GUEST POST: How to Improve Medical Services in Third World Countries

The world has become a much smaller place, thanks to technology and globalization. But no matter how connected we are, there still exist huge disparities between the rich and the poor. The gap gets wider with each passing year, for individuals and nations. In the eyes of the developed world, third world countries are perceived as places where the standard of living is poor and where the things they take for granted are considered luxuries. In reality however, third world countries have their share of both the obscenely rich and the dirt poor. And the main reason for their backwardness is not just the paucity of money, but also the lack of awareness and education among the poorer and downtrodden sections of society.

When we consider the state of medical services in these countries, we see that the rich are able to afford any kind of treatment for all kinds of diseases. But for the poor and the middle class, medication is prohibitively expensive simply because quality medical services are only offered by the private sector. The government does offer services for the poor and those who are not able to afford private medical treatment, but the quality of treatment is poor at times. Also, the facilities are often overcrowded and not hygienic, and this makes the middle class hesitant to seek medical treatment at these places.

Improving medical services in third world countries is an uphill climb, but it can be done if:

• Tax money is put to better use – to build cleaner and more spacious medical facilities and to pay qualified doctors and other healthcare personnel so that they don’t move away to set up their own private practice or join a private care provider.
• Politicians don’t get greedy and swindle public funds that are meant for the improvement of society and the common man.
• Bribery is abolished and doctors and healthcare personnel are encouraged to offer better services through various incentives.
• People are made more aware of the need for cleanliness and personal hygiene.
• Education is made compulsory for children so that they have opportunities to leave behind the squalor and poverty they grew up in.
• Smaller towns and villages are better linked by road to cities and larger towns where there are better medical facilities.
• Mobile medical services are introduced in remote villages so that diseases are diagnosed in the early stages and the need for emergency care and hospitalization is minimized.
• More emphasis is placed on preventive rather than curative care. When this happens and people are more aware of the need for preventive care through the right diet and regular exercise, healthcare begins to look up in any nation, developed or developing.

By-line:

This guest article is written by Teresa Jackson, she writes on the subject of online NP schools . She invites your questions, comments at her email address : teresa.jackson19@gmail.com.

THE HOXTON CREEPER WAS NO CREEP and SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE ACROMEGALIC ACTOR

Acromegaly Can Cause Certain Parts of the Body to Grow Even in Adults

I don't know where Dr. Watson went to medical school but in the movie Pearl of Death, he fails to recognize that the so called Hoxton Creeper is actually a man with an obvious case of Acromegaly. In fact he was the actor Rondo Hatton, a sportswriter who developed a case of acromegaly.






Acromegaly happens with the release of too much growth hormone after the bones of the body have closed and thus only certain areas can still become enlarged.
Usually it's because of a pituitary gland problem... According to Wikipedia "Acromegaly distorted the shape of Hatton's head, face, and extremities in a gradual but consistent process. Hatton, who reportedly had been voted the handsomest boy in his class at Hillsborough High School, eventually became severely disfigured by the disease. Because the symptoms developed in adulthood (as is common with the disorder), the disfigurement was incorrectly attributed later by film studio publicity departments to his exposure to a German mustard gas attack during service in World War I. Whether Hatton actually served in combat is unclear, though it has been reported that he served on the Mexican border and in France". See the Wikipedia article on the actor Rondo Hatton.

The Anti Gravity Treadmill Price Starts to Come Out of Orbit and Popularity on Earth for Runners and Physical Training Grows Watch Video

The Anti Gravity Treadmill Price Starts to Come Out of Orbit and Popularity on Earth for Runners and Physical Training Grows Watch a Video

The Treadmill Developed by NASA is Being Used By Sports Teams, Rehabilitation Clinics and Some Gyms

Remember the lady blogger who lost 150 pounds? She mentions in her blog that sometimes during her weight loss trek she would work out on an "antigravity treadmill". It sounded like sports equipment on the "holodeck"...(Captain Picard)....I looked into it and there actually is such a device and it WAS developed by NASA! But it turns out to be useful for runners and others on earth to reduce the impact on joints.





"The treadmill works by pumping air into an enclosure that surrounds users from the waist down. They zip themselves in and an increase in air pressure lifts them so they can run at a fraction of their actual weight (pressing the up/down arrows on the control panel decreases body weight at increments of 1 percent, as much as 80 percent)".



"The weight reduction lowers the impact on joints and muscles to improve training and performance or help provide a smooth recovery from injury or surgery. Speed and incline are adjustable as with any treadmill".

‘ Anti-gravity' treadmill designed for astronauts now helps injured athletes






"The Oakland Raiders football team has one; the Golden State Warriors basketball team has two, the University of California at Berkeley has several, and Stanford University has one. The University of California at San Francisco Medical Center has two, as does Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The military uses them to help patients learn to walk with prosthetics and relearn balance affected by traumatic brain injury, said Lars Barfod, AlterG's chief executive".

MORE ON GENIUS WHO REFUSED MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE WHY CANT THIS MATHEMATICS GENIUS APPLY IT TO MEDICINE

Solver of Over 100 Year Old Math Problem Refuses Million Dollar Prize

Iwrote previously about another genius and now I read about Grigory Perelman, who solved the more than 100 year old Poincare Conjecture and then refused the One Million Dollar prize. Wouldn't it be great if he would apply his laser like concentration and massive intellect to medical research?.."A Russian awarded $1 million (£666,000) for solving one of the most intractable problems in mathematics said yesterday that he does not want the money".



Said to be the world's cleverest man, Dr Grigory Perelman, 44, lives as a recluse in a bare cockroach-infested flat in St Petersburg. He said through the closed door: 'I have all I want.'

World's cleverest man turns down $1million prize after solving one of mathematics' greatest puzzles

He Figures Out What is Blinding Babies and Other Doctors Tell Him He's Nuts

What is it a genius does that is different? I think it's that he or she NOTICES something, a connection or relationship about something that others have never noticed or just ignored. Here is a case. Dr. Arnall Patz, a doctor NOTICED a relationship between oxygen in premature babies and blindness. Did they say congratulations? No, they told him to shut up!

WHAT IS IT A GENIUS DOES That Makes Them a Genius A Doctor Figures Out WHY BABIES WERE GOING BLIND

Per the NY Times, "Dr. Patz began his pathbreaking work in the 1950s, when he discovered that the high doses of oxygen widely administered to help premature infants breathe could cause a form of blindness. Known then as retrolental fibroplasia, it is now called retinopathy of prematurity, or R.O.P. The oxygen, he found, led to overgrowth of blood vessels in the eye, damaging the retina irreparably". Patz NOTICED that the oxygen was related to the increase in blindness.



"To prove his theory that oxygen was the cause, Dr. Patz had to OVERCOME THE HOSTILITY OF MANY DOCTORS AND NURSES who believed he was harming, not helping, the infants. The National Institutes of Health REJECTED AS UNSCIENTIFIC his initial application for a grant to study oxygen’s role". "While in training, Dr. Patz OBSERVED 21 infants who had developed severe R.O.P. after receiving continuous oxygen therapy delivered through a cone made from folded X-ray film. Four of the children showed a narrowing of the blood vessels in the retina that seemed to lead to R.O.P".









"Dr. Patz and the pediatrician in charge of the nursery, Dr. Leroy Hoeck, who died last year, suspected that oxygen was toxic in the amounts administered, Dr. Patz wrote in an account in The American Journal of Ophthalmology in 2006. DESPITE A LACK OF TRAINING IN RESEARCH and grant support, Dr. Patz carried out a clinical trial to test his theory with a loan from his brother, Louis".

Arnall Patz, a Doctor Who Prevented Blindness, Is Dead at 89

BUT I CANT LOSE WEIGHT..OH YES YOU CAN..The Blog of Someone Who Managed to Lose 150 Pounds

ADVICE AND STORY OF SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS BLOG

BUT I CANT LOSE WEIGHT..OH YES YOU CAN..The Blog of Someone Who Managed to Lose 150 Pounds

I just can't lose weight. Recognize those words? After the umpteenth attempt and subsequent failure to lose weight perhaps that was you. I have been reading the blog of a woman who lost 150 pounds . It may be trite,maybe it's self hypnosis but it's true that you have to believe to achieve. That is particularly the case with diet and exercise and losing weight. If you see or hear about how someone not that unlike you, who has succeeded you figure maybe you can too!






"Lori Guerrini,46, didn’t have weight issues when she was younger. But after her grandfather died she grew depressed and found herself eating. And eating. And eating.
Taking anti-depressant medication didn’t help. Instead, they triggered insatiable chocolate cravings at 2 a.m. Finally, when she hit 301 pounds, she made two decisions".

Julie's Health Club: How One Chicago Woman Lost 150 Pounds

Loris Story: How I Lost 150 Pounds

Coffee good for that heart?

Drinking coffee 'protects the heart'. Researchers have discovered that regular coffee drinkers are less likely to be admitted to hospital with irregular heart beats or rhythms. And the more cups they drink a day, the less likely they are to suffer from the condition. (From The Telegraph).

OK.

But isn't red wine and whiskey good for the heart as well? Hook me up to a combo drip of the 3 of those.

I've thought of SA Doc's next post. WHY COFFEE WILL KILL YOU.

Awesome.