MEDICO

Scarifying involves imprinting designs, pictures or words into the skin to create a permanent modification of such flesh. Principally, scars are the aftermath of injuries- they could also serve for identification. In such instances, they are called marks e.g. the tribal marks of a Yoruba man would let you know his state of origin as well as the country he hails from (e.g. Nigeria). Frankly, no one wants to be physically scarred, not to talk of emotional scarification- which is indeed one of the most common menaces in the world today…so many people have been hurt, and have carried the pains of being hurt for too long. Truthfully, I could tell you that getting into the “once bitten, twice shy” mode is beneficial, but I know it doesn’t bring out the best in people. So, why don’t you sit back, and let God remove those scarified layers of your heart?

Those who live in glass houses do not throw stones, says a popular adage. As well, the higher the altitude at which one lives, the higher the risks to be taken and the greater the adjustments to be made. For example, as the human body reaches an altitude of about 2,100metres (7000ft) above sea level, the percentage saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen- which determines the amount of oxygen in one’s blood begins to plummet and mountaineers refer to an altitude above 8000 metres (26,000ft) as the death zone- where no human body can acclimatize. Between these two points: i.e. the point of effect and the point of non-acclimitization, the human body adjusts… The higher the height, the greater the adjustment. As we go from height to height in life, we view more challenges and require wiser adjustments to see us through each challenge. Never forget, the higher you go, the more adjustments you will have to make. And if you want to keep throwing stones, you just may have to relocat

Most purses are very representative of their owners, and are mostly borne around- i.e. wherever the owner is going he (actually, it’s mostly she) carries it along. Therefore, a pulse can be easily related to the well-known purse used to carry money, cards, and some other things that might be needed in cases of emergency. In medicine, one’s pulse refers to the tactile arterial palpation of the heartbeat by trained fingertips, at any place in the body which allows for arterial compression against a bone. In summary, the calculated pulse is pretty concurrent with the heart rate. Purses reflect our financial status (mostly), as much as pulses reflect our heartbeats. It wouldn’t be bad if we all learned how to check our pulse rates; medic or no medic as it’s pretty reflective. It’s very simple; just place your right index and middle fingers a little inferior to your left wrist, at the side of your hand where the thumb is located- just like in the picture above. Count for 1 m

I’ve often used the cliché “think outside the box” and it is usually used to refer to lateral thinking, not thinking of obvious obstacles but rather, thinking beyond them. It’s a good thing…really. Thinking differently, unconventionally , from a different perspective; yeah so on point. So, in the spirit of “thinking outside the box”, as a medical student, I’d like to ask about the box being referred to- the brain box i.e. the skull, which contains the brain? Ok, if that is the box being referred to, I’d beg to differ, because there’s no way on earth you can think, outside the box (brain box). It really makes no sense, as one’s faculty for thinking is the cerebral hemisphere- specifically the frontal lobe. Basically, this post is argumentatively comical, as this was not the origin of that phrase. Particularly, I’d love to wish you a week of lateral thinking…of creatively creating new things. Think outside the box, but not outside your brain box!

From sophisticated bacteria down to simple, traditional forms of these organisms, bacteria seem to be everywhere. Potent as they are, they are notable for existing under the most unfavorable conditions, and not only do they exist, even there, they live well and multiply/replicate more forms. Humans as we are, higher creatures, mammals, etc as we are indeed called by notable scientists, we could learn a few potent things from these extremely wise and seemingly cunning creatures. 1.       VERSATILITY- A typical feature that confers virulence (ability to survive and cause harm to man) on some bacteria is the presence of CAPSULES. 2.       CREATIVITY- From my perspective, creativity is the ability to use a situation that’s peculiar to you, that could easily be called detrimental from another’s perspective, for your own benefit. God has given us ALL that we need to survive and excel. Maybe we aren’t the only living creatures with this benefit, as bacteria seem to have as well as ut

Actually, miracles have always been fascinating. A miracle is defined as an event that appears contrary to the laws of nature and is often regarded as an act of God. From my perspective, an event is considered a miracle provided the mechanics of its occurrence has not been revealed to any man as yet. Once it is revealed to man, and he publicizes is action rate, it has ceased to be considered miraculous. Perceptively, miracles of the past have become normal occurrences of the present, and using foresight it can be assumed that miracles of today would probably be considered normal in the next century. What do you think?

AN INTERESTING PHENOMENON: FACULTATIVE INTRACELLULAR ORGANISMS. Most people are all too familiar with cheating bosses, heads-of-departments, heads-of-states, in general, the phenomenon of the unfaithful leaders. Some countries have been particularly so hit that they have grown numb to news of theft, daylight-robbery and looting of funds via educated opinions and the likes. In summary, it’s no longer news! It is with surprise that I read this afternoon about certain bacterial organisms. They have this crazy form of immunity that makes them untouchable, even by the macrophages and neutrophils of the body’s immune system. How do they achieve this? These bacteria allow themselves to be phagocytosed (eaten up) by the white blood cells (activated monocytes, now known as macrophages ; and neutrophils ). You would think that this would kill them, right? But it doesn’t end there because they prevent the fusion of the phagosome to the lysosome in these cells. As a result of this, they

Pediatrics is a sub-specialty of medicine that deals with the care of children and the treatment of children’s diseases. In simple terms, it is a sub-specialty of medicine that cares for the total or complete health of children. Any doctor who specializes in this aspect of medicine is hence referred to as a PEDIATRICIAN. The practicing pediatrician knows only too well that it is sometimes hard to examine and treat children, especially those kids who are not old enough to articulate properly (between years 0 and 5). Other children, specifically kids between ages 5 and 15 are easier to attend to because they can explain how they feel and what is wrong with them. From the child who cannot speak, the best bet is usually to listen to the parent of such a child. However, for the child that can voice out, the physician may have to ask the parent of the child to step out so as to get maximal information out of the child without having the parent(s) give unneeded input. Relating this to

What keeps a man alive? What made Paul say: “For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, 39 or where we are-high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean-nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.” ? He was ABSOLUTELY (emphasis on absolutely) sure that nothing could separate us from the love of God. Does this mean that no matter who I am, where you are, and what we’ve done, we are not inaccessible to the love of God? I’ve tried to no avail to find something that we would possess physically, regardless of being dead or alive (a key criterion for the impossibly unending love of God). Truth is, I couldn’t come up with one (well, am really not that smart so I’d appreciate kind comments). I’d love to explain tha

What keeps a man alive? What made Paul say: “For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, 39 or where we are-high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean-nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.” ? He was ABSOLUTELY (emphasis on absolutely) sure that nothing could separate us from the love of God. Does this mean that no matter who I am, where you are, and what we’ve done, we are not inaccessible to the love of God? I’ve tried to no avail to find something that we would possess physically, regardless of being dead or alive (a key criterion for the impossibly unending love of God). Truth is, I couldn’t come up with one (well, am really not that smart so I’d appreciate kind comments). I’d love to explain tha

The term 'healthy necrosis' is a misnomer. Necrosis always refers to a form of cell death that's due to irreversible injury. and that's not healthy; its pathologic. Of late, I've been repeatedly awed by the concept of miracles, signs, wonders...Can God regenerate/revive necrotic tissue? Have any of his miracles ever actually involved the rebirth of dead tissue, or does it always involve recreation of cells in form of stem cells? Maybe I'm completely wrong...maybe not. #Pondering#

The Nigerian egusi soup is a popular soup in the part of the country where I reside. As I had a delicious meal of pounded yam with the said soup this afternoon, I could help but apply the ‘rules’ of inflammation learnt in histopathology class earlier in the day. There are five (5) cardinal signs of inflammation: 1    1. CALOR i.e. heat 2    2. RUBOR i.e. redness 3    3. TUMOR i.e. swelling 4    4. DOLOR i.e. pain 5    5. FUNCTIO LAESA i.e. loss of function    However, when egusi undergoes inflammation it goes from calor→tumor→rubor. This is achieved on cooking of this food substance, which is prepared with melon seeds. HOW? Is the big question…here’s how: Cooking is the application of heat to food to make it safe to eat as well as appetizing. On application of heat (CALOR) to ground melon seeds, it swells (TUMOR), and finally, when oil is added to at a time relative to the cook and the process of the cooking, it gets kind of reddened (RUBOR). What about

We all have about 6 needs, which we have to uncover, not necessarily create: ·          CERTAINTY ·          UNCERTAINTY ·          SIGNIFICANCE ·          CONNECTION & LOVE ·          GROWTH ·          CONTRIBUTION, WHICH IS BEYOND OURSELVES The first 4 needs don’t necessarily bring about fulfillment but the last two do. You can have all the comfort/certainty in the world and still remain unfulfilled. You could even switch over to variety i.e. uncertainty-yes, you’ld get adrenaline pumping through your veins, but it’ld be temporary. Significance? We all try to find significance, be it through achievements or by gaining recognition as one thing or the other. Connection is a beautiful thing and love is very accepting, irrespective of shortcomings. However, neither significance nor connection nor human love, make us feel fulfilled. Why else would 2 people who can’t seem to do without each other still feel that somehow, there’s still a missing element to life, even

The Trendenlenburg sign is said to be positive if, when standing on one leg (e.g. the right leg), the pelvis drops on the opposite side of the body (left side of body). This is as a result of muscle weakness (of hip abductors) on the side of the stance leg (right leg). Apart from muscular dysfunction, interestingly, this sign could also be positive if one is experiencing pain. Waiting and deep reflection could cause deep thinking, depression, sagging of the shoulders, and probably pain. Sighing is also associated. As a matter of fact, it could result in premature ageing. However, positivity to this test may be prevented if one doesn’t reflect long enough to relive the pain felt at the time an event originally occurred. This day, I would love you to take a deep breath, enjoy your day and ensure that you test negative for the Tredenlenburg’s sign. And if you notice that you’re beginning to get drowned in worries, just tell yourself that you deserve to be happy and joyful, beca

For previous posts on the subject matter: clerking, please visit the following: http://medicology101.blogspot.com/2014/02/clinically-clerking-and-clecking.html  and  http://medicology101.blogspot.com/2014/03/love-clerking.html To effectively present an individual’s case before God, the initial aspect of clerking i.e. History Taking of that individual is very necessary. Areas desirable of such clerking include: 1.       The presenting complaints i.e. specific prayers to be offered on behalf of that individual 2.       History of presenting complaints 3.       Prayer of forgiveness as regards the past medical and social(spiritual) history, as required Actually, as with clinical clerking in which a person viewing a consultant clerking would probably be more impressed than while viewing that of a first year clinical student, with increasing spiritual age, the art of intercession gets better. Physical examination, clinical diagnosis can be evaluated by a higher placed Chr

Imagine yourself as a tourist, visiting a particular country of interest. In one of the numerous cities of this country, you observe that one in five people have facial bumps, two in ten people are either limping or using crutches, lip malformations and cleft palates have an incidence rate of about 9 in 100. This city has a museum, a water spring, a river fall, 2 rocks and 3 hills. While visiting these tourist sites, the tourist attendant kept mixing colors up. To your dismay, it slips that such a condition is revealing of a normal state of health here, as a man who is not color blind is not a son of the soil. He tells you, as a matter of fact, that facial bumping is the critical sign that shows who has come of age and who hasn’t, that road traffic accidents were the norm of the day and almost every mature adult had experienced at least one fatal one before. Oh…as for the lip and cleft malformations? “You see, this has been the tradition passed from our fathers. It is an honor t

The larynx houses the vocal cords which are essential for phonation. It is comprised of cartilages and muscles. Therefore, voicing out involves the implementation of the laryngeal apparatus. When we are not intimated with our capabilities, we become intimidated by the strengths of others. Most times, this affects the usage of the voice box; as the intimidated person tends to be silent or to speak defeatedly while the one who is intimated about the power of the liberated human spirit and transformed human mind tends to show such intimation in terms of what he says. Does your voice box project intimation, or is it intimidation?

Ecc 9:10- "Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might..." Find what you love, you’d be surprised at how doing it wholeheartedly wouldn’t be a problem. The cells of the physiologically functioning and normal man must love the aspect of that man’s life they are preserving. Otherwise, that would be a distraught, rather than a functioning man. If you are normal today, it is because your organs are relatively in love with their functions. Passion is why your heart, which is about the size of your fist, pumps blood tirelessly, at a rate of about 5L/min daily. It is why your hand never gets tired of repeatedly making intricate movements. It was made for that purpose. It is also why your brain cells aren’t tired of memory consolidation and critical thinking. Find what you love to do, and doing it wouldn’t pose a problem! Love does rule the world.

The Christian physician who birthed this lovely post is named Ifeoluwa Oloruntoba. Enjoy! A xenobiotic is a foreign chemical substance found within an organism that is not normally naturally produced, or expected to be present within that organism. Normally, xenobiotic drugs have one of 3 fates. They can: -           Be Metabolized -           Be Excreted Unchanged -           Undergo spontaneous reactions on their own From the perspective of a Christian physician, the prescription of drugs isn’t just based on the normal clinical diagnosis- i.e following a management plan as usual, but more importantly, he administers the correct therapeutic dosage of the living word of God to his patient- albeit, wisely. This is because to the flesh i.e. selfish man, the word of God is like a xenobiotic-foreign body. In effect, there is administration of 2 foreign bodies to the patient: DRUGS and the WORD. Funny enough, the word of God has 3 fates in man’s system; just like the ch

Hello…readers. First, I’d like to appreciate all readers of this blog- consistent readers and you, who stumbled upon this post. Thanks! Yea, today is my birthday and I seem to have a weird list of wishes, and this seems to be the one that tops them all, in relation to the weirdness or ‘wiredness’ of the wishes. I WANT NEW CELLS. I don’t mean that I want to become a newborn with no memory ties or something completely right winged like that. All I want is some fresh stem cells, more like embryonic stem cells that can differentiate into any type of cells. You know, I was checking up this stem cell research thing the other day and I discovered that embryonic stem cells are quite different from adult cells in that they can differentiate into ANY cell type; while adult stem cells can differentiate only into cells of the organs where they are found. With the controversial nature of the embryonic stem cell research, with moralists, fundamentalists, as well as politicians taking adva

A few days ago, we discussed clerking. We’d use that basic knowledge in clerking an individual presenting with certain complaints. History Taking Biodata: Patient X is a 22 year old male Afghanistan student. Presenting complaints: Tachycardia, Sleeplessness, lack of focus History of presenting complaints: first symptom- insomnia (sleeplessness), followed by tachycardia (increase in heart beat), and then, loss of focus. First noticed about 3 weeks ago. Past medical history: Relatively healthy individual, treated for malaria 2 months ago. Has no history of insomnia or tachycardia. Physical Examination Examine cardiovascular system with stethoscope. Examine the lungs as well as the neurological system. Provisional diagnosis Patient is undergoing mental stress, and this is taking a toll on his heart and brain Investigations Laboratory tests are carried out on patient’s blood Due to the neurological and psychological nature of this problem, other areas are also in

Happy new month! Feeling: The capacity to experience strong emotions Tumor: An uncontrolled growth or mass of body cells, which may be malignant or benign, and has no physiological function Feelings are like tumors in the sense that most grow without our permissions. Tumors can however be benign (harmless) or malignant (harmful and invasive). Leading to the following thoughts: 1.       Are some feelings actually harmless? 2.       How malignant should feelings get before extrication? 3.       Should benign feelings be treated with brave levity? 4.       Can feelings be grown, as opposed to them growing on their own? Answer them as you will, but we should all know the limits and boundaries when it comes to feelings. Instead of letting malignant feelings proliferate, even when we know they are destructive, it would be more advisable to use active ‘radiotherapy’ if needed. The only reason cancer patients go through so much invasively stressful procedures is so