Zouk Surgical

  Baby With No-nos in Quang Ngai, Vietnam 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

This little guy just had his cleft lip repaired. To prevent him from picking at the stitches and potentially pulling them out, he is wearing no-nos on his arms. No-nos are the padded restraints that prevent children from bending their elbows and touching their face with their hands.

The no-nos for the Quang Ngai, Vietnam surgical trip were made by an 8th grade community service class at Whitefish Bay Middle School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. The class includes Kate Mesrobian, daughter of team anesthesiologist Dr. Jay Mesrobian.

Interplast would like to thank these students for their hard work helping heal children around the world.  Here are more photos showing the students’ hard work.

An issue that comes up often in evaluating the belly is the decision between liposuction and tummy tuck. I am all for using the smallest hammer possible to make the abdominal wall look good. A smaller procedure usually means a faster recovery, less risk and less expense.

Liposuction is an excellent procedure for removing localized disproportionate fat. It makes use of small, usually hidden, incisions and allows the body to be contoured with minimal changes to the skin. It works best in patients with discreet pockets of fat who have good skin tone.

Loose skin is an indication for a tummy tuck. While liposuction can remove fat, a tummy tuck can remove fat but additionally tightens the skin and the abdominal wall. Removing the excess with a low abdominal incision tightens skin. This also removes previous low abdominal scars and stretch marks on the lower abdomen. Placing sutures into the tough lining in front of the anterior abdominal wall muscles tightens the abdominal wall, like an internal corset.

Which procedure is the correct one for you depends on many factors, and the decision is best made during consultation with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. For some people a compromise between the two procedures, or a mini tummy tuck may suffice.

In general the following rules usually apply. If your skin tone is good (tight) and there is a localized area of fat on the abdominal wall, liposuction can often help. If your skin is redundant (folding over) and the underlying muscles are lax (commonly from weight loss or pregnancy), then a tummy tuck will provide superior correction.

Additional notes: Pain pumps can help decrease postoperative discomfort, and speed recovery for tummy tucks. Liposuction, tummy tucks (abdominoplasty) and mini tummy tucks all work better if you are near your ideal weight and a non-smoker. Smokers have a greatly increased risk of wound healing problems when matched with their non-smoking counterparts.

Common cold remedies usually contain phenylpropanolamine or PPA, which has been found responsible for an increased stroke risk. Before summing up this conclusion researchers tracked about 940 patients who had sustained hemorrhagic stroke. Actually, this is not for the first time that any study has come out associating PPA with hemorrhagic stroke as previous reports had also found that appetite suppressants containing PPA increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Example is here:-

1. PPA increases HEMORRHAGIC STROKE.

2. Injured by Phenylpropanolamine?

3. PPA and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke

4. Phenylpropanolamine and hemorrhagic stroke in women.

5. PPA loss leaves veterinarians looking for alternatives.

Strangely, the association of PPA and hemorrhagic stroke has been found 4 times higher in women than men and this vary fact hones the demand of further investigation in this matter so that the reason behind this may emerge more precisely.

Image credit: Daily Mail

Via: Reuters

If you are obese then it means you are comparatively less susceptible to heart failure death. This divulgence may definitely keep you agape. However, this fact has been proclaimed true by a preliminary study, which studied data on almost 109,000 heart failure episodes in more than 80,000 patients.

Interestingly, it was also found that the heart of the patients with higher BMI was able to pump more blood out with each contraction. Besides, it was also found that as the level of BMI rose among patients there death rate came down slightly.

Quite an amazing study this was because earlier there was common notion that obesity means a great threat to heart. It would also not be grandiloquent to say that this new study stands confronting studies conducted earlier.Earlier, too a study had dubbed obesity good for patients with MHD. However, this fact can also not be obviated that obesity give rise to several other problem too, which can be more deadly than heart attack.

Image credit: Richard Silverstein

Via: Reuters

For years we have been listening, that exercise is good for heart, despite the fact that there has never been an intensive study to give out a solid reason to vindicate this notion.

However, now researchers are planning to have a profound study in which they will try to find out that how exercise actually affects our heart. Interestingly, about three thousands patients would be tracked in this study.

This would really be a significant study, as it will help churning out some important facts. Moreover, this will help better understanding that why some exercises are good for healthy people but not for heart patients and why heart patients find it difficult to do particular exercises.

Image credit: Med Scape

Via: Post Chronicle

Fact stating that South Asians are more vulnerable to heart risk, even after immigrating to western countries, is deplorable. Here is the wrap up of the fulgent issues that sprang out of this study:-

1. Deaths in South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka due to heart attack were comparatively higher.
2. Study included analysis of 30,000 participants from 52 countries.
3. No genetic predisposition could be fished out behind South Asians’ more susceptibility to cardiovascular disease.
4. Where the average age for first heart attack was 59 in western countries, it was 53 for South Asians.
5. Risk factors that give rise to heart attack in western countries were same in south Asians countries as well.
6. Leisure-time physical activity, daily consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, and daily but moderate alcohol intake were comparatively lower among South Asians.
7. However, South Asians were found more susceptible to diabetes, high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, depression, artery clogging, etc.
8. South Asian women were far away from smoking habit; still there susceptibility to heart attack was comparatively higher.
9. South Asian immigrants were also found more vulnerable to heart attacks than native western people were.

These facts do not clearly help fishing out radical reasons that paves way for heart attacks. However, keeping in mind some of these facts it can be said that lifestyle is the major string puller here as it is emerging repeatedly to make the whole difference. It is well known that a big percentage of South Asians lead a lifestyle imbued with lassitude. Secondly, their inclination to health activity is comparatively lower. Moreover, their attitude towards physical as well as mental health is somewhat lackadaisical. No doubt, this study lets genetic reason go scot-free; still I believe that it is somewhere responsible for this.

So, the kernel of my opinion is that lifestyle is the major string-puller, which is making the whole difference.

Image credit: Ruf.Rice

Via: Topix