TREMOR

April 22, 2009

Tremor is a rhythmic muscle movement produced by the involuntary oscillations of one or more parts of the body. Tremor in the limbs usually affects both sides of the body. The causes of tremor range from drugs to diseases which in turn move to movement disorders. Some drugs which cause temporary tremor include anti-depressants, beta-adrenergic agonists, mood stabilizers, thyroid drugs, caffeine etc. Other causes include alcohol withdrawal, stroke, fever and hypoglycemia. Two movement disorders causing permanent tremor are Parkinson’s disease, a progressive degenerative neurological disease and essential tremor, a non-degenerative disease, affecting four million to six million people. Although not fatal, essential tremor can become increasingly disabling in performing daily living skills such as writing, eating and drinking. Most tremors occur in the hands. Tremor may occur at any age but is seen most common in middle-aged and older people. It affects men and women equally. It can be determined primarily during action or at rest. Thirty years ago, a surgical procedure called thalamotomy was introduced to control tremor. This technique destroys the region of the brain responsible for tremor. In ensuing years, drugs were used to control tremor although they prove effective in less than half of the patients. See more about the treatments for tremor in the next post

TYPES OF EUTHANASIA

April 19, 2009

The issue of euthanasia involves two aspects-passive and active. Passive euthanasia would be the right to refuse medical treatment which merely prolongs life technically but holds no possibility of a cure or a resumption of normal activity. It is something that many people have done. It would be far more dignified to die peacefully and naturally, free of the myriad tubes and pipes sticking out of one’s body in an attempt to keep oneself artificially alive. There are circumstances when patients in a coma or in an unfit condition may not be in a position to make known their wish to forego further medical treatment. In such cases, there should be some legal provision. It is when we come to the active aspect of euthanasia which involves not merely a refusal to be medicated but a conscious and deliberate decision to end one’s life in case of terminal illness, and beyond that, the right of doctors to be protected from prosecution if they accede to a patient’s request for mercy killing. Active euthanasia, in its essence, comes down to legalized suicide or abetment to suicide. Whether one takes the decision oneself or others have to take the decision, the issue is fraught with moral considerations.

LEGAL ISSUES IN EUTHANASIA

April 17, 2009

It is certain that serious moral issues are attached to the term ‘euthanasia’. There is a deep rooted belief in most people that life is a god given gift and it is presumptuous on the part of a human being to throw it away. This motive may also be viewed as dangerously close to playing god. For instance, if the patient is in coma without having expressed any idea on the subject, who is to decide on actively terminating the person’s life? Even if the doctor is sincere and honest, the dilemma will remain at a deep moral level after all a doctor’s duty is surely to prolong life and not assist in shortening it. In certain developed countries such as UK, it has been considered legal to allow the life of a person to be taken “upon his/her explicit request”. Any law on euthanasia should, of course, have clear safeguards to preclude any possibility of unscrupulous elements exploiting the situation. The prime decision should come from the patient concerned and that too after long and deep thought. People who oppose euthanasia are blind to the tragedy and sense of human waste when a person is kept artificially alive, suspended between life and death. In such circumstances, one has to consider the meaning of life itself and not reject it as ‘immortal’. Euthanasia is a controversial subject and there is no unanimity about it.

EUTHANASIA

April 11, 2009

Death refers to either the moment at which life ends or the state that follows life. Anyone born in this world must die, given the level of medical knowledge and skill at present. And when that medical knowledge is not going to help a person to get cured, that he or she is not going to recover, in other words, he or she is terminally ill, would it not be merciful to allow the person to die? Would not euthanasia or mercy killing be acceptable to the suffering patient as well as to those who are close to him or her? Euthanasia basically refers to painless death (i.e) ending a life in a painless manner. There are times, of course, when the agony of a patient dear to us is difficult to see and bear, especially when everyone concerned knows that death is inevitable. It is not given to all of us to have the strength and courage to endure physical pain and mental anguish stoically though many of us would, no doubt, yearn for such strength. At such times and for such persons, surely the choice of euthanasia should be made available It appears as the better alternative to prolonging the misery. See more about euthanasia in the next post.

LASIK-CURE FOR MYOPIA

April 7, 2009

We saw about the myopia and its effects. Most commonly, myopia can be corrected through the use of corrective lenses. In recent years, low radiation laser surgery has proved its usefulness in treatment and prevention of progressive short-sightedness. It can be corrected by refractive surgery such as LASIK which stands for “laser in situ keratomileusis”. In this surgery, the surgeon will vaporize and reshape the surface of the eye with a laser beam. Then a procedure known as “flap and zap” by ophthalmologists will cure the eye’s short-sightedness forever. It is a radical new laser procedure to restore full sight which is yet to be approved as a known-to-be-safe procedure and its effects are irreversible. A few expert ophthalmologists said LASIK is one of the most significant advancements in twentieth century eye care and the eye recovers within 24 hours of the surgery but there is a two percent chance that you’ll be able to read as low as the third bottom line on an eye chart. The advantage that LASIK has over older surgical techniques is that when the laser is reshaping the cornea, it will cure the astigmatism (irregularities in eye’s shape blurring vision). More than a million people throughout the world have since had their eyesight corrected by this operation.

MYOPIA

April 4, 2009

The eye is the most sophisticated camera on the earth. For it to show a perfect picture, Incoming light rays have to be focused by the cornea at the front of the eyeball so that they converge precisely on the retina which is connected to the optic nerve at the back. The retina then converts the light into impulses, sent through the optic nerve to the brain which interprets them as images. This behavior pattern of the eye can be seen in normal human beings. For people who suffer from myopia or short-sightedness, the eye is a few millimeters too long, so the light converges in front of the retina, sending a blurred image to the brain of anything than a few metres away. It is similar to the principle when the camera lens goes out of focus. Those with myopia can see nearby objects clearly but distant objects remain blurred. What a normal-sighted person could see clearly from 60 metres, these sufferers could see from just three metres with constant irritation. Spectacles or corrective lenses are a temporary cure for myopia which work by reducing the blur circle formed on the retina but a complete freedom from myopia is strictly necessary for proper vision.