Talking to my family yesterday, we were talking about the recent challenge thrown down by psychologists against psychiatrists. We often discuss the merits of the biological vs the social model of health and the idea of whether the mind and body can be separated, or whether the distinction is so blurred that they must be considered as one entity. One idea put forward was that it does not matter either way. They are simply two ways at interpreting the same thing. Which is quite a good point to take.
Also, I may as well point out how mature I am. Here is a link to one video out of a selection of anatomic drawings. The videos are very good and I am working my way through them, learning the parts as I go. With this particular video, at 2:50 it says "The second pathway goes via the enzyme cyclooxygenase, also known as cox".
I giggled.
Wednesday 15 May 2013
Saturday 11 May 2013
Perfect prognosis
Hmm, what if we could make a perfect prognosis for someone from birth, based on any genetic diseases. So, a child could be told "at 24 you will develop a neuro-degenerative disease, meaning you will not be able to use your arms. By 28 this will spread to your legs and at 32 you will be in a coma."
Obviously this is a thought experiment, so please engage it as such.
Should the child be told? Would they be? We are only formally told about puberty at about the time that it happens (at least in my school). Is that a parallel that we can take? It is something you have general notions of, and society being what it is you have general expectations for something like it. Of course, mainstream TV/media and the availability of porn mean that most of those expectations will be wrong.
The parallel is also different because it is a norm expected of everyone. Give or take, children enter puberty at around the same time. Women enter menopause around the same time plus/minus a decade. All stasticially expressible.
But what if someone had a prognosis to die or comatose by the time they were 30. How would that shape their upbringing? The parents would know they would have to plan the funeral, the children would know that if they had children (even at 16), they would not be able to care for them all through their formative years. It would create completely different expectations for life.
Obviously this is a thought experiment, so please engage it as such.
Should the child be told? Would they be? We are only formally told about puberty at about the time that it happens (at least in my school). Is that a parallel that we can take? It is something you have general notions of, and society being what it is you have general expectations for something like it. Of course, mainstream TV/media and the availability of porn mean that most of those expectations will be wrong.
The parallel is also different because it is a norm expected of everyone. Give or take, children enter puberty at around the same time. Women enter menopause around the same time plus/minus a decade. All stasticially expressible.
But what if someone had a prognosis to die or comatose by the time they were 30. How would that shape their upbringing? The parents would know they would have to plan the funeral, the children would know that if they had children (even at 16), they would not be able to care for them all through their formative years. It would create completely different expectations for life.
Friday 10 May 2013
Circulation
Wow...the veins are extensive. I have been going through them this evening with my father. He discusses what I have just studied to fin out what I actually learned - its a great way to find out what I only skimmed over.
There are a lot. Every branch, and every divide has a name. Interestingly, there only seems to be names for the bits of pipeline, rather than the connections. I.e. the aorta (which takes blood from the heart) turns into an easily identifiable bit called the aortic arch, from which come three other bits of pipeline - the brachiocephalic artery, the left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery. Link here for a delightful diagram courtesy of wikipedia. Yet there is no "arch-carotid junction" or similar. I suppose that in the old days of surgery, those who wielded the sharp knives were more concerned with saying "I say old chap, lets cut into your brachicephalic artery" rather than in directing themselves around the corners by saying "head left at the jugular roundabout".
It is the difference, I suppose, between being a driver and being a cartographer.
There are a lot. Every branch, and every divide has a name. Interestingly, there only seems to be names for the bits of pipeline, rather than the connections. I.e. the aorta (which takes blood from the heart) turns into an easily identifiable bit called the aortic arch, from which come three other bits of pipeline - the brachiocephalic artery, the left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery. Link here for a delightful diagram courtesy of wikipedia. Yet there is no "arch-carotid junction" or similar. I suppose that in the old days of surgery, those who wielded the sharp knives were more concerned with saying "I say old chap, lets cut into your brachicephalic artery" rather than in directing themselves around the corners by saying "head left at the jugular roundabout".
It is the difference, I suppose, between being a driver and being a cartographer.
Thursday 9 May 2013
Second thoughts on neurology
Where to go?
I think I will do a synopsis of some of the articles I have read recently.
2013 - Lange - 5-year cross-sectional outcome study
http://www.dvbic.org/sites/default/files/Lange,%205-year%20cross-sectional%20outcome%20study_0.pdf
The key things I got from this article was firstly that the length of loss of consciousness during the initial injury is a factor in the long term severity, and would affect recovery in terms of PTSD. Also that it was very difficult to identify patterns of symptom reporting.
The second of those findings was very important to me. In 2011 I finished a dissertation on the depression in the first half of the 20th century. I had found that doctors of the time, whether GPs or those that would classify themselves as specialists on mental illness would try and find neat ways of labelling people. One quick example is by Bedford Pierce. Hailed by many as an enlightened man, he ran a retreat for people with mental illness. He seems to show diligent care for those under his care, and an article on him can be found here. However, in an article for the BMJ he offers four very unsatisfactory ways to classify them. None of them really work, and cite that arriving hot and flustered for an examination was a symptom of depression (not the only one, but still). The article can be found here.
The loss of consciousness factor does not seem to be a new thing and I found an earlier article from 2008 which mentions something similar.
I think I will do a synopsis of some of the articles I have read recently.
2013 - Lange - 5-year cross-sectional outcome study
http://www.dvbic.org/sites/default/files/Lange,%205-year%20cross-sectional%20outcome%20study_0.pdf
The key things I got from this article was firstly that the length of loss of consciousness during the initial injury is a factor in the long term severity, and would affect recovery in terms of PTSD. Also that it was very difficult to identify patterns of symptom reporting.
The second of those findings was very important to me. In 2011 I finished a dissertation on the depression in the first half of the 20th century. I had found that doctors of the time, whether GPs or those that would classify themselves as specialists on mental illness would try and find neat ways of labelling people. One quick example is by Bedford Pierce. Hailed by many as an enlightened man, he ran a retreat for people with mental illness. He seems to show diligent care for those under his care, and an article on him can be found here. However, in an article for the BMJ he offers four very unsatisfactory ways to classify them. None of them really work, and cite that arriving hot and flustered for an examination was a symptom of depression (not the only one, but still). The article can be found here.
The loss of consciousness factor does not seem to be a new thing and I found an earlier article from 2008 which mentions something similar.
Friday 3 May 2013
First thoughts on neurology
I realised today, on a sort of date with someone that I am not very enthusiastic about the things that interest me. Hopefully by writing about it, I might be able to work up more enthusiasm, because medicine is something that greatly interests me.
So firstly...neurology.
http://bookshop.rcplondon.ac.uk/details.aspx?e=354
A publication by the Royal College of Physicians, written two years ago, the main points of it are to expand and improve the organisation of neurology on a local level.
Sounds really good, and since it is a field I am interested in, it is something that I may be able to get involved with in time.
*The following is based on my perhaps naive perceptions on the field. But part of the point of this blog is to share my thoughts...so meh to it.*
Neurology seems to be a field that is simultaneously the most high tech in medicine, but at the same time is limited by a lack of understanding. Largely expressed by this:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21573089-ambitious-project-map-brain-works-possibly-too-ambitious-hard
So firstly...neurology.
http://bookshop.rcplondon.ac.uk/details.aspx?e=354
A publication by the Royal College of Physicians, written two years ago, the main points of it are to expand and improve the organisation of neurology on a local level.
Sounds really good, and since it is a field I am interested in, it is something that I may be able to get involved with in time.
*The following is based on my perhaps naive perceptions on the field. But part of the point of this blog is to share my thoughts...so meh to it.*
Neurology seems to be a field that is simultaneously the most high tech in medicine, but at the same time is limited by a lack of understanding. Largely expressed by this:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21573089-ambitious-project-map-brain-works-possibly-too-ambitious-hard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)