Posts

30% to 60% of lung cancer patients in Bengaluru are non-smokers: Doctors

/0 Comments/in /by

Radha, 54, complained of a sudden hoarseness in her voice and chronic cough only to be diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Her family was devastated and shocked in equal measure. A doctor herself, Radha led a healthy lifestyle and was a non-smoker. A year later, she succumbed to the killer disease.

When Karthik, 45, a software engineer and a fitness freak, visited a city hospital with pain in the right side of his chest, radiology reports revealed water accumulation in his right lung. The biopsy report threw up a shocker — the techie had adenocarcinoma and the cancer had progressed to its third stage. “His survival chances are only 30% and he may not live beyond five years,” said the oncologist treating Karthik, also a non-smoker.

Contrary to the notion that smoking is the prime cause of lung cancer, city doctors say 30% to 60% of the patients are non-smokers. Most of them are women. Air pollution, exposure to radiation and passive smoking are the contributing factors.

“Of the 500 patients walking into the hospital with lung cancer, at least 200 are non-smokers. The incidence has gone up from 5-6 persons (for a population of 1,00,000) to 12-13 in Bengaluru. In Delhi, the figure stands at 16-17 persons,” said Dr C Ramesh, professor and head of the epidemiology and biostatistics department at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology.

Dr Neelesh Reddy, consultant oncologist, Columbia Asia hospitals, pointed out that women are at a higher risk. If a man and woman smoke an equal number of cigarettes, it’s the woman who is more susceptible to the cancer, he said.

Doctors say though most patients diagnosed with lung cancer are from urban and semi-urban areas, the incidence is rising among the rural population as well. “Many cases are not registered due to the lack of proper healthcare facilities in rural areas,” Dr Reddy added. According to Dr Ramesh, indoor pollution caused by asbestos and smoke is to blame.

Doctors feel the ban on smoking in public places should be implemented more effectively. They also say in over 80% of the cases, the disease is diagnosed only at an advanced stage. “The government should start screening programmes for both smokers and non-smokers, who should be made to undergo low-dose chest CT scans,” said Dr BS Ajaikumar, chairman and CEO, Healthcare Global Enterprises Limited (HCG Cancer Hospital).

Dr Vivek Anand Padegal, consultant pulmonologist, Fortis Hospital, said many non-smokers respond better to chemotherapy and other forms of treatment compared to smokers. “Access to oral chemotherapy should be made easier and more affordable,” he said.

(Some names have been changed)

No screening programme

There is no proper screening programme for lung cancer and oral cancer, which has the highest incidence in India. We must educate people about personal hygiene and ways to avoid pollution and passive smoking. People shouldn’t wait for the symptoms to show up and instead, go for annual check-ups. On anniversaries and birthdays, one can gift a lung cancer check-up voucher to their dear ones

Dr Somashekhar S P, chairman, Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre

Older women more at risk in rural areas

Lung cancer tops the list of cancers among men, with 1 lakh new cases being detected per year. Women, however, account for the majority of lung cancer patients who don’t smoke. In western countries, only 10% to 15% of lung cancer patients are non-smokers. In India, the statistic is more than 40%. In rural Karnataka, women have been exposed to kitchen smoke for long. Only recently have households got access to gas cylinders. This is why we are seeing an increase in the incidence of lung cancer among older women (non-smokers)

Dr Vivek Anand Padegal, consultant pulmonologist, Fortis

Source : Times of India

Source for image: http://www.lahey.org/Departments_and_Locations/Departments/Thoracic_Surgery/Lung_Cancer_Treatment.aspx

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Jail term for doctors, chemists if they don’t report TB

/0 Comments/in /by

A week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to wipe out tuberculosis (TB) from India by 2025, the government has announced stringent steps including jail terms for doctors, hospital staff and chemists if they fail to report TB cases.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a notification said clinical establishments (hospitals and clinics in all recognised systems of medicine), doctors, chemists and druggists “shall notify every tuberculosis patient to local public health authority” in a prescribed format.

The Health Ministry has introduced provision for jail terms of up to two years if the major stakeholders in the fight against TB fail to report such cases to the nodal officer and if the health staff fail to take appropriate action on getting the information.

“The Clinical Establishment, Pharmacy, Chemist and Druggist, failing to notify a tuberculosis patient to the nodal officer … and local public health staff of general health system of rural or urban local bodies, not taking appropriate public health action on receiving tuberculosis patient notification … may attract the provisions of sections 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860),” said the Health Ministry.

Section 269 relates to “Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life”, and provides for imprisonment of up to six months or fine, or both. And Section 270 on “Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life” has provision for jail term of up to two years or fine, or both.

The ministry said tuberculosis is a dangerous epidemic disease, threat to life and is a major public health problem accounting for substantial morbidity and mortality in the country. Early diagnosis and complete treatment is the corner-stone of TB prevention and control strategy.

“To ensure proper TB diagnosis and its management in patients and their contacts and to reduce TB transmission and further to address the problems of emergence and spread of Drug Resistant-Tuberculosis, it is essential to collect complete information of all TB patients,” it said.

The notification further said that a secure web portal would be made available by the Central Tuberculosis Division to all practitioners, clinical establishments, pharmacies, chemists, druggists and patients for online submission of information.

“For TB patients notified from medical laboratory, chemist and self-notification by tuberculosis patients, staff of public health system will gather information to complete notification which include basis of diagnosis, site of disease, history of anti-tubercular treatment and classify type of TB patient,” the ministry added.

Source: http://www.healthpost.in/news/Jail-term-for-doctors–chemists-if-they-don-t-report-TB-761

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Health checkups for doctors

/0 Comments/in /by

Tackling stress daily is the key to prevent deaths of doctor ..


MANGALURU: Dr Rajesh Bhat, 49, an obstetrician and gynaecologist from Bhat’s Nursing Home, collapsed after a suspected cardiac arrest on the badminton court during one of the Mangaluru Premier League matches on Saturday. This incident is a wake up call for doctors who tend to ignore their own health. The healthcare profession in India, is one of the most stressful careers. Many senior doctors from the city felt that yearly health check-ups for doctors must be made mandatory.

Two years ago, survey conducted by IMA [Indian Medical Association] in Kerala, may doctors die due to cardio vascular diseases and cancer. Our doctors go out of the way to save patients. There is no fixed time and day for their work. Its very difficult to have work-life balance.


Dr Rajesh Bhat, 49, an obstetrician and gynaecologist from Bhat’s Nursing Home in Mangalore, collapsed after suspected cardiac arrest while playing badminton. This is the wakeup call for all doctors to get the regular health checkup in between their busy schedule. Please read more on Times of India, Mangalore edition.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangaluru/tackling-stress-daily-is-the-key-to-prevent-deaths-of-doctors-cardiologist/articleshow/69918378.cms

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Miracle: Doctors Revive Dead Patient On The Operating Table

/0 Comments/in /by

50-year-old woman suffered a cardiac arrest just before the surgery.
When 50-year-old Saraswati Devi from Uttar Pradesh was revived on the operating table, 20 minutes after her heart stopped beating, it was nothing short of a miracle. On August 14, Devi, a resident of Sonebhadra district, was undergoing a bypass surgery at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute to treat the 90 percent blockage in her heart. She was also a diabetic. However, just before the surgery began, she suffered a cardiac arrest on the table.

“Her heart stopped beating and her blood pressure dropped to zero. If we stopped even for a second, the heart monitor was a straight line,” said Dr. SN Khanna, Associate Director, FEHI, Delhi. The doctors wasted no time, and for the next 20 minutes, kept giving her a cardiac massage to keep pumping blood. They could then have either not gone ahead with the surgery and informed the family, or perform the bypass on a still heart. “We chose the latter. We didn’t have a second to waste. After 20 minutes of external cardiac massage, we prepped for surgery. It then took us another 10 minutes to clean her, intubate her, and open the rib cage to reach the heart,” said Dr Khanna.

Usually, lack of blood supply to the brain for over four four minutes can lead to irreversible damage; in Devi’s case, she went without supply for close to 10 minutes.

“It was difficult for us to say whether she will wake up with brain damage or not. It was only when she regained consciousness that we figured that the surgery was successful,” said Dr Khanna.

Devi was discharged from the hospital on August 24 and the doctors have since been monitoring her recuperation closely.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-docs-revive-50-year-old-bypass-patient-dead-for-30-minutes-2547188

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1.  Get a Medical Second Opinion
2.  Search doctors and Request Appointment