Truth & Myths About... Varicose Veins

By Jorge Molina

Finally, a practical and understandable review of venous disease and varicose veins, suitable for all audiences!

In the age of internet, with so much information available to everyone, most people are paradoxically worse informed than ever regarding to health issues. The problem is that the abundance of contents does not guarantee their quality, not even they are true!

The aim of the collection beginning with this book is the disclosure of medical topics of interest to the general public. Written in plain, accessible language by a doctor, consultant in vascular surgery, aims to answer all questions that anyone may have about varicose veins, clarifying many truths and myths about them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jorge Molina
• Release date: May 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310268885

Jorge Molina

Jorge Molina was born in Castellón (1973) and grown up in Valencia (Spain).Jorge graduated in Medicine and Surgery at University of Valencia (1997), did his residency specializing in Angiology and Vascular Surgery at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona (2004) and Master in Aesthetic Medicine at University of Valencia (2009). He spent additional training periods in Mainz (Germany), Luxembourg, University of Virginia and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (USA). He has developed his career as Consultant in both the public and private sectors in Castellón and Valencia until 2013. Then he was recruited to build Vascular Surgery Departments in two different hospitals in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), both in private and public sector, until he returned back to Valencia in 2017, where he resides now.Linked in one way or another to teaching since the college years, he has taught, lectured and conducted courses about different subjects to all kind of audiences. From 2014 he has decided to center this teaching vocation by editing a collection of books focused on the dissemination of medical knowledge to the general public, under the brand "Medicine Made Easy".He has also recently joined the literary field and published his first (crime) novel, "La navaja de Ockham" in 2018.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Dedication.

I would like to dedicate this book to all the people who have taught me something in this life (and they are many). In particular, given the topic that I will describe in this book, I would like to dedicate this book to the Professors who taught me Medicine and Vascular Surgery, both at the Hospital Clínico Universitario in Valencia and the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona. I feel especially grateful, for reasons they already know and therefore I would like to mention them specifically, to Prof. D. Carlos Carbonell Cantí and Prof. D. Juan Martinez León.

And of course I want to dedicate this book to my parents: my first - and best - Teachers. No one has taught me so much in return for so little. And still they do, hopefully for many years.

1.2 Foreword.

Medicine is an ever-changing science. As new research and clinical experience broaden our knowledge, changes in treatment and drug therapy are required. The author of this work has checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to provide information that is complete and generally in accord with the standards accepted at the time of publication. In some cases where there are still no scientific evidence available, the author has added his own opinion based on years of experience. However, in view of the possibility of human error or changes in medical sciences, neither the authors nor the publisher nor any other party who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this work warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they disclaim all responsibility for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from use of the information contained in this work. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained herein with other sources, especially with professionals specialized in this field.

1.3 About this book.

In a historic moment where any kind of information is widely available to everybody thanks to internet, we find increasingly more people more - and paradoxically worse - informed than ever: having so many sources of information does not mean they are good quality ones, and it is becoming increasingly common in medical practice patients asking about issues they found on internet. Frequently, these patients are very alarmed or scared about what they read, but often misinformed, revealing that their readings on internet had only got them a hard time - but being of little use instead.

The aim of this collection is to disclose medical topics of interest to the general public. In this particular book, the objective is to disclose some knowledge about a very frequent disease - varicose veins - and other conditions related to or that might be confused with them. Therefore, the target is general population.

Should you be a healthcare professional you will probably find that many of the concepts explained in this book are presented in an overly simple way or perhaps you would miss a more technical language. Although you are also invited to enjoy it (from my experience, one never knows where something new to learn can be found), it´s unlikely that it will fulfill all expectations regarding to the degree of scientific evidence or methodological rigor. This is why I would like to clarify that this is NOT a book for training medical or nursing staff, whose knowledge should already be far beyond this.

In the following pages I have used deliberately a simplistic approach, and I've done it using the same plain language that I speak daily to my patients, to whom I try to explain as simple and clear as possible the problems they are suffering and the solutions that could make them feel better. Since the purpose of language is to convey the message with the highest chance of it being properly understood, I have tried to avoid the medical terminology whenever possible. However sometimes this is not feasible, or simply the best way to understand a concept is to explain it in the proper terms. In order to facilitate maximum understanding, you will find in the last chapter a glossary of the medical terms used.

Just a final warning: the purpose of this book - to be informative - must necessarily always explain general cases, and thus it is impossible to apply what is presented here to specific cases. This means that this book IS NOT INTENDED TO BE a substitute for a proper medical consultation in any way. If you or someone you know seems to present any of the symptoms or diseases presented here, what you should really do is to consult a Doctor specialized in Vascular Surgery. Taking decisions based solely on this or any other information without the advice of an appropriately qualified professional may bring dangerous consequences to your health and even be life-threatening. Please do not forget about it.

1.4 About the author.

Jorge Molina Martínez (Castellón, Spain, 1973) graduated in Medicine and Surgery at University of Valencia (1997), did his residency specializing in Angiology and Vascular Surgery at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona (2004) and Master in Aesthetic Medicine at University of Valencia (2009). He spent additional training periods in Mainz (Germany), Luxembourg, University of Virginia and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (USA). He has developed his career as Consultant in both the public and private sectors in Castellón and Valencia, until moving in 2013 to Abu Dhabi (United Arab