Anemia – An Emergency Like Situation In India That Needs Immediate Attention

If we go by latest statistics around anemia, then the news is surely bad because it says that almost 40% of the population in India Is Anemic. Anemia, as we all know is caused due lack of hemoglobin, a substance carries oxygen to the RBCs. Iron rich dark green leafy vegetables are the source of the essential nutrients required to fight anemia.

Even worse, the global nutrition report of 2017 shows India in the last spot which is worrisome for sure. Also another report of 2016, shows over 45% of female population in India is anemic and over 20% women are overweight.

Though, the government has been able to curb population of people living below extreme poverty lines from a humungous 306 million to 48 million. But, as far as curbing malnutrition is concerned, the government hasn’t been as much successful, despite efforts.

Even today Anemia is known to affect every second child in the country. There is not much decline in the condition over the past two decades. Even among the age group of 15 – 49 year olds, there isn’t any significant decline. This is an emergency situation as it seems and needs immediate attention.

The factors that are the real obstacles in the fight against anemia besides poverty are poor sanitation, gender bias, iron deficient diet and the government has been working on resolving these problems consistently.

One of the projects of the government which gave great results was that of Iron Supplementation program which increased the consumption of folic acid tablets by 30%. Thus simple strategies like Food Fortification, could be the possible answer to this problem which is taking a toll on the health of Indians for a long time now. Rice which seems to be the staple of over half of the population in India can supplied through a network of shops that offer it at an affordable price.

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Heat Strokes – Warning Signs And How To Deal With It

Heat stroke is a condition that is caused when the body overheats due to physical exertion or staying in higher temperatures. Heat stroke can turn serious if the body temperature soars to 40 degree Celsius or higher. Heat stroke is a common particularly in Andhra Pradesh region of India. 1 out of every 5 person dead due to heat stroke in India is from Andhra Pradesh. Between 2010 and 2015 1825 people from Andhra Pradesh have been reported dead due to heat stroke, accounting to 24% of All India figures. A study also says that there could be a 200 fold rise in heat wave exposures by 2100.

Symptoms of Heat Stroke include confusion, disorientation, no sweating, breathing issues, hallucinations, agitation and coma. If you suspect of someone having a heat stroke, understand it is an emergency and opt for immediate medical help. If a heat stroke is not treated promptly and properly it can be life threatening. Do not compare heat stroke to stroke, a condition where the oxygen to the brain is decreased. The people who are known to be at a higher risk of heat stroke include Athletes, Infants, aged people and those who work in extreme heat conditions. Even children or pets if left in car for a long time unattended can be at the risk of getting a heat stroke.

First aid includes cooling the body temperatures primarily. Take the person indoor or in the shade. Remove excess clothing and use a tub of water or a cool shower to or a sponge soaked in ice water to bring the temperature down. You may also use ice packs around the head, armpits, groin and neck as well. If water is not available you may use the evaporation cooling technique in which misting cold water on the body while fanning warm air. If the patient tends to shiver then the doctor might give a muscle relaxant as well.

The best way to avoid is staying hydrated all the time, avoiding excess intake of alcohol or over clothing in summer.

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OCPD — Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

People who have an OCPD personality disorder, tend to be perfect to the extreme, orderly and neat. They want their standards to be maintained by others and hence they try to do that in a very severe manner.

• The characteristics that govern an OCPD personality include
• They are obsession with being perfect, apparently leading to become even more inefficient
• They are people who are often in aloofness
• They are anxious and depressed simultaneously
• They find it difficult to express their feelings

OCPD personality disorder people don’t have an idea if there’s anything wrong with their behavior. They think and feel that whatever and however they think is right and others are wrong. OCPD is often mistaken with OCD but the fact is that these two conditions are different and not the same.

OCPD Risk Factors

Usually more than women, it’s the men that are at the risk of having OCPD. It is one of the most common personality disorders as per a journal of personality assessment. Also, those who are having existing mental health condition have a probability of getting OCPD as well. Particularly people suffering from OCD of severe nature are at risk of getting diagnosed with OCPD.

OCPD Causes

The causes of this condition are yet not known but factors like genetics and childhood experiences can be considered as some of the causes.

OCPD Symptoms

• Always want to be on time and expect the same from others
• Paying extreme attention to every detail
• Engrossed in their work to an extent that they don’t ignore family and societal relationships
• Their mannerisms are rigid and stiff
• They keep on stocking items that are of no use
• They are stingy with money

OCPD Treatment

One of the treatments for OCPD is Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT). You meet up with a counsellor and undergo a few sessions where you talk about your anxiety, depression or stress. The counsellor emphasizes on giving enough time to family as well as recreation rather than just work.

Relaxation Trianing

This process consists of breathing exercises to destress and decrease the sense of urgency and include yoga, pilates and tai chi.

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Fatty Liver Disease – An Insight

For those who haven’t heard of fatty liver, it means that liver has extra fat in it. The scientific name for the same is hepatic steatosis and is a resulting of addiction to alcohol. Due to high consumption of alcohol fat builds up inside the liver making it hard to work properly. It does not mean that if you do drink, you don’t get fatty liver. For those who don’t consume alcohol and still have fatty liver condition, it is a result of mainly a metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, high amount of belly fat and is known as Nonalcoholic Fatty liver Disease (NAFLD).

Simple Fatty Liver – This means there is only extra fat and no inflammation on the liver cells. Most people suffer from Simple fatty liver and it does not get worse.

Non Alcoholic Steathohepatitis (NASH) – This is known to be serious as compared to simple fatty liver. It occurs when the liver gets inflamed. Your liver cells get damaged due to NASH and can lead to further life threatening conditions like cirrhosis, liver cancer and fibrosis.

Alcohol related fatty liver disease – Also known as ALD, it might or might not exhibit any symptoms. If there are symptoms, they include discomfort or pain in the upper right side of belly. Though if drinking is not stopped, it can lead to complication like alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatitis.

Alcoholic Cirrhosis – The condition causes scar tissue buildup in liver. Symptoms that surface include fluid buildup in the belly, body bleeding, enlarged spleen, liver failure, dis-orientation and behavior changes as well.

Alcoholic Hepatitis – This kind of lever swelling can cause belly pain, jaundice, nausea and vomiting. Alcoholic fatty lever worsens to lead to alcoholic hepatitis and further more into Cirrhosis.

Symptoms – NAFLD as well as ALD as mentioned before may or may not give any symptoms other that fatigue or pain in the upper right side of the belly.

Though NASH as well as cirrhosis do exhibit symptoms like red palms, breast enlargement in men, swollen belly, enlarged blood vessels below skin.

Diagnosis – The diagnosis is based on physical exam, health history and based on tests like blood tests as well as imaging tests. If required a liver biopsy may also be advised.

Treatment – There is no treatment as such in terms of medications for NAFLD, but in case of NASH complications like liver failure or cirrhosis, you may have to go for a liver transplant.

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The Weightloss Plan That Has Taken Maharashtra by Storm

The Diet plan of Dr. Dixit, a professor at the preventive departments of social medicine at the Government medical college and hospital believes that accepting that you are overweight and that you need a diet correction which includes shunning away tempting food and controlling diet in order to keep your diabetes at bay.

Diabetes is very common in India today and more like an epidemic, hence people do need to take their diet seriously. Dr. Dixit has devised a diet plan for 18 years and above age group. His diet plan is quite unique in a way. He harps upon a meal that is high in proteins and low in carbohydrates.

As per Dr Dixit, the food that is high on carbohydrate is responsible for secretion of insulin in big quantities. The meal that is rich in protein will cause less secretion of insulin. Hence, eating anything in between two meals is not advisable. Better drink water, green tea, coconut water or buttermilk instead as they do not trigger the secretion of insulin.

This theory of carboinsulin connection has been discussed by late Dr Shrikant Jichkar, who presented this idea of eating only two meals a day for diabetes prevention. He also organized a study of 446 participants out of which 428 did complete the study with the 6 monthly follow up. There was an average loss of 6.8 kg during the six months. The logic was that there was a rise in diabetes if the insulin levels increased.

He also added that the diet plan he has designed does not lead to loss of stamina. Instead poor diet can lead to health hazards like diabetes, hypertension and even cancer. As per Dr Dixit, eating two meals a day and restricting yourself from eating anything in between the two meals not only leads to weight loss but also controlling diabetes as well. Keto diet is another easy way of controlling your insulin.

Inspite of the fact that there is no definite proof of the same, this diet plan has worked for many people across Maharashtra and many people have tried this plan out.

 

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All You Need to Know About the Cancer Hrithik Roshan is Suffering From

Recently, the celebrated Film Director Rakesh Roshan was diagnosed with early stage throat cancer. The news was shared on the social media by his son, film star Hrithik Roshan. For the past two years many movie celebrities shared their experiences around having cancer and the how life changed for them after getting to know about the cancerous conditions they had. This included notable actors like Irfan Khan, Nafisa Ali, Sonali Bendre, to name a few. While for Rakesh Roshan it is good news in a way because his cancer got detected early on, helping him and the doctors to provide treatment and help get rid of eat at the initial stage.

Rakesh Roshan is suffering from early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the throat and had to undergo surgery as well. Throat cancer is not a new in India, and occurs due to growth of abnormal cells around the throat lining in an uncontrolled manner. The cancer is quite common in Indians and occurs mostly in age groups of 50 and above. It is a considered under the category of cancers for head and neck. In oncology throat and neck cancers come under one category because of they have similarities in their type, pathological features, predisposing factors, cancer types and more.

Throat cancer includes cancers around the vocal cord, tonsil, voice box and orpharynx. There are two categories of throat cancers namely pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer. The two primary types include the Squamous cell carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma – Known to be one of the most common forms of throat cancer, this affects the throats flat cell lining.

Adenocarcinoma – This cancer is not as common as the first one and affects the glandular cells.

Symptoms
Early detection of cancer is not easy but if it is, consider it as a boon. It helps to give appropriate treatment and curb it and eliminate it as well. Symptoms include weight loss, trouble with swallowing, change in voice, swollen lymph nodes, ear pain, wheezing and persistent cough to name a few.

Risk Factors
Men are known to be at a higher risk than women when it comes to getting throat cancer. Even life style that includes addictions like excess alcohol, smoking, genetics, poor dental hygiene and nutrition as well as asbestos exposure increases the chances of getting throat cancer.

Treatment
The treatment depends on the diagnosis and could include surgery and or radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Surgery – Depending on the size of the tumor, the surgery could be an endoscopic one or it could be cordectomy wherein a part or complete vocal chord is removed. When a part of your chord is removed it is known as laryngectomy, while when a part of your throat is removed it is known as Pharyngectomy. If the cancer is spread across the neck then it is known as dissection.

Radiation Therapy – There are two types of radiation therapies namely

Intensity modulated radiotherapy / 3D conformal radiation therapy – These treatments customize the radiations as per the tumor shape and is a common technique used in cancers like the hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer.

Brachytherapy – This is not a common type of radiation therapy and includes placing a radioactive seeds within the tumor.

Chemotherapy – Chemotherapy is one of the common treatments given to cancer patients either with or without radiation therapy. This is given when the tumor has spread through the lymph nodes to other parts or tissues.

Treatment of this cancer can cause side effects like difficulty with breathing, swallowing food, disfigurement of face or neck, difficulty with speaking and hardening around the neck to name a few. With the help of occupational therapists you can learn to deal with such issues.

Early detection of throat cancer means high survival rate. While if detected later, the speed could be slowed down thus prolonging life span through treatment.

 

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*Sourced from the Internet

Women With Diabetes At Higher Risk Of Cancer

A meta-analysis states that Diabetics, particularly women are said to be at a higher risk of cancer. Earlier studies had already determined a link between diabetes and cancer there was no clarity on the role of gender in the same. We all are aware about the bulging population of diabetics in India. As per statistics in 2015, over 400 million people had diabetes while over 17 million had cancer.

Researchers in a recent analysis based on the study published in Diabetologia earlier have worked on data of over 19 million people with type one or type 2 diabetes in 100 studies as well as data sets. The studies revealed that women with diabetes are at 27% higher risk of cancer while men are at 19% risk of cancer, which means that women have a 6% higher risk of cancer as compared to men.

Researchers even analyzed specific cancer types to check if women were at a higher risk and found that woman were indeed at a higher risk in most cancers. These include cancers like leukemia, stomach cancer, kidney cancer, oral cancer to name a few. Women are at a 15% higher risk of leukemia, 14% higher risk of stomach cancer, 13% higher risk of oral cancer and 11% higher risk of getting kidney cancer. However, men were at a 12% higher risk of developing liver cancer against women.

Although, the reason behind women diabetics having a higher risk of most cancers is yet not clear but the researchers have come out with a hypothesis on the same. Toshiaki Ohkuma, Lead Author and research fellow at the George Institute of Global Health in Australia said that as compared to men, women have a longer pre-diabetic period. Pre-diabetic period is a period where sugar levels are above normal levels but not high enough to be considered under type 2 diabetes. Further a study of 2015 also revealed that women most likely skipped medicines of lowering blood sugar levels as compared to men. As the risk of cancer is associated with having higher blood sugar levels, and DNA damage, women with diabetes are at a greater risk of developing cancer than men as they have raised sugar levels for a longer period of time.

Hence, it is advisable that women with diabetes need to be careful about controlling their blood sugar levels besides doing regular cancer screening in-order to detect cancer at earlier stages. A healthy lifestyle that includes a low sugar diet and a fitness regime coupled with timely health checkups can definitely go a long way in balancing sugar levels and reducing the risk of cancer as well.

VIMS is one of the best cancer hospital in India, with 300 beds exclusively for cancer patients.Oncology department in the hospital has got qualified and well experienced doctors.

Oral Cancer – Types and Treatements

The cancer that develops in the tissue of mouth or throat is known as oral cancer and belongs to head and neck cancer group. The cancer usually occurs in people over the age group of 40 and there are thousands of people suffering from oral cancer every year. The survival and treatment is based on the diagnosis and the stage of detection.

Oral Cancer types
1. Tongue Cancer
2. Lips Cancer
3. Gums Cancer
4. Floor of the mouth
5. Inner lining of the cheek
6. Hard and Soft palate

Risk Factors
Oral cancer is most common in people chewing tobacco in different forms like pipes, cigar as well as in people who consume alcohol. Male are twice at risk of oral cancer compared to women. Besides, the following risk factors can cause cancers as well.
• Family history of oral or any other cancer
• Poor Nutrition
• Weak immune system
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection
• Chronic facial sun exposure

Symptoms
• A lump growth anywhere inside the mouth
• Bleeding from the mouth
• Trouble swallowing or wearing dentures
• Loose teeth
• A lip or mouth sore that does not heal
• A sore throat
• Red or white patches on lips or inside mouth
• Jaw or tongue pain or stiffness

Diagnosis
The diagnosis can be done using either X-ray, CT Scan or an MRI scan. MRI’s can show highly accurate results on cancer of neck and head with the stage of it while PET scan can be done in order to check whether the cancer is reached the other organs or lymph nodes. X-ray can help determine whether the cancer has spread to chest, lungs or jaw. CT scan is also find cancers in organs like lungs, neck, mouth and throat.

Stages
There are four stages through which cancer progresses and the survival rate also varies based on the stage of detection of the cancer

Stage 1 – The tumor at this stage is around 2 cm or even smaller and the cancer is not yet spread to the lymph nodes. Survival rate at this stage is quite high

Stage 2 – The tumor is over 2 cm but under 4 cm in size and the cancer hasn’t spread to the nodes. Survival rate is good if the cancer is detected at this stage

Stage 3 – This is a bit advanced stage where the tumor is over 4 cm and it hasn’t spread to the lymph node or is of any size and has spread to one of the lymph nodes. The survival rate is reduced at this stage

Stage 4 – This is the final stage and the cancer has a tumor of any size that has spread to other lymph nodes as well as other parts of the body.

The survival rate for over 60% of people with oral cancer is said to be upto five years or more. The earlier the diagnosis happens, the more is the rate of survival and hence it is the most for localized cancer (83%), 64% for cancer that has spread to lymph nodes and 38% for last stage cancer.

Treatment
The treatment of oral cancer depends on the diagnosis and the type, location and stage of cancer.
The treatment includes –
Surgery – The initial treatment involves removal of the cancerous tumor and lymph nodes. If required some other tissues might be removed from the neck and mouth
Chemotherapy – This therapy involves removal of the cancerous cells using drugs. The therapy is carried out on an outpatient basis, wherein the medicine is provided orally or via (IV).
Radiation Therapy – The therapy is a process of two to eight weeks wherein the doctor projects radiation beams at the tumor once or twice a day. For advanced stage cancers a mix of chemotherapy and radiation therapy is carried out.
Targeted Therapy – targeted therapy is another form of therapy which work well will containing the growth of cancer cells. The drug binds with specific proteins on cancer cells in order to interfere with their growth.

Cancer treatment can take a toll on your diet making it difficult to eat and swallow. Hence, it is important that you discuss your nutrition with the doctor which provides you with all the need nutrients and is even painless for you to an extent.

Vydehi is one of the best cancer hospital in Bangalore, recently vims started VOICE – Vydehi Oncology Institute and Center of Excellence.

Heart Attack at Young Age

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is condition that is caused due to abnormal thickening of the myocardium or heart muscle. As a result the heart struggles in pumping blood and ultimately leads to a heart attack. This is not a common heart condition and hence this condition many a times goes unnoticed. Furthermore, some people who suffer from it might or might not experience any symptoms and are able to live routine normal lives. Only a few might experience symptoms like chest pain, issues with the heart’s electrical system , shortness of breath leading to abnormal heart rhythms of dangerous nature.

CAUSES & RISK FACTORS
Thickening of the heart muscle is a condition which is genetic. It has been found that people with this condition do have their heart muscle cells abnormally arranged, thus causing arrhythmia in them.

Well, as the condition is a hereditary condition there is almost over 50% chance that a child may inherit it from the parent or first degree relative like siblings and hence a screening is advisable if anyone in the family is having the condition.

SYMPTOMS
Not everybody suffering from the condition experience symptoms but the ones who do may experience the following –
1. Chest pain particularly while exercising
2. Palpitations of rapid pounding heart beats
3. Shortness of breath more during exercising
4. Fainting particularly after exertion or exercise
5. Heart murmur detectable by the doctor

COMPLICATIONS
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) can cause serious heart complications resulting into life threatening situation and hence it’s wise to act fast as far as treatment is concerned.
Resulting Conditions
Sudden Death – People suffering from the condition are at a high risk of suffering from a cardiac death due to Ventricular Fibrillation and Ventricular tachycardia, though the chances are extremely rare. It usually affect people at a younger age much below 30 but can occur in all ages.

Atrial Fibrillation – Due to the abnormal structure of the hear cells or thickened muscle it can affect the heart’s electrical system causing irregular heart-beats.

Mitral Valve Problems – Due to the thickened heart muscle, the space for blood flow is limited and hence it could cause the blood to rush or move forcefully into the heart. As a result the hearts left and right ventricle will not close properly further causing the blood to flow in the reverse direction into the left atrium and worsening the symptoms

Dilated Cardiomyopathy – This condition can occur in a very few chunk of people due to the weakening to the heart muscle after it thickens. It can further enlarge the ventricle and decrease the pumping ability.

Heart Failure – Thickening can sometimes lead to making the heart muscle stiff thus avoiding any sort of blood accumulation into it and further as the heart is not able to pump blood, it can cause heart failure.

Prevention
As the cause of the condition primarily is genetic, it can’t be prevented but taking care and carrying out procedures like cardioverter-defrillator transplant can help you avoid risks like sudden death. Further, the symptoms clearly pin point to the fact that when doing strenuous exercise or exertions these symptoms pop up, hence it’s advisable to get your heart checked if someone in the family is having this condition and avoid participating in exercises and sport competitions which can cause exertion to the body.

 

Vydehi Institute of Cardiac Sciences is a well equipped super speciality centre located in Vydehi Hospital designed to serve your hearts needs. It is equipped to treat all cardiac, cardiothoracic and vascular cases.  It uses all the latest equipment and technology coupled with the years of experience in its faculty.  All surgeries conducted at the department have been successful resulting in a 100% success rate.

Be Aware of Fake Health News

Internet today is brimming with news on every subject and health news is no different. But, what you also see is that with internet and mobile phones in every other hand circulating or sharing the information is a matter of just one click or tap. Though this has brought about a progressive change in terms of information availability and sharing but on the flip side fake news circulation keep coming up regularly and people are caught in a frenzy of sharing without confirming or authenticating the truth of the matter.

Fake news can turn-out to be very harmful and one example of it being the winning of presidential election by Donald Trump as per critics and Investigators. They believe it is all a result of propaganda of fake news. Apparently, fake healthcare news can be even more dangerous because of the instant and continuous sharing of it through social media channels. As per one survey in 2016 the 20 most shared topics included the keyword cancer and even more startling was the fact that over half of them were misleading full of dubious claims on cancer recovery.

Hence, it becomes important that we as adults be aware of the facts and fiction shared on the internet. We don’t have to believe these claims blindly or share such articles with false claims. What happens is when we see that bla bla health article has had this many million views, were are automatically attracted to reading it and further believing in all the content but here is when we need to be alert and not give in to the numbers. Let us go through some points that can help you identify or differentiate between fake and authentic news.

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The publication – do check out for the name of the publication before you believe in it. There are many sources of information sharing and if you find that it is a reliable source like news agency ANI or Times of India, Hindustan Times and more you may as well know that it is verified before publishing and not just shared by any user.

Credibility of Research Journal – The news needs to have some evidence. If it has evidence of research journals published it is reliable else it is definitely hoax. You can simply google search to check the source that is cited and find out if it is peer reviewed journal or fake news.

Don’t support conspired stuff – You find news with headlines like too good to be true or sources tried to hide this news of HIV cure since long like umpteen times across your views. Know for sure that this sort of headlines are made to entice you to read the articles and share them and are absolutely false or fake.

Report Fake news and spread the word – If you seem to find out from reliable research that the news is fake do report it along with your scientific claims and evidence you have to prove that the news is fake. Spread the word and also report to social media sites which do have a facility to report fake news.

Well, we are adults enough to understand that fake news can be really dangerous and by being aware and spreading the word, we only do our bit to keep our society away from unwanted and potentially malicious content.