Health Tips

Have many questions about your health? Our Health Link can help you.

10 Essential Health Tips

Health Tip 1. Move More
Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given a choice between that and escalators or elevators. Walk your dog; chase your kids; toss balls with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it's a stress buster. Think 'move' in small increments of time. It doesn't have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute aerobic dance class or Tai chi or kick-boxing. But that's great when you're up to it. Meanwhile, move more.

Health Tip 2. Cut Fat
Avoid the obvious such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meats (i.e. pork, bacon, ham, salami, ribs and sausage). Dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream should be eaten in low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts. Most are available in lower fat versions such as substitute butter, fat free cheeses and mayonnaise.

Health Tip 3. Quit Smoking
The jury is definitely in on this verdict. Ever since 1960 when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health. Just recently, we've seen a surge in smoking in adolescents and teens. Could it be the movie influence? It seems the stars in every movie of late smoke cigarettes. Beware. Warn your children of the false romance or 'tough guy' stance of movie star smokers.

Health Tip 4. Reduce Stress
Easier said than done, stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e. Soak in a hot tub; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your dog; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible.

Health Tip 5. Protect Yourself from Pollution
If you can't live in a smog-free environment, at least avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise outside when the smog rating is low. Exercise indoors in air conditioning when air quality is good. Plant lots of shrubbery in your yard. It's a good pollution and dirt from the street deterrent.

Health Tip 6. Wear Your Seat Belt
Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes.

Health Tip 7. Floss Your Teeth
Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it's because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don't?

Health Tip 8. Avoid Excessive Drinking
While recent studies show a glass of wine or one drink a day (two for men) can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer.

Health Tip 9. Keep a Positive Mental Outlook
There's a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life.

Health Tip 10. Choose Your Parents Well
The link between genetics and health is a powerful one. But just because one or both of your parents died young in ill health doesn't mean you cannot counteract the genetic pool handed you. Thought for the day: Follow these basic tips for healthy living and you can better control your own destiny.

Facts about Operating Room Line -up
Patients often do not put any thought into who will actually be in the operating room (OR) during their surgery. It may be surprising to know, that it takes a pretty large staff to perform even the "simplest" of surgeries:

• Primary Surgeon - The physician who performs your surgery and is responsible for your overall care.
   
• Second Surgeon ("Second Scrub") - A physician who "scrubs in" to assist your primary surgeon.
   
• Surgical Assistant - A medical practitioner with surgical training, often employed by the surgeon.
   
• Surgical Technician - A nurse with surgical training, often employed by the hospital to assist in the OR.
   
• Anesthesiologist - The physician who is responsible for your medical care while you are under anesthesia.
   
• Nurse Anesthetist - A nurse who assists in administering anesthesia, usually in the operating room.
   
• Scrub Nurse - A nurse who "scrubs in" to assist surgeons with sterile procedures at the operating table.
   
• Circulating Nurse - The nurse who is responsible for non-sterile tasks in the operating room.
   
• Holding Room Nurse - The nurse who receives patients and prepares them for surgery in the preoperative area.
   
• Recovery Nurse - The nurse who cares for patients in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) after surgery.

It is important to note that anyone present during a surgery is noted in the medical record and a patient does have the right to know who was present and what organization they are associated with.
(Hill, A.J., MD, PhD. The Patient's Guide to Anesthesia. New York: Kensington, 1999.)

About Anesthesia
Anesthesia can be defined as the loss of normal sensation or feeling. Anesthesiologists use drugs to produce this loss of feeling or awareness.

Types of Anesthesia

• Infiltration - A local anesthetic is injected directly into the tissue where the surgery will take place. Many people encounter this technique in the emergency department, when a doctor injects local anesthetic before sewing up a cut. The same method can be used for a variety of minor procedures in the operating room, too. In these cases, although the injections may be performed by the surgeon him or herself, an anesthesiologist is often needed to monitor the patient and to give sedation or other medications that may be required during the operation.
• Regional Anesthesia - Local anesthesia is injected around a major nerve bundle. This anesthetic method produces temporary numbness in a limited area of the body by blocking nerve impulses from that area. There are two types of regional anesthesia: peripheral nerve blocks, which involve a relatively small part of the body, such as an arm or a foot; and spinals and epidurals, which can involve the entire lower portion of the body.

"It's important to note that neither local infiltration nor regional anesthesia puts you to sleep. This means that, using either of these forms of anesthesia, you can have surgery comfortably while wide awake."

• General Anesthesia - When most people think surgery, they picture this type of anesthesia, in which patients are put temporarily into a deep sleep. In practice, general anesthesia ranges from the relatively light levels used during minor surgery to the deepest levels used in major operations. The defining characteristics of general anesthesia is that, unlike infiltration and regional anesthesia, it acts primarily on the brain rather than on the nerves leading to the brain.

Anesthesia Care Team
The anesthesia care team is made up of an anesthesiologist and a nurse anesthetist. An anesthesiologist is a physician who has gone through four years of medical school plus an additional four years of training in medicine and anesthesia. A certified registered nurse anesthetist completes two years of nursing school after college plus two additional years of training in anesthesia. Normally, the nurse anesthetist stays through the entire surgery to make sure that no complications occur during the procedure.
(Hill, A.J., MD, PhD. The Patient's Guide to Anesthesia. New York: Kensington, 1999.)

Patient Care after Surgery
Once a patient is moved from the operating room (OR), they will normally be taken to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Most patients are awake during this transfer, though they hardly remember it. When the patient first begins to wake up, they will be confronted with a lot of strange sights and sounds. Often, the voice of a nurse is the first sound to be heard by the patient.

Patients will notice that they are attached to several monitoring machines, including a blood pressure cuff, which will squeeze their arm at intervals. They may also notice a loop of plastic tubing that passes over their lip and blows oxygen into their nose.

The main focus while a patient is in the PACU is monitoring their safety and comfort during their immediate surgical recovery.

In-Patient Care After the PACU
When a patient is moved from the PACU to their hospital room, it is common that their IV stays with them. "There are several reasons for this. Patients who have had major operations affecting their abdomen may not be able to eat or drink until their digestive systems recover, several days after surgery. During this time the IV can be used to supply them with fluids and nutrition. Intravenous medications can also be an effective method for pain relief after surgery."

Out-Patient Care After the PACU
Patients who have had an outpatient surgery performed are often moved to a secondary recovery area where they can relax and complete their recovery until they are ready to go home. Friends and family are usually welcome in these areas, which are designed for comfort. The IV will be removed when the nursing staff determines that the patient is ready to go. The staff should review the discharge statements with the patient and the responsible adult designated to take the patient home. If you are scheduled for an outpatient surgery, it is imperative that you have someone scheduled to pick you up from the hospital and stay with you at home until you are fully recovered from the anesthesia.
(Hill, A.J., MD, PhD. The Patient's Guide to Anesthesia. New York: Kensington, 1999.)

Know about MRI Imaging
MRI means Magnetic Resonance Imaging. MRI is one of the newer imaging techniques. MRI produces detailed image of inside of your body, without using x-rays. This is a totally painless, safe examination that has no known side effects. MRI scans are more specific in identifying soft tissue lesions. It is performed to investigate certain suspected soft tissue diseases of the brain and spinal cord, as well as other parts of the body.

MRSA Facts (METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPH . AUREUS)

++ MRSA killed nearly 1,000 people in British hospitals in 2004.

++ 1% to 1.5% of the total population in European Patients get infected with
     MRSA in the hospitals.

++ The European Commission will circulate the findings of the project and its
     recommendations to hospitals in Europe.

++ The worst is in the South Europe. Turkey is the worst offender but the UK
     is not far behind.

++ The MRSA affects less than 0.05% of the patients treated in the Top
     Indian Hospitals.