‘Health’ Articles
Written by admin on 10 December 2012
Gurgaon, Dec 10 (IANS) SOcial activist Anna Hazare was Monday discharged from a Gurgaon hospital where he was admitted last week with a complaint of acidity, cough and weakness, a doctor said.
Hazare, 75, was admitted to Medicity Medanta hospital Friday.
“A team of doctors, led by Dr Naresh Trehan, was treating Hazare. The septuagenarian was declared fit and healthy on Monday and was discharged from hospital.” K.L. Sehgal, a doctor at the hospital, told IANS.
Hazare was the face of the India Against Corruption movement which was launched in December 2010.
Tags: Haryana
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Written by admin on 08 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) The urban-rural divide in India is quickly disappearing as far as cardiac diseases are concerned, with many village residents acquiring risk factors for heart disease such as high cholesterol and diabetes, doctors said Saturday.
“Blood pressure and other risk factors of cardiac disease is now high among people in rural areas. We need to create awareness in rural areas,” Santanu Guha, general secretary, Cardiac Society of India (CSI), said on the sidelines of the 64th Annual CSI Conference and SAARC Cardiac Congress.
He also said CSI is coming out with booklets in regional languages on heart disease to educate them.
According to CSI, recent studies have shown that heart diseases have emerged as the number one killer in both urban and rural areas of the country.
“The diseases affect men and women alike. If all age groups are included, heart diseases account for about 19 percent of all deaths in the country,” said a surgeon at the conference.
The four-day conference in Delhi, with almost 3,000 cardiac surgeons across the country in attendance, focused on “Cardiology in India-Prevention & Intervention”. It ended Saturday.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Gurgaon Dec 7 (IANS) Social activist Anna Hazare was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Medanta Hospital here after he complained of acidity and weakness and is now stable, a doctor said Friday.
He was first admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital and then shifted to the ICU.
“Anna complained of acidity, cough and weakness Friday morning and was admitted to Medicity Medanta here in sector 38,” a close activist of Anna told IANS.
“He is stable and his heath is better. He is recovering. He has been kept in an ICU for some private reasons, not for his illness,” said a senior doctor at Medanta.
Hazare is scheduled to meet members of Anna Samanwaya Simiti from Haryana Dec 9.
Hazare, 75, was the face of the India Against Corruption movement, which was launched in December 2010 and united the poor and the middle class against corruption.
Tags: Haryana
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Written by admin on 06 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) Cardiac diseases not only affect individuals but also the country’s economy and their prevention is not only a medical necessity but a social imperative, Vice President Hamid Ansari said Thursday.
“Cardio-vascular diseases not only impact physical well-being but can also impact the economy because of expenditure on treatment,” said Ansari in his address after inaugurating the 64th Annual Conference of the Cardiological Society of India (CSI) and the SAARC Cardiac Congress here.
“Prevention and cure of cardio-vascular disease is not just a medical necessity but also a social imperative for sustainable growth and development of developing countries such as India,” he added.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was also present on the occasion.
Ansari also exhorted doctors in the country to increase their operations in rural areas besides commenting on how the number of heart surgeries performed by Indian hospitals annually (90,000) fell short of the required 2.5 million.
Doctors pointed to the worrying trends of the disease in India.
“Heart disease is the biggest killer in India. By 2015, it will supercede any other infection. 50 percent of heart disease cases in the world are currently from India. What is worrying is the fact that 50 percent of the Indian population is young. Heart disease and attacks are more common among Indian youth than others in the world,” said CSI president Ashok Seth.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardio-vascular diseases are the number one cause of death annually. Also, 17.3 million people died in 2008 due to heart disease, which accounted for 30 percent of all global deaths.
Low and middle-income group countries account for 80 percent of heart disease deaths. By 2030, 25 percent people will die of cardio-vascular diseases.
On the occasion, an edition of the Indian Heart Journal containing new guidelines on the prosthetic valve, pacemakers and contrast nephropathy was released by Ansari and Dikshit.
Three books by CSI members M. Khalilullah, I.B. Vijayalakshmi and M. Sathapathy were also released.
The conference, which will go on till Dec 9, is being attended by cardiologists from SAARC nations such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives besides cardiologists from across India.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 06 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 6 (IANS) Only eight million of the 26 million babies born in India every year are breastfed within an hour of birth, said a World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative report Thursday.
It also ranked India at 31 out of the 51 countries surveyed.
In breastfeeding practices from 2008-2012, the report found only 46 percent of newborns in India were breastfed in the first 24 hours of their birth.
The percentage was found higher in neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka (75.8), Bangladesh (64), Afghanistan (54.3) and Bhutan (58.5).
The World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative was launched in 51 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America by International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN).
The report is titled: ‘Are Our Babies Falling Through Gaps: The State of Policies and Programme Implementation of the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding in 51 countries’.
Arun Gupta, regional coordinator of IBFAN Asia, said: “India only had guidelines for advocacy of infant and young child feeding, no national-level authority with a separate budget allocation”.
He also said the government should come out with a rule extending maternity leave for working women from three months to six months irrespective of whether they are government employees or not.
“Only about six percent of working women are in the government sector, which offers six months maternity leave. This (provision) should be common to all the working women,” he said.
The report also said over 12 percent of Indian mothers fed their newborns with bottled milk which affected their bonding with the babies and their health.
To improve the situation, the report recommends formulation of a comprehensive policy on infant and child feeding practices, monitoring it through a committee, effective maternal protection through awareness, maternity entitlement and counselling.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 06 December 2012
Kolkata, Dec 6 (IANS) In what could help predict one’s susceptibility to various ailments, a new technique to detect genetic variations associated with diseases, including cancer, has been proposed by scientists at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) here.
Some of these genetic variations termed SNPs (pronounced snips) are associated with cancer, certain infectious diseases like leprosy, AIDS, and many others.
“These genetic variations can give us an idea about how humans respond to pathogens (microorganismic infectious agents like virus, bacterium, prion or fungus that cause diseases), chemicals, drugs, vaccines and other agents,” IACS’s associate professor in biological chemistry, Rupa Mukhopadhyay, told IANS.
Detection of these genetic variations can help predict one’s susceptibility to diseases. Identification of these abnormalities is often done by using DNA probe based biosensor technologies.
DNA is the double stranded helically twisted molecule that serves as the hereditary unit of life.
A biosensor is a device that uses a living organism or biological molecules, especially enzymes or antibodies, to detect the presence of chemicals.
However, according to Mukhopadhyay, the DNA-based biosensors which are in use have certain limitations.
“The points to be considered for an ideal biosensor are easy use of the biosensor system, the reading should be reproducible, target-specific and sensitive. All these can not be achieved by DNA probes,” said Mukhopadhyay.
“We have proposed in a recent work that LNA, which is a synthetic analogue of DNA, can be a much better probe in surface-based DNA detection techniques,” said Mukhopadhyay.
According to her, during testing, LNA stands nearly upright to the testing surface because of its unique structure and this gives it the ability to overcome the disadvantages of DNA probes.
(Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana15ghosh@gmail.com)
Tags: Kolkata, West Bengal
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Written by admin on 05 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) The number of organ donations is much lower in the country compared to other nations, experts said here Wednesday.
“Indians need awareness on organ donation. Nearly 140,000 brain dead cases are reported due to road accidents, out of which 80,000 can be potential organ donors. But only a few organ donations are happening,” Sunil Shroff, the chairman of Mohan Foundation, an NGO promoting organ donation, said.
He was speaking at a function of Deceased Organ Donation Network and Transplant Education at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
“If 20 percent of families whose member had a brain death donate his or her organs, all requirements for organ transplantation in this country would be fulfilled,” D.S. Rana, chairman, board of management and department of nephrology at the hospital, said.
He said in Britain, the rate of deceased organ donation was 17 per million and in Spain, it was 35 per million. But in India, it was just 0.8 per million, he said.
According to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, from 1995 to 2011, Tamil Nadu has performed 295 organ donations, Maharasthra 150, Andhra Pradesh 137, Delhi 64, Uttar Pradesh nine and and Chattisgarh seven.
“A person who suffers from brain death can save lives of about eight people as kidneys, lungs, heart, eyes, blood vessels, tissues, blood vessels, cartilage can be donated to needy patients. The deceased family should allow organ donation as their loved one can live even after death,” Mamta Jain, who donated her son’s organs after his brain death.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 05 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra Wednesday pledged to donate her organs, the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here said.
“I was supposed to be here at the event, unfortunately I can’t come, but you are welcome to announce my name as a donor as it helps the cause,” Priyanka informed the hospital authorities through a SMS.
This was announced at an event called The Deceased Organ Donation Network And Transplant Education (DONATE) to promote organ donation.
“SGRH runs one of the most successful organ transplant programme. Though Vadra was not able to make it to the event, we will send the donor registry and the donor card to her residence,” a hospital authority told IANS.
Both her children, Raihan and Miraya, were born at the hospital.
According to NGO Mohan Foundation for organ donation, India has 1.4 lakh accident victims who are diagnosed as brain dead annually.
Though the country has 80,000 potential organ donors, organs from only about 120 are retrieved, making the percentage of cadaver donations a dismal 0.08 per million population.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 05 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra Wednesday pledged to donate her organs, officials at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here said.
“I was supposed to be here at the event, but not able to make it but you are welcome to announce my name as a donor as it helps the cause,” Priyanka SMSed the hospital authorities.
This was announced at an event on organ donation here.
Both her children, Raihan and Miraya, were born at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 04 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) India has recorded over 37,000 dengue cases, including 227 dengue deaths in 2012, the highest number in a year so far, parliament was told Tuesday.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Health Abu Haseem Khan Choudhary said the percentage increase in number of cases and deaths between 2011 and 2012 (up to Nov 26) is approximately 97 percent and 34 percent respectively.
Dengue, a vector borne disease, has hit all major cities of the country, with the total number of cases by Nov 26 reaching 37,070 – a sharp increase from 18,860 cases and 169 deaths in 2011. Over 28,000 dengue cases and 110 deaths were reported in 2010.
Choudhary cited the unprecedented growth in population, unplanned rapid urbanisation and inadequate waste management as the reasons behind the outbreak.
He added that “increased distribution and densities of vector mosquitoes due to man-made, ecological and lifestyle changes” were amongst the main reasons for increasing dengue cases.
Water supply mismanagement, gaps in public health infrastructure, increased mobility of population, and poor infrastructure in the states to monitor mosquito breeding were some other reasons cited by the minister.
Kerala has reported the maximum of over 3,760 dengue cases, followed by Karnataka with 3,640 cases. Delhi, by mid-November, reported 1,980 cases.
Deaths from dengue have been highest in Tamil Nadu which reported 60 deaths. Maharashtra had 59 deaths and Delhi four deaths.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 03 December 2012
New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) The innovative Project Humsufar against HIV/AIDS been able to reach over 38,000 truckers to create mass awareness amongst them in high prevalence states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Pondicherry, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, its initiator says.
Launched by SABMiller India in 2008, the programme emphasizes on educating and creating awareness amongst the truckers on HIV/AIDS through various outreach activities in its breweries like one-on-one interactions and group discussions.
Under the programme, 26,603 truckes were reached through one-on-one and group discussions,2,546 were referred to civil hospitals and nearby Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres, 5,359 were reached through mass media tools such as street plays and films and 80,816 condoms were distributed through social marketing.
According to Ajit Jha, Director, Corporate Affairs and Communications, SABMiller India, “Increasing awareness about HIV/AIDS is a key sustainable development priority for SABMiller India. HIV/AIDS is one of the most important development challenges facing us today and SABMiller India has been actively working towards fighting HIV/AIDS through various initiatives.”
As part of the project, interventions are carried out at the breweries and at other locations where truck drivers halt frequently for sufficient duration, for instance food joints along the highway. Since literacy rates amongst truckers are low, mass media tools such as movies, videos and games are widely used to effectively take the message to truckers.
“The programme also has a very strong referral component where the target populations are encouraged to avail of the free counselling and testing services made available by the government and local NGOs at the nearby ICTC (Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre),” a company statement said.
The interventions are conducted by local partner NGOs (Humana in Rajasthan and Haryana; SONIC in Pondicherry; Bhoruka Charitable Trust in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) and state AIDS controlsocieties are supported by SABMiller India HIV/AIDs master trainers.
“To ensure optimum and effective outreach of the messages, peer creation from within the target groups is given special emphasis. In the truckers programme, special emphasis is laid on promoting correct usage of condoms with an ensured on-site availability through condom vending machines. SABMiller India has been recognized by the ILO as a corporate partner that has made valuable contributions to the National AIDS Control Programme,” the statement said.
According to Divya Verma, National Programme Coordinator, HIV /AIDS Programme, ILO: “SABMiller India’s truckers programme ‘Humsafar’ has been able to emphasize on educating and creating awareness amongst the truckers on HIV/AIDS through various outreach activities. The programme addresses the issue of stigma and discrimination and has been able to contribute valuably towards the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Humsafar was first launched at one of SABMiller India’s biggest breweries – Rochees Breweries (RBL) in Rajasthan – in partnership with Humana People To People, a Rajasthan-based NGO and Rajasthan State Aids Control Society. It was later extended to other locations – SICA Breweries in Pondicherry; Mysore Breweries in Karnataka; Charminar Breweries in Andhra Pradesh and more recently to Haryana Breweries in Sonipat.
“HIV/AIDS is one of the key sustainable development priorities of SABMiller India & it takes an active interest in promoting and creating awareness around such social issues. To mark the World AIDS Day, SABMiller India organized various events and programmes across all its breweries for its employees and truckers. Some of the activities included quizzes, one to one sessions, slogan competitions, street plays, screening of movies, wall writing activity et al,” the statement said.
Tags: New Delhi
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Written by admin on 03 December 2012
Kochi, Dec 3 (IANS) Amrita Technologies, a leader in healthcare informatics solutions, Monday won the “CSI I-T Excellence Award 2012″ in the Health Care Infrastructure and Solutions Category of the Computer Society of India, the largest association of I-T professionals in the country.
Seventy-six leading private and public sector organisations across India participated in this year’s competition.
Amrita Technologies, which is based in Kolkata, won the award for its project “Hospital Information Management System for Pimpri-Chinchwad Hospitals, Pune, a model of e-governance”.
Their project includes delivering an fully integrated hospital information management system including electronic medical records, laboratory radiology imaging, specialised clinical modules, blood bank management and all hospital services.
Tags: Kerala, Kochi
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