CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION

In 2015, 30 million people suffered a heart attack, out of which about 17 million deaths occurred on the spot. From my previous blog on HEART ATTACK you'll are already well-versed with the other ways to tackle, also prevent an attack. But one of the key measure to save a life of the victim is CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION.

 

WHY CPR?

CPR is an emergency procedure in which the compressing and relaxing movements of your hands on the chest of the heart attack victim works like a heart. It pumps the oxygenated blood collected in the  heart through the vessels to the brain and avoids its permanent damage which sets in just after 4 minutes of heart stoppage.

  Yes, it requires skill to perform a correct CPR, requires a lot of energy, a lot of humanity and once started, cannot be left midway till help arrives. So much of hard work and result? You save a life! Not kidding, a perfectly performed CPR saves life almost every time. And all you have to do is memorize the following 6 steps.

WHEN SHOULD BE CPR GIVEN? 

 CPR should be given in the following situations:

• When the person is fine one moment but suddenly collapses and loses conscious.
• When the person has a history of a previous heart attack.  
• When the person stops breathing, mouth-to-mouth should be given.
• When the person is already unconscious and you discover that he/she is pulse less.  

More questions on CPR answered on : http://heart.arizona.edu/frequently-asked-questions   

SELF-HELP 

 

6 STEPS OF PERFORMING A PERFECT CPR

Imagine, you are jogging with your buddy around the marine drive early in the morning. He suddenly collapses with his hands on the chest. This is what you are going to do next:

 STEP 1 :

Make the victim lie on a flat surface and make sure he gets fresh air. Tap his/her shoulders twice and ask, "Are you okay?". This way the consciousness of the victim can  be checked. Call for help if no one is around and ask that person to call the ambulance 102 (India) before you start performing CPR.

STEP 2 :

Check for pulse. Press your thumb firmly on the right upper or left upper side of the windpipe. If you don't get a pulse doesn't necessarily mean it is absent. Therefore the American association says, the pulse may not be searched for to save time and CPR should be performed anyway.

STEP 3 :

Bring your cheek near the mouth of the victim to feel the air expired on the cheek to check if the victim is breathing. Expose the chest of the victim up to the belly button. If he/she is not breathing, you will have to perform chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing. If the victim is breathing, mouth-to mouth-breathing is not required.

STEP 4 :

Start performing chest compressions immediately. The center of the line joining two nipples is the area where maximum force should be put. Sit near the head end of the victim with your legs folded. Place the heel of your right hand at the center and your left hand above it and lace them together. ( see picture)
Keep your elbows and back straight, the movement of up and down should occur at your hip joint.
 Do not worry about the injuries caused to the victim while you provide compressions. Remember if you don't push hard, he won't stay alive to complaint about the bruises.
When you press down, allow the chest to come up again before you apply the next compression. If you give incomplete and fast compressions, the heart wont be able to pump enough blood to the brain.
GIVE 30  CHEST COMPRESSIONS AT ONE GO FOLLOWED BY THE MOUTH-TO-MOUTH VENTILATION. COUNT LOUDLY WHILE YOU DO SO.

STEP 5 :

After 30 chest compressions, start with mouth-to-mouth ventilation.
 Hold the jaw of the victim with one hand and lift it up, other hand on the head of the victim- to clear the airway.
Pinch the nose of the victim to prevent the air escape through the mouth.
Place a thin cloth over the mouth of the victim to avoid direct contact with the victim's mouth.
Take a deep breath and fill your mouth with air and pump it into victim's with force.
When you do so, make sure you see the victim's chest rising. This indicates a perfect mouth-to-mouth ventilation.
GIVE 2 MOUTH-TO-MOUTH VENTILATION WITH A GAP OF AT LEAST 1 SECOND.

STEP 6 :

Repeat the cycle of  30 CHEST COMPRESSIONS FOLLOWED BY 2 MOUTH-TO-MOUTH VENTILATIONS till help arrives. Make sure you manage to give at least 60-90 chest compressions per minute. You have to be fast and forceful yet allow complete expansion of the chest after each compression. Do not stop in the middle. If you get tired midway, ask the person around to perform CPR, but DO NOT STOP TILL THE PARAMEDICAL WORKERS ASK YOU TO!

MYTH-O-LITH

 Do not give CPR unless the patient is unconscious.
In cases where AED kit ( electric defibrillator) is available, CPR is not required. Follow the instructions of the AED.
The above mentioned CPR procedure is ONLY FOR ADULTS. The procedure for infants and children below the age of 8 years is different.

POST SCRIPTING:

 89% of deaths due to heart attacks can be prevented just by following the above 6 steps.  Remember, no matter where you are, a railway station, a shopping mall, at your office or in a lift, all you need to perform CPR is a flat ground surface to make the victim lie and determination to save that person's life! 

MUCH POWER TO YOU, DOCYOU!

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CANCER DECODED

'Cancer' is one condition that every person has curiosity about. The fact, that it most certainly kills, yet there's very little the general population knows about it, is really mournful.

Till before the late 20th century, cancer was considered nothing less to a death sentence. But soon, awareness and advancement in oncology gave people suffering from cancer, a hope!

Slowly, cancer was then being considered survivable, and no matter how long the cancer patients survived, this fact alone gave them the yearn to walk past this dreaded disease with dignity.

BUT, there's more truth to this. While I was researching about this topic out on the web, I came across some facts that were no less to a shocker for me. The statements that I'll be stating below are not just facts but quotes by the FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER, SEATTLE about, 

WHY PREVENTION OF CANCER IS BETTER THAN IT'S CURE?

• Cancer death rates are almost unchanged for the past 80 years except, stomach cancer.
• Death rates due to breast, colon, prostate cancers are not just unchanged but increasing with time.
• No money is being spent on cancer prevention research inspite of falling survival rates of cancer patients.
• Cancer drug industry is one of the billion dollar profit industries with chemotherapy costing up to 10 to 20 lakhs per patient and negligible survival rates.
• More serious study has shown, chemotherapy causes healthy cells of the patient to secrete a protein that sustains cancer tumor growth and creates further resistance to the drugs. This makes the chemotherapy improve the patient's condition initially and later, deteriorate faster.

Do you still think the cancer drug industry is worried about the failing rates of chemotherapy or are they busy inventing more profitable drugs? 

Let me be more blunt about this, cancer TREATMENT and NOT cancer CURE, is the main objective of the cancer industry, for obvious reasons. 
The fact that not all cancer health workers are involved in this sinful act cannot be denied but when something wrong happens, it is also because the good wasn't compliant enough to suppress it.  

Ending the blame game, as it is often said that pointing out the vaccum isn't enough but filling it is. So, let's learn about the little changes in our lifestyles that can make our lives not just cancer free but, also from a long list of other degenerative diseases like diabetes, arthritis, hypertension and heart conditions. 

Not many researchers believe that all the cancers are preventable, but a lot of them say that only 5% of  all the cancers are inherited. Which means rest 95% cancers are caused because we did or did not do something!

WHAT IS IT?

Cancer is the growth of your own body cells in an uncontrolled manner. The cells grow haphazardly and damage the surrounding normal cells. This is caused because of 2 things :

1) Either because the growth stimulator is in excess.
2) Or because the growth suppressor is deficient.

WARNING SIGNS!

• A lump or hardened area in the breast.
• A change in a wart or mole.
• A persistent change in bowel habits i.e constipation- diarrhea cycle.
• A persistent cough or hoarseness of voice.
• Excessive loss of blood at the monthly period.
• Blood loss from any natural opening of the body.
• A swelling or sore that does not get better.
• Unexplained loss of weight.

Any of these warning signs should be taken seriously and immediately evaluated by a physician.  ( A template on BREAST SELF EXAMINATION will be put up soon!)

                                                                   SELF-HELP

9 THINGS YOU SHOULD AVOID TO PREVENT CANCER:

• Smoking or tobacco in any form. 
• Excessive Alcohol consumption. (1 drink for women and 1-2 drinks for men is not a problem!)
• White refined sugar and products containing it like syrups, sweets, colas etc. (To be strictly avoided by Diabetics.) 
• White refined carbohydrates like white flour (maida), white polished rice, white pastas and its products.
• Synthetic products like artificial sweeteners which are in abundance in diet colas, ice creams, sweetened cereals and products that claim less calories. 

( Ironically, these chemically sweetened diet foods do very little to help people loose weight and when you trade them for cancer risk, you've made a bad bargain.)

• Burnt barbecued meat is a cancer causing product, should be strictly avoided.
• Excessive exposure to environmental pollutants like passive smoking, industrial pollutants.

(Use face masks while heading out in early winter mornings, the smog= smoke+fog is extremely dangerous especially for asthmatics) 

• Use of refined oils like soybean, cottonseed oils.( Please take out a few seconds and look for the word 'partially hydrogenated' on the packs and avoid those.)
• Obesity. Try to keep your body mass index (BMI) below 25. 

( BMI = weight/ (height* height) in meters ) 

6 DIET REPLACEMENTS TOWARDS A HEALTHY LIVING:

• Replace White sugar by STEVIA leaves (naturally sweet leaves), coconut crystals or raw honey.
• Replace White flour by whole grain flour like whole wheat, whole bajra, whole jowar, whole ragi (nachni).
• Reducing the salt consumption to 1.5-1 teaspoon per person per day.
• Maintaining normal iodine levels plays a major role in cancer prevention of thyroid, breast and prostate. Regular blood testing should be done.
• Maintaining your immune system can fight of all the cancerous cells produced in the body and that can be done just by taking a balanced diet and avoid CRASH DIETS,YOU NEED CARBOHYDRATES!
• Consumption of fresh fruits and yogurts instead of canned juices and flavored yogurts. It reduces the intake of synthetic sweeteners and flavored esters.
• Regular screenings for cancers prevailing in the family like breast, colon, kidney cancer should be done, to catch the budding cancer at an early stage and to remove it completely.
• Vaccines should be take taken for cancers like cervical cancer, liver cancer (hepatitis b).

 

MYTH-O-LITH

 Not all cancers kill. There are two varieties of them, BENIGN AND MALIGNANT. The benign ones are harmless if caught early and removed and so the abnormal lumps in the body should be detected early and surgically removed. Remember, if these benign masses are ignored, they may further become malignant and the chances of survival reduce to a considerable extent.
 
POST SCRIPTING : Cancer sure is life threatening, but by being a tad bit more careful about your body and following the above measures you can drive that little possibility of getting cancer out of your lives. 

MUCH POWER TO YOU GUYS, DOCYOU!

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