PatientsEngage General Community

Our ability to worry can help plan and prepare, but when we’re stuck in this state it can prevent us from taking any action at all. Stress can also turn into worry when we get bogged down into concerns that aren’t related to the present moment. We can go in circles on what we could have/ should have done yesterday, or what we could/ should do tomorrow.  A couple of quotes that can help us through these difficult times. Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow   The greatest…

Air Pollution is one of the major environmental risk factors for the global burden of disease and updated estimates put the death toll as high as 7 million people per year.  Public health professional Ramya Kancharla recommends steps you can take to reduce air pollution and how you can limit your exposure to air pollution.  Air pollution is a serious public health concern - and one that you’re likely battling with on an everyday basis, both inside and outside your home. Air pollution…

Did you know that a common activity like pigeon feeding can lead to chronic and sometimes fatal lung diseases? Senior Pulmonologist Dr Prahlad Prabhudesai  answers our questions on health hazards caused by pigeons. Can you imagine going to the park to feed rats? But, we often see people readily feeding pigeons. Scientific evidence reveals that pigeons can be equally hazardous to our health as rodents are. Due to readily available food (provided by humans), there is a marked increase in the…

Zeenat Jahan, advanced life coach, takes us through the myriad benefits of positive psychology that reverses the focus from negative to positive and can benefit people at different stages on the mental health spectrum. At a recent conference on Bipolar Disorder, you spoke about how positive psychology can help adults with depression or bipolar. What exactly is positive psychology? Positive psychology is a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior with a focus on…

Children's books are instrumental in shaping early thoughts and perceptions. Chitra Paul, mom to a teenager on the autism spectrum painstakingly lists 20 Indian books that feature children and young adults with disability. Books that must be read by every child. As a child I don’t remember reading very many books with Indian characters or even those that featured disabled characters. The few books with Indian characters or stories about India were those by Ruskin Bond or Amar Chitra Katha comic…

Rajiv Chandrabhanu, 43 from Bengaluru is a PwH (Person with Haemophilia) since he was 6 months old. He talks about his personal battle with the condition and how he has managed to stay afloat. Please tell us a bit about your condition (Lesser known conditions will need to be described) I am a person with Severe Hemophilia A (Factor VIII deficiency). Hemophilia is a rare hereditary bleeding disorder, caused by the absence of a clotting factor in the blood. I was diagnosed with Hemophilia when I…

Mr Manjit Singh, President Lysosomal Storage Disorders Support Society, shares some salient points about the rare disease and about the activities of the organisation, LSDSS. The LSDSS is a national level society with more than 400 patients as members who are represented by elected parents as office bearers, across India. The sole motive of the organisation is to spread awareness about this rare disease as also to help each other in availing of the best facilities available. What are Lysosomal…

Going through the treadmill of work and life, Rohini Subramanian Katriar was jolted when the weighing scale tipped past 100Kg. With a family history of diabetes, and two kids to look after, she knew she had to get serious about losing excess weight. She shares her experience of losing more than 20 Kg over 4 years with very pragmatic tips. My parents were super proud of their two chubby little girls. It was a matter of pride that we were healthy (read plump) and in their words, the cutest babies…

For International Women's Day, in line with the UN Women’s theme for 2019 we highlight a few women innovators and social entrepreneurs who have contributed to "Think equal, Build smart & Innovate for a change." We asked these three women entrepreneurs and innovators what drove the innovation and how it benefits the community.  Aditi Gupta, Founder - Menstrupedia Making it cool for young girls to talk about menstruation We created Menstrupedia to fight the widespread unawareness…

Alive is an initiative to engage undertrials in prisons in creative projects through colours and craft sessions, a therapeutic experience which has immensely helped the inmates relieve stress and find joy and happiness. Editor's Note: While this may not seem at first like an article on health, we felt that this project demonstrates effectively the therapeutic effect of art and colouring and it is easy to adopt. So we spoke with Renelle Snelleksz, the force behind Project Alive. Tell us about…