Dr. Cynthia Peralta-Lubaton

Featured Internist:
DR. CYNTHIA PERALTA-LUBATON

Blessed with seven children, champion of Diabetes care for charity patients at the Jonelta OPD for more than 10 years, and a strict mentor, Dr Lubaton’s inspiring moments and practice tips in this issue are revealed.

During the early 80’s, Perpetual Help had to rely on willing and capable mentors to enable the conduct of classes in the College of Medicine. Dr Cynthia Lubaton was among those invited by the institution to share her expertise. Raised in Bicol and born to an English Professor, mentoring was not new to the strict Cardiology and Endocrinology teacher. Graduating from the University of Sto. Tomas (UST), and obtaining her residency training in Internal Medicine at Medical Center Manila, Dr. Lubaton enrolled in the Institute of Science-Diabetes Mellitus Foundation under the leadership of Dr Ricardo Fernando.

Highlight of all these, is being mother to seven kids. Married to Atty. Paterno Lubaton, who has also been a legal counsel to the institution and campaign manager to Col. Antonio Tamayo, Dra Lubaton recalls her UST days where they first met. Anyone would say that raising seven children while in a hectic medical practice would be a superhuman role. But she did it even surpassing uterine cancer on her last pregnancy.

Being active in her charismatic community, she has found ways to overcome the trials of losing her beloved husband just last year after almost 8 years of steady dialysis. Atty. Paterno Lubaton, whom she proudly mentioned as being an able lawyer and businessman in the maritime industry during his early years, has always been a supportive partner and father to the family.

When asked regarding her Perpetual experience, Dr. Lubaton recalls teaching Cardiology as a priority together with Dr Cynthia Fernandez in the department of medicine. It was quite emotional when the late Dr Raymund Katigbak, former Chair, who passed his personal lecture notes and materials to her on his deathbed, obliged Dr Lubaton to then take the responsibility of handling Endocrinology lectures for the 150 medical students at that time which became her primary field of expertise later, focusing on Diabetology.

Among the present consultants whom she was able to handle were Dr. Elizabeth Carreon, now the Medical Director; Dr Juliana Tamayo; and Dr Felicitos Obillo.

With her pioneering the Jonelta Charity DM Clinic every Thursdays, more than a hundred diabetic patients in Laguna and Cavite are benefiting upto now from the free blood glucose monitoring and cholesterol check, free consultation and sometimes, free medications upon admission.

When asked about the DM Epidemic and advice to younger students, she says:

IM Pulse: What can you say about the ongoing “DM Epidemic”?
Dr Lubaton: Alarming. The family itself must be wary of their own future diabetics.

IM Pulse: Advice to younger colleagues in practice?
Dr Lubaton: "Just fulfill your dreams, and do whatever makes you happy. But learn to sacrifice your profession to prioritize the family.”






LUCKY 7: Dr. Lubaton with husband Atty. Lubaton and seven kids - (eldest to youngest)
Eldest, Atty. John Patrick; Pediatrician Dr. Cheryl Ann; Cynthia Asteria – named after her mother – based in Singapore; John Emmanuel – section head in BDO; Paterno III; Christian Angelo – 2nd yr medicine proper; and plans to take surgery, was among the top 20 nursing board exams; youngest, Gerard Matthew – Nutrition student

Dr Cynthia P. Lubaton may be reached thru her Clinic at Family Care Hospital in Pacita Complex or at the College of Medicine twice a week for her lectures on Endocrinology.

September 2008 News

BMS Champions in Socio-cultural Night

(September 2008)

As this year’s Laguna Medical Society themes the Socio-cultural Night with “Hollywood Silverscreen” Movies held last September 19, 2008 at the Performing Arts Theater of the University of Perpetual Help Laguna, numerous “celebrity” MDs filled the evening with glamour and vibe.

With former PMA President Dr Jose Sabili as one of the guests and judges, presidents and members of the various medical societies in the Laguna Province attended the affair as well, once more exhibiting the versatile physicians’ talents amidst busy schedules.

The Biñan Medical Society garnered First Place for presenting their own rendition of “Mamma Mia”, dancing and singing to ABBA songs such as “Dancing Queen”, “Honey, Honey”, “S.O.S”, and “The Winner Takes it All”.

With its main cast fully-costumed in glittery gold and multi-colored satin,

Dr. Marcus Brillantes and Dr. MariRose Ramos were both awarded Stars of the Night while our very own Chair Dr. Amelita Brillantes and BMS President

Dr. Jocelyn Rosales portrayed the role of Meryl Streep’s bestfriends. Residents, UPH Graduates, Consultants including former BMS President

Dr. Jun Lasala danced delightfully to the colorful choreography of Arnel.

Running 2^nd Place is Sta. Cruz Medical Society’s “All That Jazz”, followed by Calamba Medical Society’s “Grease”. Makiling Medical Society partied up to “Saturday Night Fever”, San Pedro Society sexily presented “Cabaret”, while Sta. Rosa Laguna offered a pop and upbeat “Highschool Musical”.

Solvay Pharma Inc. was sponsor in the event while venue was made available thru the assistance of Dr. Anna Sofia Victoria T. Salazar-Fajardo.

The Champion, “Mamma Mia”, will present its musical play once again on September 26, 2008 at Manila Pavilion for the Fellowship Night of the Medicine Week. Voules vous! Keep up the good work, vibrant Biñan Medical Society!

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Asian Hospital Holds 2^nd Post-Graduate Course:

Dr. Brillantes as Guest Speaker

(September 2008)

As the Southern Tagalog region beams with a great array of medical centers and health experts, the Asian Hospital and Medical Center together with our institution take part in this lead. In its 2^nd Post-graduate Course held last September 17-18, 2008 at The Palms Country Club in Alabang with the theme “Hot Topics in Outpatient Medicine”, topics such as PTB, vaccination for all ages, outpatient asthma management, cancer screening and prevention, and many more were highlighted and reviewed.

Our Chair Dr. Amelita Catalan- Brillantes was invited as guest speaker on “Lipid Management updates: Targeting beyond just LDL” where she emphasized on the importance of raising patients; HDL levels aside from lowering triglycerides and LDL cholesterol through the help of the long-studied drug nicotinic acid (Niacin).

The Coronary Disease Project (CDP) spearheaded by Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) highlights the re-entry of Niacin as a prime cholesterol-lowering agent which may be combined with statins.

When asked on how Niacin can be used for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, Dr. Brillantes noted that although there are no really randomized control trials, based on expert experience, “it would not be wise to remove these medications once the patent has been started on it prior to the CKD.” She, however, raised the already evident need to take particular care in using multiple agents in patients with CKD to prevent further complications.

Combination of Niacin whether with statins or fibrates has been another area of debate. Dr. Brillantes recalled that although there are no hard and fast rules as to whether fibrates should be prioritized over statin-niacin combination, she prefers using two agents with two different mechanisms of action to effect potentiation, thus, niacin with statins. Also citing the CDP study of MSD, she mentions mortality rates were tremendously decreased by 11% by using even niacin alone and that even though past studies have shown fear on the use of Niacin due to its major side effect - flushing, MSD is currently coming out with several researches into developing extended-release reformulations to possibly improve its delivery.

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Thoughts on my way to work: “Make Them Happy And You Make Them Good”
By Dr Amelita C. Brillantes

January 2009

The summer after graduation from Grade VII, our year book ASSUMPTA 1976 became one of my favorite reading materials. In it were our pictures in gala uniform, our formal names (Amelita Geisha Catalan y Levardo), birthdays, addresses, ambitions, and a quote from each of us.

“Make them happy and you make them good” was a quote from a classmate who was a quite, simple, ordinary girl - much like me. What kind of a quote is that, I thought. How unsophisticated. Unlike one that says “I cried and cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet” or the other one “God, grant me the courage to change the things that I can change, the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Wow. To a 13 yr old, those words were profound.

Over the years, I have come to appreciate the depth and veracity of such a simple quote. “Make them happy and you make them good.” When one is “happy”, it is because one is at peace with himself- and one is able to be more loving and understanding, able to overlook another’s fault, and focus on what is good and positive. One would be more willing and able to forgive.

When one is un”happy”- one tends to be hypercritical over minute mistakes, easily provoked, unreasonable, explosive. One will tend to gloss over negatives, unwilling or unable to forgive. The days when one is at odds with one’s neighbors, those are the days when one is most at odds with himself. One simply cannot give what one does not have.

Gawad Kalinga reports a decrease in crime rates and increased productivity among recipients of their housing projects. It may be not only because their dignities has been restored with decent homes, but also because they are “made happy” to be recipients of such a package of love and care.

Of course human happiness is not a permanent static state. Nor is it something you wish for then sit waiting till kingdom come for it to alight on you. I am coming to realize that happiness is actually a choice. There will always be negatives and irritants in life. On the way to work, there is the driver who recklessly cuts into your lane who manages to wreck your mood and your day- if you so allow it. And yet there are the other hundreds of motorists who stick to their lanes and who follow the rules allowing orderly movement of traffic. They never ever manage to enter our consciousness, entirely eclipsed by the one reckless driver. In the clinic there is the arrogant patient with their hundred-and-one questions, fresh from browsing the internet about their diseases, challenging our decisions every step of the way. They always manage to disrupt our peace, if we let them. Along side them are the many more patients who put their trust and their lives into our hands who come bearing gifts from bags, shoes and perfumes to baskets of balut and itlog na pula in thanksgiving for us saving their lives. At home there is the yaya who never seems to get what we want, along side the other yayas who are efficient, loyal, and able to anticipate our needs even before we need them. It is only a matter of choosing who to look at and who to relegate to our peripheral vision; which memories to store and which to delete; which messages to save, which to erase.

I read somewhere recently: Happiness needs to be practiced, like the violin. How true!

Thoughts on my way to work: on Children

By Amelita C. Brillantes, MD

(Previously Published in the PHA Newsletter)

In the afternoons when I go down from my Silang clinic, the street is already teeming with vendors with merchandise of all sorts: fresh vegetables, hairpins and ornaments, cell phone accessories, slippers, shiny wall-sized posters unmistakably made in China. Last Monday, as I walked to the car, I was tempted by the array of ripe red tomatoes which made me think of making salsa so I stopped to buy. The tomatoes were sold to me by a young girl about 10 years old, with straight black hair held back by a pink headband, still chubby cheek, keen intelligent eyes and an honest disarming smile. During the customary haggling, I learned that she just got off from school. Her name Marlen, the sixth of nine (!) siblings. Her parents who are also vegetable vendor were in another puwesto somewhere in the vicinity.

In the car on the way home, I can’t stop brooding over the fact that this very young girl is out there selling tomatoes for a living, learning the way of the world at such a tender age, and she didn’t seem to mind. Still practically a baby and a girl at that, there she was – already a merchant out in the crowded street, dealing with strangers, handling money loaded with “germs” , when she should be home playing with Barbie dolls.

That set me off to thinking about our own children. At 10, our children would still be safely cocooned in their soft safe, “sterile” world: driven to and from school with yaya in tow, not allowed to go out of the gate by themselves, not allowed to talk with strangers, and they’d only have the faintest idea about money since they are given everything they need. Our children would generally be shielded from the bad news of the world. They’d only hear of harsh bites bit-by-bit from TV Patrol, and are gently eased into the adult world with firm, supportive hands.

Would the child vendor be better equipped in becoming a full-fledged adult? Or is she greatly disadvantaged by the early loss of her childhood? What about the internists’ child? Will material adequacy always give them an edge in life? Or will their Polly pockets and their PSPs do them a disservice by lulling them into complacency and dependency? Jose Rizal who was sent to a boarding school and traveled over Europe became a national hero, just like Andres Bonifacio who sold abaca fans as a child.

As parents, we will do all we humanly can to lead our offspring to the right path. Then we can only hope and pray that whatever strategy we use will work. In the end, we will be comforted by the thought that our children are their own persons. We can try to mold, train, suggest, recommend, but ultimately they will make their own choices, just as we ourselves do.

ACLS

Advanced Cardiac Life Support Seminar held

Rene Librojo,MD,FPCP,FPCC

The UPH – Dr. Jose G. Tamayo Medical Center’s Department of Internal Medicine, in cooperation with the Philippine Heart Association, Southern Tagalog Chapter (PHA STC) and Philippine Heart Association Council for CPR held a succesful 2 day Advanced Cardiac Life Support seminar (ACLS) on January 27-28, 2007 at the Medicine Auditorium, University of Perpetual Help College of Medicine-Biñan Laguna. Council Head Raul Ramboyong, MD with PHA-STC President Nanette Rey,MD and Scientific committee head Amelita Brillantes,MD headed the organizing committee. Lectures and facilitators were Drs. Raul Ramboyong, Jenny Beltran, John Paul So, Amelita Brillantes, Marian Almazan, Albert Bautista, and Mr. Reynaldo Grande.

There were 50 participants mostly doctors, nurses and health care professionals from nearby hospitals in the area who were given lectures and hands-on workshop on the new recommendations and techniques of ACLS. The Department of Medicine plans to do this annually to help health care professionals and students of UPH and health care workers of other hospitals be trained & updated on the proper and new recommendations of ACLS.

ETO's Corner

Dr. Rhodora D. Valenzona

Executive Training Officer

Presently the department has the most number of residents in UPH-DJGTMC (Binan). The Department of Internal Medicine has filled 8 of the 9 slots allotted for its residents. This comes at a time when most other hospitals with a residency training program are facing a “crisis” in terms of applicants for residency training.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it is not only the “numbers” that we are proud of, our present crop of residents are among the “cream of the crop” in terms of academic standing during their years as medical students.

The rising phoenix, which is our department, has made its presence felt by reaping awards in the Interdepartmental Residents Research Paper presentation for the last two years. We have in fat started testing the waters outside our institution by joining interhospital competitions – warming up for that big win.(!)

HARRISONS’ CLUB

Our goal after achieving full accreditation – residents’ passing the PCP Board exam! Done every Wednesday (hopefully!). a consultant moderates each fora with the residents giving a synopsis of assigned chapters of Harrisons’. Post-tests are given after each sessions.

IM ICU LINE and IM WARD LINE

Better communication to achieve better interaction between residents and consultants with the ultimate goal of better patient care and monitoring. It is with this in mind that the department now has two cellphone lines for the residents. One for use in the ICU and one in the wards. The IM ICU line is 0917-8592286 and the IM Ward Line is 0917-8592285. Consultants are encouraged to use these lines for faster communication with the residents. The IM ICU line is always with the ICU Officer-on-duty while the IM Ward line is always with the ward resident-on-duty. For concerns with the ER IM resident-on-duty, consultants are requested to use the landline number of UPHMC.