[compenn]

Please advice

My dad has been a chain smoker and heavy drinker for more than 30 years. He was adviced to quit both 2 years ago as his heart functioning now is 25%.

He still did not quit and now he feels breathless even when he walks a few steps. He is now seriously trying to quit smoking and drink but unable to. Is it possible to quit by sheer will ? Family embers keep telling him to visit a doctor but to no avail.

Should we force him into a deaddiction centre? Does that work ? His age is 58.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by compenn

Please advice

My dad has been a chain smoker and heavy drinker for more than 30 years. He was adviced to quit both 2 years ago as his heart functioning now is 25%.

He still did not quit and now he feels breathless even when he walks a few steps. He is now seriously trying to quit smoking and drink but unable to. Is it possible to quit by sheer will ? Family embers keep telling him to visit a doctor but to no avail.

Should we force him into a deaddiction centre? Does that work ? His age is 58.

Check this thread out. You'll get a lot more suggestions:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...t-smoking.html

[vivekiny2k]

I read "cheating death..." by Dr Sanjay gupta last week and it was really gripping tales of survival stories made possible by some extraordinary doctors. I wonder how much of latest research gets to India and how soon.

In any case, I am looking for some tips from expert doctors for emergency. We all know about heart attack, or cerebral attack, but will be able to jump in and do the needful if we see somebody collapse in front of us? What are the steps to save lives since there is less than an hour, sometimes of seconds of windows for a chance of survival? This is important because emergency vehicles in india take a really a long time to reach because of callous attitude on roads.

Some new things I learnt:
1. mouth to mouth resuscitation is useless, sometimes a hinderance for a cardiac arrest victim. blood already has some oxygen and all one needs is to pump the heart area to ensure the circulation keeps going.
2. Never give up on anybody. miracles happen because we keep trying.
3. This is irrelevant to india, but cold saves people. it slows down cell damage and buys extra time for medical care personnel to treat. and there is a saying "they are not dead until they are warm and dead". people have come back alive after long hours of being nearly frozen.

[netchef]

Docs: my Dad aged 72 has been through the following, chronologically:

45: heart attack (myocardial infarction)
70: bad infected eczema on the legs which required hospitalisation
71: urinary tract/prostate infection again required hospitalisation

He's been on medication almost since his heart attack- for BP, and also regularly takes Calmpose to sleep better.
He takes Urivoid and a couple of other tabs.

Around a year and a half ago, he seems to have suffered a silent stroke which impacted his speech centre, and his ability to form words slowly diminished into its present state of just mumbled noises.

In the last few months he seems to have trouble swallowing food. He invariably chokes (or seems to) and coughs and splutters while eating. This was initially confused with the chronic chest infection he still carries, but the ENT specialist we saw 2 days ago thinks it could be a motor control gone faulty (I don't know the technical word for it, but it's the muscle that diverts traffic either down the windpipe or into the stomach).

While this makes sense to me given the symptoms, I need to know if it's curable and how.

Just to give you more background, he was a heavy smoker for over 40 years, and consumed alcohol regularly (both stopped for a couple of years now). his diet is fairly regulated: meat once or twice a week- rarely red; fish occasionally. Decent spread of veggies and fibre. He is over-weight with a lot of it distributed around his midriff.

He is shaky on his feet and falls often. Had to stop him driving about 6 months ago as his coordination was obviously slippping. He is not very active-physically, save for a short walk around the neighbourhood, twice a day. He often seems disoriented and muddled in the head.

How much of this is normal wear-and-tear/age-related? How much is due to the excesses of the past?

Recent MRI and CAT scans came clean...but the doc asked if he was a smoker JUST BY LOOKING AT THEM!!

Advice appreciated.

[netchef]

Is there anyone out there?

Originally Posted by netchef

Docs: my Dad aged 72 has been through the following, chronologically:

45: heart attack (myocardial infarction)
70: bad infected eczema on the legs which required hospitalisation
71: urinary tract/prostate infection again required hospitalisation

He's been on medication almost since his heart attack- for BP, and also regularly takes Calmpose to sleep better.
He takes Urivoid and a couple of other tabs.

Around a year and a half ago, he seems to have suffered a silent stroke which impacted his speech centre, and his ability to form words slowly diminished into its present state of just mumbled noises.

In the last few months he seems to have trouble swallowing food. He invariably chokes (or seems to) and coughs and splutters while eating. This was initially confused with the chronic chest infection he still carries, but the ENT specialist we saw 2 days ago thinks it could be a motor control gone faulty (I don't know the technical word for it, but it's the muscle that diverts traffic either down the windpipe or into the stomach).

While this makes sense to me given the symptoms, I need to know if it's curable and how.

Just to give you more background, he was a heavy smoker for over 40 years, and consumed alcohol regularly (both stopped for a couple of years now). his diet is fairly regulated: meat once or twice a week- rarely red; fish occasionally. Decent spread of veggies and fibre. He is over-weight with a lot of it distributed around his midriff.

He is shaky on his feet and falls often. Had to stop him driving about 6 months ago as his coordination was obviously slippping. He is not very active-physically, save for a short walk around the neighbourhood, twice a day. He often seems disoriented and muddled in the head.

How much of this is normal wear-and-tear/age-related? How much is due to the excesses of the past?

Recent MRI and CAT scans came clean...but the doc asked if he was a smoker JUST BY LOOKING AT THEM!!

Advice appreciated.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by netchef

Is there anyone out there?

@netchef, firstly it is heartening to read all this. But, such things never have a straight answer.
On some other thread I mentioned I have an Uncle, who is still a chain smoker, and he started at 25. He is reaching 70 and , all praises be to the Almighty, there is no problems what so ever yaar. Not even balding (obviously not that it has a connect, but still). Earlier he used to puff cigarettes w/o filter just for the extra kick, but now he uses the ones with filter.

So it really depends on what is going to happen and when. There are patients with the same symptoms and same illness and they are given the same medication. But the medication works for some and doesn't for the others. It all depends on God really. Sorry to sound like a 3rd grader.

My mom came out sucessfully of a 3 stage cancer detected very late. Others who had better chances did not make it in the same hospital and same doctors.

It is combination of great positive support and prayers.

Please bear with me I am a believer and you or the others need not comply with me.

I' sure the doctors your dad is visiting are very capable and so are the medicines and therapy they prescribe. All the best man and don't worry things will be all right. Just ask for it

[netchef]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

It is combination of great positive support and prayers.
Please bear with me I am a believer and you or the others need not comply with me.
I' sure the doctors your dad is visiting are very capable ... All the best man and don't worry things will be all right. Just ask for it

prince_pervez: Thanks, Sir. We do believe in our Docs and we do believe in a Great Force beyond the Ether. I guess it calls for putting the two together!

[Samurai]

The year was somewhere around mid 1930s, Diwali time. A 10 month old baby is suffering from double pneumonia. There was no proper treatment available in English medicine then. Many doctors were consulted and everybody tried many treatments and nothing worked. Finally the parents were told to take their only child home and await the inevitable. Death was knocking at the door.

But the parents were not about to give up completely. As last resort they consulted the local Ayurvedic doctor. Since all hope were already given up, the doctor asked them to simply trust him with his judgement, so they did. He applied a poultice of flax seed on the baby for 3 continuous days. On the 4th day the baby started recovering, got well in a week and eventually became my mother.

This Ayurvedic doctor eventually gained a legendary reputation in the area for his magical touch of healing. His name was Dr.Vasudevaiah of Narayana Vaidya ashram of Bappanadu, Mulki. It is right next to Bappanadu temple on NH-17 at Mulki. Currently run by late Dr.Vasudevaiah's son and grandson, both highly qualified Ayurvedic doctors (MD) who are continuing the long line of family Ayurvedic tradition. Remaining 5 sons of Vasudevaiah became highly qualified Allopathic doctors.

When I heard this story from my mother recently, I got goosebumps, so I wanted to share this here.

Meanwhile my 3 year old son regularly throws temper tantrums for hours together and there is absolutely no way to pacify him during that time. There is an Ayurvedic medicine (chinhe) prescribed the Dr.Vasudevaiah for curing temper tantrums, it can be given right from the age of 1 month to 5 year old, with varying dosages. My mother claims that pretty much every child in my extended family including me have taken this medicine for similar problems. But my wife is quite reluctant to try some village medicine on our child.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by Samurai

My mother claims that pretty much every child in my extended family including me have taken this medicine for similar problems.

at least now we know where he gets it from .

[sammyboy]

Guys can someone suggest a good dentist around indiranagar?
I had a cavity on one of the molars and one day while eating a part of it broke. I tried to remove the other part too but now the roots are still there while the rest of the tooth isnt.
Now the gum has swollen and I think it might have been infected. Strangely I have started getting sinus pains as well starting from the broken tooth area till my eye socket and its really painful. Can someone please help?

I know i should have gone to a dentist immediately but I have this great fear of them since one of the dentists I visited ran a drill through my gum, while filling one of my teeth a few years ago.

[jassi]

^^ no wonder you couldn't finish the burger at thulp :-)
why don't you try apollo clinic? i goto the one in koramangala - I am sure there is one in indranagar!

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Guys can someone suggest a good dentist around indiranagar?.

Check out at GM Health care on ulsoor cambridge road, behind satyam, near ulsoor police station. Used to visit earlier. Forgot the name of the old man, who was a dentist there. Do call them up and confirm. He's there in the morning and in the evenings.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by jassi

^^ no wonder you couldn't finish the burger at thulp :-)
why don't you try apollo clinic? i goto the one in koramangala - I am sure there is one in indranagar!

Thanks Jassi, . Yeah that had to be it. I will look for one here.

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

Check out at GM Health care on ulsoor cambridge road, behind satyam, near ulsoor police station. Used to visit earlier. Forgot the name of the old man, who was a dentist there. Do call them up and confirm. He's there in the morning and in the evenings.

Thanks lambuhere. Let me try to figure out where this place is.

I am actually in two minds, as on one side I do know I do have a sinus infection. Just not sure if I should go to a dentist now or a general physician to get the sinus thing solved first. It has become better since I started an Amoxcillin tablets but not cured completely, yet. Could one of the docs suggest some medicines for sinus pain? I get that rotten egg smell once in a while and searing pain around my left eye, towards the nose.

[navan49]

Hi Guys,

A thread of mystics and miracles and also medicines. I had the stroke twice in a short span of 15 days, Immediately gave up smoking anf totally controlled the diet and free from fear for 8 years.

[jassi]

^^ great!! nothing better than being in control of your health :-)