Crumple Zone, Bull bars and SUVs: point to ponder

I see more accident victims as an ortho surgeon in India than i did back in UK.


I see more SUVs in India than in UK


In fact for the last one year i am longing to buy a perfect SUV to replace my old car


But i noted more accidents where SUVs are involved than cars.


This made me to ask, are the Big SUVs (which look big, masculine and safer when sits inside or to look from outside) desirable from safety point of view?


I understand Crumple zones in the safety of cars and vehicles. I also noted that most SUVs are fitted with bullbars which make it commanding to look at and safer to think!


 are they really safer.


More i did research and i must admit internet is amazing place and you ask the question, you tend to get answers,

but one must be very careful to interpret the answers.

Even so,

             most answers i get is that combining SUVs with high centre of gravity,
                                                                    Bullbars,
                                                                    Carelessness when driving one ( i understand that psychologically when you drive an SUV, you tend to take less care as you feel safer),
                                                                    Speed with unexpected obstacle ( which you get many in local  Road driving conditions)

       may be a bad combination.

This combination may not be uncommon as one feels invincible driving a big SUV

Please refer to these sites

4 wheel drive and safety

crumple zone

bullbar


Hope this kindles your thoughts


warm regards

chockalingam

SUVs and MUVs and the sense of (or lack of) security and safety. Read on!!!!!!!

I was called to attend to four patients following road traffic accident. They all had injuries which were not serious and as i was talking to them, asked them what happened.

One of the patients said, that they were travelling in a sports utility vehicle or multipurpose vehicle. i will not name the make of this jeep styled vehicle for purposes of not eliciting controversy.

Then what happened. a small compact hatchback the make of it will also remain nameless was coming in the opposite side. they had a head on collision.

Then the SUV in which these people were traveling rolled over and fortunately these people survived.


I asked what happened to the hatchback which drove straight on to them. Apparently this hatchback had some damage to the bonnet but stood still. while the SUV rolled over!!!!!!!!!

I was surprised.Naturally one would expect the smaller vehicle to have the greater damage. now go and read article in Wikipedia on

SUVs

What this link says is that the SUVs have high centre of gravity. They tend to roll over even though the Electronic stability built in. if they face an obstacle, for example. even if the obstacle is small and especially if the obstacle is small. this is called tripping over!!!!!!!!

So be ware of this if you own or travel in a SUV

Warm regards

 Chockalingam

Apathy, sympathy and empathy: Knowing the difference

Last week in the newspaper i read that few people looted the house of a lady. the lady had let them in to their house showing sympathy as they were thirsty. they had asked for some water or refreshments.

Difficult to swallow the fact that the persons to whom the lady showed sympathy were apathetic when they decided to steal from the same person.

What you show to the other person may depend on the situation, you and the other person.

Let us try not to show sympathy where empathy is needed.

for example when you care for someone being a nurse or a relative

[Apathy may be too difficult to master and may be that is what is needed in some situations and not sympathy. unfortunately more people are showing apathy where they should be sympathetic or empathetic]

hope this makes sense

Warm Regards

Chockalingam

what type of exercise do i need: a rough guide

Start with flexibility exercise: good for all the joints and the muscles. this takes away any unnecessary aches and pains

to start, follow the link on flexibility on the links section of the blog for this

then with core stability.: good for spine

both these are addressed with Program such as yoga

then go for aerobic exercises; good for heart, lungs and general well being. this can be walking or cycling or jogging or aerobic program in a gym

then go for strengthening exercises: these make you look good and helps you to be able to deal with work which needs strength

then do resistance exercises and eccentric training: good when you want the muscles to work for a longer period and this helps in training them.this is helpful for your endurance when you do sports

Hope this is simple to understand and follow

i will post some links for each of them in the days to come


warm regards

chockalingam

disposable income vs discretionary income and the alarming trend!!!

Disposable income is income you have left behind after you pay your taxes.

Discretionary income = Gross income - taxes - all compelled payments (bills)

This discretionary income is the income you use for saving for the future and spending today.

Now look at your electricity bill among the compelled payments for example

I paid 1768 for 760 units in 2011 and 3335 for the same amount of units in 2012. Now my discretionary income has reduced dramatically. This is alarming, is it not.

The money I have to save or to spend has reduced even though I have not consumed any more electricity.

Now add the increase in your spending on other utilities and essentials. Groceries, gas, petrol and diesel etc

Worrying is it not!

food for your thought!!!!

look at this link to understand this better

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Warm regards

Chockalingam

quality of life vs standard of life and knowing the difference

I want an ipad since it would be nice to have one, eh!!

I have a mac and iphone 3 both more than six years and i want to have new one of both and i can buy them.

I want to watch the latest movie in my LED when the dvd version comes out and i can buy both led tv and a blue ray player

I do not want to wash my dishes and i would buy a dishwasher

Can i have the house of my dreams built and yes i can and i can do all the above, no problems,  money does not seem to be an issue!!!

This is the standard of life i desire and i work hard to reach there and earn my dreams!!!

But this is not the same as quality of life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can i walk up stairs without pain and feeling breathless

can i walk along the beautiful beach for half an hour and enjoy the nature

can i wash my own back by reaching without having pain

can i go and play a game of tennis

can i bend down to pick up my child without my back hurting

this is what we are talking about, the quality of life

next time we meet, talk about our quality of life and not the standard of life.

Warm regards

Chockalingam

lack of flexibility of joints, the commonest reason for pain

I see quite a lot of patients who have pain in the arms, legs, back and neck. most of the pain is due to lack of flexibility of joints due to our current style.

Sitting on the floor , squatting, bending etc are activities one did as a child and yet we have forgotten how to do now.

most pain can be relieved by keeping all the joints of our body move through full range.

one can start with simple exercises as shown in the link below

warm up,cool down and keep flexible by AAOS

or you can do the full Yoga or Pilate exercises.

I will brief on some of the simple yoga exercises in the blogs to come

Warm Regards

Chockalingam