April 2009

PAIN AND DISTRESS: THE AGGRAVATION OF PAIN BY DISTRESS

The little boy is playing. He falls and skins his knees, He screams. In an instant his whole being is overwhelmed with pain. For him there is only pain, his whole body, his whole world. Mother seizes him and holds him to her, kissing him on the cheeks. In a moment his distress is calmed [...]

ENDOSCOPIC EXAMINATION

Q. We hear so much about the endoscope these days. What is it, and what does examination entail? A. The endoscopes suddenly swirled across the medical horizon in the late 1960s, and during the 1970s became the most widely used form of investigation by the gastro-enterologists, the doctors who specialise in disorders of the G.I. [...]

SCIATICA: QUESTIONS YOUR DOCTOR MAY ASK

Once you’ve made an appointment to see your doctor, it’s a good idea to spend a few minutes beforehand jotting some down quick notes about how your symptoms developed, so as to have the answer to any questions you may asked readily at hand. For example, try to recall when you first noticed any symptoms. [...]