Scoph syllabus

SCOPH Syllabus Dear Medical Students, We are pleased to present to you the ”SCOPH Syllabus’’. This year, the coordinators of each campaign took the initiative to compile the most important points of their respective campaign into one document. Below you will find some important points which you might find useful whilst outreaching during various SCOPH events. This document is designed to help you prepare yourself beforehand for outreaching campaigns, especially since it has all the information that you need in one place. We hope that you will find this document useful and that you make the best use of it.

Regards, SCOPH Team 2013-2014

SCOPH Syllabus

1

Contents Blood and Organ Donation ............................................................................................................... 3 Stroke Awareness ............................................................................................................................. 4 Anti Tobacco and Substance Abuse .................................................................................................. 5 Healthy Eating and Eating Disorders ................................................................................................. 7 Diabetes............................................................................................................................................ 8

SCOPH Syllabus

2

Organ Donation  

  

If I am a donor, will there be a delay in funeral services? In most cases, no.

Usually the procedure can be completed and the body will be ready for burial Does the body’s appearance change by the donation process? An incision is made, closed, and dressed: therefore, the body’s appearance is NOT changed by the donation process.

What is the Church’s opinion? The Church agrees! It encourages such an action, and considers it an act of generosity and a gift of life.

You might be able to save a life or more than one life!!

Donors should inform their family members of their wish to donate their organs as family’s say is final and not whether one has a donor card or not.

Blood Donation

       

 The National Blood Transfusion Service is situated at St. Luke’s Square, G’Mangia and is open daily from 8.00a.m. till 6.00p.m., including Sundays and Public Holidays.  Every Monday a blood drive is being held inside Mater Dei Hospital, (not with the mobile unit), ground floor at Brown Wards Reception between 2.00pm - 7.00pm. Signs are placed at the main reception for guidance.

ID card, license or passport is needed in order to give blood.

Donors must be aged 18-63 Males can donate every 3 months Females can donate every 4 months.

Donor must wait 6 months after getting a new tattoo or body piercing.

Donor must weigh a minimum of 50kg.

Drink plenty of water on the day of their donation Even though rigorous testing is done on the blood, there is always a slight chance of infections not being detected with the current technology.

SCOPH Syllabus

3

Stroke Awareness   





 



A stroke is the rapid loss of brain function due to a disturbance in blood supply to the brain.

Irreversible risk factors include: age >40, genetics, male sex and atrial fibrillation.

How to reduce the risk of a stroke: control high blood pressure and diabetes, lose weight, eat less saturated fat and eat healthier food to reduce cholesterol, exercise more frequently, stop smoking and reduce consumption of alcohol.

Common symptoms include: sudden and severe headache with no known cause, sudden numbness and/or weakness of face, arm or leg (especially on one side of the body) – look to see if tongue is deviated to one side, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden confusion and trouble speaking and/or understanding, sudden trouble walking, dizziness and loss of balance or coordination.

How do you realise and act if someone is having a stroke? F.A.S.T. – F = Face (Does the face look uneven?), A =Arms (Is one arm weak or numb?), S = Speech (Is the speech slurred?), T = Time (If a person is showing these symptoms call 112 immediately) - EVERY SECOND COUNTS! Heart Attack (blood supply to the heart is interrupted) vs Stroke (blood supply to the brain is interrupted) – Same Risk Factors but Different Symptoms!

Call 112 immediately as soon as symptoms become noticeable. This is because the treatment options for stroke are most effective within the first 3 hours of symptoms.

Most of the time people who survive a stroke are not left unharmed and may suffer from motor, cognitive or social deficits due to ischaemic injury to the brain.

HOWEVER, hope should not be lost as there are many treatment options that help to recover the functions (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Therapy and Recreational Therapy).

SCOPH Syllabus

4

Anti-Tobacco and Substance Abuse

 A cigarette contains about 4000 chemicals, including tar, carbon monoxide, ammonia and nicotine.

 Cardiovascular

Effects = narrowing of blood vessels due to atherosclerosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease leading to heart attack and stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm.

 Respiratory Effects = emphysema, bronchitis, COPD, lung cancer.

 Other Effects = carcinoma of the oral cavity, larynx, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, kidneys, pancreas, and other organs.

 What makes smoking addictive? Nicotine. Nicotine creates pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. If the smoker doesn’t smoke again soon, withdrawal symptoms start and get worse over time.

 Withdrawal symptoms include irritability, nervousness, headaches and trouble sleeping.

 Second-hand smoking or passive smoking is the inhalation of cigarette smoke either from the lightened end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar (sidestream smoke); or the direct smoke exhaled by a smoker (mainstream smoke).

 Smoking during pregnancy results in premature birth, certain birth defects (such as cleft lip and cleft palate), and also infant death. In addition, it could decrease the female’s fertility making it harder for her to get pregnancy and more susceptible to miscarriages.

 Electronic cigarettes are designed to look like real cigarettes. They work by delivering a mist of liquid, flavourings and nicotine that looks somewhat like smoke.

They are not a good method to quit smoking as they still promote dependence due to presence of nicotine!

 “Ex-smokers are Unstoppable” is a campaign initiated by the European Commission that offers free help to stop smoking through iCoach, which is a free online stop-smoking tool. This campaign celebrates the achievements of the exsmokers from all over Europe.

 If smokers need additional support, free Smoking Cessation Programmes are available in different Health Centres – Tel: 23266000.

SCOPH Syllabus

5

 Quitting: You must have the WILL to quit smoking.

Decide on the ideal method – Cold Turkey OR Gradual Reduction.

Set a QUIT DATE. Avoid situations that you associate with smoking.

If required, consult pharmacist or doctor about nicotine replacement therapy such as nicotine gum, nicotine patch, lozenges, inhaler or spray.

Guidelines when dealing with smokers during outreaching:  Do not judge  Be assertive  Tell the smokers that it is never too late to quit smoking!! - Quitting smoking is not a guarantee that one will not suffer from any smoking-related consequences, but it will surely improve his life and of the ones around him!  Tell the smokers to seek support from a friend or a family member.  Encourage them to join a support group, or go through the quitting process with another smoker.     



SCOPH Syllabus

6

Healthy Eating and Eating Disorders     





It is extremely important to eat a variety of foods, including every food group in the diet (grains, proteins, fruit, vegetables and dairy).

One must control food portions (e.g. not a huge plate of pasta etc).

It is better to eat small regular meals throughout the day, rather than two large meals in the afternoon and in the evening.

Drinking at least 2L of water a day is highly recommended.

Inform the public on the importance of exercise (if they are old explain that even a short walk in the evening or swimming is helpful, they do not need to carry out strenuous exercise).

Complications of not following a healthy diet include; Diabetes (very common in Malta with 30,000 individuals suffering from this condition), Obesity (Malta has the worst children obesity rate in Europe), Cardiovascular disease (one of the most common causes of death in the Western world).

REMEMBER that if they ask you for advice about what food they should eat if they suffer from a particular condition (e.g. diabetes) DO NOT invent information. Tell them that it is best to speak to their doctor about this and discuss it with him or her.

SCOPH Syllabus

7

Diabetes 

Diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has a constantly high glucose level resulting from the not producing enough, the cells not being able to respond to the insulin that is produced, or both.



There are 3 types of diabetes, with type 2 being the most common.

Type 1 - The pancreas fails to produce insulin.

Patient is usually diagnosed at a young age, is usually lean and will always require regular insulin injections, since no insulin is produced.

Type 2 – This is due to insulin resistance ie. the insulin levels are normal but the body cannot respond to this hormone. Patient is normally diagnosed at an old age Gestational Diabetes – This occurs when pregnant women without a previous diagnosis of diabetes develop a high blood glucose level.

Symptoms are seen when the disease has progressed. Symptoms include; blurred vision and tingled affect of the foot (neuropathy), thirst and frequent urination.

Blood Glucose values: fasting (2-4hrs) in the ranges of 5-7mmol/L is healthy, greater than 11.1mmol/L is diabetic.

Non-fasting healthy patient is supposed to be less than 8mmol/L. Between 8mmol/L and 11.1 mmol/L, it may be suggestive of insulin resistance starting to take place.

Regular checking of their blood glucose levels is extremely important. Every diabetic should have a glucose monitor at home. They should keep a glucose recording sheet in which they would record their glucose at least once a day for one week in every month. This should be taken with them to the outpatients appointment which they should have once a year. In this appointment, diabetics would get their eyes and their feet. It is VERY important for them not to miss this appointment.

All diabetics who have sensational problems due to neuropathy, should check their feet with a mirror on the floor in order to detect any ulcers or pressure sores early.

Failure to check their feet regularly can lead to irreversible damage and amputations of toes, feet or even legs.

Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to many problems involving many organs. These include: retinopathy (damage to retina in eye); nephropathy (damage to nephrons in the kidney) which may lead to renal failure and the need for dialysis, neuropathy (damage to nerves) which can lead to problems due to no sensation of pain. (Remember: pain is an important signal that something is wrong in the body!), increased risk of stroke, increased risk of ischaemic heart disease, increased risk of peripheral vascular disease, increased risk of infections and delayed healing due to impairment of the function of the polymorphonuclear leucocytes.



   





SCOPH Syllabus

8

This syllabus was compiled by: SCOPH Secretary ’13-’14: Martina Gerada Blood and Organ Donation Coordinators ’13-’14: Suzanne Cauchi Jessica Pavia World Heart Day and Stroke Awareness Coordinators ’13-’14: Matthew Farrugia Gianluca Fava Rachel Psaila Anti Tobacco and Substance Abuse Coordinators ’13-’14: Elyse Balzan Sarah Bowman Eating Disorders Coordinators ’13-’14: Rachel Xuereb Sarah Xuereb World Diabetes Day Coordinators ’13-’14: Thomas Gatt Sarah Micallef Mark Sammut

SCOPH Syllabus

9