A Question & Answer Session with Dr. Bryan Cepedoza
(Part 3 – April 16, 2023)
The Bohol Tribune (TBT): My last question last time, Dr. Bryan was: Is it true that tuberculosis nowadays is not as dangerous as it used to be?
Dr. Bryan Cepedoza (DBC): It is still dangerious but it is curable because medicines are now available to fight it.
TBT: I see.
DBC: The one that I am afraid of is the XDR TB that has no medication to cure it. We have what we call as the ordinary TB and the XDR TB. The XDR TB is the one that needs more care and concentration because the medicine given to someone who has this ailment is still in its experimental stage. This means that no medicine has yet been discovered and recognized to cure this ailment – the XDR TB.
TBT: That sounds rather scary, doc. What kind of TB is that again that doesn’t have any exact cure as of now?
DBC: It’s like this. There are some patients, who, after having been prescribed the medication for their ailment, will religiously rake the medicine for the first few days. After taking the meds for 2 or 3 weeks, they seem to feel comfortable. This feeling would make them decide that they are already cured from the ailment. So, without the doctor’s advice, they will stop from taking the medicines thinking they are now back to a healthy kind of life. These are the kinds of patients who feel that they are also doctors because they decide when to stop taking the meds. Then, a few days after having stopped from taking medication even without the advice of a doctor, the patient starts to become weak again and realizes that all the symptoms of the ailment are coming back. At this point in the patient’s condition, he has already become resistant to the medicines – a condition that is one of the causes the patient will develop MDR or XDR. The patient was exposed to the medicines that were not yet able to kill all bacteria since he stopped taking the meds in the middle of the process. Nag mutate lang ang kagaw ug wala gyud ni mamatay. . . nisukol na hinuon kini ug maayo sa tambal kay ni resistant na man mao nga nahimong MDR or XDR.
TBT: Here’s another question, doc. What is meant by sleep apnea?
DBC: Oh, sleep apnea. According to the definition of sleep apnea, it is a condition in which a person’s breathing stops and restarts many times while he or she is asleep. Kabantay mo anang matulog unya maghagok? Naa gyud dakong chance nga naa na siya’y sleep apnea. There are 2 classes of sleep apnea. One is central apnea where the brain itself couldn’t easily give a signal to the lungs that you already want to breathe. There is another one called OSA or Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This is common to those people who have literally big bodies. Kanang gitawag nato ug mga dagko ug lawas or tambok, obese. These are the people who don’t have very good quality of sleep a reason why the following morning, they feel very sleepy. If this condition will not be cured, this could lead to a heart problem or even hypertension.
TBT: So it is not true, Doc, that the reason for one’s snoring – kanang pag hagok – is his being very tired during the day?DBC: No, it is not true. (To be continued)