Doctor’s blog

When there is “male pattern of hair growth in females” it is called hirsutism and if hirsutism is aggressive form with additional signs and symptoms like voice become male type (deep voice), breasts become smaller, and clitoris becomes enlarged, there is increased in muscle bulk etc. it is called virilization. In other words virilization is severe form of hirsutism or next stage of hirsutism. There is also increased libido in virilization. Generally virilization is an ominous sign and suggests a high possibility of an ovarian or adrenal tumor.

Hirsutism is fairly common problem among females and affects approximately 10% of female population. But hirsutism is only a variation of normal hair growth and generally do not cause any significant physical problem, although it can cause considerable psychological problem among females. Very rarely hirsutism is indicative of serious underlying pathology, but commonly virilization is indicative of serious underlying pathology.

The cause of hirsutism is commonly idiopathic (unknown cause) and in most of the cases the commonest pathology involved is androgen excess (like in case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia or CAH and polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS).

The sites which are involved in male pattern of hair growth are upper lip (mustache), chin (beard), chest, abdomen, upper back, lower back, upper arms, pelvis and thighs. These are the nine areas of human body which are sensitive to androgen and excess androgen causes growth of hairs in these areas to cause hirsutism in females. In general males have higher levels of androgens and that’s why males have male pattern of hair growth like beard and mustache. The clinical assessment of hirsutism is also done by taking into account of these nine androgen sensitive areas.

All professions, jobs, positions (how prestigious the position may be), or for that matter anything in this world have its pros and cons (or positive and negatives) and all of us are aware of this pros and cons, although we do not consider this frequently and seriously. All of us are aware of the positive aspects of being a doctor, such as well placed person in society, name, fame and blah blah blah (when you do not have enough time for yourself and family, in my opinion all these name and fame means very little).

But I wonder if you have ever wondered (if you are not a doctor or medical person) what are the cons or disadvantages of being a doctor. I am telling from my own experience, as I am a doctor, what are the great disadvantages of doctors in general and also I will tell the problems I face for being a doctor, which I would like not to face.

The greatest disadvantage of being a doctor is that you know that you are no body to save life (only God can save and doctors only do their job and try their best to do their job), but other people see you as a person who can save life (it is really a frustrating thing). If you are an honest (to yourself and not to others) doctor you know what you are, what you can do and what you can not do. Many a times you get frustrated, because even after your best efforts your patient is not responding accordingly, although you get joy when you see a patient is responding better than your expectation and this is enough to understand that nothing is in your hand.

Another great disadvantage is having less (and lesser) time for yourself and family. This may be frustrating, especially when you see your friends in other profession are having a ball of a time and you age busy treating sick people. I personally get frustrated in this type of job and so I changed my job from being a doctor to being a teacher in a Medical College and choose a Para-clinical subject, where I do not have to attend patients. When I was joining Medical College for study all these things were not in my mind, but I could manage my life. Unfortunately many doctors only live with all these disadvantages never realizing there is always a way out of every problem in life.

I will continue writing the negative aspects of being a doctor from my own experience.

The importance of exercise to remain fighting fit is known to all, but unfortunately not many of us do regular exercise. The reasons of not doing regular exercise are many and it is different for different individuals. We all should try to find out our own as what is the major obstacle for us for not doing regular exercise. The reason may be lethargy, lack of motivation, inability to find and adjust time for exercise etc.

If you are not doing regular exercise you can try going to gym for motivation and also you will get many equipments which are not available at home. You can also find some like minded persons who go for a jog daily in the morning or evening. The reason of your need for regular exercise may also be different from others. If you have low backache or backache problems you should try using equipment for back exercise like teeter hang ups inversion table, which are very good for exercise for backache. Teeter 550 has some additional features over other hang ups inversion tables, like new flex technology bed which gives comfort to your back along with exercising your back to relieve back pain.

The hang ups inversion tables are very helpful for relieving back pain, which use earth’s natural gravity to relieve back pain. These hang ups inversion tables also help in improving circulation and lymph flow, improves flexibility of muscles and range of movements at the joints, and also reduces muscular tension if present and one of the causes of back pain.

Most important is to continue doing exercise which is best for you, especially if you have any medical problem for which you need regular exercise. But at the same time you should be aware that wrong type of exercise may harm you instead of good, so consult your doctor or fitness expert for advice regarding you exercise and the type of gym equipment you should use.