Morning MEDtalks with Dr KK Aggarwal 15^th September 2018

TEDx Video: Doctor-patient relationship: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9ml1vKK2DQ

Pelvic floor rehab for urinary incontinence: The pelvic floor muscles aid control of your bladder and bowels. Strengthening these muscles can be helpful to people with stress incontinence as well as those with urge incontinence. This is done with Kegel exercises, which involve squeezing and releasing the muscles you use to hold in urine. A physical therapist can help you learn how to do the exercises properly. The majority of people with urge incontinence will improve with rehab. It may not make it 100% better, but even 75% may be acceptable to many people.

Tobacco harm reduction: Harm reduction is integral to the definition of tobacco control, as specified in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Article 1(d): “tobacco control” means a range of supply, demand and harm reduction strategies that aim to improve the health of a population by eliminating or reducing their consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke; (emphasis added) (WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, 2003).

Mahatma Gandhis blood pressure record as well as his health regime will be soon made public by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in a supplement to its journal Indian Journal of Medical Research in less than three months. The Director General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava said, "The Father of the Nation had hypertension and was on treatment. We will publish tables to show how doctors managed his blood pressure." According to Dr Rajni Kant,  the head of department of  Research Management, Policy, Planning & Coordination, his health regime will be studied to find out whether the kind of regime is relevant today or not…  (The Pioneer, September 13, 2018)

PM Modi announced free insurance cover under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana to all ASHA workers and their helpers. He lauded them for ensuring vaccination cover to more than 3 lakh pregnant women and 85 crore children under Mission Indradhanush.

Maintaining a healthy diet in midlife may protect against mental illness and cognitive decline as it is independently associated with a larger hippocampus years later and. The study was published online July 26 in the American Journal of Medicine.

As several US states brace themselves for Hurricane Florence, physicians are being urged to help people with diabetes, particularly those who depend on insulin, ensure they have adequately prepared by putting together a diabetes kit and making a plan so that they can effectively manage their condition during the storm and in its aftermath.

People with hangovers demonstrate impairment in a variety of cognitive functions and everyday tasks, including driving, results of a systematic review and meta-analysis show. A team of European investigators reviewed data on 1163 participants in 19 studies. Their results suggested that various components of attention, memory, and psychomotor performance were impaired during hangovers, including the ability to operate a vehicle. The study was published online August 25 in Addiction.

What action can be taken if patient threatens filing an FIR? (Dr KK Aggarwal and Advocate Ira Gupta) Threatening any person i.e. criminal intimidation is a criminal offence under Section 503 of Indian Penal Code and the same is punishable under Section 506 of the Indian Penal Code. If any person threatens the doctor, then the doctor can lodge an FIR under Section 503/506 IPC against the said persons for committing the offence of criminal intimidation.

The relevant provisions of Indian Penal Code are reproduced hereunder:

“Section 503. Criminal intimidation. Whoever threatens another with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intim­idation.

Explanation: A threat to injure the reputation of any deceased person in whom the person threatened is interested, is within this section.

Section 506. Punishment for criminal intimidation. Whoever commits, the offence of criminal intimidation shall be punished with imprison­ment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both; If threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, etc.—And if the threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property by fire, or to cause an offence punishable with death or 1[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or to impute, unchastity to a woman, shall be punished with imprison­ment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.”

The Japanese government has recognized the first death associated with cleanup work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the tsunami disaster in March 2011, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The government designated the death of an unnamed man in his 50s as an "industrial accident." The man, who had worked at the plant from 1980 to 2015, was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2016. After the 2011 tsunami that was triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the man was assigned to "radiation control" work in which he was responsible for monitoring radiation levels and work time of cleanup crews… (CNN)

Europeans live longer and lead healthier lives but progress is uneven, says a new WHO report. Some European countries enjoy the highest sense of “life satisfaction” recorded anywhere in the world. However, significant discrepancies between countries across numerous key indicators, and the failure to halt or substantially reverse the negative effects of tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight and obesity, and under-vaccination remain causes for real concern. Overall, Europe is surpassing the target of reducing premature deaths from the four major noncommunicable diseases – cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus and chronic respiratory diseases – by 1.5% annually until 2020. (WHO Europe, 12 September 2018)

Cancer is a growing global threat and prevention is key. More than 18 million new cases of cancer are expected this year and it’s estimated that 9.6 million people will die from various forms of the disease in 2018, the UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said on Wednesday (UN).

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

Vice President CMAAO

President HCFI