Health Adda

If “love” is the most misunderstood word in society today, “constipation” cannot be far behind. A recent study revealed that 5-22% of the population across the world are unhappy with the ways their bowels move and they use the same word to describe a variety of symptoms. “Constipation” means different things to different people, from a feeling of incomplete evacuation (45%), straining at stools (30%), hard stools (10%), bloating and distention (20%) to several others. None of these meet the Western medical definition of “constipation” described as passage of less than 3 stools per week! How bowel habits differ between peoples and regions, and the urgent need to redifine terms were highlighted during the recent Asia Pacific Digestive Conference in Kuala Lumpur, in which Asian doctors pointed out that the Western definition of constipation was inappropriate for Asians as hardly anyone would actually qualify while many feel they are constipated while passng stools quite lib...

In the aftermath of a school child recently bitten by a street dog , attitudes and opinions on how we should deal with these canines have become divided as never before. The hardliners now have a case to justify their demand to kill these unwanted flea-infested animals who seem quite a nuisance on streets and colonies. Interestingly, no matter how much we humans hate these creatures, they seem to love us; they live near human habitations and refuse to go and live by themselves in jungles, they wag their tails in gratitude for the rest of their lives if you have thrown a slice of bread at them even once, and their loyalty to humans can put ministers to shame! As the story in Mahabharata goes, when Yudhisthir in his pursuit of truth, withdrew his emotional ties from all his relatives and earthly possessions, and was resolutely marching up the Himalayas towards Heaven, a stray dog started accompanying him on the rough path. By what we can imagine from Yudhisthir’s nature ...

None of our clever politicians and planners could have thought that a burgeoning swarm of mosquitoes could change the course of emerging India and humble us. While children are dying like flies in and around Gorakhpur from the annual post-monsoon wave of mosquito borne encephalitis that year-after-year we promise to stem but never seem to be able to achieve, hospitals of the national capital are being deluged by dengue victims. Our financial capital, Mumbai, especially in its southern part where the rich and mighty live, is also being swamped with malaria, serving as a harsh reminder of our human vulnerability. Of the several problems threatening the forthcoming Commonwealth games, mosquitoes and threat of diseases caused by them are emerging as key factors to k eep international players and fans away. There are 3 types of mosquitoes spreading diseases: Anopheles, the night biter spreading malaria, Aedes, the striped day time stinger spreading Dengue, and Culex transmitt...

Cola drinks, once a symbol of American upmarket style, is now to be found perched mainly on the shelves of road-side ‘paan walas’ and local grocers. True, there still are Americans who drink more colas than water, and consume an average of 2 bottles per day of the tangy fizzy dark drink, but it has clearly fallen in stature as offering it to visitors or serving it at parties is no longer elegant. Premiere schools in Lucknow such as La Martiniere College for girls have shunned colas from their canteen for the last 4 years. The story started with extensive campaigns by HOPE Initiative (Health Oriented Programs and Education) in 2005 creating awareness among the bright students about the long term harms of cola drinks. A heated debate followed in which the rights of an individual student  was pitched against the hazards of allowing gullible youngsters to be enticed by aggressive marketing to gulp colas and fall sick. The intelligent and alert La Marts students dcided on ...