“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
This post was first published in my Facebook HERE.
The Year 2018
An 18-year-old boy came to see me with his mother due to coughing for 2 weeks associated with fever.
After history taking, physical examination, blood test and imaging, a diagnosis of bronchopneumonia was made. I advised the boy to be admitted.
“ But Dr. Goh, my boy is so young and healthy, how come he can get this kind of infection?”
“ It can happen to anyone although this happens more often in diabetic and elderly patients because of weaker immune systems. The germ can spread from one to another!”
“ My boy doesn’t have diabetes and he is only 18 years old, it is very strange he gets pneumonia!”
I spent almost 15 mins in the clinic explaining the possible bacteria involved and showed the CXR of her son. She was still adamant about my explanation even though I showed her my best #TomCruise’s smile.
I suddenly thought of #DrJasonLeong trick.
“ Sometimes it might be due to heatiness too!”
“ Ya, I also think so, my boy sleeps late at night because he studies until very late to prepare for his SPM (O Level). He seldom drinks water too!”
“ Then it must be due to heatiness!”She felt relieved and satisfied with my theory.
The Year 2019
A 45-year old lady came to see due to on and off abdominal pain, there was no loss of appetite or weight.
Physical examination revealed no abnormality and ultrasound was perfectly normal. She was a heavy smoker and alcohol drinker too.
“ Dr,why do I have this problem on and off for the last 3 months!”
“ There are many reasons why sometimes our body produces too much gastric juice. It can be associated with bacterial infection, diet, lifestyle such as smoking and alcohol too!” I was trying to list down all the possible contributing factors.
“ No, Dr, I have tried to cut down smoking and alcohol and the pain still doesn’t go away completely.”I was struggling to explain to her but nothing seemed to work!
“ Sometimes it might be due to wind!” I finally found a better explanation.
“ Ya ya, Dr. I like to eat food full of ‘wind’. My mum also said since young, my body has been full of ‘wind’!” She smiled and was very happy with my theory!
S***, how come my microbiology and pathology professors never taught me about this pathogenesis during my medical school. After years of clinical practice, I understand these three laws in medicine. ( quite similar to Newton’s laws)
Goh’s first law in medicine- Most diseases in humans are due to heatiness.
Goh’s second law in medicine–If the first law fails, the other diseases must be due to windiness. ( noun: a condition where a human internal organ is full of wind.)
Goh’s third law of medicine- If you can’t explain the pathogenesis of a disease using the first two laws, combining them will be the perfect answer for the last few recalcitrant diseases.
These laws work well for Chinese patients and you will be surprised they work perfectly well for most Asians too!
And yes, after reading this post, Newton tried to commit suicide in heaven.
