RxPG News : Latest Medical, Healthcare and Research News

Nurses pivotal to health care system: President

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:37:19 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 12 - President Pranab Mukherjee Sunday said nursing has evolved into a modern medical profession and nurses have become an indispensable part of the country's health care system.

Nurses form a large part of the health workforce and are the backbone of the health care system. They are pivotal in the hospital-doctor-patient paradigm, the president said while presenting the National Florence Nightingale awards to nursing personnel here on the occasion of International Nurses Day.

The president said nursing has developed into a noble specialisation and nurses have themselves become synonymous with competence and unparalleled commitment.

He thanked the entire nursing fraternity for their dedication and services to the nation.

Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, speaking on the occasion, said in the last seven years there has been a four-time increase in the number of nursing colleges in India.

Thirty-five nurses were presented with National Florence Nightingale awards for their dedicated services in the health care sector.

PMK leader Ramadoss well in hospital

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:59:43 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chennai, May 12 - PMK leader S. Ramadoss who was admitted to a hospital here after complaining of breathing difficulty is doing fine, a party official said Sunday.

Ramadoss was admitted to a private hospital Saturday night for breathing problem and the doctors are attending to him, and there is nothing to worry about his condition, the party member said.

The PMK also said in a statement issued Sunday that Ramadoss is fine and party men need not worry.

Ramadoss was released Saturday on bail after spending 12 days in the central jail in Tiruchirapalli, around 350 km from here.

Speaking to reporters after his release, Ramadoss said there was no basic amenity in the prison and he and his party cadres suffered.

Ramadoss was arrested for defying police orders April 30, and was sent to 15 days in judicial custody.

He was arrested while trying to hold a demonstration at Vilupuram, around 170 km from here, demanding an inquiry into the April 25 violence at Marakkanam near here.

'Indian comprehensive healthcare not ready yet'

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:13:22 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Kolkata, May 12 - There are miles to go before comprehensive healthcare becomes a reality for the people of India, agreed people's representatives, bureaucrats and economists at a panel discussion here.

A country which has not been able to provide safe drinking to its population cannot be ready for a system of comprehensive healthcare, Lok Sabha member Sougata Roy said at an event Saturday.

He added, however, that the achievements that have already been made in the field of healthcare should not be ignored.

We cannot say no progress has been made. We pride ourselves that small pox has been eradicated in this country... we pride ourselves in the fact that polio immunisation has been 100 percent... these are known achievements, Roy said.

The panel discussion at which Roy was speaking was held under the theme Comprehensive Healthcare for All - Is India Ready For It?

Roy said that though states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh have achieved the same standards as the Chinese, there remained a wide gap between achievement and aspiration.

In the primary healthcare sector, there are less than 50 percent qualified doctors in West Bengal. Even today, in most places, 70 percent of the villages are served by quacks... because the nearest healthcare centre is maybe five km away, on a 'kachcha' road, and it is not accessible. So India is not ready, said Roy.

He felt that renowned cardiac surgeon Devi Shetty's approach of providing affordable healthcare in Karnataka could be followed elsewhere.

Roy also pointed out the inadequacy of the private sector in linking rural areas.

The private sector has not ventured beyond large towns. Is the private sector only for setting up large hospitals in big cities on land given by government at a cheap rate or do they have any further responsibility in providing some service to the greatly impoverished masses? he questioned.

West Bengal's principal secretary, health and family welfare, Satish Tewary reiterated that India is not fully ready for comprehensive healthcare, given its limited budget.

Everything has a cost. If somebody else pays for it, I am ready. The issue is who pays for what. Our government needs to improve holistically - we need arsenic-free water... food security, we have not achieved, elaborated Tewary, highlighting matters that need to handled urgently.

Dame Ruth Carnall, CEO of National Health Service, London, stressed that there should not be an excessive reliance on hospitals, and that for her country, doing nothing is not an option for politicians. Else, it would suffer financial and health disasters.

On the other hand, economist Bibek Debroy of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, veered to the issue of appropriate policies in mitigating healthcare matters like the dearth of public toilets in urban India.

Whether it is private toilets or whether it is public toilets, the lack of those in urban India is because of inefficient land usage policies, said Debroy.

The economist also emphasised the need for health insurance that straddles expenditure on drugs, tests and doctors.

Ayurveda becoming popular for eye diseases too

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:19:23 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Koothattukulam -, May 12 - The world's first ayurvedic ophthalmic hospital here says that more and more people are turning to the ancient Indian system of medicine to resolve eye problems.

Doctors at the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre near Kochi assert that ayurveda can easily cure many eye diseases without surgery.

Before we came in, there was no ayurvedic medicine in this field, says N.P.P. Namboothiri, the hospital's managing director and chief physician. We have become the pioneers.

Kerala draws every year tens of thousands of Indians and foreigners in search of ayurvedic treatment. But few beyond Kerala appear to know what ayurveda can do in the field of ophthalmology.

Eye diseases are rampant today, caused in part by long hours of work on computers, poor eating habits, long and frequent journeys, inadequate hours of sleep and so on.

Eye disorders can also result from watching TV for long hours, reading small print continuously, inappropriate head position while lying on the bed, heavy sneezing and even overindulgence in sex.

Television is to blame for most myopic disorders in children.

Many of these diseases can be completely cured through simple treatments we offer, Namboothiri told IANS at his office, which is part of the family's ancestral home.

Hailing from a family of ayurvedic practitioners, Namboothiri set up Sreedhareeyam with five beds in 1999. It has expanded to 350 beds and also gets around 200 daily patients.

The hospital is located at a site where the Namboothiri family ran an informal clinic for a very long time.

Sreedhareeyam has 16 centres in Kerala and elsewhere in India, including major cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Chennai.

In Kerala, it also has a presence in Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Thodupuzha and Thiruvananthapuram.

Unlike earlier times when many turned to ayurveda only as the last resort, today many prefer ayurvedic ophthalmic treatment right away, doctors with Sreedhareeyam say.

Early detection of eye ailments helps in faster and better recovery, Namboothiri said. If treated early, ayurveda strengthens the nervous system and prevents degeneration of the optic nerves.

According to him, even complicated and rare diseases that affect the optic nerve and retina that lead to blindness can be treated with great success with ayurveda.

Thousands of people are today resorting to ayurveda for effective cure, he said.

Major eye diseases treated at Sreedhareeyam include diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataract and detachment of retina.

The hospital also manufactures all medicines and formulations utilized in eye and other treatment.

Shalakya Tantra is the branch of ayurveda that deals with ailments above the neck. Ayurvedic texts deal with 76 eye, 28 ear and 31 nose diseases.

Sreedhareeyam boasts of a large collection of ancient ayurvedic manuscripts of medicinal preparations and treatment methods.

These inscriptions in old Tamil and Malayalam are on palm leaves and have been handed down by ancestors of the Namboothiri family.

We even treat and cure eye problems not normally curable by other medical sciences, Namboothiri says.

Today, our hospital has brought new respect to the science of ayurvedic ophthalmology.

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Tips to protect eyes from heat

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:11:46 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 10 - From viral conjunctivitis to corneal ulcer, the merciless summer can cause all sort of eye-related problems. Water, eye exercises and other remedies can help protect them.

Sanjay Dhawan, director, ophthalmology at Fortis Healthcare, shares some of the common eye problems during summer and tips on how to ward them off.

Viral conjunctivitis: If your eyes turn red, get pricking sensation and if they start watering, you are suffering from viral conjunctivitis. Since it spreads fast, try not to contact people for a few days. You also need to maintain good hygiene by washing hands and the eye area with clean water.

Keep handkerchiefs and towels to yourself and do not allow others to use them. Use antibiotic eye drops and eye ointments, but only after consulting experts.

Stye: In this case, your eyes swell up. You will experience pain and redness will occur due to bacterial infection on the eyelids. Hygiene is important to get rid of stye. Maintain it with a hot compress. Analgesic tablets and antibiotics will also help to give some relief from pain.

Dry eyes syndrome: The symptoms of this condition includes intense itching, fluid discharge from eyes, redness and soreness or dryness in the eyes. Eyes need to be washed thoroughly, lubricating eye drops will provide relief too. Wear good quality eye shades that will help to protect eyes from sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

Corneal ulcer: The infection can be a result of complication of conjunctivitis or use of contaminated contact lenses. It can be bacterial, fungal or viral. It leads to severe pain, redness, watering, blurring of vision, photophobia and a yellowish white spot on the cornea. You must immediately visit a doctor if you are infected.

Dhawan also suggests some dos and don'ts.

Sunglasses: Opt for sunglasses that cover whole eyes. Shades block out 99 to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB radiation and screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light.

Make sure your sunglass lenses are perfectly matched in colour and free of distortion and imperfection. Gray-coloured lenses reduce light intensity without altering the colour of objects, providing the most natural colour vision. See a sunglass lens on how much UV radiation it absorbs.

Contact lenses: Your contact lenses should also be protected from intense heat. If you wear UV protective contact lenses, you still need to wear a pair of sunglasses to protect the area of the eye that is not covered by the lens.

No air-conditioning -: Use of AC should be avoided in case you are suffering from any kind of eye infection.

Cold Water: Splash cold water on your eyes at regular intervals. This relaxes stressed eyes and keeps your eyes hydrated. Avoid rubbing eyes. Stay away from dusty areas.

Eye exercise: Exercise is good for relieving the stresses off from eyes. The best eye care exercise that you can practice is to close your eyes and press them with your palms. You should do this eye care exercise daily for about 5 to 10 minutes.

National agency on organ transplant ready

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:43:59 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 10 - The government would soon come up with a central coordinating agency on organ transplants, the ministry of health Friday said.

The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation - will be set up at Safdarjung Hospital, Director General of Health Services - Jagdish Prasad told reporters here.

The building is ready. The National Information Centre has been asked to prepare an online network, Prasad said, and added that regular meetings were being held to monitor the progress.

Under the NOTTO, the government will give funds to private and public hospitals to appoint a coordinator for organ transplants. Free software would also be given to all centres.

Apart from the NOTTO, four regional centres would also be set up across the country.

The DGHS said that as a pilot project, the NOTTO would become operational in the National Capital Rregion -.

Following unearthing of a kidney transplant racket five years ago, the government had brought about changes in the Transplantation of Human Organs Act -, 1994, specially for the benefit of patients of renal failure.

About 200,000 people are diagnosed with renal failure every year and for most, the only cure is kidney transplant. But less than 3,000 transplants are carried out annually in India due to strictures on possible donors under the present law.

The amended act allows organ donations from a near relative, which it defines as spouse, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister. The amended law broadens the definition of near relative to include grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and aunts. Also, not-so-close relatives who have stayed with the patient can donate organs, provided there is no commercial dealing.

The law makes legal the swapping of organs between two unrelated families if the organs of the respective willing near relative donors are found medically incompatible for the intended recipients. But the swap should be without any commercial transactions, it stipulates.

Free health camps for slum dwellers by Art of Living

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:59:47 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 10 - Over 20,000 slum dwellers were treated by a team of 262 doctors in a month-long campaign by the Art of Living - foundation, it was announced here Friday.

The 108 free health checkup and awareness camps were launched April 14 in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association - in slum clusters in several east Delhi localities in five phases over five consecutive Sundays. The last round is scheduled May 12.

The camps focused on detection and treatment for acute illnesses, provision of health education and spreading awareness about maternal health, said Maheish Girri, international director of AoL.

According to V.K. Goyal, president of IMA east Delhi, eye problems among the slum dwellers was a major concern.

We would be collaborating with eye hospitals in the capital to conducts free eye check-up camps and cataract operations as a follow up exercise, he said.

Medicines worth Rs.22 lakh were distributed by a team of 1,634 volunteers who worked with the doctors.

The camps were organised under Volunteer for a Better India, an initiative launched by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar earlier this year.

Mothers all the way for special children

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:51:49 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 10 - Vijaya Chaing never thought her daughter, now in her 30s, would ever be able to converse normally with a guest or be able to conduct her day-to- day routine activities without help.

At the age of 5, after failing to meet the majority of the milestones, Chaing's daughter was diagnosed to be developmentally delayed and was told that even when fully grown, she would have the IQ of an eight-year-old.

I was shattered, Chaing recalled. It was especially difficult to make my family understand her special needs, she told IANS.

But the college lecturer from Gwalior didn't give up. After checking out the options for special children in her city, she moved to Delhi to provide her daughter with the best facilities.

I gave up a dream job and a settled home in pursue of a life for my child, she said.

As the world celebrates International Mother's Day on May 12, it is the story of mothers like Chaing, whose children have special needs, which needs to focused on.

Chaing is not alone. Similar to hers is the story of Geeta Mehra, whose 13-year old daughter also has special needs.

I knew something was amiss when my daughter missed all the milestones of normal development. She was also very hyperactive, Mehra said.

I ran from pillar to post and consulted a range of doctors but nothing helped. Finally somebody asked me to consult a psychiatrist and within six months I got results, she recounted.

Her daughter is now in a much better position to communicate, learn and carry on her day-to-day activties.

It was as difficult for Rama Nayar to bring up her daughter. Now 18-years-old her daughter shuttled between regular and special schools with doctors diagnosing her as a borderline case of mental disability.

An independent young woman now it is only her mother who fought with society, made her family understand and tutored her to be what she is today.

All the three stories have one thread in common: a determined mother who faced challenges from across all frontiers and helped her child overcome the special needs she was born with.

According to child psychiatrist Nikhil Raheja, the patience and perseverence of a mother can help in massive improvements in children with special needs.

Whenever parents, specially mothers, have learnt the skills and techniques to handle the child, the development of the children has been more than what would have been in fancy schools.

How the child will develop also depends on the mother, he said, adding: I have seen so many cases where the prognosis was very bleak but the children developed much better with the help of their mothers.

Raheja said there have also been some cases where the father has given up and left the child and the mother, saying he couldn't cope up with the emotional stress - but the mother always carried on.

According to UN data, children with disabilities are at 1.7 times greater risk of being subjected to some form of violence.

In India, 1.67 percent of the 0-19 years population has a disability, while 35.29 percent of those living with disabilities are children. The total number children with disabilities in India is around 12 million.

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Safdarjung doctors on strike

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:39:58 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 9 - Around 1,000 resident doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital are on a strike, miffed with poor amenities, security and salaries, and patients are bearing the brunt of their agitation, a doctor said Thursday.

The strike that began Wednesday has hit the out patients department - services but the emergency and the intensive care unit - services are running smoothly, officials said.

Lambasting the hospital for lacking basic facilities, one of the doctors said: There is no drinking water even for patients, leave alone doctors. We are not getting paid properly and no proper security facilities are in place.

There are cases where doctors have been assaulted by aggrieved families of patients, he added.

Doctors also complained of lack of adequate accommodation for the number of doctors in the hostel.

Harsh Anand, president of Resident Doctors Association, told IANS: We have already held meetings with the hospital authorities before going on strike but still situation remains the same.

S.N. Makwana, press information officer at the hospital, however assured that the gridlock would end soon.

We are meeting the resident doctors on strike and the strike would be over soon, Makwana told IANS.

However, another doctor, Sameer Prabhakar warned that if their demands were not met, the agitation would continue at any cost.

We are all hoping that our demands will be met and the issue would get resolved soon If that does not happen then we will continue with the strike, he said.

Safdarjung doctors on strike

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:48:02 PST

( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, May 9 - Around 1,000 resident doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital are on a strike, miffed with poor amenities, security and salary, and patients are bearing the brunt of their agitation, a doctor said Thursday.

The strike that began Wednesday has hit the outdoor patients department - services but the emergency and the intensive care unit - services are running smoothly, officials said.

Lambasting the hospital for lacking basic facilities, one of the doctors said: There is no drinking water even for patients leave alone doctors. We are not getting paid properly and no proper security facilities are in place.

There are cases where doctors have been assaulted by aggrieved families of patients, he added.

Another doctor said that the hospital does not have adequate accommodation for the number of doctors and they were compelled to agitate as the authorities are not serious about addressing the various problems of the medicos.

They are just dragging their feet and every time give false promises, said a resident doctor.