Doctors use math on a daily basis. Different types of doctors use math for different calculations. Regardless of the doctor specialty or the particular calculation, math plays an important role in medicine because people's lives are involved. Being accurate in math is extremely crucial because an overdose could lead to serious repercussions, including death.
Determing the proper amount of an IV is crucial.
Administering Medicine
Doctors use math for even simple situations, such as how much medicine to give a specific person based on weight. For example: if a patient should receive 1 teaspoon per 50 pounds of weight, the doctor will need to calculate the exact amount a person weighing 175 pounds should take. In this case, 175 divided by 50 is 3.5, so the doctor would tell the patient to take 3.5 teaspoons of the medicine.
In addition, doctors must also calculate how long the particular medicine will remain in the patient's system.
Calculating Ideals
A doctor often determines whether a person is overweight, underweight or at his ideal weight. According to the University of Detroit Mercy, there is an easy calculation for determining this: females should have a base weight of 105 lb and add an extra 5 pounds for every inch over 5 feet. Males should have a base weight of 106 pounds and should add an extra 6 pounds for every inch over 5 feet.
For example, a female who is 5 feet 7 inches should weigh 105 plus 35 additional pounds (7 inches multiplied by 5 pounds) for a total weight of 140 pounds.
Monitoring Pregnancies
Carefully monitoring a growing baby relies on math.
Monitoring a baby in a woman's womb relies heavily on math and numbers.
When first determining a pregnancy, urine tests are preformed which take a numeric reading of pregnancy hormone, or hCG levels. The particular number will allow a doctor to determine how far along the woman is at the time of the urine sample.
Ultrasounds are taken at different points in the pregnancy to evaluate if the size and dimensions of the baby and organs correlates with a healthy baby's size.
If there are any complications, a woman may have to take specific supplements including, progesterone, heparin or even baby aspirin. Each supplement must be taken in correspondence to a doctor's calculations for what is safe for the growing fetus.
Specialty Doctors: Radiologist and Neurologists
A radiologist is a doctor who uses radiation for treatments and he will use math to determine the exact treatment necessary. A radiologist will use radiation to kill a specific cancer. A doctor would need to calculate the amount of radiation for the particular type of cancer, as well as the particular person.
X-Rays and CAT Scans require the use of math algorithms. However, with advancements in technology, many hospitals have adapted computers to run algorithms for radiologists, which would have previously been calculated by the radiologist.
Another type of doctor, called a neurologist works with patients who have epilepsy. These doctors use a test called EEGs, also known as electro-encephalograms, to evaluate voltage in brain activities. If there is anything abnormal, it can be detected calculating sums or differences in what a regular brain's voltage should be.
Other General Uses
According to Math Central, numbers aid a doctor with understanding his patient's condition and can also serve as warning signs to infection, illness or disease.
For example, white blood cell counts are usually provided as a number between 4 and 10, according to Math Central. However, the number must be multiplied by 1,000 to understand how many white blood cells are in each drop of blood. For example, a number of 4.3 means there are 4,300 white blood cells in each drop of blood. If the number is not in the normal range, this will serve a warning sign of something more serious.
Tags: white blood, base weight, blood cells, blood cells each, cells each, cells each drop
