Tips to avoid pollen allergy outcomes for the patients with asthma specially:

avoid dust

avoid going into the hilly areas or lush green areas where pollen is in abundance

wear the protective mask to keep out any pollens from getting into your wind pipe.

avoid cold

Nebulize everyday for around 10 minutes

keep the inhaler with you at all times, specially when you go out

take mast cell stabalizer (monteka for example) and antihistamine (telfast-d for example) during this season to help avoind getting pollen allergy attacks.

If the patient gets serious shortness of breath (SOB) don’t wait for magic to happen at home, rush him or her to the hospital.

Eosinophils are usually indicative of any allergic reaction going on in the body.

Eosinophils are generally associated with antigen-antibody reactions taking place int he body. So any situation in which allergic reaction takes place in the body as a result of any allergic agent or a hypersensitivity reaction, eosinophils count will shoot up.

Examples of reactions in which eosinophils count will rise include:

• hay fever
• asthma
• drug hypersensitivity
• bee stings
• etc

Note: Decrease in eosinophils count can be seen in the patients receiving corticosteroids therapy.

The lab reports always go along with the history and physical examination of the patient and there is no alternate for professional medical consultation.

First of all we need to have a brief background. Less mature neutrophils are called bands or stabs (due to their appearance).

In acute bacterial infection, there will be increase in total number of mature neutrophils along with less mature bands or stabs in response to the infection.

In old days, when the laboratory reports were written by hand, less mature neutrophils were written first on the left side of the lab report. This term is holdover from that era and increase in less mature neutrophils is still called as “shift to left” in acute infections.

Less mature neutrophils are less than 10% of the total neutrophils in the blood stream. So if the complete blood picture says that there is a shift to left then it means that the less mature neutrophils are more than 10% in this patients blood.

There is a difference in neutrophils response to bacterial and viral infections.

Neutrophils count increases in cases of bacterial infection (exceptions are typhoid, brucelosis, etc).

However, viral infections tend to reduce the neutrophils count (e.g hepatitis, influenza, rubella, rubeola, and mumps).

So next time you face a patient with symptoms of an acute infection and a valid history, the neutrophils count would be helpful in determining which type of infection is going on in the patient, viral or bacterial.

Note: This post is not at all an alternate to professional medical consultation, consult a doctor if you’re having any symptoms of viral or bacterial infection and don’t take only neutrophil count as the indicator of bacterial or viral infection.

Being overweight is a major problem with most people now a days. The main cause is inactive and sedentary life style along with unhealthy food that we’re consuming all day long.

Please note, ideal weight loss and life style includes proper diet with proper exercise regularly.

Weight loss diet plan

Please note, the following meal items are not meant to be “absolutely consumed” at that meal time, rather the choices are listed which should be consumed in proper amount.

Breakfast :

• sugar free tea / coffee
• bran based biscuit if available (2-4)
• egg white only
• banana (1 or 2 only)

Lunch and dinner :

• steamed / bar-b-q chicken, mutton, beef or fish
• pulses
• boiled rice (not much)
• bran bread (not much)
• raw vegetables only

Note: lunch can be skipped or replaced with raw vegetables only depending upon your craving / weight loss requirement

Snacks (very small quantity):

• apple
• orange
• nuts

For beverages:

• sugar + fat free drinks only
• water, lots and lots of water

Supplements :

• calcium supplements (abocal / qalsan-d or any sugar free one)
• multivitamins (revitalemulti / centrum)

Note: supplements help alot in avoiding triggering starvation mode and speed up weight loss

Water, have lots and lots of water with the weight loss diet plan.

Keep me posted about your weight loss progress and if you have any queries!

Emergency treatment for low blood pressure (hypotension)

First of all, make sure that the condition you’re feeling is “hypotension” / low blood pressure. Because if the blood pressure is already high, increasing it further may lead to complications. So make sure you check the blood pressure properly using bp apparatus (sphygmomanometer) and make sure its LOW (below 100/80 atleast)

Secondly, make sure that the person isn’t hypertensive, that is, he don’t have high blood pressure issues, as he may go into hypertension again once remedies for low blood pressure are being given, uncontrolled.

Now comes the main part, how to elevate the blood pressure of a person in hypotension.

Salt - Salt is the potent blood pressure elevator. Whenever you’re experiencing low blood pressure, take some salt with water and it will restore your blood pressure within seconds. Pour and stir some salt in water until it gets saturated and starts settling down in the glass and then drink it.

Let me know if you have any queries related to low blood pressure and its emergency management when you don’t have any hospital or medication near you.

Well there are several remedies to lower down your blood pressure at home in an emergency situation which we’ll be sharing in this post.

Please note, tips to lower down your blood pressure in this post aren’t meant to replace specialist consultation and hospital visit in any circumstances. Please visit your nearest hospital whenever possible in case of hypertension as it may have serious outcomes.

First of all, once you find out high blood pressure, note it down in a notebook with date and time with it.

Secondly, drink WATER. lots and lots of it.

Water is an emergency blood pressure lowering agent. It might not work to lower the blood pressure when it’s “too” high, but still lowers it to a certain degree.

When ever you have high blood pressure and don’t have any antihypertensive medication around you, start drinking water. Lots and lots of it, once glass after another. After 4-8 glass of water you will definitely feel an urge to urinate.

Recheck your blood pressure after urinating and keep on having water.

Intake of extra water causes kidneys to filter out the excess water from the body, which infact also takes out the salt from the body leading to lowering of blood pressure.

This tip is tried by me personally on my patients and it really works when we’re out of medications at home or at some place.

There are other tips around on the internet too but haven’t tested them or heard them from any reliable source so will prefer not sharing them.

Please note, don’t give water to a patient when he is unconscious or semi conscious as it may go in his respiratory tract and cause serious complications.

First of all, one should understand that there are different levels of doctors working in any department. They can be listed in this sequence

• Head of department (professor)
  • assistant professors
    • senior registrar
      • Medical Officers
      • Post Graduate Trainees
        • House officers

Professor and assistant professors are everyday on call. Means they’re responsible for whatever their team does but their presence has to be from 8am to 2pm in the hospital.

Senior registrars are supposed to be in hospital from 8am to 2pm too. But they’re supposed to visit hospital in the evening / night and do the “round” on their call day.

Post graduate trainees (pg) and house officers (ho) are supposed to be in hospital daily from 8am to 2pm. However, on their call day they’re not supposed to leave the hospital at all and be at their duty place (ward, emergency, OT). They’re practically running the hospital ward and emergency, specially after 2pm. The duty of pg and ho on call is continuous 30 hours (and 36 in some hospitals).

How many calls per week ? It depends on the number of doctors in the team. If there are 4 doctors and 2 doctors per day are on call, then it makes “alternate call” for them. Which means, they come 8′o clock in the morning of one day, leave the hospital at 2pm on next day. Then they come for duty at 8am on the next day and cycle continues.

Usually departments have 1 in 3 call (means 1 call every third day) or 1 in 4 too. However, alternate calls are very common too.

Herniorraphy = repairing the defect by stitching the healthy ends of tissue / muscle together

Hernioplasty = repairing the defect using mesh patches

How to remember it ? well if the original tissue is Repaired (R) then it’s hernioRraphy and if a mesh Patch is applied then its hernioPlasty.

How to relieve muscle pain after jogging ?

Well, I’ll list out a few points to overcome the muscle pain in legs after jogging / running after elaborating why exactly this pain occurs.

Why does we have muscle pain after jogging

• normal wear and tear of the muscles, leading to soreness / pain in legs
• lactic acid accumulation, lactic acid is collected in muscles and it gives pain all day long after running or any other exercise

How to relieve muscles pain after jogging 

1. don’t stop abruptly. When you stop after jogging, don’t just sit down or stop immediately, rather, continue doing brisk walk for around 100 m or so so that the blood keeps on circulating for some time after you stop jogging.
2. stretching, stretching muscles after any exercise reduces post exercise pain and cramps
3. vitamin E, it helps in reducing lactic acid accumulation induced pain in muscles
4. regularity, be regular, exercise everyday and you’ll feel no pain in less than a week

Hopefully these tips will help you reduce jogging or other exercise induced pain. If you have any queries or tips do let me know!