What is the difference between into and in to

"Into" (one word) and "in to" (two words) are frequently confused. In what situations should the former be used? The latter?

You should use "into" when it's a question of location, for lack of a better word. "I went into the store," "We went into the field of computer science," "We drank well into the morning," etc..

"In to" just happens sometimes. "I went in to buy some milk." In that sentence the "to" is part of the infinitive "to buy."

If you aren't sure which one to use, change the "in" to "in order" and see if it still works. "I went in order to the store" is wrong, but "I went in order to buy some milk" is good.

source:  http://english.stackexchange.com/

Pregnancy Tests

Often in OB-GYN files, we come across pregnancy tests, let us get a general idea about what these are.

Pregnancy tests are tests that show if a woman is pregnant or not.  There are two types of pregnancy tests,
i) Test using urine sample.
ii) Test using blood sample.

Both of the above tests are for detecting the presence of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).  This hormone is produced by the placenta shortly after the embryo attaches itself to the uterine lining and builds up rapidly in the pregnant woman's body in the first few days of pregnancy.It is this rapid shift in hormones that triggers most of the pregnancy symptoms.

Urine Tests:
i)  Performed at home.
ii)  Performed at clinic.

Blood Tests:
i)  Quantitative Blood Test (measures exact amount of hCG in blood).
ii)  Qualitative Blood Test (gives a yes or no answer regarding pregnant or not).


For more details, please click here.
picture courtesy:  www.theluxuryspot.com

Singultus

If I ask you "Ever had singultus"? You may blink and perhaps may get the Mr. Bean look on your face, at least I would do the same if I were you.  Now let me paraphrase and say, "Do you have had synchronous diaphragmatic flutter or SDF"....I believe the Mr. Bean look wont be going away.....and you may add..."Speak English" to which I would reply..."Ever had hiccups...my dear"......

In simple words, the medical term for hiccups is singultus....:)

Incompetent Cervix and Cerclage

Cervical incompetence is the early opening up and shortening  of cervix during pregnancy resulting in either preterm birth or miscarriage.  For women with cervical incompetence or insufficiency, cervical erclage is the panacea. Though McDonald cerclage is the most commonly used and popular type of surgery done, there is an Indian connection also, namely the Shirodkar cerclage, named after famous Indian Obstretician Dr. V. N. Shirodkar.

I found this site quite helpful and comprehensive regarding the information on cervical incompetence.  

Arraign and serial 7

It has been some time that I got to do a psychiatric file. More ever, it was a new dictator and so there were a couple of new words.  The first word although not a medical word, still had me scampering all over the net.  I was hearing something like reined/reigned and it looked like a court summon, and finally I zeroed in on arraign, which was the correct word.


While I was searching the net for serial 7 tests, (which is nothing but a test of concentration wherein the patient is asked to subtract 7 from 100 in a serial fashion audibly and as fast as he can) I came across this in-depth article on Mental Status Examination, you will find it here.

Cold turkey

When a person who has a habit or addiction, which he abruptly gives up rather than easing out gradually with the help of replacement medication, it is called cold turkey (this action of abruptly giving up is cold turkey).


I remember my uncle telling me how he quit smoking.  He was a chain smoker and one fine day he just quit (now i know that was cold turkey :-)).  On the first day his craving was very strong, but he had taken a vow that every time he had the urge to smoke, he would eat a vada.  He ended up eating 60 vadas on the first day, eventually his cravings went away and he has never smoked to this day.

Fiance vs Fiancee

According to American Heritage dictionary, Fiance is a man engaged to be married, where as Fiancee is a  woman engaged to be married.  See the difference, male only gets single "e" where as female gets "ee".....gender bias, isn't it? ....;-)

Hedonia

Hello everybody, it has been really some time that i blogged here.  I have been somewhat busy because of this and that is the only reason MT diary has not been updated for sometime now, but I will try my best to keep this blog active, in the meantime, keep visiting friends, ;-).


Today while doing a psychiatry file, I kept hearing hedonia and was going bonkers until my friend google came up with the term anhedonia, which in psychiatry/psychology means not finding pleasure in things which were earlier enjoyable.  So don't let hedonia fool you...:-).

How to calculate age

It is difficult to always depend upon our ears to hear out the age as dictated by the doctors.  The 50s and 60s always sound same except for those doctors who are very very clear.  To avoid this confusion, it is better to always cross check with the date of birth.  This is how I do it....suppose the patient's date of birth is July 4, 1980.  Current date or date of dictation is May 10, 2011.  To calculate the age of this patient, just subtract 1980 from 2010.  If the patient is born on a day before date of dictation or current date, for eg say March 4, 1980, then subtract 1980 from 2011.  So a patient who was born on July 4, 1980 would be (2010-1980) 30 years old today, whereas patient who was born on March 4, 1980, would be (2011-1980) 31 years old.

Glossomegaly

I was searching for reference for "glossomegaly" when I came across this website explaining medical terminology  for enlarged as well as small organs.  Please go through it, I found it informative.

COMPANION trial

Comparison of Medical Therapy, Pacing, and Defibrillation in Heart Failure (COMPANION) Trial

The COMPANION trial is the largest heart failure device trial to date. The trial shows that cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT),
used in combination with optimal pharmacologic therapy (OPT), can significantly improve both the quality and duration of life for a large group
of heart failure patients.

The COMPANION trial followed more than 1500 heart failure patients from 128 US center.

source:  http://www.bostonscientific-international.com

Curbsided

Dictator was stating "Infectious disease was curbsided.........." on repeated hearings, I could clearly hear the word "curbsided", but American Heritage Dictionary just gave the meaning of curbside as side of pavement or street, and my usual lookout in case of slangs, the urban dictionary came up with this "to force one of their personal belongings in an act of violence or threats"....finally google search with key word curbside consult landed me on this info...."An informal and unofficial consultation obtained from a health professional by either a layperson or a fellow health care professional," which was what had happened in my case.............phew.

SHIM score

The SHIM, or sexual health inventory for men, score is widely used in clinical practice and research to assess erectile dysfunction (ED), or impotence in men. Erectile dysfunction is loss of the ability to sustain an erection for intercourse. The severity of ED according to a SHIM score is from 1 to 25, with 1 being the most severe and 25 being healthy. Men with a SHIM score of 21 or under are generally told to seek medical advice to find out the cause of their ED. Prostate cancer is not necessarily a cause of ED, but treatments for prostate cancer can lead to ED.

Read more @: SHIM Score & Prostate Cancer

Pink Swizzle

I was doing this file and kept on hearing 'pink swizzle', but did not find any reference to this term, finally while leafing through a forum, came across this info about it, "a concoction consisting of steroid plus anti-fungal", used to treat genitourinary infections, as was the case in my file.

IPDA

IPDA stands for inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery, could not find it in my Stedmans Abbreviation dictionary, so thought about adding it here.  This was a GI file......:) 

Cusmol respiration

Please dont be mislead...there is no such term as Cusmol respiration, it is actually Kussmaul respiration, a form of hyperventilation, where breathing is increased above the required rate.  Cusmol was how the dictator pronounced it.....:)

Jalyn for BPH

Jalyn is a comparatively new drug.  It was approved by FDA on June 14, 2010.  It is a combination of dutasteride and tamsulosin and used for treatment of symptomatic benign hyperplasia in men with enlarged prostate.


source:  Drugs.com 

Tenecteplase

After many days, I got into this scenario, very typical for MTs, a stat job, multiple blanks and a common word at all places, (this will be the climax of upcoming movie/novella I am not empty*).  I was hearing "TNK place" at all the blanks and grandpa Stedman's had no entry for TNK, but thanks again to Sherlock "Google" Holmes, who acting on bits of information provided by me, was able to zero in on tenecteplase.  Just another day at office for MT man.


* the movie/novella is in foetal stage right now.

Cheerful and upset

Yesterday while doing a psychiatry file, I kept hearing this, "The patient is cheerful and upset."  The patient had psychosis and it was also said that she was very cooperative, so I guessed may be what the dictator meant was that patient was acting cheerful although she was really upset,..but I could not find even a single reference for such a case with my under trial ammo and my time tested ammo.  Then it suddenly came like a flash...I felt like kicking myself....it was the word tearful, which was also logical, and actually this is a quite common usage in psychiatry files....


Speaking about psychiatry....in psychiatry files, in the Impression/Assessment part, dictator sometime says DSM IV which is an acronym for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Disorders, 4th edition.  More info can be had from here.


For the past 2 days, I am getting psychiatry files, and I do not know if that is a general rule, but I find that most psychiatry dictators are good...(at least in my account) may their tribe increase......:)