Health Adda

While we could debate on whether the old health-tip of drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day is indeed valid, water has interestingly retained its top position as the most popular health drink in the world. Over 60% of the human body is composed of water. Water assumes the status of a nutrient for carrying out many of vital functions. Apart from replacing the amount lost each day through sweating, respiration, urine and stools, water forms the medium for all our digestive juices, brain fluids, blood and enzymes. When water intake does not match our output, the body becomes dehydrated. Urine becomes scanty and dark, tongue becomes dry, eyes sunken, the pulse thready and blood pressure low. Thirst is the body’s way of signalling that we need more water. If not replenished, weakness and failure of organs can follow, sometimes leading to death. The amount of water we need to drink depends on several factors. People working outdoors in hot dry weather conditions may need to dr

Unlike the perception of most relatives that doctors treat critical patients callously, they in fact often “over-do” than what may be reasonable. Says a intensivist “Rescusciation or CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) looks nothing like what we see on TV. In real life, ribs often break and few survive the ordeal. "I felt like I was beating up people at the end of their life. I would be doing the CPR with tears coming down sometimes, and saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, goodbye.' Because I knew that it very likely wa not going to be successful. It just seemed a terrible way to end someone's life." Doctors fall ill and die just as others in society do. Interestingly in spite of all their knowledge about the body, its ailments and cures, they life expectancy is not much different than the general population. What is indeed different is what they choose to go through themselves compared to what they do to others. In a revealing article “How Doctors C

It is funny that while sleep is a natural state of relaxation in which we spend one third of our daily lives or a third of our total life years, many of us seem to struggle to get it. Sleep, in contrast to wakefulness, is a condition when our conscious mind switches off leaving the stage to the unconscious mind that often reveals itself in the form of dreams. Healthy sleep in adequate amounts is essential for our brains, minds and bodies. Popping a sleeping pill has become an easy way out. At the last count there are over a hundred types of sleeping pills available for treating ‘insomnia’, the medical term for lack of sleep, with 3 of every 20 Indians consuming them. Most medications however provide an abnormal drugged form of sleep, create dependence or have adverse effects. Getting enough of the natural sleep and at the appropriate time therefore continues to be a challenge. The commonest form of sleep disorder especially in young people is difficulty in falling asleep.

In recent times, my growing paunch has become an embarrassment especially when I counsel my obese patients about shedding fat. Hence I have been exploring an easy quick way that would be compatible with my lazy nature, to get back to shape. I came to know about the GM diet that several people I have now met seem to have tried and found useful. Further it comes with a vegetarian adaptation that can suit most Indians. I understand that it has become the most popular weight losing diet in the country. The GM diet is named after General Motors company of the USA where it was first developed to help obese employees shed weight, get back a healthy glow and feel energised. It was tested and endorsed by the reputed Johns Hopkins Research Centre. It is based on a principle of rotating foods on a day to day basis and drinking lots of water to detoxify the body. Its biggest advantage is that it does not make you starve as many diets do. The expected weight loss is between 2 to 5 Kg in 7

Gunja, a 31 years old pretty vivacious woman who works as a medical administrator in a corporate hospital and stays alone in an apartment, is perpetually frightened ever since she survived a near death experience from suffocation a year ago. Over the last two years, every now and then she suddenly breaks out into angry itchy hives all over her body, along with a feeling of choking that makes her gasp for breath. She recounts in horror when she had a particularly bad attack one early morning while she was alone at home. Soon after the skin hives started appearing, she experienced a feeling as though someone was tightening a noose around her throat. She gradually turned blue and lost consciousness. Luckily, she had been able to pick up her cellphone and make a call to her doctor-friend who, sensing something seriously wrong had rushed to her home and injected her with adrenaline, which had saved her in the nick of time. Subsequent tests showed that she suffered from a rare con