HEALTH

Where heart diseases flourish
By Dr Rajeev Gupta 

LUDHIANA, June 14 — Heart illnesses induce tension in the mind of the strongest and the Ludhianvis are no exception. Ludhiana is a city of rich people. For a majority of the citizens who are in business, the pace of life is very hectic and strenuous. They leave for factories or shops at 9 in the morning and return home at 9 or 10 at night. Majority of them have sitting jobs, which helps the body fat to get deposited, layer after layer, in various organs, including blood vessels.

To make the situation worse, majority do not do any physical exercise. You have to just see the size of bulging tummies in any party to make your own guess about the life-style of the person. Abdominal bulge is becoming a trademark of Ludhiana city. Can you name any other city in the country where servants are also obese and have protruding tummies ? In some male members, bulge is so prominent that they constantly appear full-term pregnant. This abdominal bulge or pear-shaped abdomen has been considered as one of the risk factors for coronary artery disease(cad).

Ludhiana provides an ideal ground for heart illness to flourish. Long working hours, rising competition, pressures from various state departments on private sector, high calorie diet and people’s liking for fried and oily foods, coupled with physical inactivity and high alcohol consumption contribute to the number of patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart illness. No wonder that there are never-ending crowds in the clinics of heart physicians and cardiologists, and the recently started Sigma Heart Centre in Gurdev Nagar has become an instant success.

Comments Dr G.S. Wander, Chief Cardiologist at DMC, ‘’Most of the Ludhiana citizens work in the private sector, which is highly competitive and stressful. Working hours are long and protracted. One has to put in extra efforts to sustain the business. Most of the people constantly remain under stress. Even city professionals are not immune to it. One has to see and then believe hectic daily schedule of busy city doctors, advocates and chartered accountants.”

Dr R.P. Singh, a senior cardiologist at Sigma Heart Centre, feels that diabetes, obesity, high leveling blood fats and sedentary life-style are important risk factors for developing heart disease, which have become relevant in Punjabi patients and particularly this assumes significance in Ludhiana, where these illnesses are highly prevalent. He is happy that at least smoking is less in Punjabis. He is convinced that there is a need to have extensive education programme to change diet and city life-style to reduce the risk of getting coronary artery disease.

Common warning signals of a heart attack are pain or discomfort behind the chest bone, a feeling of getting choked, sudden breathlessness, syncopal attack or sudden feeling of weakness in the early morning. Dr Singh feels that time is the most critical factor in such patients and they should be immediately rushed to a medical centre. Before calling for medical help, one should keep two tablets of Disprin under the tongue. It may help many patients to reduce the damage to the heart.

Dr Wander blames diabetes as a very important risk factor in Punjabi patients. He adds that the incidence of diabetes is much more in India than in the West. CAD, because of diabetes, is a multivessel disease and many patients have also enlargement of the heart. Most of diabetics have silent and painless heart attacks. Dr Wander also emphasises the need of immediate shifting of the patient to the hospital.

Mortality because of heart attack is maximum in the first hour. If patient is attended in first 5 or 6 hours, he gets the benefit of thrombolytic therapy, where clot blocking the heart vessels is dissolved by the drugs. If arteries remain blocked for 5 to 6 hours, they cause death of part of the heart tissue which is called myocardial ischaemia or heart attack. Dr Wander adds that DMC is also running free ambulance services.

Ludhiana citizens must be alarmed that local hospital statistics in the city for heart illnesses are quite scaring, but the brighter aspect is that various medical centres handling heart problems are doing an excellent job in snatching many lives from the claws of death. Each heart specialist can recall scores of cases where timely help made all the differences between life and death. But Dr Wander warns that if Ludhianavis do not change their life-style today, tomorrow may be very late for most of them.

CMC enlists epileptic pregnant mothers
From Shivani Bhakoo

LUDHIANA, June 14 — The Neurology Department of Christian Medical College and Hospital has initiated a number of measures to better safe-guard the pregnant woman afflicted with epilepsy. Research and incessant observations have proved that the fertility rate of women suffering from epilepsy is comparatively less than those who are not suffering from this disease.

Dr Jeyaraj Pandian, a prominent Neurologist, says that women laid up with epilepsy are at a greater risk for reproductive and endocrinal diseases such as polystic ovarian diseases as well as decreased functional activities of sex glands, mostly resulting in impairment of the sexual development.

Feeling the need to arouse awareness among epileptic pregnant mothers, Dr Pandian suggests that convulsions are found undesirable during the period of gestation as they increase the risk of congenital malformation in the offspring. Pregnant mothers with epilepsy develop a series of complications such as vaginal hemorrhage, excessive vomiting, miscarriage and premature breaking of water.

Dr Jeyaraj Pandian further proves that in the early part of the 20th century, children born to mothers suffering from epilepsy developed congenital abnormalities. The major abnormality of this type can be serious, even damaging central nervous system and developing other problems.

To provide facilities to epileptic mothers, the Neurology Department of CMC has given top priority to set up a registry so as to enlist epileptic pregnant mothers. They will be followed up according to standardised protocol.

Dr Jayraj said,"Based on these observations, suitable medical advice on the management of pregnancy and epilepsy will be recommended." The number of epileptic pregnant mothers being enlisted is still on the rise. The department will also provide a number of scientific observations which will give a better understandings of epilepsy and pregnancy to improve the quality of life of epileptic mothers.

SPORT

City swimmers strike gold
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, June 14 — Two local swimmers, Vibha Babbar and Mridul, were the star performers and declared the best swimmers amongst girls and boys, respectively, in the 16th Punjab State Sub-Junior swimming championship held at Ferozepore on June 10 and 11.

Vibha Babbar, a student of Class VIII in Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, swept six gold medals and one silver medal to ascertain her supremacy in the state championship. She bagged the gold in 50m free style, 100m free style, 200m free style, 100m breast stroke, 100m back stroke and 100m butter stroke. Vibha struck a silver in 200m individual medley.

Another upcoming swimmer, Mridul, student of Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar gave a brilliant performance and won nine medals (3 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze). Mridul emerged winner in 200m free style. He finished runner-up in 100m butterfly stroke and medley relay and stood third in 100m breast stroke, 50m free style, 100m back stroke and free relay.

Mridul and Vibha Babbar, with their outstanding performance during the state championship, helped Ludhiana garner 49 and 36 points in the boys and girls section, respectively, and finish runners-up.

Earlier, Vibha and Mridul had reaped a rich haul of seven gold medals each and were named the best swimmers in the Ludhiana district swimming championship held here on June 3 and 4.

ADMINISTRATION

LIT to raise Rani Jhansi centre
From Kuldip Bhatia

LUDHIANA, June 14 — Even with a portion of the 2.22-acre piece of land at prime location on Maharani Jhansi Road in the city under the possession of a private party and another 1,000 square yards, in all probability to go the same way, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) is all set to go ahead with the construction of yet another commercial centre to be named as Rani Jhansi centre, albeit with a revised lay out plan.

Conceived wayback in the middle of nineties, the proposed commercial centre has a long history of being launched in a grand style with much hoopla and then being put on the back burner due to the proposed site, with a market value of several crores, of rupees, being entangled in prolonged legal battles. Presently, some 1,400 square yards land in one corner of the plot was auctioned under court orders and one of the claimants has secured possession of 400 square yards with a boundary wall constructed around it and a signboard put up there proclaiming his ownership.

Mr Madan Mohan Vyas, Chairman of the trust, told Tribune News Service that a decision had been taken to take the construction of the commercial complex in hand and preliminary work would commence next month. “We have had the original layout of the multi-storeyed complex altered, leaving the 1,400 square yards piece of land out for the time being. But we are appropriately dealing with the court orders secured by certain claimants in compensation cases and in case of a favourable verdict, the plot being left out in the corner would be integrated back into the complex. “

The Rani Jhansi centre, Mr. Vyas disclosed would be an ultra modern five storeyed complex where shoppers would feel their dreams come true. Out of a total site area of 62,565 square feet, the ground coverage would be only to the extent of 25,900 sq.ft leaving the rest of the area for temporary parking. For those having shops and offices in the complex, there would be adequate parking facilities in the double basement parking area.

The ambitious project, estimated to cost around Rs.10 crore, would have 28 shops having a floor area between 700 and1000 sq. ft. each, two restaurants, including one revolving restaurant on the top floor, office space for three banks, 34 office buildings with a floor area ranging from 1000 to 2000 sq.ft. and eight residential flats of 1500 sq. ft. each.

Mr Vyas further told that an idea of developing the project as a conceptual complex was being explored. The underlying purpose was to motivate a particular trade like hosiery, jewellers or textile to shift to this place from their present location in congested areas of the old city.

The Chairman has chalked out various schemes to streamline the working of the trust office, which definitely needs a lot of improvement as far as its image is concerned. “All of us, including the officers and the employees of the trust, would work hard in order to improve and restore the trust of public by providing time bound disposals of pending matters and one-window facility to cut the red tape,” Mr Vyas observed in a determined manner.

Tandon canvasses for candidates
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, June 14 — Mr Balramji Das Tandon, Punjab Minister for local bodies and senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, today addressed a couple of election meetings at Sahnewal and Machhiwara in this district to garner support for candidates of the ruling SAD(B)-BJP alliance contesting the nagar panchayat elections, to be held on June 16.

Addressing party workers at Sahnewal, Mr Tandon appealed to the electorate to vote for candidates put up by the ruling alliance so that the town could usher in a new era in which the people were provided with all modern amenities. While lok sabha and assembly elections were contested on bigger issues which had a direct bearing on the nation and respective states, nagar panchayats dealt with the people at the grassroots and the voters must elect persons who, besides being earnest and upright, were responsive to their needs and aspirations, he said.

The minister criticised the outgoing nagar panchayat for its complete failure to carry out development works, like making provisions for sewerage and wate supply in the town, and assured that in case the ruling front candidates were elected and the new nagar panchayat initiated a move in this direction, the state government would extend all possible assistance for expansion of water supply and sewerage facilities in the area.

Mr Tandon, accompanied by the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, also addressed a similar meeting in Machhiwara, where he listed the achievements of the ruling combine in detail and sought support of the people for nominees of the joint front.