Arunima recovering, mother thanks AIIMS |  |
- Arunima recovering, mother thanks AIIMS
- See the heart beating on this new MRI system!
- Obama's comment on Indian healthcare not acceptable: Azad
- A death that gave life to five people
- 'India does not represent cheap healthcare'
- Stem cell regulations shouldn't stifle research: Indian experts
- PGIMER performs its first liver transplant surgery
- Liver-related problems found among Goa HIV patients: Study
- Kerala to mark April 25 as anti-endosulphan day
- Haryana finds remedy for doctors' shortage
| Arunima recovering, mother thanks AIIMS Posted: 21 Apr 2011 07:35 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 21 - Mother of national-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha, whose leg had to be amputated after she was pushed out of a running train, Thursday thanked the doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences - for her daughter's improving condition. 'Her condition has improved very much since she was brought from Lucknow. Doctors and the support staff are very helpful and have taken good care of my daughter,' Gyanbala Sinha said. According to doctors, Arunima's condition has improved satisfactorily. She is eating properly and getting good sleep. 'There is minimal infection in the amputated leg and she has not got any fever in the last two days,' said Vijay Sharma, who is leading a team of four doctors to look after Arunima. Doctors said that psychological counselling is also helping Arunima. 'Two more operations will be done on her. One on the amputated leg, and the other to fix the broken bones of her second leg,' said Sharma. Arunima was pushed out of the general compartment of the Padmawati Express near Bareilly April 11 while resisting a chain-snatching attempt by some hoodlums as she was travelling from Lucknow to Delhi. She was brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre Monday night after a serious infection was noticed in the amputated leg for which she underwent a second round of surgery at Lucknow's prestigious King George Medical College -- now upgraded to the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University. Arunima has repeatedly expressed her desire to be able to play again. Doctors said the process to provide Arunima with sports prosthetic to enable her to play will begin once her amputated leg has shrunk completely. 'Right now, we are getting voluntary offers from many organisations who are willing to provide sports prosthetic to Arunima,' AIIMS Trauma Centre head M.C. Misra said. 'She can play again within six months time with the help of sports prosthetic. We will try and help her stand... http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| See the heart beating on this new MRI system! Posted: 21 Apr 2011 07:30 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, April 21 - In a major stride in cardiac research, German scientists have developed one of the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging - systems - nearly 150,000 times as strong as the earth's magnetic field - to provides the sharpest and clearest images of the beating heart ever recorded in medical history. The new MRI procedure will radically advance the capabilities of cardiac research by helping diagnose, treat and monitor cardiac malfunctions at a much earlier stage, the Journal for Magnetic Resonance Imaging reports, citing a statement of the the Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine. For such sharp cardiac imaging, new versions of multi-channel transmit and receive antennas, called radio-frequency coils, were developed at the Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility - located at Campus Buch in Germany. A joint collaboration among Charite, the Max Delbruck Centre, the German Metrology Institute and Siemens Healthcare was initiated for this purpose, the statement said. 'We correlated the image exposure with the heartbeat,' explains the study investigator Prof Thoralf Niendorf. 'Our procedure is immune to interference with strong magnetic fields so that we can compensate for the motion of the heart which results in high image quality free of cardiac motion induced blurring and artifacts,' he added. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Obama's comment on Indian healthcare not acceptable: Azad Posted: 21 Apr 2011 06:07 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 21 - India Thursday termed as 'not acceptable' US President Barack Obama's statement discouraging Americans from visiting India or Mexico for 'cheap healthcare' and said Indian medicines and healthcare was appreciated the world over. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, taking exception to the US president's statement, said: 'Barack Obama's statement is not at all acceptable because when we go to World Health Organisation we are appreciated by the world for the medicines and healthcare present in our country. The medicines that we manufacture here are sold in more than 100 countries.' He was reacting to Obama's statement Wednesday discouraging US citizens from visiting India or Mexico to get 'cheap healthcare'. Describing medicare as 'one of the most important pillars of our social safety net', the US president had said: 'My preference would be that you don't have to travel to Mexico or India to get cheap healthcare.' Speaking to NDTV India, the health minister said: 'Even the United States of America buys medicines from India's private sector, which has medicine manufacturing units there.' 'These medicines are recognised by America, so where is the question of calling them cheap? It's just that they are affordable for the common man,' Azad said. 'If our doctors are no good, then what about the 61,000 Indian doctors working in the US? If they work there, then it's fine but if they work here then America has a problem,' he said. The health minister also said that with such statements 'they want to create an atmosphere doubting the capabilities of countries like India to manufacture good quality medicines so that they can get the patents.' Market research reports estimate that 150,000 people travel to India for low-priced healthcare procedures every year. India's medical tourism sector is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 30 percent, making it a Rs.9,500 crore industry by 2015. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| A death that gave life to five people Posted: 21 Apr 2011 02:30 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chandigarh, April 21 - Though she died in a road accident last week, 17-year-old Reena will live in the collective memory of five patients who have got a new lease of life because of her donated organs. Reena, a resident of Jind in Haryana, was seriously injured and was declared brain dead at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research - here. Her distraught family consented to donate Reena's liver, both kidneys and two corneas, giving a ray of hope to the five patients. Her liver was successfully transplanted to a 44-year-old patient from Uttar Pradesh April 15. This was the first liver transplant surgery in PGIMER, one of the leading medical institute of northern India. PGIMER director K.K. Talwar said: 'Seven to eight departments were involved in this operation. The donor, whose brain was dead, helped five people to live a new life. It is really exemplary.' PGIMER has decided to place a photograph of Reena in its premises -- as a tribute. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| 'India does not represent cheap healthcare' Posted: 21 Apr 2011 01:24 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mumbai, April 21 - A top Indian doctor has termed as 'misconception' US President Barack Obama's statement that India represents 'cheap healthcare'. In a statement issued here late Wednesday, well-known heart surgeon Ramakant Panda said that in today's age it's a misconception to say that India represents cheap healthcare. 'Our medicos, in various fields, compete with the best in the world and India as a country represents high quality and not cheap healthcare,' Panda noted. Panda, the head of the Asian Heart Institute here, was reacting to Obama's statement Wednesday near Washington discouraging US citizens from visiting India or Mexico to get 'cheap healthcare'. Describing medicare as 'one of the most important pillars of our social safety net', the US president said: 'My preference would be that you don't have to travel to Mexico or India to get cheap healthcare.' Panda, who shot to national fame after he successfully operated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh two years ago, pointed out that presently the Middle East and Africa constitute a bulk of patients who travel to India for medical purposes. 'The number of patients coming to India from the US is less than five percent. While there is potential for - US patients to come to India, we do not foresee a reduction in actual numbers with this initiative from President Obama,' Panda said. Panda said that it is easy to divide the dollar and arrive at the rupee value of a medical procedure. 'That's very basic arithmetic. However, the notion that India delivers cheap healthcare is not to be encouraged,' he said. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Stem cell regulations shouldn't stifle research: Indian experts Posted: 21 Apr 2011 10:02 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhubaneswar, April 21 - India is mulling measures to regulate research in the therapeutic use of human embryonic stem cells - a field that offers promise for curing brain, nerve and spinal cord diseases, among others. But experts say the regulations should not be very harsh or affect ongoing work in the field. A 12-member national apex committee set up last year by the union health ministry to oversee and monitor the activities, especially to check misuse of stem cells, held its first meeting at the end of last year but has not got too far in its work. 'It was just the beginning. We are discussing all the issues and chalking out our future plans,' a member of the committee, who did not want to be identified, told IANS, adding the panel may take several months to come out with something concrete. The panel led by Alok Srivastava, a haematologist at the Christian Medical College -, Vellore, was formed a few years after the government published guidelines on stem cell research in 2007. The guidelines, however, have no power to curb stem cell therapy and researches conducted allegedly without proper procedures. While experts also feel there have to be rules in place to prevent misuse of stem cells, some of them suggest regulations should not be harsh if India wants growth in the area. 'If the old guidelines are enforced in its present form, then many experts might have to conduct clinical trials, including pre-clinical - again, to test the efficacy of a therapy, which has been used for treating hundreds of patients,' an expert said. Geeta Shroff, a stem cell expert who claimed to have successfully provided a cure to over 800 patients at her Nu Tech Mediworld at Delhi, told IANS she does not oppose the proposed regulations. 'But they shouldn't curb research. The law has to be such that the work does not stop,' she said. Shroff said she has been treating hundreds of patients, including many from abroad, with stem cell therapy for... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| PGIMER performs its first liver transplant surgery Posted: 20 Apr 2011 10:20 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chandigarh, April 20 - The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research - here, one of the leading medical institutes of northern India, successfully performed its first liver transplant surgery, officials said here Wednesday. 'The first liver transplant was done April 15 and the patient has been kept under close observation. He is fine and the surgery was successful,' the official spokesperson of PGIMER said. The PGIMER was granted conduct of liver transplant surgeries in December 2009. 'The plan was to start with a cadaveric programme, which will be followed by all other liver transplant programmes in a structured manner,' the spokesperson added. According to him, the highly technical surgery went on for nearly eight-and-a-half hours. The initial two-week period is always critical for patients,' he added. The recipient of the liver was a 44-year-old patient from Uttar Pradesh, who had been suffering from last-stage liver failure. The donor, a 17-year-old girl, was the victim of a road accident and was declared brain dead by the doctors. She has given a new lease of life to five people through her liver, both the kidneys and the two corneas. Thousands of patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir visit the PGIMR every day. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Liver-related problems found among Goa HIV patients: Study Posted: 20 Apr 2011 04:48 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Panaji, April 20 - A study conducted by NGOs in the state has found almost 60 percent of HIV-infected patients also have liver related complications. The study, by World Vision India partnering with Zindagi-Goa and Help India Charitable Trust, was conducted through a health camp on a sample size of 75 infected patients from different parts of the state. These patients are under constant antiretroviral therapy - at Dr. Tosha's Medical Lab in Caranzalem. The main liver-related complications, which are known side effects of patients under ART, are high levels of bilirubin, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase - and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase -, a doctor said. Nirmala Christopher, an HIV specialist, warned that the complications were life threatening in one out of every 50 ART patients. 'One out of 50 may seem a small number but it is not so. If one takes into account all the HIV patients in Goa, you will realise the magnitude of the problem,' she said. Of the 75 patients, including women and children, who attended the medical camp, 42 had excess SGPT levels, 44 had excess SGOT levels in their blood, while 10 had excess levels of bilirubin. Nirmala stressed the need for support systems and regular check-ups for patients undergoing ART. She said the main problem is the lack of awareness about treatment. Almost all HIV infected patients require to undergo antiretroviral therapy. The standard therapy consists of the use of at least three antiretroviral - drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of the disease. 'For the first three months patients need to be regularly checked up for side effects as a result the treatment regimen. If there are no symptoms, check-ups must be done every six months,' Nirmala said. Goa has an estimated 16,000 HIV/AIDS patients, of whom 13,329 are confirmed cases. Yet none of the state-run hospitals has palliative care centre. 'At least one or two beds within... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Kerala to mark April 25 as anti-endosulphan day Posted: 20 Apr 2011 04:32 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Thiruvananthapuram, April 20 - Ahead of an international convention in Switzerland, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Wednesday said the state will observe anti-endosulphan day on April 25. The announcement comes a day after the main opposition Congress urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that India supports the global ban on endosulphan at the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants to be held in Geneva April 25-29. 'An all-party delegation led by Health Minister P.K. Sreemathi would request Manmohan Singh to see that endosulphan is banned in the country,' said Achuthanandan. The use of endosulfan at the estates of state-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala - in Kasargode district began in the early 1970s and continued till 2001. About 500 deaths since 1995 have been officially acknowledged to be related to the spraying of endosulfan in about 11 villages. Unofficial estimates put the deaths since the late 1970s at around 4,000. 'The long standing request of a financial assistance and a rehabilitation package for the victims of endosulphan is yet to be granted by the centre. We are now told a new study team from Delhi is to arrive in the affected areas. In the past one decade several studies have been conducted. This is not acceptable and deplorable that yet another team is coming,' said Achuthanandan. At least 81 countries have banned the chemical. Kerala and Karnataka have also banned endosulfan. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Haryana finds remedy for doctors' shortage Posted: 20 Apr 2011 10:23 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chandigarh, April 20 - Faced with an acute shortage of specialists in government hospitals, Haryana's health department has decided to sponsor post-graduate studies of doctors on the condition that they work with the state for a certain number of years. That is not all. The health department is even willing to allow these doctors to go in for higher studies -- for super specialty in their respective fields of expertise. 'Doctors would be sponsored for higher studies with full pay in the specialties where there is shortage of specialists. Their study period would also be treated as service period for all intent and purposes,' Haryana Health Minister Rao Narender Singh told IANS. Health department sources said that there is a shortfall of nearly 200 specialist doctors in the state. Vacancies need to be filled up in the streams of general medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedic surgery, anaesthesia, pathology, radiology, psychiatry, eye surgery, forensic medicine, ENT surgery, dental, social and preventive medicine, chest and tuberculosis and pharmacology. This year, the health department has given no-objection certificates - to 46 doctors from various specialties to pursue higher studies in medical colleges. All of them will be required to fulfil the condition of serving the minimum number of years in the state before and after the course. Explaining further, the minister said: 'MBBS doctors would be eligible for postgraduate course, degree as well as diploma, after completion of five years of regular satisfactory service, which includes two years of probation. 'In all, three years of service should be in one of the district hospitals or a sub-divisional hospital and two years in rural area institutions.' 'Only those who fulfil this condition would be eligible for sponsorship against reserved seat in PGIMS-Rohtak - or other government institutions and against the open seats in the... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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