What to ask Your Doctor before Coronary Angiogram?

Coronary angiogram is a complex yet arty procedure where the cardiologist dexterously inserts a narrow tube called catheter through the femoral/ radial artery with plastic introducer sheath. The catheter is guided through the artery into the heart and then dye is injected into the artery. The dye flows through the artery to the heart and stops or goes slow at the clogs in the heart arteries. The percentage of block is asserted by the cardiologists. This whole process is monitored through a highly defined x-ray machine managed by specialized technicians. As much as it sounds easy, coronary angiogram has immense risks attached if not performed by specialized team.

This article will give you insight into the urgency of the procedure or if at all you require it or if you will benefit from it or not

How important or necessary is this test for diagnosis?

Angiography is an important procedure that confirms the ailment. It's just an invasive diagnostic that help the doctors decide on the treatment thereafter. The urgency and the immediate need of the procedure can only be decided by the consultants, who will be knowing the degree and the importance of the procedure.

When is it done?

Doctors recommend angiography when you are symptomatic of pain in your chest, jaw, neck or arm (that can't be explained by other tests), unstable angina, a heart defect you were born with, a heart valve problem that requires surgery.

What to keep in mind before angiogram?

If you:

Are allergic to iodine dye used in the test

Have ever had a serious allergic reaction

Have asthma

Are allergic to any medicines

Have any bleeding problems or are taking blood-thinning medicines

Have a history of kidney problems or chronic diabetes

What will happen during the procedure?

During a coronary angiogram, a type of dye that's visible by X-ray machine is injected into the blood vessels of your heart. The x-ray machine rapidly takes a series of images (angiograms), giving a detailed look at the inside of your blood vessels and the heart.

What are the risks?

Most of the times, major complications are rare. However, potential risks and complications include: heart attack, stroke, injury to the catheterized artery, irregular heart rhythms, allergic reactions to the dye or medications used during the procedure, kidney damage, excessive bleeding, infection, blood clots, radiation exposure from the X-rays

What does it reveal?

An angiogram show doctors what's wrong with your blood vessels. It can:

Show how many of your coronary arteries are blocked or narrowed

Locate the blockages in your blood vessels

Show how much blood flow is blocked through your blood vessels

Check the results of previous coronary bypass surgery or stenting

Check the blood flow through your heart and blood vessels

Check the size and movement of the heart valves

Based on the results, your cardiologist decides on the treatment from which you would be optimally benefited. For instance, that you would benefit from having coronary angioplasty, bypass surgery, valve replacement or just medical management.

How to keep your germs to yourself

Pathogenic germs are there everywhere, all around us, in the environment. The so called filthy, dirty places are the hub of germs and deadly infectious diseases – this we all know but it’s the clean and supposedly germ free places that should be our concern. For instance your dinner plate can have millions of germs thriving on it. Or the sparkling clean floors, walls, your kitchen? All could be the thriving place for tiny warmongers. You never know!

There are various ways by which you can keep yourself germs free – both preventive and curative. Beside, vaccinations and inoculation, which are the popular ways, antibiotics impede the growth of germs by killing their growth and spreading all over the organs. Our personal hygiene and the consciousness of a cleaner environment add to the germs free and disease free life. It’s also important that you know the priority of keeping the germs to yourself. Here is how:

How to keep your germs to yourself

Cover your nose and mouth while sneezing, coughing, blowing nose.

Discard used tissues in the trash immediately. Cover the trash bin.

Wash your hands after sneezing, blowing your nose or coughing.

Use warm water and soap or alcohol base gel, sanitizers, disposable wipes to wash your hands.

Try to stay at home since that not only helps you recover fast but also helps the environment from spreading the contagious germs.

See a doctor and abide by his prescription. Take rest.

If asked, use face mask.

This doesn’t take much, does it? So, make sure you do your best to keep your environment germs free and the people safe. Happy living safe and healthy!

Self Medication: How safe is it?

Popping pills without prescription: How safe is it?

Self medication is the practice of talking medicines, mostly for generalized symptoms, for oneself without consulting the specialist. In India we are privileged with the right to buy medicines over-the-counter (OTC). However, many forget where to draw the line, and go ahead buying medicines for illnesses that might get them to trouble later in life.

OTC drugs have certainly made life easier for average Indians. However, the same could lead us to irreversible health damages. It’s a common practice to buy anti-fungal creams, analgesics, sunscreens, anti-dandruff shampoos, which are also considered as OTC drugs. We all do that. These are common dermatologically proven health products that hardly get us into reverse medical conditions.

Some even go over the board buying Aspirin, Paracetamols, Vitamin tablets, expectorant and non-expectorant syrups. Buying these does not harm us as much as taking the wrong dosage does. We do not have the medical expertise to decide for the correct dosage. There are so many factors associated with the taking in of the medicines. The prevalent medical conditions of a patient should be taken into account first and foremost. Some people increase the dose without consulting; assuming that two pills would make them feel better than one and so on. They go onto share these tips with family members and friends and influence them as well. Lack of knowledge could be fatal and what seems like a harmless thing could easily lead to disaster.

Self medication is the practice of talking medicines, mostly for generalized symptoms, for oneself without consulting the specialist. In India we are privileged with the right to buy medicines over-the-counter (OTC). However, many forget where to draw the line, and go ahead buying medicines for illnesses that might get them to trouble later in life.

OTC drugs have certainly made life easier for average Indians. However, the same could lead us to irreversible health damages. It’s a common practice to buy anti-fungal creams, analgesics, sunscreens, antidandruff shampoos, which are also considered as OTC drugs. We all do that. These are common dermatologically proven health products that hardly get us into reverse medical conditions.

How safe are Vitamins?

Self medication even while taking vitamins is a big NO. Millions of people who are popping in vitamins are risking their lives to various ailments. Malignant melanoma is now proven to be one of them. Even the water soluble vitamins could lead to dire medical conditions like kidney stone, liver damage, muscle cramps, diarrhoea.

Some do’s and donot’s

Consult your doctor before taking self medication, if you are not sure

Read the warnings and instructions to avoid the possible cross reactions

Get you closet clean of expired medicines

Take the medicines when prescribed

Never share or decide medicines for others

Do your bit of research and know what you are taking

Be a smart citizen, know your life

It is always better to take the natural food supplements like farm fresh vegetables, fruits, cereals, milk, hand made bread, dry fruits. Going back to nature and going back to minimalism makes living safer and healthier.

Bunions and Heel Spur: Two painful feet conditions

The two terrible feet conditions that people often suffer from are heel spur and bunions. Both are inexpressibly painful and are persistent so much so that it becomes hard to get rid of them. 

Calcaneal spur, commonly known as heel spur, is the in-growth of the calcaneal (heel bone) mostly due to deposit of calcium. Bunion is a foot condition where the big toe bends towards the second toe forming a sharp bony prominence. Pains, from mild to severe, are caused by the inflammation and the bone pressing against the shoe.  Bunions are more common in women and are caused by a number of reasons, including wearing shoes that are too tight, years of abnormal motion, poor foot mechanics, bone deformities, flat feet and arthritis. However, common to both feet conditions are our body weight. Obese people are more prone and it’s generally reported that being overweight is an aggravating factor.

 Symptoms of heel spur:

Excessive continuing pain on putting your heel flat

On slow and less walking it decreases temporarily

On fast walking, jumping, carrying weights the pain increases

Treatment:

Stretching exercises

Losing body weight

Wearing shoes that have cushions, heel cradle and heel cup all over and absorb shocks

R.I.C.E therapy

Symptoms of bunions:

Moderate to severe pain on walking

Bony growth of the big toe

Big toe bent towards the other toes

Both feet usually affected

Treatment:

Choose shoes with roomy toe box, cushioned cradle and padding all over to accommodate the bony prominence.

Losing body weight

R.I.C.E therapy

Surgery is an option when conservative treatment fails and you have chronic pains.

What is  RICE-(M)?

R – Relative Rest

I – Ice

C – Compression

E – Elevation

M – Motion

Chuck the High Heels now

High heels make you look sassy and elegant and make you feel fantastically beautiful. Having to wear, balance and walk comfortably in high heels, is an art in itself. Wearing them is at the discretion of the individuals, and being aware is another thing. The effects of wearing habitual high heels are slow but could be severe at some point and it varies from individual to individual.

1. Back, feet, legs ache: constant wearing could lead to chronic lower back pain and muscle sprains which could lead to severe injuries and bone shortening, ligament and cartilage tearing and knee injury.

2. Spine stress and posture defect: Wearing high heels regularly could deform the spine and affect the posture by dis-balancing body movements.

3. Bunions and severe feet condition: High heels lead to unhealthy feet and legs leading to conditions like bunions, in growing toe nails and other severe conditions that might require surgical intervention.

4. Restricted blood circulation: In some cases they may lead to constricted blood circulation leading to unhealthy nervous system.

6. Mental imbalance: In rare cases, it's been found that the mental health has been impaired to certain extent.

I have enough reasons to drink tea!

Being a tea drinker, I love trying newer varieties of tea. I love the Darjeeling leave tea, which is essentially the flavor tea. Having said that, different occasions and different time of the day would

decide on the type of tea I would drink at that point in time. My father is also a tea drinker- that makes two of us in the family. My sisters drink tea occasionally, ceremoniously and at times as medicinal dosage. I love the way they prepare themselves to actually sip in the hot, energy beverage!

The antioxidants that tea, both black and green, contains, reduces the harmful effects of the fats and oils consumed. It lowers cholesterol levels and helps maintain normal blood pressure levels. It raises the levels of good cholesterol over bad cholesterol.

Green tea has cancer preventive properties that work against the development of cancerous cells.

It helps prevent tooth decay, gum diseases and various other dental disorders. It also helps maintain good dental health. It prevents bad breath, insomnia, fatigue and helps maintain vitality and vigor.

It increases mental awareness and prevents cognitive disorders. It helps eliminate stress and promotes overall relaxation. It promotes a healthy skin and hair and slows down the process of aging.

So, I have enough good reasons to endorse tea. You cannot blame me! Happy drinking tea!!

Don't postpone your joy, live it

Are You Having Enough Fun?

Today most of us stressed out and its not just economic downturn but am overall pressure that seems to engulf us. Fun is obviously subjective, 'one woman's puzzle is another woman's nightmare'.
Here is a list of fun activities that I gathered from Valerie Riess of Holistic living.

50 Ways to Have More Fun

1) Bounce on a trampoline

2) Watch 30 Rock on Hulu.com

3) Make a list of music you'd love to hear live. Get tickets.

4) Pull together your friends and/or family for a jamboree--of homemade and real instruments

5) Go dancing

6) Book a cheap flight

7) Relax in a hammock

8) Go swimming

9) Check off a few items on your life list

10) Make a life list

11) Go to the zoo

12) Find one un-fun thing you can NOT do and don't do it

13) Read a juicy novel

14) Write a juicy novel

15) Go bowling

16) Do bumper cars

17) Draw

18) Fingerpaint

19) Invent a new dessert. Share.

20) Make a stuffed animal

21) Create an altar

22) Play ball--basket, base, tennis, dodge

23) Run

24) Take a froofy scented bath

25) Get on a boat

26) Adopt a goat

27) Visit a farm

28) Take a guided tour

29) Go to a museum you would never normally consider

30) Walk a dog (borrow if you need to)

31) Visit someone you love. Or invite them to visit you.

32) Paint a mural

33) Learn to stand on your head

34) Cuddle

35) Go for a picnic--on your living room floor if need be

36) Visit Cuteoverload.com

37) Have a progressive potluck with your neighbors

38) Make raw chocolate

39) Ride a bike

40) Play frisbee

41) Have an afternoon tea party where everyone has to wear a hat

42) Make your own ice cream sandwiches

43) Make your own ice cream with an ice cream ball

44) Hop on a train or a bus and go somewhere you've never been--within an hour of your home

45) Go to a make-your-own-pottery place

46) Buy a fruit or vegetable you've never had (like Buddha's Hand)

47) Have a clothing swap with friends

48) Have a house swap with strangers

49) Make a music mix. Groove.

50) Have a poetry reading

What do you do for fun?


Image credit: Pinterest