Sonic wave tech to treat kidney stones now used to break plaque in arteries

In the last month, a few city cardiologists have begun using this stone-breaking-based device to ‘break’ calcium deposits within diseased arteries before fixing a stent.

MUMBAI: An old and simple technology to break kidney stones using sonic waves has found its way into heart care.

In the last month, a few city cardiologists have begun using this stone-breaking-based device to ‘break’ calcium deposits within diseased arteries before fixing a stent. A former cancer patient and a former medical superintendent were among the first elderly patients to benefit from this new technology, whose main drawback at the moment is its high cost. It adds between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh to the medical bill....read more

COVID-19 Challenges: Why is it more contagious at some places?

The way COVID-19 has spread in local clusters, onboard Diamond Princess and in a church in Korea, has opened questions about its contagiousness.

1.It is a droplet infection: Passes through droplets from coughing or sneezing. When these droplets carrying the virus from an infected person reach the nose, eyes, or mouth of another person, they can transmit the virus....read more

Can a mantra or sound be used as a medicine?

The answer is yes. The difference between a Mantra and a sound is that the Mantra sound is an energized sound with medicinal values. There are many aspects of Mantra as a sound:

1. The type of sound matters. It is well-known that chanting of vowel sounds produces interleukin-2 in the body, which has the same action as that of aspirin and works like a natural painkiller....read more

How Corona Aware Are You

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Restrict your salt intake to less than 6gm per day.

Healthcare News Monitor

India needs to cure local policy to wean pharma off Chinese drugs

Financial Express

A massive run-up in the prices of various medicines after the coronavirus crisis deepened has got Indian policymakers scrambling for solutions. Prices of the common analgesic paracetamol are up 40% and the antibiotic azithromycin costs 70% more thanks to the disruption in the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) in China; APIs are the basic raw material for making medicines, and 80% of India’s APIs are imported from China. While the plan is to build enough local capacity for at least 58 APIs, and even develop API parks—with low-cost land, electricity, etc—NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has been asked to come up with a blueprint for action. It is not clear what incentive structures Kant will suggest, but the most important one has to be to get the pricing policy right. Just as India cannot get a cold chain for perishable farm produce until there are enough large food retail chains—it is only when there is adequate demand that supply chains get created—it cannot get viable API units till there are healthy pharmaceutical units to buy the API. Yet, with the scope of India’s price controls under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) increasing over time, the pharmaceutical industry was forced to look for ways to keep cutting costs; one of the first casualties of this was the domestic API industry as China’s API was far cheaper. Indeed, as the 2017 draft pharmaceutical policy points out, price controls were put on even API and this proved to be disastrous: “The Drug Price (Display & Control) Order 1966 put 18 APIs (raw materials) under price control … from 1996 … imported APIs and intermediates started becoming hugely lucrative as a price cap on drugs forced the manufacturers … to obtain the cheapest raw material with the basic minimum efficacy/quality”. Ironically, the policy still plumped for price-capping.

Cough syrup Coldbest-PC recalled, production halted after 9 deaths in Jammu

The Indian Express - Adil Akhzer , Arun Sharma

Production of a cough syrup manufactured by Himachal Pradesh-based pharmaceutical company Digital Vision has been halted and at least eight states have been asked to stop its sale and distribution after a clinical probe into the deaths of nine children in Jammu’s Udhampur last month prima facie found presence of a “poisonous compound”. “Prima facie, presence of Diethylene Glycol, a poisonous compound, in Coldbest-PC syrup caused the death of children from Udhampur district, PGIMER, Chandigarh, officials have told us,” Assistant Drugs Controller, Drug and Food Control Organisation, J&K, Surinder Mohan said. He said they have sent samples of the syrup to the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, and Regional Drugs Testing Laboratory, Chandigarh, for further tests. J&K Drug Controller Latika Khajuria said even though PGIMER’s report had found presence of Diethylene Glycol in the syrup, they are still waiting for the final report from Regional Drugs Testing Lab. “Once we receive that report, we will find what actually led to the deaths. The syrup has already been recalled,” she said. Dr Renu Sharma, Director Health Services (DHS), Jammu, said nine deaths took place between December-end and January 17 in Ramnagar block of Udhampur. “The patients were hospitalised with acute renal failure,” she said. “The common factor found in all the deaths was that they took Coldbest-PC.” Dr Sharma said 17 children were affected, of whom nine died. Around 5,500 units of Coldbest-PC Syrup are in the process of being recalled from at least eight states. Himachal Pradesh health safety and regulation authorities have suspended all types of production and manufacturing at Digital Vision’s unit at Kala Amb in Sirmaur district, where the drug was manufactured.

Most Bizarre Diseases You Didn’t Know About

The Healthsite

The coronavirus outbreak has created great fear among people around the world, as death toll continue to rise every day. Countries around the world are stepping up efforts to tackle the virus that originated in China’s Wuhan city. While new diseases emerge and disappear every now and then. There are also many bizarre diseases that hardly draw any attention but are equally dreadful. Here are some such unusual diseases that you won’t believe are real. Cotard’s Delusion: It Makes You Believe You’re Dead - Those who suffer from this disease think that they are dead and rotting or losing their body parts. Due to fear, they often refuse to eat or take bath. They tend to believe that they don’t have the digestive system to handle food or that water will wash away their fragile body parts. As per researchers, Cotard’s delusion results from a failure in areas of the brain that recognize emotions, leading to feelings of detachment. Fret not, it is treated with medication. Foreign Accent Syndrome: Speaking With A Foreign Accent - Sufferers of this disease suddenly begin speaking with a foreign accent. The condition is rare – only 60 cases identified. Scientists have found that brain abnormalities caused changes to their speech pitch and syllables. The syndrome can also result from a head injury or stroke, studies revealed. Aquagenic Urticaria: It Makes You Allergic To Water - Even casual contact with water cause allergy in people with aquagenic urticaria. However, only 30 people have been diagnosed with this, as per reports. Most of them are women. Unfortunately, scientists are yet to understand its actual causes and how to cure it. Sufferers manage the condition by bathing in baking soda or covering their bodies with creams.

Meet the husband-wife duo who have helped over 1,475 children to fight blood cancer

YourStory- Roshni Balaji

Multiple pairs of scissors, shaving cream, trimmers, bright red bottles of Cinthol, and sachets of scented hair oil – belonging to a barber community in Noida, Lokesh Kumar’s life revolved around this. However, Lokesh’s life came to a standstill when his 14-year-old son, Dushyant, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2018. With his meagre earnings, Lokesh knew that funding the treatment would be problematic. Just when clouds of despair began shrouding Lokesh and his family, the hairdresser spotted a sign of hope. Founded by Monica and Arvind Vohra in 2013, Leukemia Crusaders works and contributes towards supporting children affected with blood cancer, especially leukaemia. It is estimated that around 70,000 to 80,000 new cases of childhood cancer prop-up in the country every year, of which 40-50 percent report leukaemia cases. While the survival rate in most developed countries is between 80 and 90 percent, India is still in the range of 36 to 53 percent. To improve this scenario, Leukemia Crusaders collaborates with hospitals and healthcare centres to provide financial assistance and extend emotional support to underprivileged families. In the last seven years, the initiative has backed more than 1,475 children in 40 hospitals across India.