PatientsEngage General Community

Says Dr V Shanta, cancer specialist and the Chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai. Lung cancer, which is related to smoking, is today the top cancer in the country. Within the year, 15.5% of 13 to 15-year-olds are going to start smoking. Don’t let your child be one of them. Plus, how smoking harms non-smokers, too.  1. How grave is the health problem posed by tobacco use in India? How much of it relates to smoking cigarettes, beedis and how much is it due to consumption of gutka,…

Do your heels hurt when you take your first steps in the morning? You may have plantar fasciitis. Dr Shital Raval advises on symptoms and exercises to ease the pain. What is Plantar Fasciitis? The plantar fascia is a flat ligament that connects the heel bone to the toes and supports the arch of the foot. If you strain this ligament, it can get inflamed. Plantar Fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain. हिंदी में पढ़ें: प्लांटार फ़ेशियाइटिस के कारण एड़ी में दर्द Whom does it affect?…

Struggling with air pollution, smog, haze? Nutritionist Kohila Govindaraju recommends how you can load up on antioxidants and water to boost immunity and protect yourself. Whether it is air pollution in North India or haze and rising PSI levels in Singapore, air pollution increases the level of free radicals in the body that attack and damage healthy cells.  Here is how you can load up on antioxidants and water to boost immunity and protect yourself. Think of what our immune…

By Rema Nagarajan in Times of India Several doctors from all over India and across disciplines are joining hands to fight against the menace of unnecessary investigations. The Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM), which was initiated last year by a few cardiologists in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, is now becoming a national society.  SLIM will start off by putting together a list of what investigations ought not to be done in normal circumstances…

Dr Choo Wei Chieh tells you why it’s important and what information it should carry. Patient empowerment means being engaged with your health and making your own health decisions. In order to do this properly (not to mention safely), one’s health information should be well organised. This means keeping an accurate record of your health such that you can access it whenever necessary, wherever you are, and to share it with whoever necessary (family, healthcare professionals, caregivers, etc.).…

Alok Kaushik, now 40, talks about his transition from the life of a sighted person to a blind person. “Start living in the solution domain rather than the problem domain,” he says, sharing the solutions that help him maintain his independence. Please tell us a bit about your condition. I have Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which is a disease of the retina that causes the photo-receptor cells in the retina, i.e. rods and cones, to degenerate in a progressive manner, leading…

Which is the greater evil? How much fat is necessary in your diet? How to read food labels? Registered dietitian and diabetes educator Ujjwala Baxi has all the information.  The human diet is always evolving. And with each evolution comes strong and focused criticism of certain foods. Some decades ago, it was the fat in our diet that was demonised and 0% fat diets and recipes flourished on bookshelves and the dinner table. But very soon, it was realised that going nil…

Maintaining good oral health is more than just about keeping cavities at bay. Your dental health has far-reaching consequences on your body, with oral bacteria being linked to many life-threatening conditions, like cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, renal health and even brain abcess. Oral hygience and overall good health  Like many areas of the body, your mouth is teeming with bacteria, most of them harmless. Normally the body's natural defences and good oral health can keep these…

Our food comes from all over the world. What can you do to ensure that the food on your table is safe to eat. Nutritionist Kohila Govindaraju offers food safety tips on World Health Day.  Take a look at the food on your plate. It can lead to pleasure and health, or it can make you very ill. Every year, food- and water-borne diarrheal diseases kill 2.2 million people worldwide, many of them children (http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/foodborne-diseases/en/).…

By Bruce Broussard, President and CEO at Humana  Jan 27, 2015 Do we know how to handle death as we do life? Most of us don’t think about the former; we’re so wrapped up in our busy lives that it doesn’t really enter our thoughts that often. We’re focused on getting the kids to school; meeting the next deadline at work; getting the family together for dinner. Due to advances in health and medicine, people over 65 are able to live longer than in any previous generation. They’re wearing…