Med First ENT Centre

 A large majority of patients who are infected by the Coronavirus are either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. Most of them are managed at home. This has multiple benefits- you prevent passing on the infection to multiple other persons, you are in the comfort of your house and can enjoy home food, and most important you do not overwhelm hospitals that need beds to treat seriously ill patients. Credible and respected organizations like WHO, CDC, AIIMS have set up and continue to update protocols for home care of a patient diagnosed with Covid-19. Medication                 1. Tab Paracetamol SOS for fever or body ache                 2. Simple over-the-counter antacid, empty stomach - for acidity                 3.  Simple antitussive cough syrup/cough suppressant for a simple cough Steam inhalation at night - for productive cough Points to Note-  1.      Consult with the treating physician once a day. 2.      Monitor SPO2 (Use Pulse Oximeter)- above 94 is ok. Check Twice a day  3.  

As the pandemic rages on in our country, the misery and hopelessness unleashed by the disease are matched equally by our complete lack of common sense in tackling it. A short story will illustrate the situation –  A young patient called me from Dwarka, South Delhi to state that she is Covid -19 positive and that she is sharing a prescription with me to see whether it is ok. The prescription was a handwritten note on a plain piece of paper – no doctor’s name or signature. It contained two antiviral agents, two antibiotics, one antacid, paracetamol 650 mg, one combination of an antihistamine with montelukast, and three vitamin supplements.  So I asked her who wrote this? “Doctor uncle I got this from the security guard bhaiya in the Society. The aunty in another flat was Covid positive so she gave the security guard bhaiya this list of medicines to get for her. He has passed this list to all of us who are positive- so we are all taking these medicines. End of story A large majority of pa

    A large majority of patients who are infected by the Coronavirus are either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. Most of them are managed at home. This has multiple benefits- you prevent passing on the infection to multiple other persons, you are in the comfort of your house and can enjoy home food, and most important you do not overwhelm hospitals that need beds to treat seriously ill patients. Credible and respected organizations like WHO, CDC, AIIMS have set up and continue to update protocols for home care of a patient diagnosed with Covid-19. Medication                 1. Tab Paracetamol SOS for fever or body ache                 2. Simple over-the-counter antacid, empty stomach - for acidity                 3.  Simple antitussive cough syrup/cough suppressant for a simple cough Steam inhalation at night - for productive cough Points to Note-  1.      Consult with the treating physician once a day. 2.      Monitor SPO2 (Use Pulse Oximeter)- above 94 is ok. Check Twice a day  3.

'Dr. Google' or Cyberchondria It would not be an exaggeration to say that most patients do some amount of research on search engines, especially Google, to find out more about their illness. This is usually done even before they visit their doctor, and quite often after a medical consultation - to understand more about their disease as well as to do background research on the drugs/ medicines prescribed. Cyberchondria is a feeling of increased anxiety induced by using the internet to search about our own illnesses. Negative write-ups, fake information, complicated medical jargon sometimes make us more bewildered on seeking information on the net. Coupled with false claims of cure, dire warnings about simple illnesses tend to confuse the reader. There seems to be some clarity on this issue now.  A recent study conducted by the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy looked at the accuracy with which someone could pick up the r

  Will I Have to Live With My Allergies Forever? Allergy is hyperresponsiveness to simple triggers - these substances - known as 'allergens' initiate an immune response from the host with the release of certain chemicals that cause the typical symptoms of allergies. Exposure to a harmless substance like a flowering plant or a smell can cause the immune system in the body to release antibodies. These antibodies act on cells to produce histamine and other chemicals which mediate the allergy response in the body. Allergies usually start in early childhood - like some pollen allergy, some food allergies like lactose, gluten, peanut, etc. Some allergies start later in life and are adult-onset allergies - typically allergic rhinitis and asthma. Childhood allergies also sometimes progress to allergies in adulthood.  The two main types of Allergens by route of admission are -  INHALANTS-  substances that we take in through our nose- these cause nasal symptoms (sneezing, watering, nasal