Health Adda

Kylie Minogue, the sultry Australian pop singer and actress, was detected to have breast cancer at the age of 37. The diagnosis forced this  international celebrity to put an end to her Showgirl Tour and career. She underwent breast surgery in Melbourne in May 2005, followed by chemotherapy in France. What makes her so special is the way she underwent treatment for her disease under intense public gaze, and the openness with which she shared her experience with her fans and the public.  She is back on track in her career, where she is flying even higher than before.             Voted “Woman of the Year” in 2006 because of her inspirational fight against the disease, Kylie helped create a wave of awareness amongst fans and public about breast cancer. It led to a spike in screening tests in women. Described as the “Kylie Factor”, 40% more women underwent mammography and other tests as part of a cancer detection check up.             Breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women in devel

The only silver lining I could see to the recent dry hot spell was respite from the droning and stings of blood sucking mosquitoes. Now that the monsoons have finally arrived, mosquitoes and malaria cannot be far behind.                 These little “animals” can be deadly; 40 million people suffered from mosquito diseases last year in India of whom malaria comprised 2 million. Of 247 million people who suffered from this disease globally (2006 data), 8 lac died, 85% being children, amounting to 2000 children dying each day. The other diseases spread by mosquitoes include Dengue fever, encephalitis, Chickungunya, filariasis and yellow fever.The number is increasing due to deteriorating health systems, growing resistance to drugs and pesticides, and climate change.                 There are 2 tragic aspects to the story of malaria: first, most who succumb to the illness do so because of delay in treatment, and second, malaria is not difficult to prevent as most developed countries have

One of the major challenges to remaining healthy in modern times is maintaining a “normal” body weight. Obviously, no weight can be considered normal and “fit all” for everyone. Health specialists are engaged in research and debate as to what is “normal body weight”. The answer came from health insurance data, which showed that people who weighed more than they ought to have for their height, had more health problems and died earlier. The challenge was to define what was “over weight”. Body mass index (BMI) is the commonest measure used across the globe. It is calculated by dividing your weight (in Kg) by your height in meters, squared. To use a simple formula: Weight (kg)/ height (m)  2 . For those who are poor in maths, you can read off your BMI on the charts, once you know your height and weight (whathealth.com/bmi/chart-metric.html) The normal BMI range in western people is 19 to 25. A person with BMI between 25 and 29 is  overweight, between 30-35 as obese, between 35-40 as severe

The recent shocking death of the pop icon Michael Jackson at just 52 years , has drawn attention to the dangers of pain killer drugs. The autopsy report,  just out, ruled out blockage of the arteries of his heart, and pointed to consumption of excess amounts of pain killer and other medications as the cause of his collapse. Reports suggest that he was on to as many as 7 drugs, comprising painkillers, muscle relaxants and anti-depressants, that made a deadly cocktail.                  Pain killers or analgesics, are of 2 broad groups: ·           Narcotic: such as morphine, extracted from opium a product of the Poppy plant, or its “cousins” such as Pethidine (Demerol*), Hydromorphone (Dilaudid*, considered 8 times more potent than pethidine), codeine (Vicodine*), oxycodone, tramadol, pentazocine and others.  These are strong analgesics used for severe pain and have potentially serious side effects such as drowsiness, coma, respiratory failure, circulatory failure, shock and heart failur

Why Indian scientists working in India do not get the Nobel Prize: 1.         Nobel Prize is about excellence and newness, discovering something not already known.  While India has the largest scientific man power, the emphasis is not on excellence and new discovery. It is on doing science at the middle and lower levels, or in its application. 2.         Why is it not about excellence and discovery in India?  Because excellence and advancing the cutting edge of science need the right climate and years of nurturing.  Accomplished scietists are not produced in a short period. They are bred, groomed and nurtured in an atmosphere where scientific pusuit is all that seems to matter. And they feel comfortable sacrificing everything else to pursue it. 3.         It is not by chance that many Nobel Prize winners hail from few universities like Harvard (USA), Cambridge (UK) and Gottingen (Germany). It has taken decades and centuries for these centers to become hubs of scientific pursuit. The be

It is with mixed feelings that I look back to the summer of 1973 when I had to choose between medicine, engineering or English from the career basket of that time. The last 35 years have been a roller coaster ride of immense pride and intense shame. It is a matter of pride that the life expectancy of Indians has increased to 65 years from the 34 in pre-independent times. I also feel proud that infections, easily treated with antibiotics, have stopped being the leading cause of death, at least in urban India (63% deaths are now due to life style diseases!). Small pox has finally gone from the world (we used see households die of this infection in the early 70s), and polio is on its way out. Children seldom die of tetanus, measles, whooping cough and diphtheria, these days, thanks to our immunization programme. Also, a variety of interventions for diseases caused by choked arteries, tumours, eroded joints, obstructing stones in the gallbladder or kidneys can now be treated with safety an