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THE TRUTH ABOUT LUMBAR PUNCTURE

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During one post-admission round, a senior doctor asked why the patient who came in unconscious the previous night was still being managed empirically and not with specific meds…the junior doctors’ response was that the relative had refused to authorise a lumbar puncture to be done and had signed in the file against it. This was one of the many cases I have seen where patients or relatives refuse consent for a lumbar puncture to be done. A simple response when asked why they refuse is always that they don’t think it is entirely necessary. The core of the answer however is the fear of imminent death once the procedure is performed. I too before I became a medical student had heard of many stories of how people had ‘died after a lumbar puncture’ had been done on them. I pictured it as a very invasive procedure that was probably performed with the patient positioned upside down or ‘turned inside out.’ How did we get here in the first place? Well am not too sure how, but have he...
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TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED

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What is it about Friday that makes us all tired? Or makes me tired? It was 1:30 pm by my watch and had only been in theatre for slightly over 4 hours. I was helping the anaesthetist pack the instruments after our last scheduled case when the attending surgeon came in. Seemed like our day wasn’t done yet. The anaesthetist too was tired but he gets paid anyway and I don’t. Am a student though and need to maximise every opportunity to learn too… I had the option of leaving and going to have lunch and rest (am human too) or staying back to learn some more..…this never ending internal conflict, this duel loyalty idea, at times just takes a toll. The patient was a 5-day old female neonate born with an imperforate anus-simply, the bottom end was closed. Sadly, this malformation doesn’t usually occur in isolation but is associated with heart, urinary, tracheal and oesophageal defects among others. Quickly, my thoughts were drawn to think of the little’s girl’s future outlook. Here I was in...
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Brain damaging habit 9 of 10: Cigarette smoking and Alcohol consumption

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Smoking is a damaging habit for the brain and other organs in the body. On autopsy, chronic smokers are found to have a thinner brain cortex than non-smokers. This part of the brain is essential for memory, language, perception and a host of other functions of the brain. A thinner brain cortex is associated with mental decline. These effects can also be reproduced in passive smokers, that is, people who stay with active smokers and end up unintentionally inhaling the polluted air. Alcohol consumption affects the body in many ways and has long lasting damaging effects on the brain even after it has left the body. Chronic alcohol use is associated with impaired memory and a slowing in reaction time. People who have been consuming large amounts of alcohol for extended periods of time run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain that persist well after the person achieves sobriety. Quit cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption.
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