstitial spaces is controlled primarily by the opposing effect of vascular hydrostatic pressure and plasma colloid osmotic pressure. Normally the outflow of fluid from the arteriolar end of the microcirculation into the interstitium is nearly balanced by inflow at the venular end. A small residual amount of fluid may be left in the interstitium and is drained by the lymphatic vessels, ultimately returning to the bloodstream via the thoracic duct. Either increased capillary pressure, diminished colloid osmotic pressure or inadequate lymphatic drainage can result in an abnormally increased interstitial fluid i.e. edema. An abnormal increase in interstitial fluid within tissues is called edema, while fluid collections in the different body cavities are variously