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MEDICINE 101 with Dr. Paul Caldwell

 

 

 

 

 

Surgical Staples

Imagine what it must have been like to stay organized before the stapler was invented. It's a pretty useful tool and was revolutionary 100 years ago. No one at the time could have imagined it would move from the office to the operating room.

Hay Fever

If you suffer from hay fever don't be afraid to bring this lovely plant inside. For years we blamed goldenrod for the stuffed up runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing and sneezing. But the root of the problem was always this unattractive botanical - ragweed -, so called because of the irregular shape of its leaves.

Smoking

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Ontario for both men and women. An estimated 5,900 men and women in Ontario are expected to die of lung cancer this year. On average, lung cancer, the most preventable of all cancers, will kill 113 people a week in Ontario. It will kill more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. And those rates aren't likely to go down given that teen smoking is on the rise. We know that smoking is the number one preventable cause of cancer. And we've heard for years what it does to your lungs. This week we're going to show you.

Poison Ivy
Farmers, all across Canada, have their cash crops: tomatoes, cucumber, corn-on-the-cob while w e doctors have our cash crop too, and this is it. It’s poison ivy. It’s not really an ivy, botanically speaking, but the poison part is quite accurate.

Cataracts
Doctors have performed cataract surgery for centuries. In Rome, archeologists discovered ancient cataract surgical instruments dating back to the first and second century AD. Fortunately, we've greatly improved the technique since that time.

Worms in our Bodies
We don't often issue a warning before Medicine 101, but this week Cobourg’s family physician, Dr. Paul Caldwell teaches us about Worms. Not the kind you unearth in the lawn, but the kinds that can grows inside us. Tapeworms, ringworms and roundworms this week on Medicine 101.

Smoking
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Ontario for both men and women.
An estimated 5,900 men and women in Ontario are expected to die of lung cancer this year. On average, lung cancer, the most preventable of all cancers, will kill 113 people a week in Ontario. It will kill more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. And those rates aren't likely to go down given that teen smoking is on the rise. We know that smoking is the number one preventable cause of cancer. And we've heard for years what it does to your lungs.

Pap Test
Earlier we heard about what doesn't give you cancer. But one of the best ways for detecting cancer is the pap test.

Aneurysms

Inside each of us is a complex system of arteries and veins that gets blood to whereever it needs to go. But sometimes that system can spring a leak, a potentially fatal one. When that happens it's called an aneurysm.

Ear Wax

Do you know there is no part of the body too gross or too sticky for Cobourg family physician Dr. Paul Caldwell to look at? And this week he needs you to listen up and show a little respect for ear wax.

Defibrillators

By now you should know how to get some exercise and eat right.  And a healthy lifestyle will cut down your risk of a heart attack.  Here's Dr. Paul Caldwell on the defibrillator.

Muscles

What do your flexor carpi radialis and your palmaris longus have in common? Well, they're just 2 of hundreds of muscles and all of them fascinate Dr. Paul Caldwell.

Sleep Apnea

There's nothing more annoying that being kept awake all night by someone who snores, but before you elbow them out of bed, have a listen to our medical professor, Dr. Paul Caldwell and his lesson on Sleep Apnea.

Blood Pressure

So how is your blood pressure? We all know that having your blood pressure checked is an important part of any medical examination , but what exactly is blood pressure and how do you measure it?

Gallstones

It's amazing how something so small can cause so much pain.   Almost twenty percent of adult Canadians have stones in their gallbladder, and here is what they look like.   They don't look like stones or rocks that you might find on a beach but rather they are softer, often irregular and to understand why they form you need to know something about bile.

The Pain of a Heart Attack

If you are having a heart attack, one of the new drugs called "Clot Busters" can help " may even save your life " but you had better hurry.   Most frequently, the first symptoms that there is something wrong is a discomfort or pain in the chest.   It"s usually not a sharp stabbing pain, more often it is a constriction or a tight feeling, and it is usually felt in the centre of the chest.   It is often described as being "like a weight sitting on my chest".   The discomfort can also be felt in the back, in the upper abdominal area, in the neck or law or in either arm.

Panic Attacks

We have all known the feeling of panic " an intense sensation of anxiety or fear " but it usually corrus with an appropriate stimulus such as a frightening situation.   For example, swerving to avoid an animal on the road while driving produces the familiar feeling of palpitation, increased alert and awareness and emotional rush, the "flight or fight reaction".

Pacemakers

Your Health's medical professor, Dr. Paul Caldwell is one talented guy. He treats patients, delivers babies, and demystifies medicine. Oh yeah, and he sings too. Here he is to sing the praises of pacemakers.

Night Time Numbness

Ever wake up with your hand or arm all numb and tingling? It feels like it's still asleep? You may have a pressure palsy, a temporary impairment of function of the peripheral nerves. They're very common, but they can be disturbing because some of the symptoms are similar to those of a stroke, a heart attack or other serious problems.

Back Pain - Disc Disease

It is hard to believe, but this is not a piece of avant-garde sculpture. In spite of the symmetry and wonderful shape, this is simply a bone. It's a vertebra, one of the backbones, from a thin-backed whale, found on a beach in Newfoundland.

Heart Sounds -- The Stethoscope

The stethoscope was first invented in the early 1800's by a Parisian physician Rena Laennec, who's first stethoscope was simply a hollow wooden tube that he put up to one ear. Laennec called his invention the stethoscope after the Greek word stetho for chest and scopein for examination.

Cancer

Today the word cancer invokes feelings of dread, but it comes from the Greek word KARKINOS, meaning crab.   Ancient physicians who took out cancers thought the swollen veins surrounding them resembled the legs of a crab.

But what goes wrong in cancer?  How does the crab-like growth begin and why?  Here's Dr. Paul Caldwell on how cancer works.

The Nature of X-Rays

One hundred and six years later, X-rays are still one of the most valuable diagnostic tools in medicine, but to understand how they give us such valuable information you have to understand a bit about the X-rays themselves.

Lungs

Here's a set of lungs from a pig.   They're about the same size as your lungs and, no offence, but they're also identical. They don't look very big but if we stretched out all these fine membranes they'd cover a racquetball court.  And it's jammed into a sac about the size of a 3 litre milkbag.

The Mammogram

A recent study cast some doubt on the effectiveness of mammograms.  But most experts aren't ready to give up on it as an important diagnostic tool in the fight against breast cancer.  Here's our medical professor to explain how they work.

Knees

If you have a bum knee, you're not alone. Knee pain is the most common reason people see an orthopedic specialist. You don't have to go down on bended knee, but just listen up to Dr. Paul Caldwell.

Fractures

I've got a bone to pick with you.   The word "fracture" simply means a break, a disruption in the continuity of a bone.   There's no difference between a broken arm or a fractured one but there are many types of fractures.

Sutures

The proper medical term for a stitch is the word "suture" - this comes from the Latin word to sew, and sew is exactly what we do.  First, we have to figure if a cut needs stitches. We put our fingers on either side and try to spread it.  It the cut spreads easily and reveals the subcutaneous tissue beneath, it's time for a little local anesthetic and a needle and thread.

Feet

Ever  hear the medical expression, "Boy, my dogs are barking tonight?"  It's a common phrase used during internship, after you've been on your feet all day.  Its hard to have a really good day, to take delight in life, if your feet are sore - and let's face it, many of us, though we have hearts of gold, have feet of clay.

Yawning

Believe it or not, the study of yawning is very exciting!   I know - you think yawning is just boring, tedious, ho hum - right?  (yawns!) Excuse me.  Wrong!   Yawning is a very complex physiological activity whose purpose is not completely understood.

Bacteriology

In 1929 a Scottish physician named Alexander Fleming decided to take a holiday. He was working on the isolation of various bacterial species and left his lab, well, in a bit of shambles. When he got back he noticed the bacteria in his petri dishes hadn’t taken a holiday – they'd simply gone about their business, increasing the size of their various colonies. But on one of the petri dishes was something strange – there seemed to be a bit of mold present on the one side of the dish and the bacteria in that dish hadn't multiplied. In fact, in the middle was a clear line of demarcation. It seemed as if the mold had killed the bacteria.

Vocal Chords

Every time you open your mouth to speak, a tiny miracle happens right here in your voice box. A little bit of air and a lot of physiology produce the sound we humans know as speech.

Blood Letting

Only Dracula could enjoy the time-honoured practise of drawing blood. But your blood sample says alot about your health. And to get it, doctors have to stick it to you.

Appendicitis

It must have served a purpose at some point in our evolutionary history, but today, doctors can't figure out why we're born with an appendix. And if it gives you any trouble -- it's outta there!

Electrocardiogram

Did you know that your entire body produces small amounts of the same kind of electricity as this battery?

Forceps
So, you think you’re pretty smart. Well, like a lot of folks, you may be too smart for your own good – especially if you are a baby.

Divrticulitis
“You are what you eat.” Have you ever heard that old adage? This one turns out to be true, especially when it comes to a medical problem known as diverticulitis. It's a very common problem in the bowels of Western society and it's got to do with the food we eat.