maandag 28 november 2011
More than 40.000.000 people suffer from lymphedema. We visited an expert lymphatic surgeon and asked him your questions.
Worldwide, more than 40.000.000 people suffer from lymphedema. Most of these patients deal with secondary lymphedema, meaning that the lymphedema is caused by an accident or treatment like radiation therapy and chemotherapy in cancer treatment. Lymphedema (also lymphoedema) is often considered as a condition with less prognoses. However, this is not correct. New expertise, new scientific research, medical imaging tools and developed micro-surgical techniques give very good results nowadays. Patients with primary and secondary lymphedema have a very good chance to regain their normal life after a well balanced conservative treatment and if adviced, a micro-surgical procedure.
For more information and scientific publications, visit our website: www.B4Care.com/lymphedema
A few weeks ago, we did a call for your questions about lympedema. B4Care collected your questions and visited Dr. Guido Giacalone, an expert in lymphatic treatment and micro-surgery. We had a very interesting coversation about Lymphedema, the treatment options, the results and much more. Please, enjoy the video interview and send us your findings.
You have more questions? Contact us at info@b4care.com and we will be happy to find answers to your specific questions.
www.b4care.com - www.facebook.com/B4Care - www.youtube.com/B4Caredotcom
vrijdag 14 oktober 2011
'I want my healthy weight back'
In Europe, Belgium is one of the leaders in Bariatric surgery. Why?
This type of surgery is quite new in Europe, so it's often a difficult job to find the experienced surgeon near to you. And when you find the surgeon near to you, the second problem is probably the waiting list. Thirdly, if you decide not to cope with the average waiting list of 2 or 3 years because your health can't wait any longer and you decide to 'go private', you might face high to very high costs to have the procedure done.
Here we can find the answer why Belgium became a leader in bariatric surgery:
1. The Belgian flexible healthcare system does not create waiting lists
2. No waiting lists in a flexible healthcare system allows international patients
3. The previous factors make surgeons decide to specialize
4. A high degree of specialization has an effect on the quality
Answer: Available specialists, high quality care and affordable costs.
Bariatric surgery refers to the medical discipline treating obesity. It involves the restriction of the amount of food your body is able to process and/or the alternation of the digestive process. Bariatric surgery has increased in popularity over the past decade. A growing number men and women choose for a surgical intervention as an alternative for living with severe overweight. But the most important reason to choose for a bariatric surgical procedure is a medical one. Obesity can cause a wide range of disorders such as high blood pressure, sleep apnea or type 2 diabetes. But obesity can also dramatically affect someone's daily life, physically and emotionally. Regaining self-esteem and feeling more confident leads to a higher standard of joy of life.
Most common types of bariatric surgery are decreasing the size of the stomach, such as the gastric banding, the gastric sleeve or gastric plication procedure. A second type of procedures also alters the digestive system in a way that the intestines don't absorb the nutrients and calories in the usual manner.
This type of surgery is quite new in Europe, so it's often a difficult job to find the experienced surgeon near to you. And when you find the surgeon near to you, the second problem is probably the waiting list. Thirdly, if you decide not to cope with the average waiting list of 2 or 3 years because your health can't wait any longer and you decide to 'go private', you might face high to very high costs to have the procedure done.
Here we can find the answer why Belgium became a leader in bariatric surgery:
1. The Belgian flexible healthcare system does not create waiting lists
2. No waiting lists in a flexible healthcare system allows international patients
3. The previous factors make surgeons decide to specialize
4. A high degree of specialization has an effect on the quality
Answer: Available specialists, high quality care and affordable costs.
Bariatric surgery refers to the medical discipline treating obesity. It involves the restriction of the amount of food your body is able to process and/or the alternation of the digestive process. Bariatric surgery has increased in popularity over the past decade. A growing number men and women choose for a surgical intervention as an alternative for living with severe overweight. But the most important reason to choose for a bariatric surgical procedure is a medical one. Obesity can cause a wide range of disorders such as high blood pressure, sleep apnea or type 2 diabetes. But obesity can also dramatically affect someone's daily life, physically and emotionally. Regaining self-esteem and feeling more confident leads to a higher standard of joy of life.
Most common types of bariatric surgery are decreasing the size of the stomach, such as the gastric banding, the gastric sleeve or gastric plication procedure. A second type of procedures also alters the digestive system in a way that the intestines don't absorb the nutrients and calories in the usual manner.
Not every person is a possible candidate for bariatric surgery. The general principles are:
- there was an attempt to lose weight through a normal diet during an extensive period
- there is a commitment and awareness that achieving the weight loss involves a change of lifestyle
- the BMI is higher than 35 in case a gastric sleeve surgery, a gastric plication is considered (in some cases a BMI of 32 will be accepted), a mini gastic bypass or RNY bypass is considered
- the BMI is higher than 40 in case a Duodenal Switch is considered
For more information about bariatric surgery, contact the B4Care office: info@b4care.com or read more on http://www.b4care.com/en/bariatric-weight-loss-surgery
vrijdag 29 juli 2011
University Hospital Brussel develops electronic modified early warning score
10 % less deaths as a result of faster monitoring of vital functions?
University Hospital Brussels (UZ Brussel) has developed an electronic device which makes it possible to respond more rapidly to changes in patients’ vital functions. This software enables to anticipate serious complications and to undertake timely preventive treatment. Using this software can diminish the number of unexpected deaths and complications by at least 10%.
Changes in vital functions (blood pressure, temperature, respiration…) often go undetected or are spotted too late, their severity remains underestimated and lack of knowledge or experience may prevent an adequate response. It is unmistakably important to respond rapidly to changes in vital functions among hospital patients. Identifying and prompt treating such alterations in vital functions can indeed help to prevent life threatening complications. A team at UZ Brussel led by Prof. Dr Ives Hubloue and Door Lauwaert has developed a device which solves this problem by improving decision-making processes and thereby diminishing the number of complications: the Electronic Modified Early Warning Score (e.m.EWS). This involves an early alarm so as to ensure rapid intervention in cases where patients’ condition may be rapidly and unexpected deteriorating.
Up till now, despite the existence of guidelines, every caregiver interpreted the consequences, for example, of faster breathing in a subjective manner. E.m.EWS helps to standardise and objectivise such interpretations. When a doctor or nurse inputs vital functions data into a patient’s electronic file, the programme will automatically calculate a score between 1 and 6. The higher the score, the faster caregivers should respond. They can therefore often respond even before deterioration of the patient's condition. For example, the first signs of cardiac arrest may already be apparent from up to 6 hours in advance.
The early warning score has been extensively tested within 2 nursing units. The results were overwhelming: during the first test period there were at least 10% less unexpected deaths and more than 85% less call ups for the hospital Medical emergency Team (MET) compared to the same period in the previous year. All nursing units at UZ Brussel will be equipped with this system by September 2011. The intention in a later phase is to explore the possibility to adapt the software so as to also roll it out within UZ Brussel’s Children’s Hospital. As early as 2008 the Health Ministry had earmarked this project as an example for all Belgian hospitals.
University Hospital Brussels (UZ Brussel) is an academic hospital which counts about 3.200 staff. It is linked to the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Free University of Brussels on the Jette Campus. With its 721 hospital beds, UZ Brussel each year treats more than 28,000 in-patients and 400,000 outpatients, both national and international. University Hospital Brussels’ values are based on three principles: Dutch language, pluralistic and community-focused. As a university hospital, UZ Brussel also fulfils a teaching mission and conducts scientific research. Further information is available on www.uzbrussel.be.
zaterdag 9 juli 2011
Yes, It's all about care!
Where and how did the B4Care story start? About 10 years ago - Hugo, co-founder of B4Care was fortunate to work together with an internationally renowned hip surgeon. Besides his assistance in the operating room, this was the start of a wide experience in coordinating every step of the process a traveling patient deals with: providing made-to-measure information, taking care of hospital administration and health insurance, taking care of every individual patient during his or her recovery, planning post-op care such as physiotherapy and nursing, finding solutions for special food requests and patient's diets, helping with concerns of family members, being stand-by in case of any problem, a warm welcome and a good follow-up after departure back home,...
We learned from stories and questions of hundreds of patients. Many cross-cultural friendships made our lifes interesting or even spectactular. I believe the reason for these successfull stories relies on different aspects: the optimal climate in Belgium which has raised outstanding expert surgeons in a wide range of medical fields, the sophisticated hospital facilities and high investments in state-of-the-art medical technology encouraging our surgeons to reinvest in their skills a life-long time. Another aspect of our successfull patient stories is the personal approach which is carried by each of our multi-disciplinary team. Being an organization with real faces, being nearby to help, listen and understand what has to be done.
With this blog we want to share our stories, telling which kind of solutions are available for new challenges, how and where we discovered new opportunities. I recently read the following quote in the NYT: “Telling and listening to stories is the way we make sense of our lives”. I agree! And we're looking forward to hear from you!
Eva,
Director B4Care
Director B4Care
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