For those of us who live in Canada we're used to the concept of physician wait times. 6 months to see a specialist is far from uncommon but wait times to see your own family doctor?
I saw a patient yesterday who kindly gave me permission to anonymously discuss her story.
Over the weekend she developed acute pancreatitis. She's not a drinker (most common cause) and really the docs in the ER were stumped as to what was going on and concerned about whether or not things were going to get worse.
In terms of my patient, she was in a great deal of pain but not so much that she would require admission to hospital and therefore she was instructed to follow up with her family doctor within 2 days for further blood tests and to see how she was doing.
My patient, a health professional herself, called her doctor's office to make an appointment and explained the situation.
She was told that the earliest available appointment was 3 weeks away.
I don't understand that.
When I was training to be a family physician I was taught always to leave some emergency slots in my schedule to accommodate the unexpected. When I was a practicing family physician I had those slots and frankly even if they were full if there was a true emergency, I'd see the patient regardless. Even now in my specialized practice if a patient calls for a non-weight related emergency I'm happy to find time for them.
Why?
Not because I'm an exceptional doctor or human being, but rather simply because that's what doctors are supposed to do.
Shockingly the story I've recounted above is far from an isolated one.
What's happening to health care in Canada? Have you had similar experiences?
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Family Doctor Wait Times?!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Do you have Sleep Apnea?
I guess the first question should be, "Do you know what sleep apnea is?".
Amazingly, despite its clear causal association with hypertension, memory disorders, and obesity and the associated increased risk of sudden death, motor vehicle accidents and depression, many folks with sleep apnea don't know what it is.
Put simply, sleep apnea involves a person repeatedly stopping breathing during sleep which in turn causes them to not enjoy restorative sleep and to have low levels of oxygen in their bloodstream.
There are 3 types of sleep apnea: Obstructive, central and mixed with obstructive being far and away the most common and the one directly related to weight with the weight of a neck actually causing collapse or narrowing of upper airways during sleep.
Testing usually involves suffering through a terrible night's sleep at a sleep lab (though I'm sure some are lovely and don't involve trying to sleep through the chaos of a hospital) and then treatment usually involves sleeping with something called a CPAP mask that uses air under pressure to continually keep airways open.
Folks with successfully CPAP treated sleep apnea will almost always report that they can't imagine ever living without their CPAP machine because it has so dramatically improved their quality of life.
A person with sleep apnea might complain of NEVER feeling well rested, morning headaches, memory disturbances and daytime sleepiness. Their partner might complain of loud snoring (though snoring is not a must) or actual witnessed apnea events where they watch their partner stop breathing for up to a minute at a time.
The problem in Canada is that sleep labs are sometimes difficult to get to, especially in rural areas. Recently a company in Canada invented something they call a "Sleep Strip" which is actually a very sophisticated device that helps to screen for sleep apnea in your own home. It's the device pictured at the top of this post and it's available for sale at their website for $49.99.
[Hat tip: Robert]
UPDATE: Robert tells me that it's actually NOT a Canadian invention but rather an Israeli one.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Hesperidin - the Foot Cramp Champ
Have you ever heard of hesperidin?
I hadn't, but in a fit of desperation a few nights ago, I came across it in an article on foot cramps. Actually it wasn't really an article - it was a patient handout on nocturnal cramps that I found on a subscription only based medical site called MD Consult.
For weeks I'd been having really painful foot cramps. They would occur fairly randomly and the night in question they were keeping me from falling asleep. They'd start in my arch but could spread to around the baby toes as well.
Anyhow this patient handout mentioned that "rarely" cramping may be caused by an hesperidin deficiency.
So where do we find hesperidin? Citrus fruit - something I'm loathe to eat (I simply don't like citrus very much).
I searched Medline to see if I could find anything more substantiated than a patient handout and came up empty.
So I did what any desperate, remotely scientific individual would do - I ate an orange, and have had half an orange or a tangerine every day since.
Haven't had a cramp since that night.
Coincidence? Very possibly.
Placebo? Maybe.
Happy? Absolutely
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Kids, remember to drink your Diet Coke Multivitamin!
Perhaps someday soon we'll be seeing ads like this old one for Ovaltine from Coca Cola soon.
According to Beverage Digest, the Coca Cola company plans to roll out Diet Coke Plus.
Plus what you ask?
Why plus vitamins, minerals and herbs and course.
A veritable multi-vitamin in a pop can.
Because nothing says healthy like Diet Coke.
Except perhaps Ovaltine (chocolate vitamin powder added to milk) which according to the old ad has:
MMMmmm food energy.
Ovaltine by the way is still around. Now they also market directly to children with a product they call Max for Milk complete with happy cartoon boy. Their website states,
"Just simply mix it with cold milk for a wholesome milkshake drink your kids can enjoy every day."They also state,
"Each drink is made with the wholesome goodness of barley and malt, and contains 11 vitamins and 4 minerals – great to keep kids going! It also contains no artificial colours or sweeteners and is low in fat."It's a good thing for Ovaltine that no one makes ice cream with multivitamins in it because that would be direct competition.
Everyone knows ice cream would be a great choice if there were multi-vitamins included!
Multi-vitamins make everything healthy, chocolate milk, carbonated beverages - you name it, it'll be good.
If you're confused here, please go back and include dripping sarcasm with the last two lines.
Frankly as far as I'm concerned, I'm turning down Ovaltine and Diet Coke Plus in favour of my new favourite functional food - Fibe Mini! I don't know what's in it, but as you can see from the following video, drinking it will morph you into a winged, lightsaber wielding superhero able to vanquish giant life size parasites and bacteria and bring joy back to the world!
