Who is responsible for my health? | Anna Klepchukova | TEDxMinskWomen

Every time a patient comes into emergency, the doctor starts the fight against death. If a patient can't become a partner in this battle, the doctor has to act alone. Anna Klepchukova wonders why sometimes we know more about how our car works than the structure of our body. She offers three steps, or if you like, prescriptions, that will help you to begin to understand your body better, and to be a partner to the doctor in maintaining your health.

Anna Klepchukova is Deputy Director for Marketing and Science at Flo Health, Inc. Anna is a doctor by education: she graduated from the Belarusian State Medical University. She has worked in the marketing of pharmaceuticals since 2013. She studied at The Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK, and worked as a marketing manager for a Japanese company, Takeda. Since 2017, she has been responsible for medical projects and creation of content at Flo Health, Inc.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Many years ago, I was a doctor
in intensive care.

I got a lot of complicated cases.

Very often, the patients
had high blood pressure.

I tried as fast as I could
to help them, and would ask them:

"OK, quickly,what meds do you take?

What helps you?"

Most of my patients would say:

"I take some pills, two,

a white round one in the morning,
and a little blue one in the evening."

I'd say: "Fine. Their names? Dosage?
What are they? Quickly!"

The patients would say: "Mm,
names - don't know, dosage - don't know.

A health clinic doctor
wrote the prescription.

I'm not a doctor, you're the doctor.
Please sort it out, it's your job."

I felt frustrated and powerless,

because helping a patient who doesn't know

is a hundred times more complicated
than a patient who does.

I wondered for a long time

why they don't know
the names and dosages of their meds.

They don't even remember
what the packaging looks like.

It seems to me that it is
because my patients -

not all, but many of them -

were sure that responsibility
for their health

lay with the healthcare system,
and not with them.

But I am going to tell you
a little secret:

responsibility for health
is the domain of everyone.

It is the responsibility
of the healthcare system

that there are hospitals,

that they are lit,

that they are equipped
with medical equipment,

that new doctors qualify
from medical faculties each year,

and that pharmacies are properly stocked.

The healthcare system cannot provide
everyone with a personal physician

who will wake them up
in the morning and ask them:

"So, how's your blood pressure?

Perhaps a pill?

Maybe we should do an ECG?

I've got the machine with me."

That is why everyone has to consider

whether they can take responsibility
for their own health.

And how do you take responsibility
for your own health?

It's responsibility for your own body.

And responsibility begins with knowledge.

If you buy some kind
of electrical appliance,

I certainly hope that you read
the instruction manual.

So it is with the body.

It is important to learn two things,
anatomy and physiology,

to understand how our body works.

Anatomy is knowledge about which organs
comprise the human body.

Tell me please, how many of you know
where to find the iron at your house.

Maybe there's a few men
who never use this thing who don't know.

Now tell me who knows
where the spleen is in your body.

Hold on!

Don't be so sure!

Who thinks that the spleen
is located in the middle?

Who thinks that the spleen
is on the right?

Who thinks that it is on the left?

OK, almost 100% of people
know where to find the iron,

even though we don't use it every day.

But the spleen is located on the left.

As far as I saw, only half of you
know where it is located.

And the spleen serves us every
single minute of our lives.

So the very first thing
in taking responsibility for your health

is to simply learn which organs
reside within my body.

As soon as this area
of knowledge is yours,

you should move on to physiology.

This area of knowledge
tells you how these organs work,

and how to understand
that something is wrong.

I asked some of my friends who drive

if they know what the signs are

that there's something wrong
with an internal combustion engine.

Everyone said without fail:

"So, the engine probably starts to act up,

it starts to burn too much oil,

it starts to run
at too high a temperature,

or there are some strange
knocking noises."

I asked them: "What can you do
to prevent this from happening?"

All drivers said:
"First, you should check the oil,

keep an eye on the water,

and you have to have it pass
the national inspection test."

But the same friends of mine

were not so able to answer
another question so well:

"So, what are the symptoms
of a heart attack,

the most terrifying malfunction
of our own engine, the heart?

Do you know?"

No one could tell me

that the symptoms of a heart attack

are the pain, burning in the chest,

pain on the left,

pain radiating down the left arm,

to the left shoulder or left jaw,

shortness of breath, pallor.

Almost no one could list all the symptoms.

My friends could also not tell me
that keeping a check on one's heart

means finding out what your blood
pressure is regularly,

checking your cholesterol level regularly,

a regular appointment with a cardiologist,

an ECG, which should be got by everyone
at least once in their life,

and an ultrasound of the heart
needs to be done.

These are the basic things
that you should know

about the physiology of your heart.

But you should also know about
how other organs work,

and how to keep a check on their health.

I hope today you will be able to read

something about at least one organ

besides the heart.

If you have mastered anatomy
and physiology and you are healthy,

then you may stop there and relax.

If you have any disease,

it is very important
to know what it is called

and what kind of disease it is,

why it started, and how to treat it.

Although angiospasm and angina
have similar names,

there is a huge difference between them:

in what brings them about,
how to treat them, and what you can do.

Recently I have been visiting
my gran in Mozyr.

She has atrial fibrillation.

It is a disease in which
the heart beat is irregular.

To treat this disease,

it's important to take medicines

that suppress abnormal
rhythms of the heart,

to prevent a serious irregular
heart beat from developing

that can lead to death.

But, I arrive at Gran's,

I ask her, "Gran, how's
the treatment going?

How are you feeling?"

She says, "I take everything,
all the meds you said.

You explained it's a very serious disease,

atrial fibrillation.

I understood perfectly."

I ask her, "Where are the pills?"

Gran says, "They're on top of the fridge."

I see that there's still a lot of pills
remaining in the packet.

It doesn't add up.

They should have all gone by now.

So I ask her, "Gran,
have you taken your pills today?"

It's a very important
question for a doctor

because between "I take my pills"
and "I took them today",

there is a huge difference.

So, Gran says,
"Well, what day is it today?

It's Saturday, it's the weekend,

everyone's having a rest,

and I have to take a rest
from the treatment."

If my gran had spent a little more time

and at least read the instructions
for the pills she's taking,

she would have known

that to suddenly stop taking the pills
that help her heart rhythm

is just as bad as
receiving no treatment at all.

It can lead to heart failure.

I'm not saying that you all
have to become doctors

and spend the next six years

studying anatomy and physiology
and other great subjects

at the Belarusian State Medical University

around the corner.

I think that you don't need
those six years today.

Sufficient knowledge abounds.

You can learn about
your body, your health,

from popular science books, from YouTube.

There are nice programs about health
on every major TV channel.

You can just sit and watch them
and learn a lot.

You can watch TED talks.

It is very easy to keep a check
on your health today.

My grandfather used to go
to the health clinic

to get his blood pressure checked.

Today, anyone can buy a blood pressure
monitor at the pharmacist's

and check their blood pressure
a hundred times a day.

Tell me, who has a smart watch
or a fitness tracker?

A lot of you.

Did you know that a smart watch
and a fitness tracker

can check if your heart rate is normal,

if you sleep enough, if you walk enough,

to be healthy?

Technology today really helps us
to be responsible for our own health.

For instance, there are many apps
for mobile phones

that will do all the work for you,
that will help you to become healthy.

I work on an app called Flo.

We work on women's health

and we do exactly
what I've told you about.

We tell women about their body.

We did a survey.

Around 40% of women
around the world who use our app

have no idea what ovulation is.

Ovulation is the day

when there's the greatest chance
of getting pregnant.

How can you take charge of your life,

build a career, and plan vacations,

if you don't know the most important
thing about your body?

You're only taking
half control of your life.

Mobile apps like Flo can also warn you
of existing health problems.

For example, our team has learned
how to detect the symptoms

of polycystic ovary syndrome,

and warn a woman that she has a problem,
so that she can go to the doctor in time.

Technology helps us a lot.

But technology is not everything.

I have a dream:

that no patient comes to the doctor

with only time to say,

"I've five minutes, my knees hurt.

Please give me something for it,

and I'm gone."

I dream of a patient
who can think, who is aware,

who can engage
in dialogue with the doctor,

who's able to say to the doctor,

"You know, my knees hurt.

At first, I thought it might be
an old football injury.

but then I noticed that they hurt
more in the morning.

And I've had a bit of a temperature
the past six months.

I've lost weight.

Weakness is wearing at me.

I remember my grandmother
also had a problem with her knees,

and it was diagnosed
as rheumatoid arthritis.

I think it's something
that needs to be sorted out.

These are two completely different cases.

You can't imagine what a pleasure it is

to treat an aware, responsible patient.

When such a patient
comes to an appointment,

and we start a conversation,

the doctor freely stops writing,
and lifts his eyes.

And you should see
what eyes the doctor has!

They are indeed eyes full of happiness.

He is happy that he has someone
he can connect with.

Because it is a pleasure to treat
an aware and responsible patient.

It's like playing tennis against a wall
or against a professional player.

When playing with a partner
who plays really well,

even if you slam the ball really hard,

they will return it,
keeping pace with you.

Similarly with treatment.

If the doctor prescribes
treatment to an aware patient,

but, God forbid, something goes wrong,
and there are side effects,

this patient will notice
the problem in time

and inform the doctor
without angrily blaming him

because he understands
his share of responsibility

in the treatment process.

I dream of patients becoming
more responsible for their health.

Not because I'd like
to free doctors of work,

and not because we doctors are workshy;

but because I sincerely believe

that working on a health
action plan together -

a caring, competent doctor
and an aware, responsible patient -

is way more effective.

Thank you.

(Applause)