My Health Profession

I was not a conscientious Muslim. As I entered my freshman year of high school, I had one very specific goal which I was determined to accomplish: to become popular. “Piety” was not consistent with this goal – at least not in my perspective. It was for this reason that I expressed disdain when my dad announced we would be undertaking the religious journey to Mecca in the summer following my freshman year of high school. I recall telling a friend, “Man, I’m scared. I don’t want to change!” I knew people went to Mecca and then became super religious. I didn’t want that to happen to me. Mecca As we entered the Grand Mosque, my dad told my mom, my brother, and me to keep our eyes down until we reached the opening of the Masjid, until we were in a space which would allow for our first glimpse of the House of Allah, the Ka’ba , to be in our full view. As we walked through the halls of the Grand Mosque, I heard my mom and dad crying. I knew this was supposed to be a spiritua...

I remember the last time it happened to me. I was driving my daughter to preschool, something I do several times a week. Traffic was heavy and I was preoccupied. Deep in thought, I drove amidst the hundreds of cars on the highway and suddenly, or maybe it was after several minutes, I realized that the exit I was supposed to have taken was miles behind me and I was merging onto another freeway altogether. Panic struck me for a moment as I took the next exit, unfamiliar road signs all around. How had I missed the exit that I was so used to taking? What had distracted me for so long? And now, how long was it going to take me to reroute and ultimately reach my destination? Distractions on Our Journey In life, we are all on a journey. We know the ultimate destination we are trying to reach is jannah (Paradise) and Allah subhanahu wa ta`la (exalted is He) has clearly laid out the route we are supposed to take. However, dunya (the worldly life) is distracting. Like me o...

Regular rhythm in presence of fixed AV block. Ventricular rate ~150 bpm in presence of 2:1 AV block. Flutter waves / ‘saw-tooth pattern’ best seen in leads II, III, aVF and V 1. Flutter wave morphology depending on type of atrial flutter (see above). QRS complexes usually  < 120 ms unless pre-existing bundle branch block, accessory pathway, or rate related aberrant conduction. Variable AV block will result in an irregular rhythm. Absence of an isoelectric baseline. Atrial flutter with a 3:1 block

WORD W PW O ld MI R BBB D extrocardia

I schemia N ormality [esp. young, black] V entricular hypertrophy E ctopic foci [eg calcified plaques] R BBB, LBBB T reatments [digoxin]

D rooping valve (MVP) E nlargement of LV with strain P otassium loss (hypokalemia) R eciprocal ST- depression (in I/W AMI) E mbolism in lungs (pulmonary embolism) S ubendocardial ischemia S ubendocardial infarct E ncephalon haemorrhage (intracranial haemorrhage ) D ilated cardiomyopathy S hock T oxicity of digitalis, quinidine

E lectrolytes L BBB E arly repolarization V entricular hypertrophy A neurysm T reatment (eg pericardiocentesis) I njury (AMI, contusion) O sborne waves (hypothermia) N on-occlusive vasospasm

A mnemonic to remember the ECG changes is WiLLiaM MaRRoW, i.e. with Left bundle branch block there is a W in V1 and a M in V6 and with a RBBB there is a M in lead V1 and a W in lead V6

Rate pressure product , also known as Cardiovascular Product or Double Product , is used in cardiology and exercise physiology to determine the cardiovascular risk of subjects. Rate Pressure Product (RPP) = Heart Rate (HR) * Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) HR (beats per minute) SBP (mmHg) RPP (bpm*mmHg) Rate pressure product is a measure of the stress put on the cardiac muscle based on the number of times it needs to beat per minute (HR) and the arterial blood pressure that it is pumping against (SBP). It will be a direct indication of the energy demand of the heart and thus a good measure of the energy consumption of the heart. Rate pressure product allows you to calculate the internal workload or hemodynamic response. Hemodynamic Response RPP High more than 30000 High Intermediate 25000 - 29999 Intermediate 20000 - 24999 Low Intermediate 15000 - 19999 Low 10000 - 14999

Think back to the last time you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror when you were stressed.  Did you look approachable?  What message did you send to others around you with your distressed facial expressions?  What type of reaction did your family or co-workers have when they engaged with you while you were in such a state?  Ever ponder the misunderstandings that may have arisen because your friend or spouse interpreted your frustration as directed towards them?  Let us reflect on the power of the smile not only in the face of adversity, but also during prosperity. The concept of spreading good cheer in Islam is, at times, neglected and/or forgotten.  Abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ  (peace be upon him) said, “Don’t underestimate any good deed, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face.” (Muslim).  Prophet Muhammad ﷺ also said, as narrated by Abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased wit...

A man once complained to the Prophet ﷺ (peace and blessings be upon him) that he had a hard heart. The Prophet ﷺ  replied, “If you want your heart to soften, (affectionately) rub the orphan’s head (with your hand) and feed the needy.” [narrated by Ibn Abi Dunya] For the entire week, you were waiting for the weekend. You desperately needed to sort your life out.  I mean things were getting ridiculous. Not only were you really far behind on your lectures and assignments but you still hadn’t cleaned your room and that book you needed to buy? Well that’s going to have to wait. Oh and let’s not forget that you still needed to renew your Oyster Card, pay your tuition fees, pay back the money you owe your friend, sort out plans for going out this Wednesday, clean your car, memorize a page of the Qur’an, organize a dinner for this Friday, go shopping for some new clothes and erm…*scratches head*…did I mention that you desperately needed to sort your life out? Yo...

I finally reached the elevator of my apartment building. It was my first week studying abroad in Cairo. After a long walk from the Arabic center in the hot sun, I was thirsty. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and after five hours of Arabic class my head was spinning. I just wanted to get home. The elevator came. I entered. Elevators in Egyptian apartment buildings often look makeshift; the small window in the elevator door gave me a fleeting glimpse of each floor, with concrete walls in between. It finally arrived – almost. The elevator was stuck midway between concrete wall and the actual floor. No problem , I thought, I’ll just push the door open, take a big step and I’ll make it insha’Allah (God willing) . But the door did not budge open. And no matter how much I yanked it, it would not open. It was completely shut. I pushed, jerked and rattled the door until I was faced with the horrifying realization that I was stuck. I began to panic; I was trapped in a dilapidated...

If that feeling of, “I’m better than thou,” creeps up on you while comparing yourself to someone else, consider the following: 1. Consider the saying, “Some saints have a past and many sinners have a future.”  Being a ‘saint’ isn’t guaranteed for any one person for a lifetime. But the path to God’s forgiveness is always open and especially tailored just for the one who makes a mistake and regrets it and seeks to change, even if it’s over and over and over. 2. Think about our sins and shortcomings. Oh, wait, can’t think of any? If we can’t, we’ve been deceived by Satan and are in an even worse state than any of those whose blatant sins we perceive. 3. Remember the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “No one with the slightest particle of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.” (Bukhari) Sometimes the actions we see others engaged in may be sins, but may not be as serious as the problem of arrogance. In wanting others to act like they’re people of Paradise, ...

Many of us only hear destructive marriage stories within the Muslim community. The constant flow of negative narratives can cause many to cringe and fear marriage. However, the reality is that there are so many incredible, beautiful, passionate, fulfilling and compassionate love stories in the Muslim community. In this mini-series, we hope to shed light on the beauty that exists in many Muslim marriages. Here is just one glimpse of a Muslim couple who truly appreciate the small gestures of love between them. I’ll let the wife tell her story: “Every morning, my husband gets up, goes and prays fajr (morning prayer) in the masjid, comes home, gets ready for work, and then we have a special goodbye hug before he leaves for the day. That hug energizes both of us for the day and we know it is a very special moment. This morning, I had not realized that the time for fajr at the masjid changed and it was later than usual. So while I was praying fajr and my hus...

I was recently asked to give a talk entitled, “The Pursuit of Happiness.” I had a lot to say about the topic, and unfortunately was not able to deliver all of it. This topic is really important in general, but especially in this day and age where we find many people suffering from depression/melancholy at some point in their life. What is Happiness? Most Americans are familiar with the phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”—rights enshrined in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. But in order to talk about the pursuit of happiness, we need to know what happiness is. It turns out that happiness is a little hard to define. We all know what it is, and we know when we are happy, but it is difficult to put into words because it is so experiential. It is one of these things that is an end in and of itself; people want things in order to be happy, whether it is wealth, health, or a dream we want to achieve. Wikipedia’s definition states that “Happiness is a ...

By Khadija Amaan I would often find myself worrying about things and draining my energy. Yes, it would lead me to prayers, but also depression. When prayer leads you to depression, it means that you are doing something wrong. Prayer is hope. Prayer is faith. Prayer is uplifting. Prayer is not constant worry. I learned this after moving to this new city. The first couple of weeks were great, but right after that, my husband would come home upset. We had relocated, thinking that he had found the perfect job. However, in a couple of weeks, we were devastated. He began hating his job. He complained about his boss. He did not like the work. But here we were, and still are, bound by a long-term contract with the company. He would text me from work to tell me how much he despised his job. He would come home stressed. Our happiness, our dreams, our tranquility in life had disappeared. Being the only person he could open up to, I felt helpless. I would cry for hours on ...

By Taheerah Alam So should I be thankful for the good clothes I wear or the Gucci bag I carry? Maybe the good food I can eat? Oh wait, what about the opportunity to study at a reputable university or being employed at a good company? Hey, did I mention my caring and wonderful parents or my cool siblings who are my best friends? Hold on, I completely forgot about the blessing of Islam in my life; How Allah guided my heart to His path! AlhamdulilLah (praise be to God). Tired of counting already?! No wonder Allah said in the Qur’an that if we were to count the favors of Allah, we will not do justice to even one favor! ( 14:34 ) Yes, we are all struggling with something and I feel ya, my brother/sister in Islam. Maybe it’s been months and you are still looking for a decent job. Maybe you are a single brother/sister struggling to fight off temptations while there seems to be no progress in the ‘marriage’ part of your life and you are tired of searching ...

By Ismail Shaikh I cried after my first interview. It was June of 2011 and I had finally landed an interview after frantically sending out applications to prospective employers. Job-hunting had been a stressful experience as I began to feel increasingly desperate under both family and financial pressure. So when I received a call to interview on short-term notice, I happily obliged. Without much time to prepare, I went into the interview feeling very anxious. It was a panel interview and for the first time I experienced what it was like to be “grilled” by management. The short of the long of it – it was a poor interview and the program manager scoffed at my level of preparation. I exited that interview feeling relieved it was over but terribly sad, embarrassed, and fruitlessly hopeless. Still, I adhered to interview protocol and sent a thank-you email to management, sincerely explaining to them what had happened. Allah, the Most Exalted, is the Best ...