Health Adda

News-watchers were shocked to learn how a young robust 19 year-old Vishwanath, collapsed suddenly and died while playing football (soccer) recently in Bangalore. This happened at a time when soccer lovers were recovering from a similar incident in which the Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba, collapsed on the field from a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and had to be rushed to hospital. The possibility that young, well-trained athletes at the high school, college, or professional level may die suddenly of heart disease seems incomprehensible. It is a dramatic and tragic event that devastates families and the community, especially as these young people seem to be the fittest in society. SCA in young athletes triggered by vigorous activity occurs in 1 of 100,000 sportsmen annually. FIFA lists around 92 players who died while playing soccer, half of whom from SCA.YouTube contains an interesting video showingMiklosFeher slumpingsuddenly to the ground and dying, and another of Anthony van Loo wh...

How wired parents get when their stressed kids take the board exams showed up yet again when they went on a ruckus over a question that appeared in the English paper asking students to provide an imaginary account of a bomb blast in a crowded place. Opinion seemed sharply divided with some parents on edge calling it “insensitive”, while ex-students terming it contemporary and relevant. Parents argued that stressed to the hilt that exam-goers are at these times, asking them to imagine and describe a gory scene of a bomb blast would add to their children’s distress. Could not the paper -setters’ think of pleasant topics that could soothe their raw nerves? Some students garnered their parents’ sympathy and mentally cushion them in the event of a less than expected performance. “It is all the insensitive board’s fault!” is what they are chanting along with their parents, having found a convenient scapegoat should it be necessay when the results come in. Successful ex-students and teachers...