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Posts Tagged ‘primum non nocere’

An unpalatable medical quote

Posted in Ethics in Medicine, medical quotes, tagged , , , , , , on January 11, 2023|

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Principles of practice of medicine: 2020 version

Posted in Medical education, Medical ethics, medical quotes, Venkat quotes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2021|

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If Hippocrates arrives in cath lab by BMW . . .

Posted in Cardiology -guidelines, Cardiology -Interventional -PCI, medical quotes, Two line sermons in cardiology, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The doctrine  of  modern medicine  goes  something like this   . . .

For most medical problems ,  there  would be a solution. Keep  trying . . . till you get it !

*But , just make sure that problem on hand deserves a solution in the first place !

Modern medicine continues to  remind us  every day , the much hyped solutions  often end up in new problems and  many  times worse than the original problem !

Oh ! what a  great a quote ! When I  was boasting   myself  . . .  My wife reminded  me ,  this is just  plagiarized version of  a  2000 year old Hippocratic thought !

Primum non nocere  . . . first do no harm !

But , Hippocrates’  life  was  not  contaminated  with  drug eluting stents, I pads, and  BMWs

If   Hippocrates  arrives  in   cath lab  today  by BMW which sucks  50000 Rs EMI  ,Everolimus coated  coronary  jewellery   will  definitely  tempt him !

You  can’t  simply   compare lives separated by 2000 years

. . . I told my wife !

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The most important medical research article published for over 100 years !

Posted in bio ethics, cardiology journal club, tagged , , , , , , on December 31, 2012| 1 Comment »

If you are a doctor  and  whatever  be your specialty   . . .  if you do  not read this article  and understand the nuances  probably you  will not become a   complete medical professional !

Master health check up futility general health check

master health check up geenral health checks bmj british medical journal cohcrane nordic

 

While  BMJ  struggles to  propagate  a vital truth , this  banner on a  Indian  high way   tempted the public  to go for 64 slice CT scan   . . .just like that !

Master health check up 2

Final message

Accruing medical knowledge and skills is only one aspect of medical profession. Applying it properly in our patient population is entirely  different ball game . Let us be disease curers and not disease hunters . This is important because disease  hunting is  a dangerous  game ,  where victims can be innocent  bystanders. This  is exactly same thing  Hippocrates  refered to as  Primum non nocere  1000 years ago.  It  has required  a huge statistical study to RE-INVENT  this universal fact !

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Should we switch “Off” label use of cardiac devices and drugs ?

Posted in bio ethics, cardiac drugs, Cardiology - Clinical, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Off label prescription 

  1. Is a great scientific concept
  2. Is a deceit camouflaged  with a pseudo scientific fabric.
  3. Can be encouraged in very selective patient  population and diseases by experienced  cardiologists , as  it may be really useful when no other options are available.
  4. Is diagonally opposite  to evidence based medicine , should be banned in toto !

Answer:

4 is the correct answer .occasionally 3 can be true

Some of the examples of off label indication

  • Statins for Aortic stenosis
  • VSD device for RSOV closure
  • Ivabradine for cardiac failure

By the way how does an off label become on label?

It is not the ” God ” who  gives the label to them

There are few “Demi Gods” sitting aside  in the regulatory corridors of  New york and  Geneva who decide the fate of these drugs and devices . Ultimately the integrity of these organizations that will either protect or injure our patients !

Final message

Medical science grows my mistakes  . . . hence  we should be encouraged to do more of that  . . . so that we can grow !

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What do we mean by conservative management” ? Why it is often considered as an inferior form of treatment in Medicine ?

Posted in Cardiology - Clinical, Cardiology -Interventional -PCI, cardiology -Therapeutics, cardiology- coronary care, Infrequently asked questions in cardiology (iFAQs), tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 30, 2008| 3 Comments »

                                            The science of medicine has evolved over 2000 years since the stone age days.It has  currently reached  a glorious era with  cutting edge  scientifc  technology .Today  one can map the entire human genetic blue print and intervene in the  disease  even before they manifest .One can   keep dying people alive for years with multi organ transplantation. Modern medicine has taught us  how human sufferings can be prevented and life can be prolonged (with or without purpose !)

The term conservative management  conveys two different

meanings for medical professionals.

conservativ-3

For other group of physicians

 

conservative-4

                         

                             Ever since the days of  application of leech over the  head for treating migraine and a crude knife abdominotomy for emergency exit of babies from  pregnant mothers in distress  , healer’s   mind has always  perceived “something  has to be done  urgently when some body suffers”  this sort of  reaction is probably  inherited  and is related to  the primitive flight or fight response .

This may be true in  some of the emergencies but it is untrue in many of the non emergencies.

                                          Unfortunately ,  our mind  finds it difficult   to differentiate  between these  situations . With constant exposure to dramatic medical breakthroughs , modern day physician is made to believe   “Some thing  is always  better than nothing  when illness strikes. Human body is a wonderful machine which has it’s own service station ! in the form autoregulation  and the meticulous  homeostatic mechanisms. Only if the disease process overwhelms,  it needs intervention.( Typical example:In the routine viral fever , you don’t adminster Acyclovir or other antiviral  for all of them !) 

                                        The problem with early aggressive approach is,  it fails to give an oppurtunity  for the body’s natural defence forces  to respond. Further , we will  never ever know how the administered treatment is going to fare vis a viz the natural response.( With due respects to RCTs).   While the field of medicine   has  so much  evolved , our thought process,  especially  the  aspect of clinical  reasoning  has always been lagging behind .It is now considered  as inferior or even unscientific  treatment  if  some one follows a conservative approach to a problem even if  it  provides   same outcome of that of an invasive or aggressive approach ( The classical example is PCI for chronic stable angina The COURAGE study).

The other major issue is the hazards of unwarrnted  invesitigations , drugs and procedures

Classical example:No one knows how much morbidity or mortality the routine Swan ganz catheter  caused when it was rampantly used for over two decades to monitor central venous pressure .It is estimated  that in modern medicine  there are at least  few  drugs or devices  in each speciality waiting  for the same fate  as that of  the swan ganz catheter.

No body knows when it will be exposed .Our EBM will take it’s own time . . .Till that time humanity need to suffer.

This thinking is not new  The concept  “First do no harm is over 2000 years old”

hippocrates-primum-non-nocere

Questions in search of answers

 Does law of conservation of energy applicable to human body and medicine  ? 

 Can we defy death with modern medicine ?

Final message

  • Conservative management is still  a great medical concept  in many situations  and one should not allow it to die  by the whims and fancies of the modern scientific forces.
  • Whatever you do on the patent’s body  do it ,  only if it is going to helpful for him /her. If you are unsure  Whether a given  treatment  is going to help or not ask this question to an expert .
  • The widely prevailing  dogma  of aggression is always better than  non aggression  has absolutely no evidence.
  • So approach a clinical issue disease by disease ,  individual by individual.
  • Now , in this era  high tech  medicine  ,  It is lot more tougher to choose a conservative path as the pressure to do more and more  looms  larger ! It is easier to follow the crowd  than a path of your own .
  • Always remember it needs a  stronger  mind to  act according to our conscience !

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