Cool but bordering on a bit weird...

Woohoo! Today was my last day of clinic and I just saw my last patient a mere 5 hours ago. It feels a bit weird knowing that when I wake up on Monday morning, I won’t have to re-arrange appointments at the last minute, lug around any equipment or have a full day of back to back appointments of patients to see. From here on in, it is going be all statistics, analysis, discussions, write ups etc. Also this past month has been a bit low on the blogging front due to my other commitments i.e. university, clinic, ramzan etc. So for today, I’m going to take some time out, relax and write up a couple of posts (about random stuff) in advance, before all the mayhem kicks in.

In one of my older posts I mentioned how my mum had weirdly educated herself on what my ‘type’ was. Well ladies and gents my mum has now taken it one step further. She now updates me on what my crushes (past and present) are up to these days! I don’t mean like a minute by minute account (she’s not a stalker for goodness sake!) but more like a general “So I heard from so and so that ______ is doing this these days” etc.

My best example of this to date is recently whilst I helping out in the kitchen, my mum pulled out a copy of an asian newspaper, pointed at an article and simply said “look at this” – which I duly did. I learnt that Ali Zafar had got married to his long time fiancée Ayesha Fazli and instead of later in the year they decided to tie the knot now. I thought that was wonderful news and really quite sweet – clearly they love each other very much. She especially kept the cutting for me because yes; deep down I’m still 13 years old *sigh*...

After I finish reading, my mum comments; “He’s seems like a nice guy...I guess he’s off your list now”
LOL - wait, wait... I have a list and I didn’t even know about it?! Besides what did my mum think was going to happen? I‘d move to Lahore, set up my own clinic which he would visit one day and we’d fall in love and get married? Better still skip the clinic bit, we’d meet at the airport just as we were getting off from different flights? Yea! That could totally happen... in a cheesy Bollywood movie. Lol.

Wonder how my mum would react if I told her I quite liked Zach Braff for his goofiness or Jon Stewart for his sarcasm? (Did I mention that they’re Jewish? *gasp* lol)
*sigh*... Well at least we don’t sit down at the dinner table and as a family discuss my taste in men. FYI this happened to a friend of mine recently! I cannot imagine how uncomfortable dinner times are in that family, lol.

Actually give it time, it probably will start happening soon, lol. I doubt that my Dad could refrain from commenting on every aspect of my life. He has to KNOW everything about everything, because (his own words, not mine) “I AM the master of this house” – to which I burst out laughing. Wow. I’ll tell you that response did NOT go down too well, though he did see the funny side of it later – quite a while later in fact :)

Science debate – economic benefit 17th July 2009

Every med student at some point in their lives will undertake some form of research, whether it is laboratory based or clinical. For some students, research will be just a passing interest and for some it will form a large part of their lives, which is why when issues like these are brought to the forefront, it is a cause for concern in the research world. The people in charge of research (basic and applied) recently introduced a new rule in which everyone that applies to conduct any form of research will now have to fill out an extra section in their application form. This extra section is not time consuming and it asks every researcher to state the social and economic benefit of their research. This may be difficult for some researchers to complete, especially those that conduct basic research, nevertheless the assessors say those researchers that do not have a direct benefit will not be scored negatively. However I feel this statement is a little misleading.

Firstly funders will give preference to research that will provide an economic return for them either in monetary terms or by increasing their profile/reputation in the research world. As funds are limited, research that cannot provide such returns will be pushed to the bottom of the pile to be considered as a last resort thus putting them at a disadvantage. Secondly if the assessors are not concern with the economic benefit, then why would they introduce this new section, why the sudden need? And finally, creativity should not be bound by financial constraints. By placing certain restrictions on researchers, some research may not be able take place which in other circumstances may have proved beneficial. For example, if Messelson and Stahl in 1953, had to provide the economic benefit of their (basic) research, then their work may never had been carried out. To outsiders it may look like a couple of grown men, messing about with test tubes wasting time and money. What they were actually doing was laying the foundation for future work by proving the structure of DNA via a series of logical experiments. The results of their basic research is now used in so many other programmes of work and projects like the Human Genome project may not have taken place.

So in conclusion, this new requirement has irritated the research world, so much so that Professor Allen has now launched a petition in order to have the economic benefit section scrapped in the application forms. I can understand how funders would be reluctant to support work that would not bring them any profitable (economic and social) return but at the same time, these restrictions may stifle researchers and their creativity. Clearly there are both advantages and disadvantages to this debate but I think personally I prefer not state the economic benefit but those that want to state their benefits can do.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/honest-discovery/  The petition

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page21111  The response

UPDATE:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=408774  – Scrapping EB, October 2009

My Sister's Keeper

My younger cousin sister Sara is going to Edinburgh for a year to do her uni placement and as I write this she is probably up in Edinburgh checking out her accommodation for the following year. I’m in two minds about the coming year as it’ll be weird having her so far away but at the same time I’m glad she’s doing something that she really wants to do. We decided to have a girly night out on Friday and so Saaiba, Sara, Saba and I went out to watch a movie and have dinner together. Personally I felt that “My Sister’s Keeper” was a really good movie and I did actually enjoy it despite the fact that I cried almost entirely throughout the movie. And I wasn’t alone as I can always count on Saba to be crying along with me, even Sara on this occasion. Actually thinking back the whole cinema was nearly in tears and after the movie a fair few people did head for the rest rooms to sort out their tear streaked faces. Most people except Saaiba that is… well there’s always one isn’t there!

We headed to Nando’s for dinner and continued our usual conversation and banter whilst we ate. As we didn’t want to go home just yet, we then went to Pizza Hut for dessert. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the news that Pizza Hut had run out of pizza. Yes that’s right – Pizza Hut was out of pizza! Ok fine, maybe they had a busy night and besides we were just there for dessert. But the look on Saaiba was face was just too funny to ever forget...” What do you mean you’ve run out of pizza?” and then a little while later this was followed by “My god, why don’t they just name themselves Pasta Hut instead?” – the laughter began and well, I guess you just had to be there. All in all I enjoyed our night out and I hope it was a good send off for Sara as well.

The movie however had a bigger impact on me than I thought. I still had some of the scenes replaying in my mind throughout the night and even today. I don’t’ want to spoil the premise of the movie but it’s about a girl who has cancer and the effect it has on her family, specifically her younger brother and sister. Although the plot didn’t exactly match my experience, the words that were spoken between the two sisters really struck a chord with me. The dialogue between them was near enough identical to the words I had said to my sister during her last few days. The only difference being was that our roles were reversed and it was my little sister who was leaving and not me, the eldest daughter. The most poignant image of the movie for me was the night before the girl dies and both her younger brother and sister kiss and hug her and apologise for not being able to fulfil her wishes whilst she in return tells them that it’s not their fault.

It reminded me of my last night with my sister – mum and dad took a little break from being at Aisha’s bedside, after our last visitor of evening, Imran bhai left to go home. Whilst Bilal and I were sat beside her, Aisha opened her eyes for a little while and I remember holding her hand whilst Billy clambered onto her bed to give her a kiss. Being so young, Bilal didn’t quite understand the situation and I remember him telling Aisha to wake up and come home as he didn’t like being in the hospital anymore. After he had settled down, I remember just looking into Aishi’s eyes and seeing how scared she was led to an uncontrollable flood of tears from me. I think a part of me knew what was coming, yet I didn't want to acknowledge it as that would make it real and I really didn't want it to be true. I asked her to forgive me for anything that I may have said or done to upset her now and in the past. I told her how much I loved her, how she was the best sister I could have asked for and how sorry I was for not making the most of the time we had to together. I remembered during our childhood; how Aisha always used to say to me that we’ll always go together everywhere, no matter what. Why couldn’t the same apply to the here and now? I told her save me a space and to wait me for me; that this journey was another one that we’d make together as well, just as we had done before many times.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the case this time around and watching the movie brought back a flood of memories. I don’t think those kind of moments ever leave you but with Eid fast approaching as well as Aisha’s anniversary, those scenes replay in my mind fairly frequently and I can recall every detail in those last few moments we siblings shared together. I guess that’s part and parcel of life, certain people may not physically be around you anymore but their memories never leave you and I for one am glad that Aisha is still around me in one way or another.

Highs and lows

It's the 4th July and it has been a strange few weeks in my world – good and bad. On a personal front, received some bad news from family abroad, which was a shock and unexpected even though quite a few of us here were aware of the situation. Also my younger cousin sister Sara is leaving home to go for her placement year up in Edinburgh, something which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, I’m really pleased that she got the placement as I could tell it was something that she really wanted and living away from home will be a good experience for her. But at the same time, I’m sort of sad to see her go as a) she’s so far from home b) I won’t get to see her as often and c) I’m an emotional fool, lol! Yet simultaneously my other cousin sister, Saba (Sara’s older sister) is at last nearing the end of her placement year and going back to university for the final year of her degree. And depending on which place I choose for uni next year, I can only be close to one of em’ – it’s like they can’t be in the same place at the same time, lol. Ah it’s a funny old world ain’t it?!

Which reminds me, on the academic front - I got my semester marks for my MSc and I’m on for a 1st providing I work at the same level or better. In terms of my research project, I’ve collected 2/3 of my data and I am steadily working towards completing data collection and analysis by the end of July thus leaving me with the month of August to write up my findings and submit my thesis on time (inshAllah). Everyone please start praying for me and sending me good vibes as I see plenty of sleepless nights ahead of me – eek! These past few weeks, I have also been attending interviews for further doctoral studies. As I write this so far all the places I applied to have interviewed me, I have actually been offered a few scholarships (mashAllah) with still a couple more places left to be interviewed for, which I’m hoping I’ll get – fingers crossed. I have to say all in all, it is excellent to be in a position where I get to pick and choose where I want to go for further studies as opposed to going somewhere that may not have been my initial choice. It has given me a confidence boost that I desperately needed since Aisha left, a time when I had seriously questioned my decision to become a medic.

Other general world stuff – I was sad to hear that Farrah Fawcett (of Charlie’s Angels fame) finally lost her battle with cancer and passed away. There was another celeb that also died (rather suddenly) – my tweet went something along the lines of “Err… Michael Jackson died?!” How unbelievable was that?! Despite his problematic personal life and even though I may not have been a fanatical fan, I did actually enjoy Michael Jackson’s music. Obviously it is sad when someone dies but I was surprised at the sheer number of people both at uni and home that were really shaken up by it. These past few days on Twitter, loads of celebs are being announced as dead - some of them clearly are not true. One of the hoaxes was that actor Jeff Goldblum had died whilst filming a scene in New Zealand. He wasn’t thankfully dead but still had to go on TV to deny his own death! (LOL!)

The sport has been good this summer. The twenty20 cricket was well played and a pleasant surprise and as I currently write this, it is the Wimbledon women’s final. Once again it’s both of the William’s sisters through to the final and although both Venus and Serena are excellent tennis players, I would like to see someone different in the finals for a change. I’m also looking forward to the Ashes test (cricket) starting in a week or so and will be lasting till August. I totally love the friendly rivalry between England and Australia and there are someone excellent players on both sides this year. I would be happy for either side to win and here’s hoping we get to see some entertaining games from both teams :)

Yep so that’s me up till now. Better get back to it and do some real work :P

Drinking milk will keep your bones healthy… maybe

My attempt at combining different pictures together

“Drinking milk will keep your bones healthy” – and I know we’ve all been told by our mother’s to drink up otherwise we won’t have strong and healthy bones. But err, actually I think you’ll find that the opposite is true – dairy can cause osteoporosis.

Ok so a bit of a bold claim but let’s just think about the basic chemistry – acids and alkalines. Hmm yes I can see your eyes glazing over already so I’ll make it as quick and painless as I can.

Neutralisation, a process in which both compounds are rendered ineffective

Chemically speaking calcium is an alkaline whilst proteins found in milk are actually acidic. When the two combine they undergo neutralisation. Except that when you drink milk, there is more acid (milk proteins) than alkaline (calcium) and so in order to restore the balance again, the body in effect leaches calcium stored in your bones to neutralise the excessive influx of acidic milk proteins, (see study 1). Therefore it is logical to conclude that the more dairy you consume the weaker your bones become. Simples.

The presence of proteins is not the problem however as we need amino acids as these are building blocks for proteins, which are essential in the human body. However knowing the source of protein consumption is vital (see study 2) as it hard for the human body to convert animals proteins to human proteins whilst converting vegetable proteins in comparison is much easier. Furthermore vegetable proteins are harder to overdose on whilst the opposite is true for animal proteins.

Consuming dairy products daily does not help build strong bones and the best sources of calcium are actually from vegetable products rather than animal products. So is anyone convinced yet?

Please read through the studies I summarised below for more detail.

STUDY 1 – Harvard University’s landmark Nurse Health Study. The study lasted a 12 year period and followed 78,000 women. Those women who consumed more calcium from dairy foods broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk.

STUDY 2 – University of California, A National Institutes of Health Study (published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2001). Those women who obtained their protein from animal sources had three times the rate of bone loss and 3.7 times the rate of hip fractures in comparison to women who obtained their proteins from vegetable sources.

The ad campaign that took place in the USA (2008) and featured various celebrities with 'milk moustaches'. I guess you are just not famous unless you have a milk ad! Also I love the little script on the star wars ad :)

Medicine takes over EVERYTHING...

Being part of the medical world doesn’t just include your work life but also causes an outward ripple that also affects your personal life. You may start off thinking you have it all under control but pretty soon, the boundaries begin to blur and your work and professional lives begin to merge into one big mess... sometimes with horrible consequences as I’ve seen for some people.

Don’t get me wrong – being involved in medicine (whether as a doctor, nurse, clinical scientist/researcher or any other profession allied to medicine) is rewarding. As medical students we’ve been chosen out of many thousands of applicants to pursue these careers; it is a privilege and we should appreciate it. In accepting our places, it is no longer just a case of getting good grades as there are many more things that need to be considered. We agreed to be put in positions of trust, to improve other people’s quality of life, the responsibility to humanity – all in all a great honour. So yes it is rewarding and I am appreciative... but at the same time it can sometimes be very stressful. Often patients don’t consent to procedures or treatments as they may be nervous or scared and so it sometimes falls to the med students/doctors to be cruel to be kind. It’s funny how repeating a common procedure can still make you feel like a newbie each time. Sometimes it’s not even the clinical setting that is the cause for concern; it’s your personal life. You find yourself reading science journals as opposed to general newspapers or gossip magazines in your spare time, you correct people by providing scientific explanations, you link certain occurrences back to science in a general conversation between friends and the list goes on.

Joking aside though I recently I found myself getting so caught up in my clinical project that it started to take over my whole life. Eventually my project supervisor had to pull me aside and told me to “take some time out and relax.” She told me that as fantastic as it was that I was so dedicated to my work, I should actually take the time to just switch off and live my own life. When this was relayed back to a PhD student I was working with, it led to certain clashes. The student felt that I should spend as much time at the hospital as possible as this is what he/she had done during their clinical training and they felt that every student after them should do the same too. My supervisor (who had also put in long hours during their clinical training) felt that I should pace myself otherwise I would ‘burn out’ and that wouldn’t be useful to anyone. So the difference in opinions which got me thinking - residents and F1’s have set work limits but do medical students? If you don’t put as many hours in as your fellow colleagues does that indicate that you aren’t as committed? Conversely if you’re working as many hours as you possibly can does that mean you don’t know when to stop and have no clue as to how to obtain a healthy work/life balance?

I’m pleased to say that after a few hiccups, I eventually found my own style of working that seemed to satisfy everyone involved (I think) and didn’t send me over the edge. But this incident was useful as it showed me how work can take over your life without you even realising what has gone on. I think balance is very important. As well as gaining new knowledge and meeting interesting people, it’s important not to get trapped by work. As well as being part of the medical world, you’re still a part of general society just like the people you treat and so you should take the time to break off and relax rather than be blinded by work.