THE OPHTHALMOLOGIST'S OPINION

Just like other organs of the body, your eyes need protection and at times treatment too.there are two eye doctors, optometrist and ophthalmologist. While an optometrist is concerned with vision and eyesight, an ophthalmologist deals with diseases and ailments of the eye and performs eye surgeries.

Interviews with a lot of ophthalmologists show that on an average an ophthalmologist see 200 patients in a week out of which about 50 are surgery encounters. They feel that the challenging part is the minor complications which require a lot of physical examinations. There are around 18,000 ophthalmologists in the country and about fifty of them practice in Noida. This number is very low and it is one of the main reasons as to why India homes the largest number of blind people. About 85% of the rural areas don't even have an eye care cell, let alone an ophthalmologist. This could be due to the less number of schools providing an education in eye care or the high cut throat competition in which only the top 5% candidates become an ophthalmologist.

Talking about the norms like eating carrot or drinking its juice and eating spinach, ophthalmologists believe that while no food helps in improving vision, carrots or other Vitamin A food can improve only if poor vision was caused due to deficiency of Vitamin A which is rare in urban areas. Here, the prominent reason is eye strain and genetic factors.

Looking for Ophthalmology in Noida ? You can easily find them on MEDICOSA which not only displays the doctor's information but also let you connect. By - Jessica

GENERAL SURGERY: IT’S A GRIND

When one decides to take that first step in the 1000 mile journey of becoming a doctor, they know they are going to get into a profession where the hours are grueling, the work challenging and the promise of little to no personal life.

What encourages these young guns to take up such a profession which sounds like nothing but a load of work? There are a number of answers to that question. For some, it is the money. For others, it is the prestige and the status of having “Doctor” prefixed to their name. And then there are those who pursue this profession purely because of the fact that it is dedicated to the service of others. To make someone else’s life a little bit easier by sharing your own bits of knowledge with them. I am writing this with a certain friend of mine in mind, who was one of those people that have life figured out since the age of five and have a clear picture of what they want to become. She proudly announced to the entire class, when we were in grade five, that she would become a pediatrician. And as we grew up, she worked and toiled towards achieving this goal.

What changed was only her choice of specialty. Instead of going for pediatrics, which would have been relatively easier because it is one field, with one target group, she delved into the myriad field of general surgery, which demands much more of a doctor than a single focus medical field ever would. General surgery focuses on all kinds of surgical treatments for different diseases, thus reaching out to a larger demographic. Maybe this was her reason for choosing to become a general surgeon, to aim for the greater good.

It is people like these who inspire us to put ourselves last, and strive to work for the better of our fellow humans. By - Sukanya

LEPROSY: YOU CAN’T IGNORE IT ANYMORE!

We have our busy lives, friends to meet, parties to go to. Who cares about some depressing disease that we probably won’t be affected with? Well, it’s time to start caring, because leprosy happens to be a very significant part of medical history because it combines medicine with a sense of social responsibility. Leprosy patients need the help of us fortunate, healthy beings more and more each day. Why? So that following our example, the stigma attached to them in others’ minds crumbles slowly yet surely. Saying that leprosy spreads by touching is a sure shot sign of illiteracy.

Yes, it’s out in the open! Sure, leprosy may spread with constant direct exposure to fluids from a leprosy patient’s body but we are all, careful and smart enough to avoid such situations, aren’t we? So why do we not follow the stellar example of selflessness and compassion set by someone from our own country and extend a helping hand to someone who clearly needs it.

It is not just the job of hospital or social workers to care for those affected with leprosy. In fact, leave helping them out, even social acceptance can go a long way in changing the leprosy patient’s mindset to a positive one, thus speeding up the process of recovery. Imagine, you simply being courteous and nice to someone instead of being high nosed can actually change their life! So why not try something like that for a change, it’s free of cost, after all, and being nice never killed anyone 

By - Sukanya 

HAEMOTOLOGY : BLOOD, AND MORE

We can all guess that haemotology has something to do with blood, because we have been hearing the word “haemoglobin” since as long as we can remember. Our memory serves us correctly as haemotology is the study of morphology, which is, the structure as well as the components of blood. Blood is a very complex entity and is made up of several parts like platelets, blood cells, blood proteins, bone marrow, and spleen. Looking at this information, it makes the fact that complications in blood composition can easily arise as a result of genetics, unhealthy lifestyle or pure bad luck, all the more easy to believe.

There are a number of diseases that originate in the blood like leukemia, thalassemia, anemia, blood clotting and what not. It is therefore always advisable to keep a regular check on our blood composition by getting lab check ups and keeping our doctors constantly in the loop. This is not paranoia. It is a simple precaution to ensure we have no unpleasant surprises further along the road because blood related diseases come with no warning and recuperation has unfavorable and most likely, next to impossible odds of happening.

We should use technological advancement to our advantage and first gather knowledge about blood and related diseases and secondly, we should also use it to look up doctors online who can help us take better care of ourselves.   By - Sukanya

For more visit: Haematology in Noida

GENERAL MEDICINE : NEVER TOO LATE TO START CARING

We, as humans, ironically ignore the very miraculous vessel we live in – our body. It’s there for us ALL the time, tries to work despite being abused with foreign substances like fast food, soda, alcohol and tobacco and strives to perform all the basic functions necessary to keep us alive. But our inherent selfishness forces us to avoid thinking about the consequences of our actions by living in the moment, which is a good thing but may not necessarily be so in the long run.

So instead of being shocked at the “betrayal” of your body when you suddenly find yourself in bed, sick, we should start taking good care of it immediately. Apart from the clichéd suggestions of eating healthy and getting regular exercise, there is one solid suggestion that could not only help prevent further damage to your organs but might, just might help undo the damage already done. And that, people, is consulting a general physician, who is, as the name suggests, a doctor who practices general medicine and is the go to person to erase all your queries about being in perfect shape.

A general medicine practitioner is familiar with the workings of all parts and organs of the body and can even detect a problem in one part of the body by examining another. Which is why it is time to kick that know it all ego to the curb and seek help, because your life can be way better than it already is and you know it! By - Sukanya

For more visit : General Medicine in Noida

TELEMEDICINE, ITS BENEFITS AND USES

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications to improve the health status of patients by exchanging medical information using latest technology. It helps eliminate the distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities. It is very beneficial to the rural poor, who can not afford quality medication or don't have an efficient healthcare system in their vicinity.

Large hospital have e-medicine provision as a part of their CSR initiatives. Many doctors are also in support of it since 70 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas and even in cities, health workers have a hectic lifestyle and long commutes which makes it tough to visit the doctor, but there are nearly 900 million mobile phone connections and over 200 million internet users, hence the wireless technology can be harnessed to decentralise India’s healthcare industry.

Some of the lesser known benefits and uses of the telemedicine industry are:

1. Telemedicine has been shown to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase efficiency through better management of chronic diseases,shared health professional staffing, reduced travel times, and fewer or shorter hospital stays.
2. Telemedicine can be used as a teaching tool, by which experienced medical staff can observe, show, and instruct the medical staff located somewhere else.
3. It also keeps a track of blood pressure, heart rate, weight, blood glucose, and hemoglobin. Depending on the severity of the patient's condition, the provider may check these statistics on a daily or weekly basis to determine the best course of treatment. 

          For more info visit : Telemedicine in India

DON'T FRET FOR A DIABETOLOGIST ANYMORE?

Diabetes is rapidly spreading in India, and has increased by 28% in the past four years. Currently, around 70 million Indian are suffering from diabetes. India is also referred to as the diabetic capital of the world, that is, it homes the highest number of diabetics in the world. According to a recent study, the people suffering from this disease have increased by 40% in urban cities and 49% in rural areas.

All these facts and statistics have thrown enough light on the prevalence of diabetes in our country. While diabetes is definitely the result of a sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle, it can be due to genetic and metabolic abnormalities and demographic transitions as well. Certain types of diabetes are due to a high intake of sugar which increases its level in the body.

While the most common and prevalent treatment involves insulin, many a times even insulin doesn't help in curing the illness. According to an article published by Business Standard, metabolic surgery can control diabetes in over 80% of patients in India.

With such a whopping number of people suffering from diabetes, the demand for a diabetologist is very high. Dr. Ajay Rastogi is an experienced and renowned diabetologist, practicing in Noida and Indirapuram. He has served big hospitals like Apollo Hospital, Fortis Hospital and GTB Hospital and runs a private clinic as well. By - Jessica

For more visit : Diabetology in ghaziabad