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A Shortcut to Danger : The Truth Behind Home Remedies

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It was a quiet afternoon at the hospital when an elderly woman, well over 60, was rushed into the emergency room. She looked frail, struggling with severe diarrhea that had started the day before. The nurses hurried her onto a stretcher, and as I examined her, it was clear that this was no ordinary case of food poisoning. The diarrhea was worsening by the minute, and she was too weak to even sit up on her own. Without wasting any time, I ordered IV fluids to be started immediately. As I began asking her about what she had eaten in the past 24 hours to find out the cause, her daughter interrupted me with an unexpected revelation. “Doctor,” she began hesitantly, “For a while now, Amma has been on medication for high blood pressure. But recently, someone showed her a video on YouTube... It said that drinking raw moringa leaf juice would naturally lower blood pressure, and that she wouldn’t need to take her pills anymore.” Her words hung in the air as I listened intently. “And?...

MOBILE PHONE USE IN CHILDREN

The first patient today was a three-year-old child who had been crying non-stop since 5 AM. His mother and aunt were there with him, helpless, as they couldn’t understand the reason for his crying. They had tried everything they could think of.  It's not the reason for the crying that I intend to write about here, but something else. He’s a three-year-old child. By this age, he should have started talking. Usually, incessant crying is something we see in children who aren’t yet old enough to communicate or express their discomfort. While taking the history, I asked, “Does he not speak?” “No, Doctor, he had begun saying a few words, but now he hardly speaks,” was the response. After giving the child medicine and leaving him under observation, I called the mother aside to ask more about his developmental history. From what I could gather, the child had reached all other developmental milestones (like sitting and walking) at the correct time. When I asked if they had done the hearing ...