During the the early period of Medieval Islam (601-750 A.D.), the people of major cities of the Middle East were embedded with the idea that Allah (the God of Islam) or believing the Islamic religion itself will help fulfill a good healthy life ever since their savior Muhammad made studying Islam possible in 615 A.D. It wasn't until 900 A.D. when the idea of medicine healing the body hit them. And boy did it hit them hard.
Everyone was fascinated with these new sciences and medical treatments. Many physicians, chemists, philosophers, you name it, were trying to advance medicine from the Greek times. Since many medical experiments were banned by the Romans in their territory, the Middle Easterns had to find a way to fill the many gaps about the human body and the diseases that went along with them. They started to make new medical traditions, which were heavily influenced by their Greek studies.
Many new discovers were made at this time. A physician named Al-Razi, was recognized as the "Father of Pediatrics". Not only did he write over 200 scientific books and articles, including his popular book, Diseases of Children (which was one of the first books on that topic), he made several new discoveries. He taught people that conflicts on the body like fevers, were meant to kill the infection of the body and to never buy medicine from "fake" scientist. He was the first to tell the difference between Measles and Smallpox and the origins of these diseases. He even introduced a mercurial ointment, a medicine filled with the metal mercury.
Like Al-Razi, many other scientist followed in his shoes. Ibn Sina wrote many books in which over 200 exist today and he studied the medical standards of the European and Islamic medical fields. He wrote books like the The Book of Healing (a scientific encyclopedia) and The Canon of Medicine, which many medical scholars still read today. He believed that medications should only be used in times of illness and some drugs are more effective based on the temperature of the environment.
Ibn Al-nafis, clarified Greek physician Calen's belief of the ventricles of the heart have an "invisible passages" throughout the septum, by disagreeing, saying that the blood from the right chamber of the heart must flow through the pulmonary artery to the lungs to combine with air. Although William Harvey is widely know for explaining the blood circulation, Al-Nafis really gave the study a jump start.
From physicians like Al-Razi to polymaths like Ibn Sina, without them, Medieval Islam would not have had such a huge influence on medicine like it did. This period set off many new questions about diseases and new studies along the way of the medical history.
Sources:
Medicalnewstoday.com
Localhistories.org
Explorable.com
Peopleof.oureverydaylife.com
Wikipedia.org
Quatr.us
Nlm.nih.gov
Vocabulary.com
What did you think? Comment below!
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Doctor's Orders VS Nurses' decisions: Whose is more efficient?
In the world of medicine and in a healthcare facility, there
is always one big argument. Who has more authority over a patient? The doctor
that determines the sickness or the nurse that takes care of the patient? Who
has more authority period in a healthcare facility? A doctor that has more
schooling under his belt; a nurse that knows the hospital like the back of her/
his hand? Questions like these and many more are asked on a daily basis. While
reading this text, many aspects will be looked at. What are the duties of these
occupations? How does this apply to the patient?
Before getting any deeper into the intense argument of these
careers, what are the duties/ accomplishments of a nurse? A doctor? According to the website, KevinMD.com, one of the main differences
is the schooling and degrees. A nurse can have an undergraduate degree in
nursing, while doctors have to go through school to have an undergraduate
degree of some sort plus earn a MD while in medical school. Does that make a
doctor more intelligent or powerful? Absolutely not! While a young doctor might
have documented that he/ she are a doctor does not mean that nurse that has
been working the same job for 20 years cannot be smarter. The same goes for the
other way around. Just because you have a large amount of schooling, does not
give you the power to say you are smarter. It is like comparing a lawyer to a
professor. Who has more knowledge? Another point the website pointed out is
that depending what type of nurse/ doctor the person is, defines how much money
the person will annually make. Yes, that does mean that a nurse can make more
than a doctor! What are the responsibilities? Well, a nurse has to take care of
the patient, while the doctor finds the problem. They are both dealing with
some critical jobs, so who has the say to tell which one is more valuable? In
all, there is really no difference to being a nurse or doctor when it comes to
authority.
After going through the basis of a nurse and doctor, here is
an example of one the biggest problems that are dealt with today. A nurse is
given an order by the doctor to not rule out chemotherapy for a leukemic
patient. This patient has suffered many of painful nights of bleeding, cramps,
and many more terrible things. This patient has been known to complain about
the medication, how is causing the death of him, how dreadful it was. The nurse
sees it all and goes to tell the doctor. She was the patient’s care-giver after
all and wanted the patient to live his last days in not such terror. The doctor
was angered by this plead, going to the patient himself and persuading the poor
patient to continue the treatment. To put into shorter terms, the patient lived
his last days in agony. This is what happened to and nurse names Theresa Brown
and she wrote an article about how it was often for a nurse to disagree with a doctor
in drastic moment like this. Was Nurse Theresa right to go to the doctor about
the patient’s complaints? Was it right for this doctor to proceed with the
chemotherapy, knowing that the treatment is causing more harm than good? Does
the nurse even have the right to go against
doctor’s orders? This goes back to the argument of what a doctor was and what a
nurse was. A nurse is NOT under the authority of a doctor. They are under the
hospital’s rules and regulations. This means that a nurse can go against a
doctor. If a nurse feels that a doctor is doing wrong, then she/he in every
which way can deny the order and decide what is best for the patient. Nurses
also have the right to confront a doctor about these wrong doing as long as it
is professional and confidential. That means a nurse cannot just disrespect a
doctor in front of the patient. Like before this also goes for the doctor as
well. If she/he sees a nurse treating a patient inappropriately, then it is
his/her right to throw the flag and disagree with the behavior. With that said,
no one has more or less power to determine what is right for the patient.
There is one more perspective to look at when talking about
a patient health. That perspective is the patient themselves. What does the
patient want? What are they comfortable with? Some physicians like the one in
Brown’s case would say that if a patient is in critical condition that it is
the doctor’s decision from that point on. Some nurses might say that it theirs!
They are both very wrong. If a patient is still conscious, then they have the
right to say no to treatment of any type. If a nurse or doctor goes against
that right, they can get in tremendous trouble. The patient is the leg that
completes the triangle of decision making. The nurse, doctor, and patient all
have to communicate to find the best solution that benefits the most.
In conclusion, no matter if a person is a doctor or nurse;
they both have high expectations and standards they have to succeed when
working in a healthcare facility. No one has higher power based on the job they
have. In reality, power really consist on what reputation a person has had in
the past. That means a nurse can technically boss a doctor around just because
the supervisor of the hospital thought that was the job for her. When it comes
to patient, not only can a nurse object a doctor’s order (or vice versa), but a
patient also has the power to object both decisions. In all, when everything is
analyzed and put together, there is really not a big difference between doctors
and nurses.
Who do you think has more power in a patient's care? Comments below!
The amazing sources (in MLA format because I am feeling extra professional!):
Brown,
Theresa, RN. "When the Nurse Disagrees With the Doctor." New York
Times. New York Times Company, 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Berman,
Steve. "When Nurses Should Argue With the Doctor." Nursinglink.
A Monster Community. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Malone, Patrick.
"When Doctors and Nurses Disagree About a Patient, Who
Decides?" Jdsupra. JD Supra, 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Lend, Shirie, MD.
"The Only Thing That Truly Separates Doctors from Nurses." KevinMD.
KevinMD, 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Monday, June 20, 2016
STOP and LOOK: Strokes vs Seizures
You are at a store and you hear someone yell, "My mom's having a stroke!"
You hear someone else say, "No, she is having a seizure!"
Today in this post, the whole confusion over these two complications will end for good.
First, let's define the two diseases. A stroke is when the blood supply is cut off from the brain. There are mainly two different types of stokes. One type is called an Ischemic Stroke. An Ischemic Stroke is when a blood clot or piece of fatty plaque blocks the blood flow to the brain.The other type is called a Hemorrhagic stroke. This is when a blood vessel breaks and the blood leaks into the brain tissue. This type of stroke is usually caused by complications such as high blood pressure and brain aneurysms. Especially when having an aneurysm, it aggravates the vessels, making them weak.
On the side of things, there are seizures. A seizure is caused by excessive amounts of synchronous electrical activity in the circuits of the brain causing patients to burst into spasm attacks. Seizures are most likely caused by a disorder call Epilepsy. An epilepsy is when there is an abnormal amount of neurons traveling into the brain. Although most seizure victims share the common disorder, anyone can have a seizure.
Why are these two so confusing then? Obviously, their causes are different, so how can someone incorrectly define them? How can we clearly tell the differences between them? The next step of "unconfusing" the two is by the physical signs. Even though you can have a stroke anytime, the largest group of people to have strokes are in the more elderly class. When having a stroke, you will usually start to become numb around the facial area or on one side of the body. Victims of strokes are usually hard to understand, slurring their words or sometimes just talking gibberish. Strokes can cause a person to start losing vision in one or both eyes and have extremely severe headaches. If a stroke doesn't receive medical assistance, it can cause a victim with a massive amount of dead brain cells. They can to lead to long term effects such as losing the ability to walk or being paralyzed on parts of the body. It can even cause death, if it is severe!
Seizures can happen at any age, at any time. The signs of a seizure can range from twitching to violent shaking to repeating themselves. Seizures are hardly, if ever, as dangerous as strokes. When seeing a person having a seizure, it isn't as easy to declare they having one like you see in the movies. Although most seizures are not life threatening, if you do see one that portrays a movie scene, get medical attention immediately. If a person has epilepsy, there are anti-epileptic medications to decrease the chance of having a seizure. Unlike Strokes that are most likely life-threatening, the only major outcomes to a seizure is some dead brain cells and short memory loss. Unless, it is like the movies where it can cause an unknown death.
Another main reason why Seizures can be portrayed as Strokes or vice versa is because seizures can come after a person has stroke. It can be weeks later after a victim has a stroke and when a person sees the victim not acting "normal" in a medical way, they can confuse the seizure as a stroke again! If a person has more than one seizure after a stroke, it can cause a person to inhibit the disorder, Epilepsy.
Whether a person is having a seizure or stroke, remember to always get medical assistance immediately. You could save a person's life, with one call. Thanks for reading! Bye!
The wonderful sources:
Webmd.com
Neurology.stanford.edu
Livestrong.com
Strokesafe.org
Differencebetween.com
Remember to comment below or contact me for questions, requests, or concerns!
You hear someone else say, "No, she is having a seizure!"
Today in this post, the whole confusion over these two complications will end for good.
First, let's define the two diseases. A stroke is when the blood supply is cut off from the brain. There are mainly two different types of stokes. One type is called an Ischemic Stroke. An Ischemic Stroke is when a blood clot or piece of fatty plaque blocks the blood flow to the brain.The other type is called a Hemorrhagic stroke. This is when a blood vessel breaks and the blood leaks into the brain tissue. This type of stroke is usually caused by complications such as high blood pressure and brain aneurysms. Especially when having an aneurysm, it aggravates the vessels, making them weak.
On the side of things, there are seizures. A seizure is caused by excessive amounts of synchronous electrical activity in the circuits of the brain causing patients to burst into spasm attacks. Seizures are most likely caused by a disorder call Epilepsy. An epilepsy is when there is an abnormal amount of neurons traveling into the brain. Although most seizure victims share the common disorder, anyone can have a seizure.
Why are these two so confusing then? Obviously, their causes are different, so how can someone incorrectly define them? How can we clearly tell the differences between them? The next step of "unconfusing" the two is by the physical signs. Even though you can have a stroke anytime, the largest group of people to have strokes are in the more elderly class. When having a stroke, you will usually start to become numb around the facial area or on one side of the body. Victims of strokes are usually hard to understand, slurring their words or sometimes just talking gibberish. Strokes can cause a person to start losing vision in one or both eyes and have extremely severe headaches. If a stroke doesn't receive medical assistance, it can cause a victim with a massive amount of dead brain cells. They can to lead to long term effects such as losing the ability to walk or being paralyzed on parts of the body. It can even cause death, if it is severe!
Seizures can happen at any age, at any time. The signs of a seizure can range from twitching to violent shaking to repeating themselves. Seizures are hardly, if ever, as dangerous as strokes. When seeing a person having a seizure, it isn't as easy to declare they having one like you see in the movies. Although most seizures are not life threatening, if you do see one that portrays a movie scene, get medical attention immediately. If a person has epilepsy, there are anti-epileptic medications to decrease the chance of having a seizure. Unlike Strokes that are most likely life-threatening, the only major outcomes to a seizure is some dead brain cells and short memory loss. Unless, it is like the movies where it can cause an unknown death.
Another main reason why Seizures can be portrayed as Strokes or vice versa is because seizures can come after a person has stroke. It can be weeks later after a victim has a stroke and when a person sees the victim not acting "normal" in a medical way, they can confuse the seizure as a stroke again! If a person has more than one seizure after a stroke, it can cause a person to inhibit the disorder, Epilepsy.
Whether a person is having a seizure or stroke, remember to always get medical assistance immediately. You could save a person's life, with one call. Thanks for reading! Bye!
The wonderful sources:
Webmd.com
Neurology.stanford.edu
Livestrong.com
Strokesafe.org
Differencebetween.com
Remember to comment below or contact me for questions, requests, or concerns!
Hey Guys!
Hello fellow readers! It is already halfway through 2016 and time is passing by quicker than the snap of a finger! I know I haven't really posted anything since last year, so I want to catch you up! Last Fall, I was accepted into the Paulding County High School Academy of Science, Research, and Medicine for my freshman year. Also known as the Magnet program, it is a program where every year 60 8th grade students are accepted in the "Academy" based on their Science and Mathematics scores, their personality, and level of discipline. When going through this program, if you finish all 4 years, you are qualified to say on your college applications that you were in a program of higher learning. You also finish your first year of college courses if you pass the AP exams, so you are basically killing two birds with one stone! Metaphorically, not literately. This is blog is a violent-free source. During these 4 years, you have to complete up to 10 or more AP courses, choose (and complete) either the Healthcare or Biotechnology pathway and pass with all A's and B's (obviously). It is basically a program for future scientist and we are guaranteed to have rigorous courses that no one else in the county can have. I am now entering my 2nd year and I have 3 AP classes to complete! That is about 9 hours of AP exams at the end of the year!
Outside of the Magnet program, I joined the Marching band and it was very interesting. We had a lot of issues, but at the end of the day, we all grew as a family. My section, the clarinets, especially grew upon each other. I also got into the highest band in my school, playing 2nd chair bass clarinet! My sophomore year (the one coming up this fall), I was accepted into the highest band again, but since I am planning on volunteering at the hospital this school year, I am not doing Marching band. It is alright though, I still have my family in my band class!
Okay, let's get to the good stuff. So since I am not very busy this summer (other than making 760 note-cards for my AP World History teacher), I am planning on writing at least two articles each week. I really need your help though. I think that if I get your input about the articles that would be great! I am not really a "professional" at making blogs and knowing where you guys comment, (even though I am suppose to because of my high-tech generation!) but if you would like to make a request or ask a question, please email me at Rue-jordyn@live.com or JordynMCarney@gmail.com. I would really like to know who is reading, so I know I am not writing for my own health! I mean that in the most positive way possible.
I hope that whoever is reading that you enjoy the future articles!
Peace and Love,
Jordyn
Outside of the Magnet program, I joined the Marching band and it was very interesting. We had a lot of issues, but at the end of the day, we all grew as a family. My section, the clarinets, especially grew upon each other. I also got into the highest band in my school, playing 2nd chair bass clarinet! My sophomore year (the one coming up this fall), I was accepted into the highest band again, but since I am planning on volunteering at the hospital this school year, I am not doing Marching band. It is alright though, I still have my family in my band class!
Okay, let's get to the good stuff. So since I am not very busy this summer (other than making 760 note-cards for my AP World History teacher), I am planning on writing at least two articles each week. I really need your help though. I think that if I get your input about the articles that would be great! I am not really a "professional" at making blogs and knowing where you guys comment, (even though I am suppose to because of my high-tech generation!) but if you would like to make a request or ask a question, please email me at Rue-jordyn@live.com or JordynMCarney@gmail.com. I would really like to know who is reading, so I know I am not writing for my own health! I mean that in the most positive way possible.
I hope that whoever is reading that you enjoy the future articles!
Peace and Love,
Jordyn
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