SOP

It's been quite a while since I posted something on my blog. Today while cleaning up the junk accumulated on my hard drive I came across several useful articles that I had prepared during my PG- ship.

SOP or standard operating procedures.

Sharing here are some of the articles that I found useful for public health purposes.

1. mid upper arm circumference 
2. waist circumference 
3. hip circumference 
4. height
5. weight
6. pallor

ECG monitoring using mobile device - when engineering met medicine

Innovativeness and creativity has always been a part of science. In this ever developing world, Science has made our lives easier. With every passing day a new development strikes the market and leaves it's imprint behind.

Mobile Technology has affected every aspect of the human life all over the world. Not only has mobile technology made connectivity easier, it has also positively impacted Healthcare services. In this regard and new development that caught my attention in recent times was the use of a smart phone to monitor ECG.

I came across such device on a Facebook Post. The interface uses ECG leads connected on the chest wall of the patient and transmitting data via cable directly to the mobile device. Once connected, an app installed in the mobile can recognize the electrical activity and display the graph. it can be used for continuous monitoring and also a graph can be printed. The best part of the system is that it can be used by Healthcare providers in Periphery (like in Sub Center or PHC) and the information can be transmitted to a higher setup.
In this manner even a health worker who has been trained to connect the leads on the patient's chest and run the app on mobile can take out an ECG from a patient who complains of cardiac or similar symptoms within moments. The data thus obtained can be analysed by doctor positioned more centrally and the health worker may be guided to take the best course of action which he may be unable to take himself otherwise.

For example, a patient visiting a sub Center located in a remote village complains of sudden onset chest pain. ECG taken out by the health worker may be immediately sent to the higher center to the consultant whereby a diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction is suspected. Accordingly the health worker can be guided to provide the immediate care(like Morphine, Oxygen, Nitrate, Aspirin) and shift the patient as early as possible to a better equipped center for further management thus improving the chances of survival of the patient and bringing down the cost of therapy as well. This system may also help in avoiding unnecessary referrals.

Lifestyle Diseases and Prevention

From a discussion on Lifestyle Diseases and their prevention

Lifestyle Diseases and Prevention from Pallab Nath

People Who Travel Alone Are More Intelligent

A study by British Psychological Society revealed that people who experience solitude and who like to travel alone are more intelligent than others. They also concluded that, "lower life satisfaction with more frequent socialization with friends”, leads to an intelligent life.

The study was related to "savanna theory of happiness" according to which less socialising is equal to more intelligence and happiness.

They compared more rural living to how ancestors once traveled in close-knit, smaller tribes. Basically the lifestyles of hunter-gatherer tribes have formed the evolutionary foundation for what makes people happy now.

It was thus concluded that, for the average person, living in a smaller town and actively socializing with friends is key to happiness. However, for a highly intelligent person it was quite the opposite.

It was also observed that, smarter people try to spend time alone by taking days off to travel alone.

They contemplate on life and come back with some richer experiences.

Hiv and the truckers

according to UNAIDS sex workers are 10 times more likely than the general population to be HIV positive. Another high risk group consists of the truckers. Truckers spend weeks, even months, on the road ferrying loads across the length and breath of the country. But it's not just cargo that moves along these transportation routes, it's also HIV. Sexual health awareness is low among these truck drivers.

OTC INSIGHT Asia-Pacific reported recently that, in India, around 2 million truck drivers are frequently engaging in unprotected sex with sex workers and only 11.4% of these workers said they had used a condom.
Tata Motors decided to tackle the problem head-on with the target group, the truckers. Tata Motors with the help of creative agency Rediffusion Y&R and launched the “Use Dipper At Night” campaign in April 2016.

Indian truckers have a strong cultural identity and “Use Dipper At Night” (reminding drivers to dip their headlights during nighttime). The idea was to encourage truck drivers to practice safe sex by linking this concept to the phrase that resonates strongly with every member of the community. Thereby a new condom brand called Dipper was created and marketed exclusively for the truck drivers.

HLL Lifecare, a government-owned corporation and India’s largest condom manufacturer, produces the the condoms. Each wallet, which contains three condoms, is decorated with different truck art motifs and slogans, such as “Have a Safe Journey”, to make them more appealing to the target consumer.

Empirical diet chart for a Bengali patient with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Dietary guideline for a Bengali  patient with Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
Meal/time	Dietary advice
Breakfast 7:30 – 8 A.M.	1 cup tea (125 ml appx) with skimed milk (double toned milk) with no sugar (add one pellet of sugar free although I don’t recommend that)  2 slices of brown bread Alternately you can take one bowl of muesli with double toned milk
Snack 10 – 10.30 A.M	4 sugar free cream cracker biscuits Or One bowl of puffed rice
Lunch 12:00 – 1pm	1- 2 cup brown rice  1 cup of dhal  1 cup of boiled vegetables,  (if you find the taste difficult to adjust, stir-fry with 5 to 10 ml olive oil)  50 gms of fish (low fat, small fresh water fish) or meat (chicken/ lean meat)- preferably cooked in olive oil end the meal with curd made from skimmed (double toned) milk – half cup
Afternoon 3 - 3.30 P.M.	one bowl of fresh fruit cut into medium sized cubes (avoid high sugar containing ones like jack fruit, mangoes etc) You can also add cucumber, acts as a good filler One cup of tea
Dinner 7 - 8 P.M.	1 cup brown rice or 2 rotis made from multi grain flour or one cup boiled white oats  1 cup stir-fried vegetables (as mentioned above)  50 gm of chicken or fish  1 bowl of salad (cucumber) or Raita made with low-fat milk
Snack 9- 10 P.M	1 cup of skim milk
Whenever you feel hungry in between meals	Have one bowl of puffed rice with cut pieces of cucumber

Metformin against cancer

Evidence from two new studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that metformin improves survival for some breast cancer patients. 

Results of the study showed that patients who used metformin before being diagnosed with breast cancer were more than twice as likely to die than patients who never used the drug, while patients who began using metformin after their cancer diagnosis were almost 50 percent more likely to survive than non-users.