Doctors Specialists Dubai

Patients in Dubai still have a really hard time finding the right doctors for a variety of conditions. The right Specialists exist and usually the best option is finding these doctors or finding the right primary care doctor or GP.

Choose your doctors with care. Research their credentials on the internet. Ask friends and colleagues for recommendations. Do not be shy about asking your doctor what his experience is with a certain condition or what their success rate is for a certain surgery. Think of your questions ahead of time and write them down. The Connector magazine is a good starting point for doctors names.

Back Pain Dubai UAE Specialist doctors

Yesterday I saw a lovely lady from the UK. She has been seeing her GP in the NHS system for many months with severe back pain radiating to her legs. She is unable to walk for more than 5 minutes, and unable to sleep at night. She has occasional stiffness and numbness in her left leg. She was only being given pain relief and no xrays, MRIs or exercises had been ordered..

Was this patient being managed appropriately in the UK? No. It is true that 95% of back pain is self-limited and usually due to muscle strain, and resolves on its own. We do not routinely order x-rays or MRIs for such patients. However, there are patients with certain ''red flag'' on history. A history of persistent back pain longer than a month, pain radiating to the legs with numbness or weakness of the legs, fevers, weight loss, pain which prevents sleep, inability to pass urine or other bladder or bowel symptoms, history of immune suppression should all raise alarm bells.

This patient had SIGNIFICANT symptoms, pain of several months, keeping her from sleeping at night, associated with inability to walk. She definitely needed an MRI, which we obtained on the same day and made the diagnosis of spinal stenosis. Hopefully she will be able to see a good Spine Specialist in the UK when she returns home with this information.

Arthritis Diet. What to eat for arthritis

Often patients ask what they should eat or avoid to help their arthritis. There isn't an easy diet one can follow to cure arthritis. For people with gout it is helpful to avoid red meats, shellfish and alcohol. Cherry juice may be helpful for gout. With other forms of arthritis a healthy, balanced diet is helpful. There is no evidence that sour foods or citrus juices are bad for you. In fact pineapples contain an enzyme bromelain, which is useful for arthritis. Oily fish or omega or fish oil supplements, ginger, garlic, turmeric, soyabean, avocadoes are some foods which are helpful. Remember to get 1000 mg of calcium from dairy products and enough vitamin D through sun exposure, or else take a calcium supplement.

Arthritis Specialists Arthritis Treatment Dubai United Arab Emirates

This morning I received a call from the mother of a 24 year old girl who lives in Europe. This girl developed joint pains and swelling in May 2007 and had a blood test which showed a positive rheumatoid factor. She was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis and saw a rheumatologist who advised aggressive treatment. As is so often the case, the girl and the family were afraid of aggressive management and decided to start on moderate treatments. The disease progressed, more and more drugs were added, all at low or inadequate doses and not controlling the disease properly. Would it not be better for this woman to be on 2medications at the right dose, than 5 at smaller doses? As our understanding of rheumatoid arthritis improves we realize that we should be treating this disease early and aggressively. In my practice several patients who have presented to me within the first year of treatment have been aggressively managed and are currently off all treatments. For the first time we specialists feel that we can cure arthritis. It is essential that the patient is well informed and knows that the medications are not worse than the disease. Fear of medication is not needed and the doctor always must monitor patients closely for side effects. Failure to treat early can result in deformities and disabilities.

Rheumatology Conference in Dubai

Arab Health Rheumatology Conference in january 2009 in dubai promises to the best yet with local and International Speakers. Watch this space.

Ayurvedic treatment for arthritis. Diet and arthritis

Living in a multi-cultural environment I am often called upon to make judgements or recommendations for alternative and complementary forms of Medicine. This is especially true of ayurvedic medicine. Patients find the concept of a cure much more appealing than the lifelong treatment with medications I am able to offer. As a Physician, I have to evaluate the evidence and the Science before I can recommend any treatment.

First, when I am treating a patient with Rheumatoid arthritis which is avery destructive form of arthritis I prefer that they take the medications I recommend as these can STOP damage, prevent deformity and disability. If patients are looking for pain relief then ayurvedic medications can be tried but I do not recommend combinations of allopathic and ayurvedic medications as there can be unknown interactions and side effects.

What does the evidence tell us. In review in a leading Western Journal two researchers concluded that: The existing trials fail to show convincingly that such treatments are effective therapeutic options for RA. I looked at it more closely.

There is some promise that a chemical in turmeric is ueful for arthritis. In addition an ayurvedic compound called RA11 has had some benefits for knee arthritis in a small trial. Unfortunately there has not been a lot of research or published data in this area. If people have milder arthritis and are keen to try ayurvedic treatments I allow them. In more destructive forms of arthritis I would like to get the disease under complete control first before they can try other forms of treatments.

As far as Diet and arthritis. It has been shown that ginger, garlic and turmeric are beneficial for arthritis. . Ayurvedic medicine recommends a strict elimination diet including avoiding all meats. These diets are sometimes useful in the short-term but should not be used for long periods of time as patients could become nutritionally deficient. Ayurvedic mediation recommends avoiding sour and acidic foods. However research has found an enzyme in pineapple has been found to be especially beneficial for arthritis. I do not allow my patients to avoid yogurt and dairy as these are essential sources of calcium, especially for those with arthritis. Fish is to be avoided in ayurvedic treatments but oily fish is very useful according to western research for arthritis. I tell my patients to follow a healthy diet with lots of green vegetables, oily fish, use ginger and turmeric liberally, eat yogurt and drink milk, avoid junk foods and oily foods. Do not drink aerated drinks, foods with preservatives or artificial coloouring.

Yoga has been recommended as an exercise for arthritis by the American College of rheumatology, Johns Hopkins etc. In Dubai we are conducting the firts ever scientific study of yoga for rheumatoid arthritis.

help Arthritis

On February 16th at 3.28 pm Leela Alvares sent a text message to the Emirates Arthritis Foundation. Ï reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro this morning. It was spectacular!".

Leela's climb raised money to fund treatment for little Mohamed*, who suffers from arthritis.