We're posting an occasional series that's rather different to our usual educational posts. It will cover quotes that may help when you're facing adversity or finding your new normal. You may have discovered your DVT is linked to a diagnosis of cancer, you may have suffered a life-threatening PE or heart attack. Whatever the reason, many of our readers go through difficult … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2016
David Clotterfield Saga – scene 3
David Clotterfield and Clara Clearvessel are both on warfarin and as we follow their saga we'll discover their beliefs about anticoagulation through the various comments they make about their lives. At the end of each scene, you'll get a chance to test your knowledge; Are their comments true or false? Before reading this episode, you may like to catch up with the previous … [Read more...]
D-Dimer Dos and Don’ts – Have you had this test?
What is a D-dimer test? A D-Dimer test is a blood test that may be done when a doctor suspects a blood clot. The problem is that it doesn't give a clear, yes or no, answer as to whether or not you have a clot. This makes it quite complicated to understand, and once you start adding the correct jargon like 'specificity' and sensitivity' you end up with the kind of jumble … [Read more...]
What was your WELLS score?
The WELLS score gives health professionals an idea of your likelihood of having a blood clot. There are different tests for DVT and PE. This is about the one for DVTs, which is the score most frequently used. The naming of this test is not from the place, Wells, a lovely town in West England, which happens to be where Angela was born, but from Philip Wells,(pictured left), … [Read more...]
Reaching your diagnosis – DVT
In this Medical Monday series, we’re talking about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. it may help if you read the introduction first before today's topic of DVT. Altogether we’re covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic syndrome PE, Pulmonary Embolism Pulmonary hypertension AF, … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday Quiz – Do you know your INR from your MVR?
When you’re taking anticoagulants, it’s amazing how quickly you pick up medical jargon, especially if it's related to your own condition, But as these acronyms cover all conditions related to coagulation there will probably be some you don’t know. Take our quiz and see if your score out of ten makes you Coagulation Conqueror (Score 7+), Coagulation Competent (Score … [Read more...]
Stages of grief – dance steps not stairs
Just because you’ve heard of the stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance; it does not mean you can say to a bereaved friend “Oh, you’ve reached depression now, soon you’ll be finished.” And in case you think that’s a ridiculous callous story, it has happened! But these ‘stages’ were never meant to be about bereavement, nor were they intended to … [Read more...]
SOCRATES – describing your pain
On Monday we talked about some of the mantas that are drummed into medical students as they learn the clinical skills of diagnosing medical conditions. Mnemonics are another helpful tool for medical students: These are words or phrases where each first letter represents the medical word that needs to be remembered. Traditionally, the more pornographic a mnemonic, the better, … [Read more...]
NEWSFLASH – INR monitor withdrawal – not related to CoaguChek
Two methods of measuring INR levels have been in the news recently for their inaccuracy. Roche Diagnostics have confirmed for us that neither of them are related to the Roche Diagnostics CoaguChek monitor that we sell through this site and that is used in the CPAMS service in New Zealand Alere hand-held INR monitors The Alere hand-held monitors, the Alere INRatio® and … [Read more...]
Reaching your Diagnosis – Introduction
Over the next few Medical Mondays, we’re going to talk about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. We’ll be covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic syndrome PE, Pulmonary Embolism Pulmonary hypertension AF, Atrial Fibrillation Heart Valve conditions - aortic and mitral … [Read more...]