How To Talk With Your Doctor And Get ResultsWritten by Cecelia Poole RN, BSN
Read this article and you’ll learn tips from a nurse who has worked in private practices, clinics, rural, and academic hospitals about how to get most out of a doctor visit.1. Appointment. If something is seriously wrong, BE CLEAR! Tell them if you need to be seen sooner than offered-you’ll probably be surprised, (if you have a real need). Still not satisfied? – Ask scheduler to check with nurse or doctor. Arrive early: don’t be late. (Inside scoop -never told to patients -it is not uncommon to schedule two patients at a time, earliest gets seen first). Avoid backlog by opting for first appointment of day, or first one after lunch. 2. Limit your chief complaint. Try to limit your reason to be seen to one issue; tell appointment scheduler if you intend to discuss issues requiring more time. Don’t try to discuss family planning or a cholesterol treatment plan when they’ve scheduled a brief time for your chief complaint of a sore throat. 3. Be your own detective: identify what is amiss. Be specific about what you perceive in your body and what evidence you have that something is wrong. Then, be prepared to state what, where, when, how long, what makes it worse, what makes it better, if you have had success treating it and what exact medicines you’ve taken. For example, “For three weeks I’ve had a burning pain, right here (pointing to soft space between lower rib cage) especially after I drink coffee, and it is worse when I lie down. It feels better for a little while when I eat or take antacids, and an empty stomach makes it worse.” There you just saved ten minutes of your allotted time and are more likely to receive satisfaction.
| | Why Diets Don't WorkWritten by Aaron M. Potts, ISSA CFT, YFT
One of biggest scams ever successfully pulled on American public is – somewhat appropriately – a 4-letter word. That word is, of course, Diet. By now you have seen advertisements for more diets than you can easily remember, and have also most likely seen an article or television show debunking some of those diets. Unfortunately, art of shooting holes through credibility of a diet plan is normally done by ANOTHER diet company, solely for purpose of getting you to use their product instead. Well, this article has nothing to sell, nor really anything to gain, save knowledge that hopefully reader – that’s you – will put down Diet Madness Menu, and get a real world point of view on why diets don’t work, and what you can do about it. Eating, Lost Art If you are considering a diet, or have in past, your primary motivation was most likely to lose weight. What if I was to tell you that in order to lose weight, you actually need to eat MORE than you have in past? You would probably shake your head at that crazy idea, and think that it was some new fad that could in no way assist you in your weight loss goals. Of course, fact that every diet you’ve ever heard of was at one point “some new fad” would probably never even cross your mind. Nonetheless, fact remains that most people do need to eat more than they presently are in order to lose weight, but trick comes in eating right kinds of foods, in right ratios of nutrients, and at right times of day. Sound tricky? Perhaps, but I assure you, it is really quite simple. However, purpose of this article is not to inform you of benefits of eating, but merely to let you know that eating is indeed a very effective way to lose excess bodyweight, and to explain how diets keep that from happening. Stating Obvious Although most people do not think of “latest diet” in these terms, hopefully following question will make you consider what is pretty obvious if you stop to think about it. If new “Last Diet You’ll Ever Need” was really that good at making you melt away pounds while sitting on couch munching “Carbo Craze Chips” or was even remotely effective at burning off your spare tire while inhaling sweet scents of “Aerospace’s Aromatic Air Baubles”, then why isn’t everyone already thin?? Seriously – think about it. Every time you hear about latest diet or most up to date exercise device that only takes 20 minutes per day, they always say that you will never need another system! The advertised system – no matter how logical or even outlandish as it may seem – is always touted at being better than ever, and last system you will ever need. Well, if that were true, don’t you think that manufacturer of that system would not only become wealthier than anyone in history, but would also become famous as person who FINALLY solved obesity problem in our world? Don’t you think that person could also afford to advertise their product during prime time on TV, instead of late at night? Don’t you think that system would become known throughout world – throughout history itself – as a turning point in human development? So, I’ll ask you same question again: If solution is already out there, why do we need to keep coming up with new solutions?? The answer is, of course, very simple – these systems don’t work, and human populace is simply looking for a non-existent quick fix to getting rid of too many late night excursions to local burger joint, or to fact they should have taken stock in beer while they were in college. Then what does work? Human physiology.
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