Obstetricians and Gynecologists Blogs 
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This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory.
How patients think
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I have always been fascinated by why different patients make completely different kind of decisions , when faced with exactly the same problem. Thus , there will be patients who will happily resort to IVF when they have a fertility problem ; land on the other hand, there will be those who will spend 10 years taking homeopathic medicines in order to improve their fertility . I just read this great book, called, Your Medical Mind , by Dr Jerome Groopman . He's the author of the book , How Doctors Think - and I think a better title for this book would have been - How Patients Think .In today's world , there's a lot of emphasi...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 7, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Evidence-based medicine In vitro fertilisation patient Jerome Groopman Education Physician Source Type: blogs
When should I stop trying IVF?Email this article to a colleague.
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This was the plaintive question posed to me by a patient who had had failed four IVF cycles and had come to me for a second opinion. Should I do a fifth cycle doctor ? Shouldn’t I just forget about it ? Haven't I done enough already ? Haven’t I put myself through enough ? Haven’t I taken enough shots ? Changes enough doctors ? gone to enough clinics ? This is really getting too stressful - and I'm not sure whether it’s even worth trying again. Is it worth putting myself through all this stress and pain just to have a baby ? Is there any hope of IVF working if four cycles have failed ? What can you do differently ?T...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 6, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health patient King Bruce Embryo Logic Infertility Source Type: blogs
Are patients dumb ?Email this article to a colleague.
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I had a very interesting conversation recently with a friend of mine. He is a doctor who practices in a government hospital , and it was amazing how different our perceptions about the intelligence levels of our patients was. I feel that patients are smart and very capable of making their own decisions for themselves. My worldview is that patients have a lot at stake and will do their best to understand what's happening to them and would rather make their own treatment decisions, rather than leave everything up to the doctor. I believe that if patients cannot understand what I'm saying the fault is mine – this means I'm ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 6, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: smart doctors dumb patients smart patients dumb doctors Patient Education Source Type: blogs
Why patients need to do their homework !Email this article to a colleague.
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I saw a patient today who had been taking treatment for the last two years; she had had irregular cycles which is why her doctor had put her on medicines for ovulation induction. However, she had not done any tests to find out whether her tubes were open or not !When I asked her – “ Why haven’t you done a hysterosalpingogram ( HSG) to check your tubalstatus ? “, the answer was one which I’ve heard many times in the past – “I didn't do it because my doctor didn't tell me to do it “. I explained to her how important this basic test is - that you really can't proceed with treatment without establishing whether...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 5, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health In vitro fertilisation Health care doctor patient Services Physician Source Type: blogs
The problem with modern medical imagingEmail this article to a colleague.
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There is no question that medical imaging is one of modern medicine's most dramatic success stories. With today's MRIs scans we can image practically every part of the body withstunning clarity and make diagnoses which were possible only at the time of doing a postmortem in earlier days. However, being able to probe into the body’s hidden recesses and get extremely clear pictures of the interior has actually created its own set of problems.Let me explain. Let's look at a patient who has a lower back pain. Now if you have a back pain ( which most of us have had at some point in our life ), we learn to live with it. We tak...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 3, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Magnetic resonance imaging Lesion Physical therapy patient Intervertebral disc Back pain Medical imaging Source Type: blogs
Adoption - the old and the newEmail this article to a colleague.
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Adoption is a great way of building families for infertile couples. This is an option which is been available through the ages , and many infertile couples feel that in case their IVF treatment cycles fail , they can always adopt a baby. However, the reality is that adoption has actually become much harder than doing IVF treatment !This is because there just aren’t that many unwanted babies available for adoption anymore. This is true even in developing countries such as India, where women are becoming more educated and are no longer having unwanted pregnancies because use contraception ; and will terminate unwanted preg...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 2, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: In vitro fertilisation India Home Pregnancy Embryo Embryo donation Infertility adoption Source Type: blogs
So what do I do next Doctor ?Email this article to a colleague.
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I often see patients who are at a crossroads after having failed 3 IVF cycles . They are confused as to what to do next. Should I try another cycle ? should I use donor eggs ? should I use a surrogate ? should I change my doctor ? should I do a blastocyst transfer ? They have lots of questions - and they often not sure what the best option is !By the time they have failed 3 IVF cycles , they’re pretty well read and well informed - but often more confused , because there are so many different doctors and different websites giving diametrically opposite information, so it’s very hard to make sense of it.Do you trust the ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - February 1, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Options Health In vitro fertilisation Follicle-stimulating hormone patient Embryo Preimplantation genetic diagnosis Infertility Source Type: blogs
The Health 2.0 conference in IndiaEmail this article to a colleague.
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I've just come back from attending the Health 2.0 India Conference held in Delhi. The conference was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The format is extremely interesting , because they compress a lot of information in a small amount of time without ever letting it get boring . For example , the demonstrations are just four minutes ; and the panels last for about 1 hour, so attention does not flag.The themes are intriguing ; and I was very impressed with the ability of the Health 2.0 conference organisers to get such a diverse group of people with such different interests all together on one platform . These ar...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 31, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: San Francisco Delhi United States Health care India Health 2.0 Health 2.0 India Conference Rajasthan Source Type: blogs
Why doctors should let patients decide for themselvesEmail this article to a colleague.
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I recently saw a patient who came to me for a second opinion . She was advised IVF treatment and a workup showed that she had an endometrial polyp which was about five millimeters in size . She'd gone to another doctor , who advised her to get the polyp removed before doing the IVF treatment . This is one of those gray zone areas of medicine where it's always very hard to make a definite decision because different doctors have different opinions as to what needs to be done. Most doctors would take the approach that anything inside the uterine cavity needs to be removed before putting an embryo inside the uterus ; and they ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 30, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Uterus patient Embryo Infertility Physician Information Therapy Source Type: blogs
Why patients need to become experts !Email this article to a colleague.
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I saw a very interesting patient today. She’d been referred to me by a gynecological oncologist who had made a diagnosis of early endometrial adenocarcinoma and had sent her to me because she wanted to find out what her reproductive options were. This was a young 24-year-old woman with polycystic ovarian disease who had just got married six months ago. She had gone to a doctor for an evaluation because she had heavy menstrual periods and the doctor found she had a uterine polyp , which is why she performed a hysteroscopy . Much to her dismay , when the histopathology report came back , it showed she had complex hyperplas...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 29, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Cancer Health In vitro fertilisation patient Endometrial cancer Polycystic ovary syndrome Conditions and Diseases Menstrual cycle Source Type: blogs
HELP on the CNN IBN India Positive ShowEmail this article to a colleague.
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HELP was featured on the CNN IBN India Positive Show (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 28, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Science, IVF and GodEmail this article to a colleague.
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An online patient asked me a very intriguing question recently." Do you think a superhuman power plays a bigger part in deciding whether the embryo should implant or not? From your experience as an IVF doctor for several years whats your conclusion after seeing so many IVF cases - or do you think its just science, probability and luck? Have your ever noticed any difference in a successful patient's mentality and an unsuccessful one?"In all honesty, this is one of those questions no one has an answer to. We can only guess. All IVF doctors will agree that IVF is not a precise science - and we can never predict the outcome of...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 27, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health patient Embryo Testicular sperm extraction Surrogacy Infertility Source Type: blogs
Why do so many women stop treatment after failing their first IVF cycle ?Email this article to a colleague.
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Most infertile women know that IVF represents their best chance of having a baby, which is why they sign up for the first IVF cycle. Those who have realistic expectations understand that the failure rate in one cycle will always be more than the success rate, which is why they should be prepared for the fact that they may need to do a second or third cycle before they achieve their goal of having a baby.However, we find that once they have failed an IVF cycle , many women just stop doing anymore treatment. The dropout rate in IVF treatment is extremely high and it’s worth trying to figure out why this happens. In a perfe...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 26, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Poor ovarian reserve Reproductive Health patient Embryo Clinics and Services Infertility Source Type: blogs
Why bed rest after embryo transfer is a bad ideaEmail this article to a colleague.
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Many doctors advise bed rest after ET. Ironically, even if doctors don't , many patients ( and their family members) will impose this on themselves . Many patients are worried that their embryos will fall out if they walk around, which is why they remain flat in bed after their embryo transfer.This is completely illogical ! Your embryos are safe in your uterus. Nothing you do can harm them , so please do not worry about this. However, it's hard to change preconceived notions - especially when they are so deeply embedded.I first try to use logic. I ask them - Do people rest in bed after having sex in their bedroom ? If they...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 24, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation patient Pregnancy Embryo Menstrual cycle Infertility God Source Type: blogs
Call Hierarchy of NeedsEmail this article to a colleague.
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Now that I am not on call, all day, every day, I have found there is a certain behavioral pattern emerging on my call days. Something similar to Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs," if you will.First Goal - Be able to leave the hospital. You may laugh, but some days it is d*mn near impossible to do. I am always figuring and re-figuring in my head if I am going to be able to go home that night, or if I will wind up being stuck until after office hours the next day. *First goal bonus if I am able to leave the hospital before my children's bedtime, so much the better to actually *see* them.Second Goal - Shower at home. This seems l...
Source: Ob/Gyn Kenobi - January 23, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Authors: dr. whoo? Source Type: blogs
Why do IVF patients drop out of treatment ?Email this article to a colleague.
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One of the biggest problems IVF doctors face is the fact that patients will often drop out of IVF treatment, when they fail their first or second cycle. This is a tragedy because the fact is that repeating the IVF cycle is often their best chance of success . It’s disappointing that no one has researched what makes women who continue doing IVF treatment even after a failure different from women who choose to drop out.Some answers will be fairly obvious . For example , one of them would be financial reasons because there are lots of patient who simply couldn't afford to do a second or third IVF treatment cycle. Others may...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 22, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health ivf patient Embryo Clinics and Services Infertility Source Type: blogs
How the Times of India and Kumar Mangalam Birla mangle the English languageEmail this article to a colleague.
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The Times of India is full of articles which bemoan the poor standards of education in India. The irony is that it's their poor editorial standards which have helped to contribute to this sad state of affairs. For many Indians, their daily newspaper is their most important source of English language consumption. One would expect the Times of India to set high standards, so their readers would be exposed to good English. Sadly, this is no longer true. Most TOI reporters still "stress on" topics, without even realising that this is incorrect English ! ( You don't stress on something - just stressing it is enough !)But it's n...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 22, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: India English language Chief executive officer Times of India Kumar Mangalam Birla Education Aditya Birla Group Arts Source Type: blogs
Making babies without making loveEmail this article to a colleague.
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When most couples get married, they expect to have sex and get pregnant , when they are ready to start their family. However, some find to their dismay that they are not able to have sex. This could happen because of many reasons.Some men have ED ( erectile dysfunction), as a result of which they cannot achieve intravaginal penetration. At the other end of the spectrum are men with such severe premature ejaculation that they end up ejaculating before they can penetrate - the end result being the same - an inability to consummate the marriage .The other common cause of failure to consummate the marriage is women who have va...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 19, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Marriage Premature ejaculation Health Sexual intercourse Christian Erectile dysfunction Sexuality Conditions and Diseases Men's Health Advice relationship Source Type: blogs
What to do when a patient complains - a guide from Dr MalpaniEmail this article to a colleague.
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Doctors try to do their best to take care of their patients. They work hard and will often put in long hours to make sure their patients do well. However, some patients are sometimes unhappy with the care they receive. Often , this may not be because of any fault on the doctor's part. The patient may be upset about having had to wait too long; or be angry because the receptionist was rude. Some patients have unrealistic expectations - while others want VIP care 24/7 , and expect the doctor to see them first, even when there are other patients who are waiting .When patients are unhappy, they get upset and complain. Sadly, d...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 18, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health In vitro fertilisation India patient Embryo Mumbai Aniruddha Source Type: blogs
The golden rule as applied to MedicineEmail this article to a colleague.
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The golden rule is timeless - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.However, it's very difficult to to apply this in medical practise, simple because it's impossible for a doctor to read a patient's mind and understand what his personal priorities are. This is why most doctors just blindly apply "evidence based guidelines" when treating patients. However, these have been developed by mindless committees - and it's a truism in medicine that one size cannot fit all.This leads to a lot of unhappiness -for doctors ( who are frustrated that their patients do not provide more articulate inputs) ;for patients ( who do...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 17, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Evidence-based medicine doctor patient Golden Rule Services Physician Source Type: blogs
Why do doctors make patients wait?Email this article to a colleague.
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It’s quite common to see patients waiting for hours on end to see senior doctors in India today. The very busy doctors are extremely busy and their waiting rooms are packed full of patients and worried relatives. The irony is that patients are extremely unhappy about having to wait so long in order to see a doctor for just a few minutes of his attention.However, if patients are so unhappy , why do they continue to put up with this ? And how do doctors get away with such terrible behavior? The only reason doctors can afford to make patients wait is because patients are willing to wait - so the key question is - why do pat...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 16, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Health care India Order (biology) doctor patient Physician Source Type: blogs
How to distribute patients more fairly amongst doctorsEmail this article to a colleague.
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One of the problems with private medical practice today is that the busy doctors are very very busy; while other doctors ( who are equally competent but don’t have a “brand name” ) don't have enough patients to see , which is why they waste their time twiddling their thumbs. This kind of mismatch and inequitable distribution of demand for medical services creates a lot of unhappiness for doctors and patients as well.The busy doctors act as prima donnas. They are extremely rushed and don't have enough time to do justice to their patients. Ironically, their patients are unhappy too , because they often have to wait for...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 16, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Health care India doctor patient Practice Management Physician Source Type: blogs
How reframing a problem can help to fix healthcareEmail this article to a colleague.
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Most patients feel that the biggest problem with health care today is that there are just not enough good doctors. They feel that the few good doctors in their town are extremely busy and don't have enough time for them. Most good doctors offer appointments after 2 to 3 weeks - and then when they finally do see you , they usually make you wait for 2 to 3 hours and usually talk to for just about 5 to 6 minutes. This lack of communication creates a lot of angst and disharmony amongst patients who feel that they are not getting the best possible medical care.Patients feel trapped and helpless because they feel that it's the d...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 11, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health United States Health care India doctor patient Physician Source Type: blogs
The older newly married coupleEmail this article to a colleague.
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We are now seeing a new kind of patient in our clinic these days. These are couples who are older and have got married recently , so typically the wife is more than 35 & the husband is more than 40. They are usually professionals who have had very busy lives and fulfilling careers . They are doing very well for themselves ; and chose not to get married for many years because they couldn't find the right person. Now that they have finally found the right person ( often online , thanks to sites like shaadi.com; or through friends, neighbors, relatives), when they finally hook up with someone they then need to decide whet...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 10, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: In vitro fertilisation Poor ovarian reserve Family patient Home Pregnancy Infant Infertility Source Type: blogs
How to keep your doctor happyEmail this article to a colleague.
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There are lots of books and articles on practice management for doctors, which teach them how to keep their patients happy. This is obviously important for doctors because if they have happy patients their practice is likely to do well. However, let's not forget that doctors have lots of patients and an occasional unhappy patient is not likely to affect him too much. However, most patients have just one doctor and therefore learning how to keep your doctor happy should be far more important for patients as compared to doctors learning how to keep patients happy.It's actually not very difficult to keep your doctor happy bec...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 9, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health In vitro fertilisation Health care doctor patient Practice Management Physician Source Type: blogs
Why is surrogacy so overused ?Email this article to a colleague.
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After a failed IVF cycle, many patients feel that surrogacy would be their best option. It's true that this does seem to be a logical solution. If beautiful embryos fail to implant after IVF, doesn't this clearly means that there's a problem with the uterus ? So let's change the uterus and use a surrogate the next time !This sounds logical - and is a solution which is promoted by doctors as well , because it's much more profitable to do surrogacy than to repeat the IVF cycle ! Also, many patients are just plain fed up of going through the IVF grind. Surrogacy seems like a very convenient shortcut to success !Sadly, this is...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 8, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: In vitro fertilisation Uterus patient Embryo Preimplantation genetic diagnosis Genetic disorder Surrogacy Infertility Source Type: blogs
Primary healthcare in India gets a corporate liftEmail this article to a colleague.
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Primary healthcare, dominated by the state system and family physicians, is increasingly drawing the attention of India’s corporate sector, which has thus far directed most of its investment towards the specialities. http://www.livemint.com/2012/01/06221053/Primary-healthcare-gets-a-corp.html?atype=tpAll these clinics will invest in IT in a big way ( EMRs and PHRs) to be able to provide more efficient and cost effective care for their patients ! (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 7, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Health care India Business healthcare Family medicine Physician Source Type: blogs
Is the bedroom better than the clinic for making babies ?Email this article to a colleague.
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I see lots of young married couples who come to me for counselling. They are not technically infertile, but are very anxious to conceive. Many of them have very busy stressful jobs, which means the often just don't have enough time to have baby making sex ! Others are being pressurised by parents to start a family quickly - while some hear their biologiocal clock ticking away, because they got married after the age of 30 !The now want a baby as a priority - and expect this to happen on demand. When this doesn't, they get upset and ask me for help.My advise is that it's much more fun making babies in the bedroom than coming...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 6, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Marriage Premenstrual syndrome Health In vitro fertilisation Shopping Sexual intercourse Family Home Children Infertility Source Type: blogs
Why global health insurance brokers should promote medical tourismEmail this article to a colleague.
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The world is shrinking; and many companies have become large multinationals , with over 10000 employees and a presence in countries all across the globe. Providing employee benefits is one of their key responsibilities, and since this has become such a challenging task, they outsource this to companies which specialise in administering and harmonising these benefits. Typically, they use a single health insurance broker to provide life insurance and health insurance coverage to all their employees across the globe.Since there such a huge price differential between elective high ticket surgical procedures performed in India ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 6, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Insurance United States Johnson India Employment Washington DC Health insurance Financial Services Source Type: blogs
Can stress cause an IVF cycle to fail ?Email this article to a colleague.
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There are more myths about stress and IVF than about any other area of reproductive medicine. It's become fashionable to blame stress for every failed IVF cycle - which is why "mind-body" programs which teach patients how to manage their stress have become so popular.When an IVF cycle has gone well ( good embryos; a good uterine lining; and an easy embryo transfer) , patients expect to get pregnant. Doctors are also usually quite optimistic at the time of embryo transfer , because they want to cheer up the patient !When a perfect IVF cycle fails, the doctor ( and the mother in law and the husband) will often blame the pati...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 5, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health patient Embryo stress Clinics and Services Infertility Source Type: blogs
Coleman's Laws of MedicineEmail this article to a colleague.
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Dr Vernon Coleman qualified as a medical doctor in the UK many years ago ; and has published an excellent series of books on health and wellness. They are packed with wise insights and commonsense - and many of these are as true today as when they were first published !Here are his 12 Laws of Medicine - something which all doctors should put up on their clinics, so patients keep them in mind when going to a doctor !COLEMAN’S 1ST LAW OF MEDICINEIf you are receiving treatment for an existing disease and you develop new symptoms then, until proved otherwise, you should assume that the new symptoms are caused by the treatmen...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 5, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health United States patient Vernon Coleman Practitioners Hospital Alternative Source Type: blogs
How too much testing can reduce your fertilityEmail this article to a colleague.
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One of the first things medical students learn to do is to order tests . Medicine is supposed to be scientific, and test results are supposed to provide doctors with objective data which they can use to treat their patients.It's easy ( and profitable !) to order tests - but few doctors learn how to interpret them properly. They just blindly follow what the medical text book suggests. Wise doctors know that the patient's body does not always read the text book - and good doctors know which test results to ignore - and how to make sense of the outliers !The danger is that we are becoming overdependent on tests and this cause...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 4, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Diagnostic test Medicine Health In vitro fertilisation Health care Physical examination patient Physician Source Type: blogs
Dos and Donts during the IVF 2 wwEmail this article to a colleague.
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For most IVF patients, the worst part of the IVF treatment is the dreaded 2 week wait. While there's a lot of action ( injections, scans) and handholding ( frequent visits to the clinic for monitoring) by the medical staff during the superovulation, egg collection and embryo transfer portion of IVF , after the embryos have been transferred, patients often feel they are left in limbo for 2 weeks. The IVF clinic pretty much leaves them on their own ; and except for the advise that they have to take meds for luteal phase support, there's not much support theyoffer . Each hour takes a day to pass - and the mind plays all kinds...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 3, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health patient Pregnancy Embryo Infertility Human chorionic gonadotropin Source Type: blogs
Should IVF doctors refuse to treat patients who have a low chance of success ?Email this article to a colleague.
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Sometimes patients come to me with unrealistic expectations of success , and my initial knee-jerk reflex and first response is to simply say no , because their chances are so poor .This is what happened recently when a patient with a high FSH level asked me to do IVF treatment for her. I suggested that she’d be better off using donor eggs, but she then countered by asking me an interesting question. She said , “ Doctor , why are you refusing to treat me ? This is my money which I am choosing to spend . I'm not asking anyone for any help or any assistance - I'm not placing a burden on anyone else. I understand fully wel...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 2, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Poor ovarian reserve Follicle-stimulating hormone patient Infant Infertility Physician Source Type: blogs
Why second IVF cycles are much easier than the firstEmail this article to a colleague.
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Many women go to pieces when their first IVF cycle fails; and some will just give up trying to have a baby after this failure.This is a tragedy, because second IVF cycles are often much easier than your first cycle.For one, you know what to expect. The fear of the unknown has gone away; and you havelearned that there is no pain or surgery during the IVF treatment . Also, you have an additional comfort factor, because you have now established a relationship with your doctor and the nurses.More importantly, you now have much more realistic expectations. In the first IVF cycle hopes are always very high. You expect this to wo...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - January 1, 2012 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Why iPills are more important than iPads in healthcareEmail this article to a colleague.
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Ipads are the cool new toys for doctors and patients to play with ! They are flashy and fun to use, easy to carry, make a fashion statement - and all the clever medical apps on ipads make them useful too.However, ipads are costly - and not easily available either.Far more important - and much less expensive than iPads for fixing healthcare are iPills - prescriptions for information therapy ! These are easy to prescribe - and easy to dispense as well !Not only should doctors routinely prescribe iPills at the end of each consultation, patients should insist that their doctors give them iPills as well ! (Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 30, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: ITunes Health Business healthcare IPhone Apple IPad Information Therapy Source Type: blogs
Take an iPill and call me in the morningEmail this article to a colleague.
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As all good family physician's wives know, most complaints are self-limited and most patients will get better in the morning on their own. This is why " Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning" is still extremely good medical adviseTincture of time is often the best healer; and if things aren't better by morning , then the doctor can start a more detailed evaluation.Today, instead of advising patients to take 2 aspirins, I advise them to take an iPill. An iPill is an information therapy prescription and has an equally useful role to play ! It helps to reassure patients that their symptoms are unlikely to be serious; and ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 29, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Review of the book, Using Information Therapy to Put Patients FirstEmail this article to a colleague.
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My teacher, Dr Bhandarkar, kindly reviewed my book, and had some very nice things to say about it !-----------------It was a privilege to be asked to review Dr. Aniruddha Malpani’s book ‘ Using Information Therapy to Put Patients First ’. Dr. Malpani was my student at KEM Hospital and is now a practicing gynecologist and an ‘ IVF doctor’. But, his mastery over modern Information Technology is amazing. He has ably married his knowledge of both his specialties and produced this book. It is written in simple language and uses jargon only when absolutely necessary. This has made it a highly readable book. I enjoyed r...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 28, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine India Malpani patient KEM Hospital Physician Information Therapy Aniruddha Source Type: blogs
The first trimester of an IVF pregnancyEmail this article to a colleague.
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This is a guest post from our patient.-----------The first trimester can be the most exciting time in your life as well as the most nerve-racking. The initial news of your pregnancy comes with great joy!For those that have gone through infertility treatments, getting through the first trimester may be a very trying time. The average fertile couple trying to conceive will typically get a positive pregnancy test shortly after a missed period and will be seen by an OB-GYN a few weeks later. For the infertile couple, the first pregnancy test will come just two weeks after conception; it will be followed by at least one more bl...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 28, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation India Malpani Home Pregnancy Embryo Ultrasound Source Type: blogs
Embryo transfer vs implantationEmail this article to a colleague.
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Lots of IVF patients are not very clear about the medical details of their IVF cycle. This sometimes causes them to use medical terms inappropriately. Many are confused about the difference between embryo transfer and embryo implantation and will sometimes use these terms inter-changeably.There's actually a world of a difference between the two !Embryo transfer is a simple clinical procedure where the doctor transfers your embryos into your uterus, using a plastic tube called an embryo transfer catheter. This is a mechanical step, which involves transferring the uterus from the petri dish in the incubator to your uterus.Im...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 23, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Endometrium In vitro fertilisation Uterus Embryo transfer Genetic disorder Infertility Implantation Source Type: blogs
Menstrual cycles and infertilityEmail this article to a colleague.
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There is lots of variation in menstrual periods even in normal fertile women. Sometimes the period maybe heavy; sometimes it maybe light; sometimes there may be clots or spotting ; and sometimes there maybe more cramping than usual. These are common variants, and most fertile women don't even notice them.Infertile women, on the other hand, obsess over every minor variation. Was the period too heavy ? Was there clotting ? Could that have been an early pregnancy which miscarried early because I lifted a heavy bucket ?If my period has become very light , does this mean my uterine lining is too thin ? Does this mean that the e...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 22, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Endometrium Health Menstruation Women's Health Pregnancy fertility Menstrual cycle Infertility Source Type: blogs
IVF or IUI - should I let the patient decide ?Email this article to a colleague.
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I just saw a 28 year old woman with unexplained infertility. I am a conservative doctor and suggested that the logical treatment option for her would be intrauterine insemination ( IUI).However, she was quite adamant that she wanted to do IVF. She had done her homework and knew that IVF had a much better success rate than IUI. Since it did not involve surgery or have any medical risks, she was sure IVF would be better for her, because she did not want to waste time." Why should I do a treatment which has a success rate of only 10% when I can go in for a treatment which has a success rate of 46 % ? I am paying for this myse...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 21, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health ivf patient Clinics and Services Artificial insemination Infertility Source Type: blogs
What is Information Therapy?Email this article to a colleague.
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Every doctor is supposed to educate and inform his patients; do we really need a buzzword for such a basic concept? The tragedy is that this fairly simple and obvious notion is not implemented routinely in today’s world.Information Therapy can be defined as the prescription of the right information, to the right person, at the right time to help make a better health decision. But this is not free-floating generic information by simply Googling it. In fact, the problem is that there is too much information available online today –of which a major chunk is unreliable and misleading. In fact, easy access to so much inform...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 21, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Evidence-based medicine United States Health care India patient Information Therapy Source Type: blogs
Malpani Clinic in the DNA newspaperEmail this article to a colleague.
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(Source: The Patient's Doctor)
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 20, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
IVF sucess story for couple from Sri LankaEmail this article to a colleague.
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We, Thushara and Medha being Sri Lankans, living in Colombo, are pleased to make few words regarding our success story with many thanks to Dr. Aniruddha and Anjali Malpani and their staff at the Malpani Fertility Clinic at Colaba, Mumbai, India. We had to pass a long way to reach this destiny, it was more than 11 years, from the date of our marriage. During this period we visited to many doctors in Sri Lanka and abroad even followed western and eastern medical prescriptions, without any interval. We were really fed up with the matter and that feeling created more and more negative impact with regard to the possibility o...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 19, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: In vitro fertilisation India Malpani Sri Lanka Mumbai Colaba Colombo Aniruddha Source Type: blogs
Does your IVF clinic have a full time embryologist ?Email this article to a colleague.
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There are many IVF centers sprouting up in India today. This is because there is a huge demand for treating infertile couples. This is hardly surprising, given the fact that over 10 million couples get married every year- and that 10% of these are going to be infertile.It's also considered to be a highly lucrative field; and all gynecologists today want to start IVF clinics. They have the space and the money; and are happy to invest in starting an IVF lab because they think this will be highly profitable.The trouble is that they forget that the IVF lab is only as good as the person who runs it. This scientist is called an ...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 18, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Clinic In vitro fertilisation India Reproductive Health patient Azoospermia Infertility Intracytoplasmic sperm injection Source Type: blogs
When bad things happen in the IVF labEmail this article to a colleague.
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Most patients are pretty clueless about what goes on in the IVF lab.Sadly, many doctors are equally clueless too and they leave everything upto the embryologist. While this works very well when you have a full time experienced expert embryologist, the sad truth is that not all IVF labs and IVF embryologists are upto the mark. While many are extremely hard working , talented scientists, others are poorly trainedThus, some will use shortcuts, such as using donor sperm because they do not know how to handle TESE spermOthers are not very careful about quality control , and will not bother to check that their equipment is worki...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 16, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Health In vitro fertilisation Reproductive Health patient Embryo Quality Control Clinics and Services Infertility Source Type: blogs
Side effects of Information TherapyEmail this article to a colleague.
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I am a big believer in Information Therapy. I feel that the more patients know about their medical problems, the better for them - and the better for their doctor as well !I recently had an interesting conversation with a senior doctor, who was quite skeptical about the value of empowering patients with information. He felt this was just a new fad, and would just create more problems.He believed that medicine was a complex subject – after all , it takes 8 years of full time training to become a surgeon ! How can one expect patients to understand the nuances of their medical problems in a few minutes ? Isn't it far better...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 15, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health Health care patient Disease Physician Information Therapy Doctor-patient relationship Source Type: blogs
Well, tonight, thank G*d it's them, instead of you...Email this article to a colleague.
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Does anyone else think that "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is the most uncharitable "charity" song around? It's downright laughable! So much so that I can't help but wonder if there isn't meant to be some sort of sardonic undercurrent beneath the song's earnestness. I mean, there's the most awful line, the line mentioned above, then, later on, we raise a glass to everyone, including "them, underneath that burning sun." ACK! Mix in some "clanging chimes of doom" and "bitter sting of tears" and, well, I admit it, I laugh my *ss off every time I hear this song. Probably not what "Band Aid" was going for, but I digress...The t...
Source: Ob/Gyn Kenobi - December 15, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Authors: dr. whoo? Source Type: blogs
Poor quality treatment - patient ? doctor ?Email this article to a colleague.
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When the IVF cycle fails, patients often blame their doctor for not doing a good job. However, this blame game does not help at all ! It just creates anger and resentment, as a result of which patients become bitter and lose confidence in all doctors.When things don't go according to plan, I always tell the patient that you need to take a proactive role in your treatment, before your treatment starts, s you know exactly what to expect. This way, if things are not going as expected, you know this before the problems get worse.This does not mean that you need to become a medical expert - but it does mean you need to become a...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 14, 2011 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tags: Medicine Health In vitro fertilisation Health care doctor patient Conditions and Diseases Physician Source Type: blogs
