Chapter 871 - 414: The Doctor’s Good Intentions, Rejuvenation?

Chapter 871: Chapter 414: The Doctor’s Good Intentions, Rejuvenation?

Under normal circumstances, after human adulthood, the growth plate lines close and the height stops increasing.

The patient came to the hospital because his hands and feet continuously elongated, indicating he might be an adult.

In the hospital, one might encounter all sorts of unusual cases.

Li Jingsheng followed Director Zhong Hu to his office. The area is not large, only about ten square meters.

In the Orthopedics Department, there are several chief doctors; even the least ranked, Professor Wu, has his own private office. However, their offices are generally small, with only Director Hua and Chen Anchen having slightly larger offices.

This is the benefit of holding administrative titles in the department.

One’s status is certainly much higher than that of a regular chief doctor.

Holding an administrative title also means having certain power in hand.

"Here’s the patient’s information. From what I understand, the patient has no precursors, slowly developed limb joint pain, and it’s symmetrical pain. After being in pain for over four months, he found his old clothes had become short. His family also noticed he seems to have grown taller."

This kind of phenomenon is indeed rare.

Doctors can encounter almost any kind of strange case.

Sometimes it might actually not be a disease at all.

But rather perplexing reasons.

"Symmetrical joint pain? Does the patient have a fever?"

If the patient has a low-grade fever with joint pain, it’s often a scary tumor coming to visit.

"Normal body temperature."

Zhong Hu replied.

If the cause of this patient’s condition was easy to ascertain, Zhong Hu wouldn’t have needed Li Jingsheng’s help.

The patient’s body temperature is normal, joint symmetrical pain, and simultaneous growth of limbs. What could this illness be?

Symmetrical pain means both the left and right hands hurt simultaneously, with similar pain intensity.

The locations of pain are also the same.

There are many causes of limb joint pain, the most common being rheumatic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, synovitis, osteoarthritis triggered by degenerative changes in limb joints, and cancer pain, among others.

To rule out each possibility, one must use clues to distinguish them.

Li Jingsheng excels in this field.

Especially after mastering multiple diagnostic skills to an expert level, diagnosing such difficult cases becomes second nature to him.

"Is there joint swelling?"

"Yes! But it’s not very severe; his joints seem mildly enlarged."

"Is the blood pressure normal?"

"Blood pressure is fine, systolic around 130, diastolic less than 90, which is quite good for someone his age."

Zhong Hu responded.

The patient is currently 56 years old, already considered elderly.

Although the definition of elderly in modern humans has undergone considerable changes, with only those over 65 years considered old. However, the body of adult males starts declining after 35.

For adult females, it’s even earlier; once they pass 30, their bodies begin to decline.

Some women, already in their thirties, still persist with demanding high bridal prices, being picky, requiring the man to have a house, car, savings, and cater to her in all aspects.

Such women should more appropriately be called dream princesses.

The world of adults is indeed very harsh.

Theoretically, a woman’s charm in terms of looks, figure, and appearance consistently declines after the age of 30.

Genuinely advise those women with high standards to marry when they find someone suitable.

Don’t set excessively high expectations that scare men away.

Selling oneself at excessive prices could lead to a transition from ’never settling’ to ’settling for anything’.

"Since blood pressure is not a problem, let’s visit the ward to see the patient first!"

Li Jingsheng, when treating patients, prefers first reviewing some basic test results, then talking to the patient to understand the actual situation.

Honestly, when diagnosing bone disease, he has an advantage over most doctors.

Because he has mastered the Bone Touching Skill and reached an advanced level.

He can tell the condition of the patient’s bones just by feeling them.

He can now detect the patient’s bone injuries, blood vessels, and tendons, and can even sense changes in the patient’s bone quality and position, and some subtle alterations.

For example, with bone tumors, if they’re even slightly apparent, he can detect them at a touch.

Following Director Zhong into the inpatient ward, the patient has already been admitted and is currently waiting for further examination to diagnose the cause of illness.

Among patients admitted to the hospital, a large portion are either undiagnosed or require further diagnosis.

At this time, by admitting the patient and administering symptomatic treatment or targeted treatment, and then conducting a re-examination or further tests, one can further determine the cause.

To give the simplest example, take obstetrics and gynecology’s pregnant patient’s cervical shortening situation.

A pregnant woman visits the hospital for a check-up, claiming she often feels pain in the pubic area recently. The doctor then orders an ultrasound to first check the fetal condition in the abdomen.

Upon ultrasound examination, cervical shortening is noted in the pregnant woman.

Clinically, this is generally seen as a sign of impending miscarriage.

As doctors, it’s taken very seriously.

Because if the pregnant woman miscarries after returning home, who would be held responsible?

But this pregnant woman is already a multipara, having given birth to a child before, and her cervical length is 24 millimeters.

In clinical practice, as long as it is not less than 25 millimeters, it is considered normal.

A better result can reach around 30 millimeters.

In such cases, even the most experienced doctor cannot immediately determine if a pregnant woman has cervical shortening.

Because ultrasound checks can sometimes have some errors.

Although today’s equipment is becoming increasingly advanced and the accuracy of examinations is getting higher, there can still be some errors.

Whether it is the size of a tumor, or the location of bleeding, or even a thrombus examination, errors may exist.

The location of bleeding, even in angiography, may sometimes have deviations.

At the first hospital where Li Jingsheng previously worked, there was such an incident.

It was suspected that the patient had a thoracic hemorrhage.

Angiography was performed, and a bleeding point was found, which seemed not significant.

The doctor was prepared to take conservative treatment measures, first using medication to control it, to see if it could stop the bleeding.

As a result, the patient suddenly convulsed two hours later, had cardiac arrest, and despite strenuous rescue efforts, they couldn’t bring the person back. The final autopsy result showed that the patient had an abdominal aortic dissection.

The patient died from a rupture of the dissection, leading to massive bleeding.

Because of this incident, not only was the radiology doctor disciplined, but the attending physician was also punished.

Sometimes doctors ask patients to undergo further tests or hospital treatments actually out of responsibility for the patient. But patients, not understanding medicine, might mistakenly think the doctor wants to make more money off them?

Ultimately, they might be unwilling to cooperate with necessary tests.

The patient admitted by Director Zhong Hu had apparent symptoms, so the patient generally was willing to cooperate.

Because after being hospitalized and receiving medication and some symptomatic treatment, their pain is alleviated.

To the patient, it doesn’t feel as painful, which makes them think the treatment is effective.

They wait to be discharged with joy in their heart.

Actually, at this time, the doctor may not have found the problem and is just providing symptomatic supportive treatment.

"Huang Keming, how are you feeling now?"

Zhong Hu approached the bedside, inquiring about the patient’s condition.

"Director Zhong, thank you. I feel much better now; it doesn’t hurt as much."

The patient’s mental state looked quite good.

But as soon as they opened their mouth, a full set of black teeth made Li Jingsheng immediately understand that this patient was an old smoker.

"Hmm, it’s good that the pain has lessened. By admitting you, we’ll try our best to find out the cause of your illness and strive for your early recovery and discharge. This is Dr. Li, our expert in bone diseases and a bone setting specialist. Because your condition is very rare and complex, we specially invited Dr. Li to consult."

Zhong Hu ceremoniously introduced Li Jingsheng.

"Dr. Li, hello! Thank you for your trouble."

The family members and patients squeezed out respectful smiles to greet Li Jingsheng.

"Treating patients is our duty. How long have you been in pain?"

Even though Li Jingsheng saw in the records that the patient had been in pain for more than four months, he still habitually asked once more.

Not to be redundant, but to further confirm.

"It’s been almost half a year! As you get older, there’s pain here and there, it’s inevitable. At that time, I didn’t pay attention to it, and when the pain was unbearable, I smoked. But recently it’s been too painful, and my body keeps growing taller. I can’t wear my old clothes. My wife asked someone, who said it might be secondary growth, rejuvenation. They said I might become young again.

You’re all experts, I’d like to ask, is there really such a thing as rejuvenation?"

Asked the patient with full expectation.

The family members also looked at the two doctors, hoping for a confirmed answer.

Li Jingsheng almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Where did these superstitious tales come from?

Once human aging starts, how could one rejuvenate?

That’s too unscientific.

As people age, bodily functions deteriorate, metabolism slows, and cell replacement also decelerates.

This is why elderly skin appears with numerous wrinkles and age spots appear.

"I’ve heard of rejuvenation in myths and legends, but I haven’t heard of it in reality. Let me check your limb joints first!"

Li Jingsheng managed to keep his composure.

After explaining seriously to the patient and family for a couple of sentences, he directly performed a bone-touching examination on the patient.

At that moment, the patient began to cough, and quite violently.

The sound was a bit like a broken gong.

Li Jingsheng, with considerable expertise in respiratory diagnosis, immediately recognized that the patient had lung problems.

Old smokers’ lungs are most prone to lesions.

With more than ten years of smoking history, if a smoker’s lungs were taken out, they would be completely black.

Some people’s lungs have even hardened like stone.

The normal functioning of the lungs requires the alveoli to expand and contract. When lungs harden, respiratory function is severely affected.

At this point, breathing becomes particularly strenuous.

For instance, in the initial stage of COVID-19 infection, many patients’ lungs turned into stone lungs. Even ventilators were useless.