You may have ask this questions many time whenever you were given a prescription medication by your doctor. Should I take this with food or before food or on empty stomach and so on.

Not all medicines are affected by food, but many medicines can be affected by what you eat and when you eat it. For example, taking some medicines at the same time that you eat may interfere with the way your stomach and intestines absorb the medicine. The food may delay or decrease the absorption of the drug. This is why some medicines should be taken on an empty stomach (1 hour before eating or 2 hours after eating). On the other hand, some medicines are easier to tolerate when taken with food. (more…)

What is an Advance Directive?
As a competent adult, you have the right to decide to accept or refuse any medical treatment. As long as you are competent, you are the only person who can decide what medical treatment you want and do not want to receive. A situation may arise in future when you are unable to make medical decisions for yourself due to some illness, how can one know as what treatment you want and do not want then. In such cases, an advance directive comes into play.

An Advance Directive is a document that directs your doctor what kind of care you would like to have if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself. A good advance directive describes the kind of treatment you would want depending on how sick you are. For example, the directives would describe what kind of care you want if you have an illness that you are unlikely to recover from, or if you are permanently unconscious. Advance directives usually tell your doctor that you do not want certain kinds of treatment. However, they can also say that you want a certain treatment no matter how ill you are. (more…)

Living Wills and Their Variations: A Simple Introduction
 
E.L. Erde, Ph. D., Professor, UMDNJ-SOM, Department of Family Medicine
Stratford, NJ 08084
erdeel@umdnj.edu

People use Living Wills or Advance Directives to direct their medical care when they become unable to do it for themselves. The purpose is to avoid conflicts, confusion, and lack of information about the patient’s preferences when a crisis arises. The Living Will can (1) guide the care, (2) name someone to substitute for you in decision making or (3) both.  The substitute decision maker is called “a proxy decision maker.” (more…)

There have been many claims for benefits of fish oil (which contains omega-3 fatty acids) in multiple disease conditions. Todate, the strongest evidence of benefit is in the area of cardiovascular health, particularly the two longchain omega-3 fatty acids - Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The American Heart Association recently issued guidelines for the intake of omega-3 oils.

What are Good Dietary sources?

EPA and DHA are found almost exclusively in seafood.Fish do not produce EPA and DHA. Rather, these oils are synthesized by single-celled marine organisms that fish eat. These fatty acids are essential for fish as well as for humans. (more…)