Health Adda

With the COVID outbreak spreading and infecting more people across the world, doctors and scientists are getting to understand the widening spectrum of mischief this virus causes in the body, far beyond just lungs and respiratory passages. 1. Brain and Nerves Several patients report loss of taste or smell during the phase of illness. These symptoms ascribed initially to involvement of receptors of the tongue and nose, have now been traced to the brain. MRI studies have revealed that regions that receive the taste and smell signals brought there by the cranial nerves show small spots of oedema and nerve degeneration. Brain involvement has also been found in several patients complaining of headache, disturbed consciousness, loss of memory, tingling sensations and extreme body weakness due to a form of ‘encephalitis’ and neuronal degeneration. Fortunately, these changes regress in most who recover. 2. Muscle and Heart Another notable feature in a third of patien...

I cannot recall witnessing the government machinery of this country so active, energetic, concerted and committed in its fight against a common enemy, as during the COVID outbreak this time. The next few weeks are going to be a “make or break” phase…when we might either breathe a sigh of relief, or suffer much for a long time. But I must share a story with you. Our house help who shares our home for 20 years got a call on her cell phone t hat one of her elderly aunts staying in a congested part of her hometown had died. She had been old and had a long-standing breathing problem. To my obvious next question “Was it COVID?”, she answered that she had not been tested. On pursuing further if there was time still before the body was disposed, as a precaution just in case, she said “It would be too much hassle… the police will land up at home, perhaps take grieving relatives elsewhere, involve expenses, and delay the last rites”. Officials, be it of the health department...

It could not be more sardonic that when forcibly confined to our homes and locked into isolation, our earlier hankering for holidays, respite from school and work and time for rest, is turning out to be like Midas’s boon of golden touch! In this unprecedented period of depressive developments, we are experiencing many types of emotions that are broadly included under “stress”. The international expert David Kessler  terms it “Grief” and describes 6 stages which I found helpful to understand my feelings: 1.The 1st stage is DENIAL; like what we felt in early March…..”this is just another scare….happening elsewhere…wont affect us in any way”. 2. It gives way to ANGER: “how can this be happening here? Lockdown on our freedom and movements? Never happened before! The government and enforcement people are victimising us…..we need to raise our voice and fight!” 3. When we run out of options, we start to BARGAIN: “OK.. If we suffer for these 3 weeks, all will be OK ag...

Thanks to our government and the media, with this topic featuring on every single page of our daily newspapers and on prime time of all TV channels, awareness about COVID-19 seems to have penetrated rather well down to almost all sections and regions of the country in the last few weeks. Information, news, concerns and actions are of course one thing, but reactions of people could be quite another matter altogether. This is what HOPE Initi ative ( www.hope.org.in ) discovered during an interactive awareness session this week with class 7 students of Green Valley School in Kothagiri (Tamil Nadu). Question 1: have you heard about the recent Corona Virus epidemic? Answer (universal): Yes. It is called COVID-19 Question 2: What do you know about COVID-19? How dangerous is it? Answer by students: It is a DEADLY and FATAL Disease. Most who are infected will die. Our perspective: It is not FATAL in most cases, only 2 of 100 infected people may succumb, while 98 will reco...

Snoring, the harsh sound that some us make inadvertently while sleeping, is indeed so common that we have all had the annoying experience of sharing a bed, room cabin or coupe with some one who has kept us awake and distressed, while he obliviously slept! The horse sound of snoring occurs when relaxed tissues of the throat and tongue vibrate while air passes past them during breathing. Most snorers live otherwise normal lives and do  not need medical attention. A distant uncle of mine who was the loudest and most notorious snorer amongst relatives, died at the ripe age of 98. And not due to any ailment related to his long track record of snoring! The life-style changes that help reduce snoring, and that spouses should insist for snoring partners are to lose weight (snoring is more common in obese), avoid alcohol in the evenings and to sleep on the side. Snoring is often however associated with a more sinister disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea, commonly known...

The ways in which our mind works to face an impending challenge, such as an examination, job interview or marriage (let us not forget elections nowadays!) are so many, that even experts could not tell you which is the best. Some thoughts work as traps, guaranteeing disillusionment, disappointment and depression. It makes sense to “look in,” identify, and then avoid them. 1. Worse Case Scenarios Before a competitive examination or an interview for a job with limited vacancies, it is impractical to “believe” that you will certainly make it. It all sounds great when motivational speakers try to pump in positivity to bring out your best performance and overcome anxiety, but for most realists” or “pragmatists”, it is unreal. Several youngsters do not really seem to give a thought to "Plan B" or a back up plan for a worst case-scenario. They are the ones who tumble badly down into hopelessness and loss of self-esteem as they find themselves unprepared to deal w...

There is perhaps no other branch of science as in medicine where unexpected events and outcomes occur often enough to invoke ‘luck”  as an explanation. Every surgeon will have a story to tell of how the condition of an otherwise “stable” patient thought to have a very low risk suddenly plunged down after a small procedure despite everything being done right, much to his embarrassment and dismay! But when a patient’s condition tumbles down unexpectedly due to the “luck” factor and results in death, it is hard for relatives to accept. Take a look at the recent story of a 65-year healthy farmer who met with a road traffic accident and sustained severe injury to his right upper limb for which he was brought to hospital and underwent an amputation. A week later when he was sitting up in bed, eating his dinner and gearing up to go home, he experienced sudden severe chest pain and sweating. An emergency angiography done within hours, as he was luckily in hospital, sh...