Saturday, July 14, 2007

CARDIAC RESUSCITATION (BASIC LIFE SUPPORT)……….. U CAN SAVE A LIFE







If you find a person lying unresponsive some where…….. Few easy steps and u might be able to save his life.





Step 1: ASSESS THE RESPONSIVENESS……..

Call and gently shake the patient and make sure patient is truly unresponsive and not just sleeping.
Be careful about shaking the patient who might have serious traumatic injury, particularly injury to his spine.





STEP2: CALL FOR HELP


STEP 3: OPEN THE AIRWAY





Position the patient on a flat, firm surface and make him face up.
You can open the patient’s airway by performing chin lift maneuver; Make sure you do it gently as patient might be having injury to his cervical spine.

STEP 4: ASSESS THE PATIENTS BREATHING





Assess the patients breathing by look listen and feel technique. You can put you face close the patient’s while looking at his chest. So you can look at movement of his chest , listen to his breath sounds and feel the flow of air from the patient if he is breathing at all..





IF THERE IS NO AIR MOVEMENT….






STEP 5: PERFORM 2 RESCUE BREATHS…





If patient is not breathing give him 2 rescue breaths by mouth to mouth respiration. Close the patient’s nostrils take a deep breath and pump the air in patient’s mouth with full vigor
STEP 6: CHECK FOR THE PULSE
See if there is any pulse… check the carotid pulse of the patient, for 5-10 seconds

IF THERE IS NO PULSE……

STEP 7: PERFORM CHEST COMPRESSIONS





Perform the chest compression at the rate of 80-100 per minute. For 15 compressions give two ventilations.

Perform CPR till help the help arises…

Thursday, July 5, 2007

AIDS treatable but not curable yet....................




History
AIDS is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans, and similar viruses in other species (SIV, FIV, etc.). The late stage of the condition leaves individuals prone to opportunistic infections and tumors. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV exist to slow the virus' progression, there is no known cure. HIV, et al., are transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk. This transmission can come in the form of anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.

Most researchers believe that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century. it is now a pandemic, with an estimated 38.6 million people now living with the disease worldwide. As of January 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on June 5, 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and destroying human capital. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries. HIV/AIDS stigma is more severe than that associated with other life-threatening conditions and extends beyond the disease itself to providers and even volunteers involved with the care of
people living with HIV.
Treatment
Currently available agents are:
1) Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)@
· Zidovudine (AZT)
· Duadanosine (DDI)
· Stavudine (D4T)
· Lamivudine (3TC)
· Abacavir

2) Protease Inhibitors

· Nelfinavir
· Indianavir
· Saquinqvir
· Ritonavir

3)Non-nucleoside reverse transciptase inhibitors (NNRTIs)

· Efavirenz
· Nevirapine
· Delavirdine



Treatment Regimen
1) 2 NRTIs + 1 protese inhibitor
OR
2) 2NRTIs + Efavirenz
OR
3)2NRTIs + 2 protese inhibitors



Aim of antiretroviral therapy is to increase CD4 count and decrease the viral load.

Antiretroviral therapy should be started :
1) CD4 < 350
Or
2) Viral Load (PCR-RNA) > 55,000 by RNA



Though the antiretroviral therapy is helpful to improve the condition of patient but No definitive cure is available for AIDS for now. The best way out is Prevention.





Link; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS