When Contact Lenses Become Dangerous: Acanthamoeba Keratitis
Some wearers of contact lenses may be tempted to save money by taking hygienic shortcuts when it comes to keeping their contacts clean. Instead of buying cleansing solution for their lenses, they may decide to rinse them with plain water or even attempt to use a homemade solution. While a few dollars may be saved by taking this nonchalant approach to cleaning the contacts lenses, the possible harmful consequences far outweigh the financial benefits of adopting a do-it-yourself mentality. The problem with homemade concoctions is that these will lack anti-bacterial efficacy harmful bacteria will continue run rampant on contact lenses and can cause serious medical complications if the eyes become infected. A corneal ulcer is an open sore or non-penetrating erosion in the transparent area at the front of the eyeball the cornea and is associated with infections caused by bacteria. This is exactly the kind of bacteria that freely grows on contact lenses when homemade solutions are substituted for commercial...
How To Plan Time So I Can Stay Highly Productive
I have learned that not all time is the same quality. In times when I am very alert, rested, focused and efficient, I can be three to five times as productive as other times. My goal is to have more of these highly productive hours. This harkens back to Stephen Covey s Seventh rule of Highly Effective People - sharpening the saw. The vignette is of a wood cutter who is desperately sawing at a huge tree. A passerby asks the woodcutter why he does not sharpen the saw so he can cut more easily and quickly. The woodcutter replies, I don t have the time, I have to cut the tree down. Lately my life has been like that of the wood cutter. I have spent too much time sawing and not enough time sharpening the saw. So my exercise today is to figure out what things sharpen the saw for me and plan to put those in my days and weeks first. Then allow the wood cutting to take the other time as opposed to the other way around. Rather than planning what I have on my to do list and trying to get that done, I plan my down...
Using Probability In Medical Diagnosis: A Headache Example
Experienced clinicians begin the process of making a diagnosis upon first laying eyes on a patient, and probability is one of the main tools they use in this process. A glimpse behind the scenes from the point of view of a diagnosing physician might help to explain an otherwise mysterious process. The diagnostic process can begin even before laying eyes on the patient. As an exercise and to prove a point I ask medical students who are with me in the office to diagnose the patient we haven t seen yet who is still in the waiting room. Of course, they look at me like I m crazy. But I tell them that we already know a lot about the patient and can make some educated guesses. For example, we might already know that the patient is a 34-year-old woman referred by a family doctor because of headaches. So what have other women in their thirties referred to me for headaches ended up having as their diagnosis. In my neurology practice, as well as in those of most other headache specialists, about a third 33 have...
Hate The Abuser, Not The Abused!
Abuse is the most horrible attempt at power that I have ever researched. This is why: The shame that is felt by an abused person is so deep that it takes years to unfold, then years to put in a safe place. Some never get that far. They turn to drugs, alcohol, and even eating disorders that tear their physical being apart. Some even repeat the same actions that were done to them with, their spouses or children. Definition of Shame: the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another. In the issue of abuse, shame is what the victim is left to deal with and live with forever. An abused person can turn their guilt towards their abuser to free themselves of that horrible feeling, but they are still scarred by shame. They continue to suffer in a torture that is far worse than the actual abuse they have experienced. To feel powerless and unable to stop the abuse, is just the beginning of the after effects of the horrible shock...