WEBVTT

00:00:04.754 --> 00:00:08.960
Many years ago, I was a doctor
in intensive care.

00:00:08.970 --> 00:00:11.700
I got a lot of complicated cases.

00:00:11.700 --> 00:00:17.090
Very often, the patients
had high blood pressure.

00:00:17.224 --> 00:00:20.348
I tried as fast as I could
to help them, and would ask them:

00:00:20.387 --> 00:00:23.180
"OK, quickly,what meds do you take?

00:00:23.193 --> 00:00:24.915
What helps you?"

00:00:24.982 --> 00:00:26.565
Most of my patients would say:

00:00:26.565 --> 00:00:29.849
"I take some pills, two,

00:00:29.863 --> 00:00:34.006
a white round one in the morning,
and a little blue one in the evening."

00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:38.122
I'd say: "Fine. Their names? Dosage?
What are they? Quickly!"

00:00:38.261 --> 00:00:42.371
The patients would say: "Mm,
names - don't know, dosage - don't know.

00:00:42.371 --> 00:00:44.576
A health clinic doctor
wrote the prescription.

00:00:44.577 --> 00:00:48.571
I'm not a doctor, you're the doctor.
Please sort it out, it's your job."

00:00:48.922 --> 00:00:53.271
I felt frustrated and powerless,

00:00:53.271 --> 00:00:55.459
because helping a patient who doesn't know

00:00:55.472 --> 00:00:58.751
is a hundred times more complicated
than a patient who does.

00:00:58.994 --> 00:01:00.237
I wondered for a long time

00:01:00.237 --> 00:01:02.906
why they don't know
the names and dosages of their meds.

00:01:02.912 --> 00:01:07.804
They don't even remember
what the packaging looks like.

00:01:08.705 --> 00:01:11.937
It seems to me that it is
because my patients -

00:01:11.937 --> 00:01:13.261
not all, but many of them -

00:01:13.261 --> 00:01:17.404
were sure that responsibility
for their health

00:01:17.406 --> 00:01:20.455
lay with the healthcare system,
and not with them.

00:01:20.711 --> 00:01:22.862
But I am going to tell you
a little secret:

00:01:22.872 --> 00:01:28.160
responsibility for health
is the domain of everyone.

00:01:28.293 --> 00:01:32.279
It is the responsibility
of the healthcare system

00:01:32.279 --> 00:01:34.094
that there are hospitals,

00:01:34.094 --> 00:01:35.559
that they are lit,

00:01:35.559 --> 00:01:38.482
that they are equipped
with medical equipment,

00:01:38.495 --> 00:01:43.971
that new doctors qualify
from medical faculties each year,

00:01:43.986 --> 00:01:46.486
and that pharmacies are properly stocked.

00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:52.704
The healthcare system cannot provide
everyone with a personal physician

00:01:52.704 --> 00:01:55.831
who will wake them up
in the morning and ask them:

00:01:55.831 --> 00:01:57.877
"So, how's your blood pressure?

00:01:57.877 --> 00:01:59.159
Perhaps a pill?

00:01:59.160 --> 00:02:01.225
Maybe we should do an ECG?

00:02:01.233 --> 00:02:03.574
I've got the machine with me."

00:02:04.259 --> 00:02:09.857
That is why everyone has to consider

00:02:09.876 --> 00:02:13.340
whether they can take responsibility 
for their own health.

00:02:13.576 --> 00:02:16.209
And how do you take responsibility
for your own health?

00:02:16.212 --> 00:02:18.514
It's responsibility for your own body.

00:02:18.940 --> 00:02:21.107
And responsibility begins with knowledge.

00:02:21.107 --> 00:02:24.926
If you buy some kind
of electrical appliance,

00:02:24.926 --> 00:02:27.770
I certainly hope that you read
the instruction manual.

00:02:28.012 --> 00:02:29.242
So it is with the body.

00:02:29.256 --> 00:02:32.839
It is important to learn two things,
anatomy and physiology,

00:02:32.866 --> 00:02:35.821
to understand how our body works.

00:02:35.835 --> 00:02:41.075
Anatomy is knowledge about which organs
comprise the human body.

00:02:41.574 --> 00:02:47.249
Tell me please, how many of you know
where to find the iron at your house.

00:02:49.937 --> 00:02:54.852
Maybe there's a few men
who never use this thing who don't know.

00:02:55.213 --> 00:03:00.113
Now tell me who knows
where the spleen is in your body.

00:03:00.578 --> 00:03:02.060
Hold on!

00:03:02.111 --> 00:03:03.932
Don't be so sure!

00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.471
Who thinks that the spleen
is located in the middle?

00:03:08.129 --> 00:03:11.936
Who thinks that the spleen
is on the right?

00:03:13.268 --> 00:03:15.946
Who thinks that it is on the left?

00:03:16.668 --> 00:03:22.476
OK, almost 100% of people 
know where to find the iron,

00:03:22.483 --> 00:03:25.505
even though we don't use it every day.

00:03:25.581 --> 00:03:29.970
But the spleen is located on the left.

00:03:30.950 --> 00:03:36.025
As far as I saw, only half of you
know where it is located.

00:03:36.044 --> 00:03:42.043
And the spleen serves us every
single minute of our lives.

00:03:42.778 --> 00:03:48.037
So the very first thing
in taking responsibility for your health

00:03:48.037 --> 00:03:52.833
is to simply learn which organs
reside within my body.

00:03:53.010 --> 00:03:56.174
As soon as this area
of knowledge is yours,

00:03:56.210 --> 00:03:58.741
you should move on to physiology.

00:03:58.774 --> 00:04:03.270
This area of knowledge
tells you how these organs work,

00:04:03.285 --> 00:04:06.026
and how to understand
that something is wrong.

00:04:06.026 --> 00:04:09.573
I asked some of my friends who drive

00:04:09.587 --> 00:04:15.254
if they know what the signs are

00:04:15.269 --> 00:04:18.969
that there's something wrong
with an internal combustion engine.

00:04:19.753 --> 00:04:21.514
Everyone said without fail:

00:04:21.523 --> 00:04:26.091
"So, the engine probably starts to act up,

00:04:28.653 --> 00:04:31.225
it starts to burn too much oil,

00:04:31.239 --> 00:04:33.787
it starts to run
at too high a temperature,

00:04:33.801 --> 00:04:37.197
or there are some strange
knocking noises."

00:04:37.892 --> 00:04:40.980
I asked them: "What can you do
to prevent this from happening?"

00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:45.337
All drivers said:
"First, you should check the oil,

00:04:45.337 --> 00:04:48.004
keep an eye on the water,

00:04:48.010 --> 00:04:50.834
and you have to have it pass
the national inspection test."

00:04:50.846 --> 00:04:52.272
But the same friends of mine

00:04:52.272 --> 00:04:57.808
were not so able to answer
another question so well:

00:04:57.847 --> 00:05:01.365
"So, what are the symptoms
of a heart attack,

00:05:01.378 --> 00:05:05.480
the most terrifying malfunction
of our own engine, the heart?

00:05:05.573 --> 00:05:06.904
Do you know?"

00:05:07.013 --> 00:05:08.872
No one could tell me

00:05:08.873 --> 00:05:11.362
that the symptoms of a heart attack

00:05:11.363 --> 00:05:14.647
are the pain, burning in the chest,

00:05:14.651 --> 00:05:16.443
pain on the left,

00:05:16.443 --> 00:05:18.271
pain radiating down the left arm,

00:05:18.271 --> 00:05:20.853
to the left shoulder or left jaw,

00:05:20.853 --> 00:05:22.289
shortness of breath, pallor.

00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:25.528
Almost no one could list all the symptoms.

00:05:26.099 --> 00:05:32.557
My friends could also not tell me
that keeping a check on one's heart

00:05:32.557 --> 00:05:36.954
means finding out what your blood
pressure is regularly,

00:05:37.097 --> 00:05:39.280
checking your cholesterol level regularly,

00:05:39.362 --> 00:05:41.738
a regular appointment with a cardiologist,

00:05:41.757 --> 00:05:46.005
an ECG, which should be got by everyone
at least once in their life,

00:05:46.005 --> 00:05:48.741
and an ultrasound of the heart
needs to be done.

00:05:48.837 --> 00:05:51.226
These are the basic things
that you should know

00:05:51.239 --> 00:05:53.579
about the physiology of your heart.

00:05:53.740 --> 00:05:57.985
But you should also know about
how other organs work,

00:05:57.985 --> 00:05:59.931
and how to keep a check on their health.

00:06:00.010 --> 00:06:04.929
I hope today you will be able to read

00:06:04.956 --> 00:06:07.456
something about at least one organ

00:06:07.486 --> 00:06:09.060
besides the heart.

00:06:09.400 --> 00:06:13.640
If you have mastered anatomy
and physiology and you are healthy,

00:06:13.640 --> 00:06:16.067
then you may stop there and relax.

00:06:16.216 --> 00:06:18.712
If you have any disease,

00:06:18.736 --> 00:06:23.092
it is very important
to know what it is called

00:06:23.092 --> 00:06:25.019
and what kind of disease it is,

00:06:25.019 --> 00:06:28.339
why it started, and how to treat it.

00:06:28.473 --> 00:06:34.689
Although angiospasm and angina
have similar names,

00:06:34.695 --> 00:06:36.879
there is a huge difference between them:

00:06:36.891 --> 00:06:41.212
in what brings them about,
how to treat them, and what you can do.

00:06:41.264 --> 00:06:44.028
Recently I have been visiting
my gran in Mozyr.

00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.179
She has atrial fibrillation.

00:06:47.248 --> 00:06:51.801
It is a disease in which
the heart beat is irregular.

00:06:51.911 --> 00:06:53.601
To treat this disease,

00:06:53.603 --> 00:06:55.149
it's important to take medicines

00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:57.247
that suppress abnormal
rhythms of the heart,

00:06:57.257 --> 00:07:01.132
to prevent a serious irregular
heart beat from developing

00:07:01.132 --> 00:07:03.055
that can lead to death.

00:07:03.535 --> 00:07:05.406
But, I arrive at Gran's,

00:07:05.424 --> 00:07:08.177
I ask her, "Gran, how's
the treatment going?

00:07:08.178 --> 00:07:09.383
How are you feeling?"

00:07:09.397 --> 00:07:13.491
She says, "I take everything,
all the meds you said.

00:07:13.491 --> 00:07:15.666
You explained it's a very serious disease,

00:07:15.666 --> 00:07:17.099
atrial fibrillation.

00:07:17.099 --> 00:07:18.479
I understood perfectly."

00:07:18.926 --> 00:07:21.423
I ask her, "Where are the pills?"

00:07:22.507 --> 00:07:26.679
Gran says, "They're on top of the fridge."

00:07:27.106 --> 00:07:30.403
I see that there's still a lot of pills
remaining in the packet.

00:07:30.485 --> 00:07:32.911
It doesn't add up.

00:07:32.913 --> 00:07:34.588
They should have all gone by now.

00:07:34.591 --> 00:07:40.320
So I ask her, "Gran,
have you taken your pills today?"

00:07:40.675 --> 00:07:42.730
It's a very important
question for a doctor

00:07:42.730 --> 00:07:46.103
because between "I take my pills"
and "I took them today",

00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:47.758
there is a huge difference.

00:07:48.488 --> 00:07:52.487
So, Gran says,
"Well, what day is it today?

00:07:52.505 --> 00:07:54.715
It's Saturday, it's the weekend,

00:07:54.831 --> 00:07:56.113
everyone's having a rest, 

00:07:56.113 --> 00:07:58.338
and I have to take a rest
from the treatment."

00:07:58.374 --> 00:08:01.682
If my gran had spent a little more time

00:08:01.683 --> 00:08:06.190
and at least read the instructions
for the pills she's taking,

00:08:06.190 --> 00:08:07.504
she would have known

00:08:07.504 --> 00:08:10.728
that to suddenly stop taking the pills
that help her heart rhythm

00:08:10.741 --> 00:08:13.961
is just as bad as
receiving no treatment at all.

00:08:13.961 --> 00:08:16.497
It can lead to heart failure.

00:08:17.151 --> 00:08:19.559
I'm not saying that you all
have to become doctors

00:08:19.559 --> 00:08:21.379
and spend the next six years

00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:26.571
studying anatomy and physiology
and other great subjects

00:08:26.583 --> 00:08:29.262
at the Belarusian State Medical University

00:08:29.262 --> 00:08:31.094
around the corner.

00:08:31.970 --> 00:08:36.836
I think that you don't need
those six years today.

00:08:36.858 --> 00:08:38.865
Sufficient knowledge abounds.

00:08:38.901 --> 00:08:41.768
You can learn about
your body, your health,

00:08:41.768 --> 00:08:47.238
from popular science books, from YouTube.

00:08:47.238 --> 00:08:51.974
There are nice programs about health
on every major TV channel.

00:08:51.974 --> 00:08:55.343
You can just sit and watch them
and learn a lot.

00:08:55.343 --> 00:08:59.912
You can watch TED talks.

00:09:00.175 --> 00:09:03.973
It is very easy to keep a check
on your health today.

00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:06.812
My grandfather used to go
to the health clinic

00:09:06.812 --> 00:09:08.433
to get his blood pressure checked.

00:09:08.433 --> 00:09:11.585
Today, anyone can buy a blood pressure
monitor at the pharmacist's

00:09:11.585 --> 00:09:14.970
and check their blood pressure
a hundred times a day.

00:09:15.827 --> 00:09:20.673
Tell me, who has a smart watch
or a fitness tracker?

00:09:20.762 --> 00:09:22.023
A lot of you.

00:09:22.034 --> 00:09:25.493
Did you know that a smart watch
and a fitness tracker

00:09:25.506 --> 00:09:28.682
can check if your heart rate is normal,

00:09:28.682 --> 00:09:33.566
if you sleep enough, if you walk enough,

00:09:33.566 --> 00:09:36.323
to be healthy?

00:09:36.564 --> 00:09:43.563
Technology today really helps us
to be responsible for our own health.

00:09:44.864 --> 00:09:49.604
For instance, there are many apps
for mobile phones

00:09:49.605 --> 00:09:53.974
that will do all the work for you,
that will help you to become healthy.

00:09:54.243 --> 00:09:56.686
I work on an app called Flo.

00:09:56.744 --> 00:09:58.874
We work on women's health

00:09:58.874 --> 00:10:01.021
and we do exactly
what I've told you about.

00:10:01.021 --> 00:10:05.445
We tell women about their body.

00:10:06.405 --> 00:10:08.020
We did a survey.

00:10:08.020 --> 00:10:13.548
Around 40% of women
around the world who use our app

00:10:13.548 --> 00:10:15.701
have no idea what ovulation is.

00:10:15.893 --> 00:10:17.369
Ovulation is the day

00:10:17.370 --> 00:10:21.137
when there's the greatest chance
of getting pregnant.

00:10:21.231 --> 00:10:24.150
How can you take charge of your life, 

00:10:24.158 --> 00:10:28.713
build a career, and plan vacations,

00:10:28.713 --> 00:10:32.841
if you don't know the most important
thing about your body?

00:10:32.953 --> 00:10:37.000
You're only taking
half control of your life.

00:10:37.498 --> 00:10:43.567
Mobile apps like Flo can also warn you
of existing health problems.

00:10:43.574 --> 00:10:47.639
For example, our team has learned
how to detect the symptoms

00:10:47.644 --> 00:10:49.573
of polycystic ovary syndrome,

00:10:49.591 --> 00:10:54.800
and warn a woman that she has a problem,
so that she can go to the doctor in time.

00:10:56.486 --> 00:10:59.634
Technology helps us a lot.

00:11:00.192 --> 00:11:02.470
But technology is not everything.

00:11:03.278 --> 00:11:05.360
I have a dream:

00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:11.797
that no patient comes to the doctor

00:11:11.804 --> 00:11:18.439
with only time to say,

00:11:18.439 --> 00:11:21.433
"I've five minutes, my knees hurt.

00:11:21.433 --> 00:11:22.967
Please give me something for it,

00:11:22.967 --> 00:11:24.301
and I'm gone."

00:11:24.682 --> 00:11:28.558
I dream of a patient
who can think, who is aware,

00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:30.715
who can engage
in dialogue with the doctor,

00:11:30.715 --> 00:11:32.294
who's able to say to the doctor,

00:11:32.294 --> 00:11:35.279
"You know, my knees hurt.

00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:38.242
At first, I thought it might be
an old football injury.

00:11:38.242 --> 00:11:41.458
but then I noticed that they hurt
more in the morning.

00:11:42.293 --> 00:11:45.897
And I've had a bit of a temperature
the past six months.

00:11:46.142 --> 00:11:48.604
I've lost weight.

00:11:49.434 --> 00:11:50.715
Weakness is wearing at me.

00:11:50.715 --> 00:11:53.608
I remember my grandmother
also had a problem with her knees,

00:11:53.608 --> 00:11:56.739
and it was diagnosed
as rheumatoid arthritis.

00:11:56.920 --> 00:11:59.366
I think it's something
that needs to be sorted out.

00:11:59.453 --> 00:12:02.213
These are two completely different cases.

00:12:02.213 --> 00:12:06.014
You can't imagine what a pleasure it is

00:12:06.014 --> 00:12:10.300
to treat an aware, responsible patient.

00:12:10.536 --> 00:12:12.674
When such a patient
comes to an appointment,

00:12:12.674 --> 00:12:14.467
and we start a conversation,

00:12:14.467 --> 00:12:19.504
the doctor freely stops writing,
and lifts his eyes.

00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.210
And you should see
what eyes the doctor has!

00:12:22.225 --> 00:12:25.132
They are indeed eyes full of happiness.

00:12:26.571 --> 00:12:29.686
He is happy that he has someone
he can connect with.

00:12:29.995 --> 00:12:34.837
Because it is a pleasure to treat
an aware and responsible patient.

00:12:35.249 --> 00:12:42.240
It's like playing tennis against a wall
or against a professional player.

00:12:42.455 --> 00:12:46.303
When playing with a partner
who plays really well,

00:12:46.304 --> 00:12:49.080
even if you slam the ball really hard,

00:12:49.094 --> 00:12:52.297
they will return it,
keeping pace with you.

00:12:52.476 --> 00:12:54.360
Similarly with treatment.

00:12:54.436 --> 00:12:58.202
If the doctor prescribes
treatment to an aware patient,

00:12:58.202 --> 00:13:02.007
but, God forbid, something goes wrong,
and there are side effects,

00:13:02.007 --> 00:13:04.235
this patient will notice
the problem in time

00:13:04.268 --> 00:13:07.964
and inform the doctor
without angrily blaming him

00:13:07.999 --> 00:13:10.832
because he understands
his share of responsibility

00:13:10.832 --> 00:13:13.057
in the treatment process.

00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:20.099
I dream of patients becoming
more responsible for their health.

00:13:20.613 --> 00:13:23.563
Not because I'd like
to free doctors of work,

00:13:23.586 --> 00:13:26.558
and not because we doctors are workshy;

00:13:27.276 --> 00:13:29.961
but because I sincerely believe

00:13:29.974 --> 00:13:35.419
that working on a health
action plan together -

00:13:35.504 --> 00:13:41.755
a caring, competent doctor
and an aware, responsible patient -

00:13:41.755 --> 00:13:44.529
is way more effective.

00:13:44.728 --> 00:13:46.250
Thank you.

00:13:46.270 --> 00:13:49.269
(Applause)