Rotator Cuff muscles and their actions (mnemonic)

To remember the actions of Rotator Cuff muscles ( Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis), just remember the following:

1- The mnemonic for the muscles is: SITS
2- We will start with ABDuction and finish with ADDuction
3- The vowels in English can be remembered by AEEIou ( shout to remember better :P )
4- Now just match letters from the 2 mnemonics in the same order they are written in
 as you can see in the table:

So S goes with A...I goes with E...T goes with E and the last S goes with I.

Never forget the action of Rotator Cuff muscles again :)

-Murad

Echinocandins: Mechanism of action, side effects and orgranisms affected (mnemonic)

To easily remember anything related to Echinocandins (eg: Caspofungin, Micafungin) , just think of the letters "C, A and N"  => CAN :D

=> EchinoCANdins.
=> Inhibit synthesis of B-gluCAN. 
=> Used in CANdida and a thing that CAN invade your body (invasive aspergillosis).
=> CAN make you flush ( due to histamine release).

-Murad

Joll's triangle in thyroidectomy

Hello friends,

This post is about the importance of Joll's triangle in thyroidectomy.

Joll's triangle is used to identify external laryngeal nerve during thyroidectomy.

Boundaries of this triangle are :
Laterally: Upper pole of thyroid gland and superior thyroid vessels.
Superiorly: Attachment of strap muscles and deep investing layer of fascia to hyoid.
Medially: Midline of neck.
Floor: Cricothyroid muscle.

This triangle contains superior laryngeal nerve which gives rise to external laryngeal nerve.

Given below is the diagram of this triangle:

Mnemonics for Modified Jones Criteria

Modified Jones Criteria is used  for diagnosis of Acute Rheumatic Fever.

Mnemonic - "JONES CAFE PAL"

MAJOR CRITERIA :-
Joint involvement (polyarthritis)
O 'O' looks like a heart - myocarditis
Nodules subcutaneous
Erythema Marginatum
Sydenham Chorea

MINOR CRITERIA :-
CRP elevated
Arthalgia
Fever
ESR elevated

Prolong PR interval
Anamnesia of Rheumatism
L eukocytosis

Presence of  either
- 2 major criterias or
- 1 major criteria + 2 minor criteria

Is considered to diagnose patient positive.

Written by,
Pratheek Prabhu

SIADH vs Diabetes Insipidus, Osmolarity and Sodium levels in urine and serum in both (mnemonic)

Serum and urine findings in SIADH and  Diabetes Insipidus can really mess up our brains :S

A nice mnemonic to memorize SIADH is to recall the letters as  :
 "S"odium "I"s "A"lways "D"own "H"ere (by here: I mean serum) =>
so in SIADH:
=> low Na in serum
=> high Na in Urine & high Urine Osmolarity

Now ...just think of the opposite and you ll get Diabetes Insipidus
so in DI:
=> high Na in serum /high serum osmolarity
=> low Na in Urine

-Murad

Chronic Renal Failure : Indications for dialysis.

Hello guys!

In this post I am going to list down the Indications for dialysis in patients of Chronic Renal Failure.

Absolute Indications :
1. Volume overload not responding to medication.
2. Refractory hypertension.
3. Hyperkalemia unresponsive to medications.
4. Severe metabolic acidosis unresponsive to medications.
5. Uremic pericarditis
6. Neurological signs and symptoms of Uremia.
7. Plasma creatinine more than 1060 umol/l or BUN more than 36 mmol/l

Relative Indications :
1. Anorexia
2. Severe anemia unresponsive to erythropoietin.
3. Persistent severe pruritus.
4. Restless legs syndrome.

That's all.
Thank you

MD Mobarak Hussain (Maahii)

Some thalamic nuclei and their function (mnemonic)

Thalamic nuclei can really cause a headache if no mnemonics are used while studying them :O

The following mnemonics may be used to associate the nuclei with their functions:

1- Ventral Postero-Lateral nuclues  (VPL) => Very Painful Leg
This nucleus has input (pain, temperature, pressure, touch, vibration and proprioception) from Spinothalamic and dorsal columns/medial lemniscus ( Lower Limbs and Upper Limbs).

2- Ventral Postero-Medial nucleus (VPM) => Very Painful Mouth
This nucleus has input (face sensastion and taste) from trigeminal and gustatory pathway).

3- Lateral Geniculate Nucleus  (LGN) => Looking Good Naked :O
This nucleus has input (part of the visual pathway) from the optic nerve.

4- Medial Geniculate Nucleus (MGN) => Making Good Noise
This nucleus has input (part of the hearing pathway) from superior olive and inferior colliculus of tectum.

& that's it! :)

-Murad

Relation between Type I, Type II errors and Null hypothesis (mnemonic)

Biostatistics can really be dry and hard to engulf sometimes. 

One of the things that always confused me was when to accept and when to reject the null hypothesis. 

Since  mnemonics are one of the best things ever, here you go:

Type ONE error:
You use a verb with ONE consonant => reJect => so you reJect Null hypothesis

Type TWO error:
You use a verb with TWO consonants => aCCept => so you aCCept Null hypothesis

& that's it! :)

-Murad

Bacterial exotoxins that work via overactivating Adenylate Cyclase, a mnemonic

There are many bugs which have many exotoxins - to memorize those that have an exotoxin which work through overactivating Adenylate Cyclase therefore increasing cyclic AMP (+ cAMP) => just remember the letters of the word: CAMP

=> the bugs are:
Cholera (Vibrio Cholera)
Anthrax (Bacillus Anthracis)
Moctezuma's revenge (a fancy name of heat labile entertotoxigenic E.coli, ETEC)
Pertussis (Bordetella Pertussis)

-Murad

Chromosomes affected in syndromes that sound similar, a mnemonic

Hello everyone!

Wilson's disease, Williams syndrome and Wilm's tumor are confusing since they all start with "Wil". This is how I remember them and differentiate which chromosome number is affected in which disease. 

Wilson's disease: (for Dr. House fans)
Remember Dr. House, Wilson and Thirteen?

So that's how I remember that in Wilson's disease chromosome 13 is affected. 

William syndrome:
If you read the 2nd part of the word William, it is: I AM. When you re-arrange it: I AM WILL. 

Remember Will Smith and his famous movie - Seven Pounds? 

William syndrome => chromosome 7 affected. 

Wilm's tumor:
Just write the I and L as 11 so it is W11m's => Chromosome 11 is affected.

-Murad

Trinucleotide repeats mnemonics

In Friedreich Ataxia, patients have problems in their gait => GAAAAAAAAAAAit :D
so the trinucleotide repeat is: GAA

In Fragile X syndrome, patients have problems in their testicles (large testes among other things) so they  "Can't Get it Going" :P  => the trinucleotide repeat is: CGG

-Murad

Renal stones and pH of urine mnemonic

Hello!

Here's a post on the association between renal stones and pH of urine.

Which stones form in acidic urine?

Mnemonic: It's pretty simple, stones which have "weak acids" as a component.

Uric ACID
Calcium oxalate (Oxalic ACID)
Cysteine (Which is an Amino ACID)

PS: This is just a mnemonic.

Which stones form in alkaline urine?

Calcium Phosphate
Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate

That's all!

-IkaN

SERM for vulvovaginal atrophy mnemonic

Which of the following is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) that is prescribed mainly for treatment of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (vulvovaginal atrophy)?

A.) Bazedoxifene
B.) Raloxifene
C.) Phentermine
D.) Lasofoxifene
E.) Ospemifene