Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Medical Malapropisms
These are some funny things we hear in the ER all the time from patients, following the incorrect term, is the correct one with the definition. Feel free to add ones you have heard! Of course I would not surprised if our president used a few of these!
1. “Administrations” or “‘ministrations” - for “menstruation”, as in “I’m having my ‘ministrations right now Doctor.”
2. “Seahorses in my Liver” - for “cirrhosis of the liver” , as in “Doc, my liver ain’t so good - I got seahorses”.
3. “Sugar” - for “diabetes”, as in ” Sugar runs in my family, Doc.”
4. “High Blood” - for “High Blood Pressure”, as in “How high is my blood?”
5. “Sick-as-Hell-Anaemia” - for “Sickle Cell Anaemia”, as in “I’m carrying the trait for Sick-as-Hell-Anaemia”
6. “Groins”- for “groin”, as in “Doc, there’s pains in my groins.”
7. “Weasling” - for “wheezing”, as in “My son was awake all night weasling.”
8. “Vomicking” - for “vomiting”, as in “I feel like I am about to vomick!”
9. “Water Pill” - for “diuretic”, as in “My doctor gave me a water pill so my legs don’t swell up.”
10. “Fluid” - for “Congestive Heart Failure”, as in ” I keep catching fluid so I can’t breathe.”
11. “Arthur-itis” - for “arthritis”, as in ” My joints hurt from my Arthur-itis.”
12. “Diarhear” - for “diarrhea”, as in “I’m having vomicking and diarhear.”
1. “Administrations” or “‘ministrations” - for “menstruation”, as in “I’m having my ‘ministrations right now Doctor.”
2. “Seahorses in my Liver” - for “cirrhosis of the liver” , as in “Doc, my liver ain’t so good - I got seahorses”.
3. “Sugar” - for “diabetes”, as in ” Sugar runs in my family, Doc.”
4. “High Blood” - for “High Blood Pressure”, as in “How high is my blood?”
5. “Sick-as-Hell-Anaemia” - for “Sickle Cell Anaemia”, as in “I’m carrying the trait for Sick-as-Hell-Anaemia”
6. “Groins”- for “groin”, as in “Doc, there’s pains in my groins.”
7. “Weasling” - for “wheezing”, as in “My son was awake all night weasling.”
8. “Vomicking” - for “vomiting”, as in “I feel like I am about to vomick!”
9. “Water Pill” - for “diuretic”, as in “My doctor gave me a water pill so my legs don’t swell up.”
10. “Fluid” - for “Congestive Heart Failure”, as in ” I keep catching fluid so I can’t breathe.”
11. “Arthur-itis” - for “arthritis”, as in ” My joints hurt from my Arthur-itis.”
12. “Diarhear” - for “diarrhea”, as in “I’m having vomicking and diarhear.”
Red Wine May Slow Aging
As a lover of wine - especially red wine, I have to say I am biased towards articles such as this. Apparently red wine may slow aging! (taken in moderation ie 1 -2 drinks a day). We have lots of evidence that alcohol, especially red wine in MODERATE quantities (this does not mean a case of beer or a pint of vodka a day!) has a cardio-protective effect. The ingredient, resveratrol seems to be promising in the research for a “life elixir” to extend life span. In fact a pharmaceutical company has been formed (Sirtris) just to study this and other compounds that have showed promise in rodent research. Well, I am a little dubious but my fingers are crossed! It is rare that anything that is truly pleasurable has been shown to be beneficial to ones’ health! Consider me an early embracer……
The Definition of Allergy
. I need to help inform you about what an “allergy” is - at least in terms of what we in the medical profession call an allergy.
What is NOT an allergy(to a medication):
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Reflux or Heartburn
Feeling “weird“, “loopy“, or “out of it”
Going “crazy”
Anxiety or Palpitations
Urinary Symptoms
These are all INTOLERANCES or SENSITIVITIES, not allergies, which means you CAN take them if they are really necessary - often a dosage change or taking the drug with food or not can minimise the side effects.
What is an allergy:
A Rash - usually reddish or blotchy -often accompanied by:
Hives
Wheezing
Sneezing and Watery, Itchy Eyes
Swelling of the Tongue, Lips, Face, or Throat
Cardiovascular Collapse. (anaphylaxis)
Note, there are only a few things(other than foods) that are common to be allergic to:Antibiotics - mostly Penicillin and Sulpha -based drugs like Bactrim.
Everything else is very rare. Yet somehow once you develop a chronic pain condition you mysteriously develop an “allergy” to every pain medication out there except for narcotics……
Please be aware of this terminology when you are asked by the triage nurse whether or not you have allergies
What is NOT an allergy(to a medication):
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Reflux or Heartburn
Feeling “weird“, “loopy“, or “out of it”
Going “crazy”
Anxiety or Palpitations
Urinary Symptoms
These are all INTOLERANCES or SENSITIVITIES, not allergies, which means you CAN take them if they are really necessary - often a dosage change or taking the drug with food or not can minimise the side effects.
What is an allergy:
A Rash - usually reddish or blotchy -often accompanied by:
Hives
Wheezing
Sneezing and Watery, Itchy Eyes
Swelling of the Tongue, Lips, Face, or Throat
Cardiovascular Collapse. (anaphylaxis)
Note, there are only a few things(other than foods) that are common to be allergic to:Antibiotics - mostly Penicillin and Sulpha -based drugs like Bactrim.
Everything else is very rare. Yet somehow once you develop a chronic pain condition you mysteriously develop an “allergy” to every pain medication out there except for narcotics……
Please be aware of this terminology when you are asked by the triage nurse whether or not you have allergies
Medical Terminology and Terbutaline on the MedicCast Podcast
Many EMS providers learn the basics of medical terminology but don't venture far afield from the terms needed to pass their classes. However, the benefits of learning the ways medical terms are developed can help EMTs and paramedics decipher new terms as they come across them. This week's episode focuses on some of the tricks to learning, reading and understanding medical terminology.
The Google Method for Finding Chinese Drug Names
It’s a little bit tricky and there’s some shooting in the dark, but it’s the best I’ve come up with. Here’s what you do:
1. Go to www.google.com
2. Click on “Advanced Search“
3. On the 5th line you’ll see “Language Return pages written in” and a little box that says “Any language.” Change that to be “Chinese (Simplified)”. I guess traditional characters would work too. I just always use the simplified ones.
4. Now, on the first line in the topmost search box type your term (in this case “Albuterol”).
5. Click “Search“
Here’s where it gets tricky. What you’ve done is asked Google to show you any pages that are written mostly in Chinese characters that also contain the English word “Albuterol.” What you’re looking for is a page that has the hanzi characters for Albuterol and then the English definition right afterwards, which might look something like this:
沙丁胺醇(Albuterol)是一种非常有效的肾上腺素类β-激动剂
(this is on the 5th result page at the time of this writing)
If you don’t read hanzi characters, it will be difficult for you to tell the difference between bona fide medical information pages and spam and junk pages. So you might have to try these next steps several times.
6. Grab that whole string of hanzi and dump it into a translator site that gives you the breakdown of each character, like the one here.
7. If it feels right, copy the hanzi and pinyin to a text file or Word document for your reference later.
Ok, so how do you know if it “feels right?” Look at the translation of the hanzi above (click here to see it). See how it says:
“shā dīng àn chún 沙丁胺醇 (Albuterol) is one type kind of extremely effective adrenaline.”
That’s good because that is in fact what Albuterol is (you might have to do a little learning about the drugs you’re looking for).
1. Go to www.google.com
2. Click on “Advanced Search“
3. On the 5th line you’ll see “Language Return pages written in” and a little box that says “Any language.” Change that to be “Chinese (Simplified)”. I guess traditional characters would work too. I just always use the simplified ones.
4. Now, on the first line in the topmost search box type your term (in this case “Albuterol”).
5. Click “Search“
Here’s where it gets tricky. What you’ve done is asked Google to show you any pages that are written mostly in Chinese characters that also contain the English word “Albuterol.” What you’re looking for is a page that has the hanzi characters for Albuterol and then the English definition right afterwards, which might look something like this:
沙丁胺醇(Albuterol)是一种非常有效的肾上腺素类β-激动剂
(this is on the 5th result page at the time of this writing)
If you don’t read hanzi characters, it will be difficult for you to tell the difference between bona fide medical information pages and spam and junk pages. So you might have to try these next steps several times.
6. Grab that whole string of hanzi and dump it into a translator site that gives you the breakdown of each character, like the one here.
7. If it feels right, copy the hanzi and pinyin to a text file or Word document for your reference later.
Ok, so how do you know if it “feels right?” Look at the translation of the hanzi above (click here to see it). See how it says:
“shā dīng àn chún 沙丁胺醇 (Albuterol) is one type kind of extremely effective adrenaline.”
That’s good because that is in fact what Albuterol is (you might have to do a little learning about the drugs you’re looking for).
How do I communicate what I need to the pharmacist?
Hands down, regardless of how good your Chinese is, the best way is just to take the hanzi characters in on a piece of paper and show them to the pharmacist. Technical and medical terms leave little room for error and the pharmacists will understand the hanzi much easier than a verbal rendition or explanation.
As it happened with me, the pharmacist took one look at my paper and said, “Nope, don’t have it.” I then pointed to the second translation (shā dīng àn chún 沙丁胺醇) and she said, “We have that.” It turned out to be Ventolin, one of the name brands for the inhaler with English on the box! I’m glad I brought hanzi translations with me.
Just a warning, if you are trying to find over-the-counter drugs in China, you’ll probably be able to get most things you want without a prescription. But if they look at your paper, you should be prepared to hear them say you need a
* chǔfāng 处方 = prescription
In that case, you’ll have to get in to see a doctor.
As it happened with me, the pharmacist took one look at my paper and said, “Nope, don’t have it.” I then pointed to the second translation (shā dīng àn chún 沙丁胺醇) and she said, “We have that.” It turned out to be Ventolin, one of the name brands for the inhaler with English on the box! I’m glad I brought hanzi translations with me.
Just a warning, if you are trying to find over-the-counter drugs in China, you’ll probably be able to get most things you want without a prescription. But if they look at your paper, you should be prepared to hear them say you need a
* chǔfāng 处方 = prescription
In that case, you’ll have to get in to see a doctor.
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