Ground Reality

International health specialists have cautioned against increasing cases of measles and felt that the world runs the risk of losing decades of progress in protecting children and communities against this devastating, but entirely preventable disease Airing concerns over reported measles cases spike, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Deputy Director General for Programmes at WHO has said The resurgence of measles is of serious concern, with extended outbreaks occurring across regions, and particularly in countries that had achieved or were close to achieving measles elimination. According to a new report published today by leading health organizations, reported measles cases spiked in 2017, as multiple countries experienced severe and protracted outbreaks of the disease. This is Because of gaps in vaccination coverage, measles outbreaks occurred in all regions, while there were an estimated 110 000 deaths related to the disease. Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease. It can cau...

The proportion of population vulnerable to heat exposure is rising globally A worldwide study on health risks of climate change has sounded alarm bells just ahead of the 24 th  Conference of Parties on Climate Change beginning on December 3, 2018, in the town of Katowice in Poland. The meet will have brainstorming sessions as it is here that the Paris Rulebook – the recommended modalities, procedures and guidelines under the Paris Agreement – will be finalized. The Paris Agreement, which entered into force in November 2016 following its ratification by 55 nations, prescribes an overarching temperature goal – to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 o C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 o C. The rising vulnerability to the heat-related risks of climate change is mirrored by increased exposure to higher temperatures. Despite a mean global temperature increase of 0.3°C between 1986 and...

Manoj Akash, a young student dreams to touch “Akash”; Develops device to predict Silent Heart attacks For once, he was an avid reader of medical literature for a leisure reading, but he was shocked to see passing away of his grandfather suddenly without betraying any sign of the tragedy. The tragedy at home for Manoj Akash was a turning point. It threw him into deep thought process how such silent heart attacks can be predicted in advance? His grandfather was suffering from diabetic and high blood pressure, but his ischemia wrought havoc in the family.  Manoj Akash, a student of Ashok Leyland School, Hosur, and Tamil Nadu could not digest the 2015 tragedy and riveted attention to explore ways and means to work out the solution. The skin patch invented by Akash has to be attached to the wrist or the back of the ear and it will release a small ‘positive’ electrical impulse, which will attract the negatively charged protein released by the heart to signal a heart attack. If ...

“My Sons want  to sell the house to start their own business, they often ask me when you  will die.” 63-year-old, Inderjeet Singh (Amritsar). “I sold my old property and purchased a flat as I did not have houses to live in, as a result of my Son just left me to fend for myself, as he wanted all the money for his own business” 64-year-old, Siddesh (Dehradun).  “I am a widower and not earning, my Son told me why you don’t go back to your village as he finds me a burden.” 65-year-old, Pinaki Chakraborty (Kolkata). “My Son asks me to do household chores and look after his children as if I am their servant.” 65-year-old, Savita Khan (Kanpur). “As my age is increasing I get tired easily, my Son often sends me out for civil work and says what are you doing at home” 67-year-old, Rakesh Chauhan (Delhi).  “I am suffering from a disease and do most things on the bed, my Daughter-in-law often fights with my Son due to sanitation/hygiene problems caused by me” 75-ye...

PEOPLE LOVE peace of mind and relaxed body amid the ever-growing clutter and cutthroat competitions around the globe. In a determined bid to accomplish the twin objective, many resorts to meditation while scientists are trying to unravel  the scientific rationale behind it. T here are varied types of mediation, And various preachers practice different techniques.  More researches are needed, say experts, before m editation can be advocated as a sure-fire  method for healthy body and mind. A latest study, published by Lancet, Says Transcendental meditation – the effortless thinking of a mantra, without concentration or contemplation, to produce a settled, psychophysiological state of restful alertness – might help decrease the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a randomized controlled trial of 203 US veterans with PTSD published in  The Lancet Psychiatry  journal. Another study on mediation a few months back had f...

Far away from immaculate and cutting edge technology equipped operation theaters in the United States, a lanky missionary and eminent surgeon Dinesh Vyas is running around Institutions in India to sensitize people for prehospital trauma care to save millions of human lives. Fired by missionary zeal, Dr Vyas, during his brief sojourn in India recently, engaged with those who can change the trauma care narrative and envisioned that a high tech training program could bring the desired change. “We can transform the trauma centers into survival sites rather than hopeless units.it needs slight but structured training to those who handle trauma victims on daily basis like security persons. It is not exaggeration but unpalatable reality that over 1.3 million traffic related deaths occur per year globally. This is apart from 20-50 million people sustaining permanent injuries or disabilities”, Says Dr. Vyas, Program Director Surgery Residency, Associate Professor,...