Midwives,Home deliveries, and high risk pregnancies

I left this as a comment on Kevin MD's blog, here goes the link

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/05/doctors-and-midwives-need-to-cooperate-more.html

Just had to share this with my own readers

Here goes my comment:

I agree completely with Dr.Greg.I have seen midwives who have no idea of many obstetric complications and don't diagnose things early enough during routine Obstetric checkups and then take it till the last minute when all they know is that the delivery is not happening and there is some complication but they themselves have no idea what exactly and precisely the problem is.They do not have enough clinical acumen to pick up signs early and treat them and simply rely on luck often times which sadly is at the cost of the life of the mother and child. I myself have witnessed women come to emergency rooms and then die on the ER table there coz they kept trying to deliver till the last minute at the home and only came to ER coz the mother collapsed due to massive bleeding which is essentially too late to seek medical help .A mother's life is important, You cannot let her die due to problems that could have been easily managed had it been a hospital birth. Yes, midwives can play a role in routine check ups and doing home visits to ease the burden of Obstetricians in remote areas where not many Obstetricians are available, but having a hospital delivery is the safest.But then this is sensible only after the woman first visits at crucial points during a pregnancy and makes sure it is not an already predetermined complicated pregnancy. Please remember that even a seemingly normal case can become complicated during labor due to massive bleeding and what not. It is unfair to first mess up a case and then run to the Obstetrician in the last minute for help .

Hormones , and other substances causing anger

I got a large number of reader queries asking the same thing.

WHAT ARE THE HORMONES THAT CAUSE ANGER.?

Well, for one, before answering this question, I have to clarify something. No, hormones are not what cause anger. yes, the life situations that evoke anger might cause certain hormones and other substances to be released during that course of anger but no, hormones on their own are not the ones causing anger.

Anger is a mere response to something that is there in your environment that is happening or happened to you and is now recorded in your memory and your replay that past moment and get angry. Yes, so therefore, anger is not an independent entity. It is a response to an environmental stimulus or a mental though stimulus.

Similarly, Hormones per say don't cause anger. Moreover, it is not certain hormones that predominantly figure in anger and other emotions. It is certain neurotransmitters that are associated with anger or mania or psychosis or depression etc. 

Yes, there are certain hormones which when produced in excess in the body can reduce your threshold for certain environmental stimuli and cause you to get angry quickly and such and i did talk about these hormonal imbalances in my previous blog entries. Please look at all my archives to find more than one article on hormones and their effects thereof. As far as neurotransmitters are concerned, I am gonna take some time and simplify complicated neurotransmitter lingo and then post a blog entry about them at a later point of time. 

Meanwhile keep those questions coming. All these blog entries are only advisories are not actually meant as specific medical advice. Please visit your family physician if you feel you need medical attention .

why do pets sometimes eat weird things like poo or used toilet tissue?

You know , young children do that too.. eating mud or dirt.. this is called PICA and happens when the child is missing some vital mineral nutrients ..or has worms that are sucking all the nutrients.
I guess, the same reason is true for an animal as well.. either that the diet is deficient or prolly, it has worm..It would be a great idea to deworm your doggy and try and alter the diet as well.
cheers.

Jan 13, 09:02AM PST

See more progress on: I want to keep record of my own comments and responses to them , since I can't figure if there is a way to do so on 43T

About PMS

Does PMS exist or is it a creation of the media?
brighteyes82 asked this question
Do you get PMS?

If so,
What are your ‘symptoms’? Tired? Bitchy? Depressed? Or just aches and pains?

If not, (guys, feel free to answer this one too)
Do you believe it exists?

I had a professor once tell us that PMS did not exist, that it was the product of the media. And that in ‘non-Western’ nations people didn’t experience it. I personally think that’s BS. Obviously there are hormornal changes and hormones affect us whether we like it or not. Every month I find myself wondering why the hell I’m so depressed and then the lightbulb turns on: “Oooh! It’s that time again!”
And in terms of people not experiencing it in ‘non-Western’ nations, I had a discussion with some Japanese women about this (actually it was menopause, the professor said the same thing about menopause – that women don’t get psychological symptoms outside of North America) and they said that their mothers or grandmothers experienced changes during menopause or pregnancy, but it wasn’t viewed as a problem back then. People didn’t complain about it because it was just a fact of life. I can see that, but if someone doesn’t complain it doesn’t mean they’re not uncomfortable!

My answer

PMS used to be called Premenstrual tension before , it became PMS.
Yes, there is a fair amount of tension involved right there..
Is it a media creation?
It is not a media creation as in, PMS is a fad that the media has magnified.
Does PMS exist? as in is it a real phenomenon or is it imaginary?
It is real..it is not imaginary.
What role has media played in it?
Media has overemphasized and kinda mocked PMS and has actually made a joke of it , to such an extent that as soon as a woman starts complain, everyone plainly just attributes it to PMS and then wash their hands off of actually addressing the woman’s complaints.
What are the causes of PMS?
The thing is, hormones do play a role..but what I assume is that, not jsut do hormones play a role., The occurance of PMS is directly related to the amount of stress the woman is facing in her life otherwise.
for eg.. A woman who has no stress otherwise, and her hormones are balanced too, wont really have any PMS.She may have cramping—cramping is part of PMS, but PMS is not just cramping.
on the other hand, A woman who has no stress but has her hormones imbalanced may have may uncomfortable symptoms during different phases of her mentrual cycle..but she really won’t have the typical PMS symptoms that the North American media constantly glorifies or rather, mocks at .as being PMS.
The general perception now, thanks to the ignorant media is that PMS is when women just go crazy and hysterical and psychotic for no reason.
This perception is totally false.
I am pretty sure women go crazy and hysterical and all that before their periods.. and i think it is not as much due to PMS as much it is probably due to the inconsiderate people around them that cause them a lot of distress.The distress that these women have managed to not express all through their menstrual cycle., but then their threshold comes down during this Premenstrual phase, and all the bitterness and resentment that they have been holding inside of them against inconsiderate husbands or partners or work place collegues comes pouring out during PMS.
So yes, PMS exists,, It is not solely a somatic hormonal disorder.I think , PMS has psychosocial causes too.. as in , you are more likely to suffer from sever and exaggerated symptoms of PMS if you live with partners that don’t understand you or partners that you don’t really connect to or work at places that cause you stress and such.
Why does PMS not occur outside of North America?
I think , that is not because PMS doesn’t exist outside of North America.It is because North American women are more assertive and independant enough to be able to express their discomfort and actually have a chance that they are heard.In many other countries, the problems of women are never heard or catered to or plain right ignored…Women have no voices in many countries..that is why.
I hope, my this serious elaborate effort to put in my two cents is adequate enough.

Jan 13, 03:20AM PST

See more progress on: I want to keep record of my own comments and responses to them , since I can't figure if there is a way to do so on 43T

How to drink a gallon or approx 4 L of water eachday and every single day

"hydrated"

How I did it: All adults need atleast a gallon or approx 4 L of water each day to flush out all toxins from the body. I feel the most productive and active when my urine is clear and non smelly. I accomplished this by filling out three 1L bottles and keep them in places where i am mostly likely to sit for long periods of time. that way i have a bottle nearby as and when i feel thirsty. I would also make sure i fill up bottles and take them along when i go out . I don't buy water bottles outside coz i don't like participating in using more and more plastic bottles to just store and sell water. We all get perfectly drinkable tap water at home..If suspicious, get your tap water tested for contaminants.i usually boil up tap water , cool and then fill up clean water bottles(empty gatorade bottles) and then take them along wherever i go.

Lessons & tips: If your urine is yellow or it is smelly, it essentially means that you are not driniking enough water. Avoid processed foods coz they contain preservatives and colors and ingredients that need more water to get excreted. Sometimes the body can mistake thirst for hunger.If you feel like you are constantly getting hungry, try driking water first and then see if you are still hungry. Carry a bottle of water around..Used recycled water containers rather than buying a fresh plastic bottle each time.

Resources: Buy three 1 L capacity gatorade bottles, Either drink the gatorade up or discard the juice. Then nicely clean up the bottles , Keep them ready each day to fill up with water. Buy a large water boiler if you think your tap water is contaminated.

It took me 10 days.

It made me hydrated

See more progress on: Drink a gallon or approx 4 L of water eachday and every single day

Soft drinks,fizzed sodas and Alcohol do not quench the thirst.Tap water versus bottled drinking water

I drank coke or was it pepsi today after almost four years..I just wanted to remind myself how bad it tastes..LOL ....I mean seriously, i was shocked when some bloggers actually confessed that they never drink water..All they drink is soda or fizzed drinks..And I was like...whoa...Total liver and kidney torture..SeriouslyI have noticed that people think that alchohol or soft fizzed drinks are drinks appropriate to quench thirst..The body is thirsty coz it needs water..It needs water coz it needs the water to dilute the toxins and remove them from the body ...So, water essentially is the medium to remove these toxins from the body..When the body is thirsty, it obviously doesn't have enough excess water to dissolve all the toxins waiting to be sent out from the body..Now, soft drinks have water with added toxins..so , all you are doing when you drink a fizzed soda when you are thirsty is increase the toxin levels further ..It is like using really dirty water to clean a dirty surface...YOu need to use clean water to clean a dirty surface, right?Also, infact, alchohol is a diuretic,, so it actually makes you lose the very little water that the body is hanging on to while it is on a toxin overload...So the next time you are thirsty, please drink either warm or cold pure clean water..There is no place for fizz or alchohol when the body is drying for some real water.
Well, coming back to what happenned when i drank coke after a good four years?I could feel a grating sensation when i gritted my teeth.That is because the Soda contains high amounts of acids that leach the enamel and erode it.No wonder there is a increasing incidence of dental cavities with increasing usage of soft drinks.
I also felt a very burning feeling as the drink flowed down my gullet ...Big sign that the drink is doing no good to the inner lining of my food pipe
I do have to reiterate here...The next time you are thirsty, please drink some soothing pure water..And yeah, please stop using bottled water...A large amount of plastic is used to store a very small amount of water which will be drunk withing ten seconds....WE need to figure out a way to make tap water safe enough for people not to resort to buying bottled drinking water

Rain harvesting

Well, Rain harvesting ,
what is it?
It is a method by which , all the rain that fall on a given land surface could be smartly collected before it falls on the earth surface .
What happens to rain water normally?
Usually most of the rain water that falls on the earth just flows off to areas on the surface that are already polluted and in the process,gets contaminated.This contaminated rain water  is  not potable or usable as drinking water anymore.
Also,most of the rain water gets washed off to the sea and immediately stops  being FRESH WATER once it enters the sea.
Rain water that falls on the rivers is ofcourse usable but given that so many regions actually let out insdustrial waste and raw sewage into rivers without treatment,this is a lost cause as well.

Some rain water gets soaked up by the earth surface and trickles down to ground water.This is the only place where rain water actually directly helps REPLENISH water sources underground.

What is rainwater harvesting?

Rainwater harvesting is the process of COLLECTING AND SAVING water when it rains and use it for later .
This rain water collection must happen from a clean surface , for eg, a clean terrace.
This collected water can then either used directly or stored for later.
If the collected rain water is to be stored,it must first be filtered and slightly treated prior to storeage.

Sometimes,the excess rain water can be safely let into a safe groud water hole that would then make sure that the underground water table is replenished  as well.However when trying to re let collected rain water back into an underground well, please FILTER AND CLEAN THE COLLECTED water prior to letting it into underground sources.
UNTREATED RAIN WATER when let into underground wells can CONTAMINATE wells.

so,yeah,this is what Rain water harvesting is all about.

How does this help us?
Water is necessary for sustainance of life, just like air.humans cannot do without water or air.
With growing booming populations,water demand is on the rise  and water has become a scarce precious commodity.

Rain water harvesting helps us cut each of our water foot print.
I did write a very precise blog entry about water foot print weeks ago.
It helps save water and prevents wastage .

Rainwater if not harnessed might first fall on muddy earth ,get contaminated and then with all its contaminants  flow out into surface water bodies and finally to the sea .

Rains do feed rivers and the soil that gets washed off  into the rivers does get settled off along the water in agricultural fields and deltas and nourish them,
but,most of rain water gets wasted .

rain water harvesting helps us make GOOD USE of water that might otherwise get wasted .

Rain water is the purest form of water much akin to distilled water.Therefore, rain water could actually be consumed as is, if collected directly from the sky without any treatment .

Also, rain water can be collected at a much higher point and then,just like a water stored in a dam is used to produce hydel powered electricity, this water can then be run down from that height and thus can be used to produce electricity too.
So, thus, we can have an energy source from a renewable source.

This blog entry of mine was prompted by all the unseasonal and untimely heavy rainfalls  we had recently.
Why not make hay when the sun shines!
Why not produce hydel electricity if at all it is going to rain like cats and dogs this way all the time..LOL.
I think , Seattle, should go ahead and think of rain water harvesting
and chicago like i mentioned in one of my past blog entries, can go for , wind powered energy.
yeah, Las vegas can go for solar energy too..LOL
there we go, our energy problems all solved.

Rain and rain and some more rain

There have been rains and rains and rains everywhere.
Ofcourse there have been odd earthquakes here and there..But, mostly it has been rain and rain and rain.
It gets difficult when the seasons don't adhere to their expected charecterisitics...whatcha say?
btw,earthquakes in china right before the olympics..gosh..that is one scary thought..All of the world's best atheletes will be there risking earthquakes? and the smog too.hmmmm

Grow your own food, Make your own lil home veggie garden

Well, You can pitch in to deal with the food shortage by growing your own veggies...in your own lil garden.To all your lucky folks who actually have homes with earth around that you could grow plants on ..Please please,, plant atleast a few herbs and some tomatoes, okra , aubergines and such.
I remember the small veggie garden i planted when i was a kid growing up and my parents had a large garden area around the house....They grew all sorts of fruits too..there was lot of land around.I planted some chilli seeds..they grew..the seeds...we had a large chilli plant and it bore chillies too..I planted potato eyes too..but then,, well by the time they got a lil big..some rodent from the garden ate them all up..LOL
The local food is more about growing your own food and helping food shortage .It is not as much about paying more to someone else who will then grow food on the same piece of land over and over again... well..anyways..for all us not so lucky folks who now live in high rise apartments(yours truly included).. we can try growing herbs in the kitchen window sill and if there is a balcony , can try growing some plants in a pot too..Only thing is..make sure there is enought enrichment of the potted soil with kitchen waste..hmmmmm
Yeah , btw, eating only what is necessary and steering clear of things we can avoid eating aka other animals, is a good way to combat food shortage too.Gluttony is very unnecessary.Eating meat is too.