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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Treatment-induced complications: Need
to spread awareness
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Monsoon days: Take extra care of your hair
The monsoon rain comes as a relief but it also signals the need for extra-protection for our hair. Hair is an important part of who we are, how we project ourselves to others and how we are perceived by others. Each hair on our head grows for two to six years at a rate of about 1.5 cm/month.
Monsoon humidity robs the hair of its bounce, often leaving it lifeless. The scalp constantly sweats, leading to itching, scratching and aggravated hair loss. Rainwater carries atmospheric pollutants that weaken the hair roots, causing hair fall. Along with rainwater, another danger in the monsoon is the highly concentrated chlorine-treated water. During the monsoon, the municipality guards against bacteria with additional chlorine in water. This concentrated chlorine compound may kill the bacteria but can also be harmful to your skin and hair. Chlorine can cause dry skin, dry hair, itching, flaking and hair loss. The disorder of hair loss can cause a lot of suffering, emotionally and cosmetically. Hair loss (alopecia) can be scarring due to a number of causes. This type of alopecia requires surgical restoration along with medication. Non-scarring alopecia, especially telogen effluvium, is reversible with proper treatment. Flyaway hair This is caused by static electricity and having rough hair cuticles (the outer layer of the hair). The best way to control flyaway hair is to moisturise it through the use of a hair conditioner, decrease the use of dryers and try to use alcohol-free styling products to decrease further drying. Crash diets Besides the fact that they don’t work in the long run, here’s another reason to avoid crash diets, specially in the rainy season: they can lead to significant hair loss. The most sensible approach to weight reduction is to simply increase your exercise levels while reducing your calorie intake. Avoid self-medication with inappropriate antibiotics for prolonged duration. Athletes and body builders have one more reason to avoid steroids; they can get bald. What causes dandruff? About half of the people with dandruff have an increase in pityrosporum yeasts, yeast that is a normal inhabitant of the scalp skin. There is a tendency of this normal microflora to overgrow in the rainy season. The other causes include an increase in the oiliness of your skin, having stress, heavy drinking, and certain drugs. Premature greying of hair (canities) : It occurs because of the decreased density of melanocytes in the hair follicle roots. This can be treated in certain cases with medication without any surgical intervention. What is hair made of?
Say “no” to chemical treatment of hair and hot hair-treatments such as perming, straightening or colouring in the rainy season. When combined with wet weather, these treatments further tend to weaken the hair shaft and promote breakage, split ends and hairfall. Chemical treatments like relaxers do make curly hair look longer, though they drastically slow down the growth of men’s hair.
Contact time of shampoo Most people wash off shampoo immediately after its application or keep the shampoo in the hair for very long. But the fact is that the contact time of shampoo to hair should be around five minutes, neither less nor more. This allows appropriate time for cleaning of dirt in the hair. The frequency of usage ideally is twice a week. Those having an acute hair loss should avoid shampoos with very high concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate and cocobetaine. The writer is Chief Consultant-Dermatologist & Dermato-Laser Surgeon, National Skin Hospital, Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula. E-mail: drvikas.
nscindia@gmail.com
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Treatment-induced complications: Need
to spread awareness
Treatments of all kinds are invariably fraught with potential complications which are generally minor and ignorable, occasionally severe and may rarely be fatal. While most of the drugs have their distinct side-effects or toxicities, the surgical interventions are associated with post-operative problems. Some of these problems may be attributed to the surgical procedure while others may occur as a consequence of the desired surgery. The spectrum of complications is huge and wide, but one must admit that no treatment can be guaranteed as 100 per cent safe.
Patients are generally aware of common problems and accept minor complications as “fait accompli”. The physician often considers them granted and may not even bother to educate the patient about them. The problem lies with the complications which are rare to occur and, therefore, left untouched. For example, a sudden and severe drug-reaction, which can also be deadly, can happen as a bolt from the blue in one out of hundreds of individuals. Similarly, there can be failure of an organ (heart, kidneys, liver, blood and lungs) following a drug administration. Most such situations are not only unexpected but also unavoidable. The doctor inadvertently becomes a culprit for a crime he has not committed. Can he/she be blamed for such an adversity? There are innumerable examples of similar kinds. Even the worst complication of a cardiac arrest can happen, albeit rarely, following routine procedures such as an intubation and any other intervention, including simple catheterisation or a parenteral injection. This is generally explained on the basis of a reflex action. Such patients are often resuscitated with immediate cardiac massage and other emergency measures. If that does not happen, the doctor starts seeing a noose hanging around his neck. Unexpected bleeding following a surgery, a caesarean section or a simple delivery is another cause for worry. Serious consequences can result if the bleeding is uncontrolled and leads to further complications. The cause is attributed to the surgeon concerned in spite of the best of his/her expertise, intention and efforts. The doctor is made to pay the price for the treatment and defend the actions. Not uncommonly in this country, he also becomes a victim of violence. It is not my intention to defend the indefensible and the criminal offences as per the law of the land. But it certainly hurts when one hears of violent and aggressive episodes. The basic issue, however, remains — can the treatment complications be avoided? Unfortunately, the treatment complications happen even when administered by an appropriately qualified doctor. Some of the complications are, in fact, related to the underlying diseases or other factors. Treatment in the hands of the quacks or fake and unscrupulous doctors is not the issue of my subject. Most of them themselves are not aware of the treatment they provide or the complications which can occur. Obviously, the complications threaten both the patient and the doctor. How to avoid and get rid of them is a moot question. As stated earlier, they are not altogether avoidable in spite of the continued improvements in the safety profiles of medicines and other medical procedures. Unfortunately, the new and the more safe treatments also come at tremendous costs which are often not affordable even by the well-to-do patients and the governments. Insurance companies also keep on increasing the premium costs in lieu of the increased amounts of claims by the patients. There are a few simple precautions which one needs to take with any treatment protocol: Do not prescribe or use unnecessary or supernumerary drugs; follow standard national guidelines of government/professional societies; do not prescribe medicines or procedures about which you are not fully knowledgeable; half-baked information from the Internet is frequently misleading; be vigilant about the occurrence of a problem but be not afraid of the same; consult your doctor in case of confusion or occurrence of a problem. Importantly, the doctor needs to inform the patient about such possible problems, seek their consent and also enable himself/herself to deal with the same in case of a mishap. The possibility of a treatment complication, however, is not a prelude to avoid a treatment. They are uncommon and generally manageable. Panic and blame game must be avoided at all costs. One must understand that any treatment is a kind of “package” that comes with its benefits and problems. The writer is Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine,
PGI, Chandigarh.
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Simple painkillers may help in dementia
London: Agitation, a common dementia symptom, could be better treated with simple painkillers rather than the riskier ‘chemical cosh’ antipsychotic drugs, according to a study. It found painkillers significantly cut agitation in dementia patients. On the other hand, antipsychotics have a powerful sedative effect, can worsen dementia symptoms, and increase the risk of stroke or even death. These are often given to patients whose dementia makes them aggressive or agitated. However, researchers from Kings College, London, and Norway speculated that the behaviour might sometimes be caused by pain, which patients were unable to express in other ways, reports the BBC. They studied 352 patients with moderate or severe dementia in nursing homes in Norway. Half were given painkillers with every meal, the rest continued with their usual treatments. After eight weeks, there was a 17 per cent reduction in agitation symptoms in the group being given painkillers — a greater improvement than would have been expected from treatment with antipsychotics.
— ANI Loving your own body will help you lose weight Washington: A new study has found that improving body image can enhance the effectiveness of weight loss programmes based on diet and exercise. Researchers from the Technical University of Lisbon and Bangor University enrolled overweight and obese women on a year-long weight loss programme. In the study, half of the women were given general health information about good nutrition, stress management, and the importance of looking after yourself. The other half attended 30 weekly group sessions (the intervention plan) where issues such as exercise, emotional eating, improving body image and the recognition of and how to overcome personal barriers to weight loss and lapses from the diet were discussed. — ANI Kids as young as 10 at heart disease risk due to obesity Melbourne: A top childhood obesity expert has revealed that kids as young as 10 are at the risk of heart disease due to obesity. Dr Matt Sabin, co-head of the Royal Children’s Hospital weight management clinic, said Victoria’s obesity epidemic was becoming extreme. “We’re not talking about a little bit of extra weight, we’re talking about severely obese children,” News.com.au quoted Sabin as saying. “It is getting worse — the numbers are not getting higher but the degree of obesity is getting worse,” added Sablin. While most were aged 14 to 18, a handful were as young as 10, Sabin said.
— ANI Lack of sunshine may have led to Mozart’s untimely death Washington: Famous musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may have died because he did not get enough sunlight, according to a new study. It is known that vitamin D may reduce the risk of many acute respiratory infectious diseases, including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections. Mozart died at the age of 35, after suffering from many infectious illnesses, including catarrh, fever, sore throat and bad colds from 1762 to 1791. Most of these illnesses occurred between mid-October and May.
— ANI
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