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Generate more cadaver donations:
doctors CHANDIGARH The only answer for chronic liver damage, is a transplant, either from a brain dead person or a living
donor. Senior doctors and researchers are present in the city to participate in a conference on “current perspectives in liver diseases and hepatic encephalopathy”, in the PGI. They say that active awareness programmes have to be developed to spread message for generating more cadaver donations for liver transplant. Encephalopathy, medically means the condition of dysfunction of brain. The condition could result from poison in blood, not
degraded because of endstage liver disease. Dr J.B. Dilawari says that medical treatment entails decreasing poison in blood by giving antibiotics and regularly cleaning up intestines by using purgatives by using purgatives. “Brain is able to recover by this treatment, but a stage may arrive when it stops responding to medical therapy. At this stage liver transplant remains the only answer.” In advanced countries like the USA and the UK, liver transplant is being performed with extremely good survival rates, up to 60 to 70 per cent, in the first year. Source of transplants in the UK is mainly the brain dead persons. In the USA, the concept of a living donor for transplants in adults is gaining significant importance. Last year alone 270 transplants were performed, with some excellent results. “ In the USA, the recipients may have to wait for as long as two years for a cadaver donor. Then a living donor is the best answer for managing complete liver failure,” says Prof K.D.Mullen from Cleveland, USA. From a living
donor, two thirds of the right lobe is transplanted in the recipient. The donor has to match medically and be healthy with almost the same body size. Donor’s liver subsequently regenerates to its original size, though not the same shape, However, the procedure requires exact precision and care as it involves putting two lives in considerable risk. “ Any mistake could mean a certain death for donor,” says Dr Mullen. Dr Dilawari says that living donors do provide answer as in India organ donation is still not socially acceptable. “But at what cost ? Are we willing to risk life of a donors. A living donor is not very popular in the UK. For the end stage liver diseases, best donors are the brain dead persons. Dr M.P. Sharma agrees that with a living donor, doctors have to be extra careful. “ It is the risk of two lives. For India the answer is cadaver based donation.” According to Dr Vivek Kohli, in India there is a distinct unwillingness among the relatives of the brain dead person to donate organs. “ Somehow the Indian mentality refuses to accept the concept of donating organs of a brain dead person. Doctors too hesitate by not telling the relatives that it is too late for the patient to recover.” Dr S.P. Misra says. “Medically the infrastructure is there, but because of social stigma very few transplants are actually performed.” For this, says, Dr S.K. Acharya, integrated awareness programmes, involving the doctors and the relatives of the brain dead people, have to be developed. Dr Randhir Sud says that considering the social stigmas attached to it, real answer for India could possibly be in live donor transplants.” Somehow the organ donation programme in AIIMS has come to a grinding halt. With proper research workdown the years, risk of mortality can be reduced to zero. In Japan, only living donor transplants are performed,” he adds. Dr Y.K.Chawla, Head, Department of Heapatology, says, “We get a significant number of patients who require transplant. We have the surgical expertise in the institute. Problem is getting a donor who is brain dead. Living relation donor could be a good option but again it involves a major surgery on living people which has its own risk.” |
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‘Involve parents of challenged kids’ CHANDIGARH The workshop jointly organised by NIMH with Parents and Guardians Society for the Welfare of Mentally Handicapped Children was attended by parents, special educators and members of different NGO’s. Dr Menon, emphasised the fact that rehabilitation of the mentally challenged cannot be left to the government. “Parents participation is important to gain knowledge about the best way to take care of their children. Moreover, it is not for the teachers but for the parents to decide what their child will earn and how”. Dr Menon, in a lively interactive session and citing various examples of success stories, informed the audience about issues concerning the civil rights of the parents regarding education, work and equal opportunities. “It is for the parents to fight for their agenda and demand for their rights. For that, it is important for them to be organised and aware of their rights. The government can provide money and institutions, but only the parents know what is best for their child. Therefore, ask for opportunities, not charity from the government,” he added. Prof Menon traced the genesis of legal issues in caring for the mentally challenged. “Although efforts were made to bring the mentally challenged closer to society, it was as late as 1995 that the Persons with Disability Act came into being and non-discrimination was emphasised. Now the disabled cannot be denied admissions or refused jobs as the act provides equal opportunities to everyone,” he said. He, however, emphasised that effort have to be made to make the disabled an integral part of society. “For that efforts of parents are to be especially commended,” he added. Mrs Madhavi Kataria, Director, Department of Social Welfare, while applauding the efforts of parents, emphasised upon the need for better cooperation between NGO’s, government agencies and parents. “All have to join hands for a better future for these special children,” she asserted. Prof B.S. Chavan, Head, Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, elaborated on ongoing efforts in making the disabled children a part of society.” For this, special educators of the institute will go to villages, create awareness and provide support and training to parents of the mentally challenged.” Mrs Rita Peshawaria, Clinical Psychologist, NIMH emphasised on the need to
involve siblings in the care of these children. Mrs Peshawaria has a vast experience of working with the mentally challenged and has also made a documentary entitled “manzil ki aur”. The workshop was followed by practical training by creating hypothetical family situations where handling of mentally challenged child was involved. Parents after analysing the situation came out with suggestions for better care of these children. The common messages conveyed were the need for realistic expectations from the mentally challenged, avoidance of over indulgence, emphasis on vocational training and encouragement of social interaction. |
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Brain attack: prevention is the key CHANDER SHEKHAR, a 42- years-old speech therapist, was examining a patient in his clinic on Pakhowal Road when he felt sudden numbness in his left arm. In no time his arm lost power and became completely motionless. His wife called for help and he was immediately shifted to the emergency department of Dayanand Medical College, where a CT scan showed that he had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. One of the major arteries in his brain had leaked and a big clot was found compressing the brain. Unfortunately for him, he had also developed “coning” where lower part of the brain containing the vital centres for heart and lungs had herniated because of increased pressure in the skull. Coning is a bad prognostic sign and indicates a serious course of the illness. Despite best efforts by the attending team, he could not be saved. He was a smoker and was taking treatment for high blood pressure. A 50-years-old, doctor’s wife in Sarabha Nagar complained of acute pain in her left eye and double vision. Her MRI scan showed evidence of reduced blood flow on the left side of the brain. But no pathology could be located in the brain. Same evening only, she started having numbness and weakness and developed complete paralysis on one half of the body. A CT scan showed that she had suffered from brain ischaemia due to blockage of blood supply to the brain. Fortunately for her, she is conscious and mentally alert and is on the path to recovery. She was a known hypertensive and was on treatment. Last year, a 49-year-old child specialist suddenly lost his ability to speak. His MRI scan showed that there were ischaemic changes in the brain, which resulted in his neurological deficit. He was lucky to improve with conservative treatment. He was a smoker and was having raised levels of blood cholesterol. Cerebral stroke or ‘brain attack’ is becoming a common clinical problem in medical practice. After heart attack and cancer, it is the third most common cause of death in the USA. Every year, about 5,50,000 people in the USA suffer from a stroke and about 1,50,000 die. Symptoms of stroke are : giddiness, severe headache without any apparent cause, sudden loss of speech or difficulty in understanding language, confusion, sudden loss of vision in one eye or blurred vision, numbness of limbs, weakness of limbs or attacks of unconsciousness. Dr Gagandeep Singh, a senior neurologist in Dayanand Medical College, feels that there is a need to create awareness among the public and the medical community about the preventive aspects of stroke and its management. He says that it is most important to control risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure, increased body weight, diabetes,
sedentary life and high blood fat levels. He suggests that once stroke is suspected, the patient should be immediately shifted to a major hospital, where facilities of treating these patients are available. Transiet ischemic attack (TIA) may be the initial symptom of an impending stroke. In TIA, patient may complain of loss of speech or numbness of the limbs which disappears of its own within 24 hours. Stroke can be caused by two major mechanisms. Ishaemic stroke is caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain because of blockage of blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. Haemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding inside the brain. The later is commonly seen in patients having aneurysm (abnormal dilatation of blood vessel) and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Out of various medical illnesses, stroke has very high disability. It can cripple a person for his life. First three hours of stroke are very crucial, since in case of ischaemic stroke, thromobolytic therapy can be given in the form of intravenous injections that dissolve the clot. |
PGI chief for debate on effect of
alcohol CHANDIGARH The panelists included doctors, social workers, lawyer and an administrative officer to present each and every aspect of alcoholism and its implications. The discussion was later followed by a lively interactive session where audience posed questions to panelists. While inaugurating the session, Dr S.K. Sharma, Director, PGI, rightfully said that there was a considerable debate on the bad effects of alcohol on the human metabolism. "Without indulging in any controversy, there are also some views that its moderate intake may actually have positive effects on the life span of a person," he commented. Prof B.N. Tandon, initiating the discussions, said that it was important that scientific conferences also include such forum discussions. "Alcoholism is more of a psycho social health problem where scientists alone cannot be of much help." Mr M.Ramasekhar, Deputy Commissioner, Chandigarh Administration, presenting the governments point of view, admitted that alcohol sale was important form of revenue to the state exchequer. "Moreover, people in Chandigarh are familiar with what happened when prohibition was imposed in Haryana. It suffered the same fate it did in states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,'' he informed. Adding further, he stated that in Haryana, when prohibition was imposed in 1996, it was supported by 65 per cent of the people. Three years later, 91 per cent people opposed it. Prohibition elicited such a response because it was more of a knee jerk reaction than a social reform. There was a rise in prices and over all taxes and the people felt the pinch," he said. Mr R.S. Cheema of the Chandigarh State Legal Services Authority spoke on the relationship between alcohol and criminality. "Alcoholism presents an impossible situation where practically all prohibition efforts have failed. It is difficult to stop the process in which hundreds of thousands of people are involved,'' he opined. "We have to live with alcohol and the fact is that it is closely related to crime. The answer lies in spreading awareness with the help of social workers and educating youngsters, " he observed. Mrs Amar Kulwant Singh, member of the Chandigarh State Legal Cell Authority, stressed that the moral fabric had to be changed and social drinking had to be deglamourised. Mr Randhir, representative of the Alcoholics Anonymous, said that alcoholism was a mental, spiritual and physical disorder should be treated accordingly. Prof B.S. Chavan, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, GMCH-32, Prof S. Varma, Head of the Department of Medicine and Dr Yogesh Chawla, Head of the Department of Hepatology, PGI, elaborated on medical aspects of alcoholism and related disorders. "Emphasis should be on controlled drinking rather than prohibition. There is not a single organ or system in the body which is not affected by alcoholism. The liver is a site responsible for metabolism of alcohol and it is a proven fact that 80 gm of intake per day for 10 to 12 years could cause irreversible liver damage,'' they added. |
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82 volunteers donate
blood CHANDIGARH |
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54 examined at
dental camp PANCHKULA A lecture was also held on the occasion of blood donation day at General Hospital, sector 6. The in charge of the Blood Bank Society, Dr Seema Ghai, and the District Health Officer, Dr Vijay Garg, spoke on the topic of safe blood transfusion. They emphasised the need of taking blood from blood banks instead of professional donors. A talk on AIDS and how it could be prevented was also
delivered. |
PCC outplay ONGC XI by 19
runs CHANDIGARH Earlier in the morning, ONGC skipper won toss and opted to field. PCC openers, Munish Sharma and Vikram Rathore, got the team a flying start as they posted 100 off the innings in just 114 deliveries. Rathore was in full flow as he smashed 59 runs in 64 deliveries which included one six, seven fours. Munish gave him a good support as he made a patient 41 runs off 58 balls, having four hits to the fence. Then it was the turn of Reetinder Sodhi, who was joined by Sarandeep Singh, and paced the innings to perfection. Sodhi was able to complete 50 runs in 55 balls, while Sarandeep scored 30 runs. The PCC made a healthy total of 276 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 50 overs. In reply, ONGC openers, Gagan Khoda and Sandeep Sharma, were quick and scored 69 runs in just nine overs. Sandeep made 47 runs in 47 balls. Gagan Khoda was also out for 34 runs. Then it was Mithun Minhas whose unbeaten 61 runs added grace to score but the fine bowling of Navdeep Singh of the PCC who was supported by Dinesh Mongia and Reetinder Sodhi finally turned the tables in favour of them and as a result the PCC was all out for 257 runs thus 19 short of target. Mithun Minhas was declared man of the match, Sandeep Sharma of ONGC man of the series, Reetinder Sodhi, Navdeep Singh and Harminder Jugnu of the PCC were declared best batsmen, bowler and wicket keeper respectively. Lieut-Gen JFR Jacob (retd), Governor, Punjab, gave away prizes. The PCC received a cash prize of Rs 51000, while the ONGC got Rs 31000. Mohinder Singh, Secretary, Chandigarh Cricket Association, and Sukhwinder Bawa, SAI coach, were honoured. Brief scores: ONGC XI—257 all out in 48.5 overs (Mithun Minhas 61 n.o., Sandeep Sharma 47, Gagan Khoda 34, Gautam Vadhera 27, Manoj Mudgil 20, Navdeep Singh 4 for 42, Dinesh Mongia 2 for 43, Reetinder Sodhi 2 for 64). |
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10-day NSS camp
concludes CHANDIGARH Dr S.N. Singla, Principal, welcomed the chief guest. Mr Maghar Singh, in charge of the NSS, apprised the various activities of the students. |
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Hansraj School win cricket
tourney CHANDIGARH Brief scores: Ist match—Hansraj Public School, Panchkula — 262 runs for one in 25 overs (Gaurav Chopra 100 n.o., Rishab Thakur 58, Vidit Kataria 54 n.o.,). GMSSS-22: 39 all out in 11.1 overs (Nitin Gandhi four for four,Vivek Vashisht two for eight). IInd match: GMSSS-32-140 runs for five in 25 overs (Rupinder Singh 45, Sachin 31, Vinay 21, Sudhir 2 for 26, Harpreet 2 for 34). GMSSS-44: 98 all out in 19.2overs (Raj Kumar 17, Aditya 16, Rajnikant 15, Harvinder 10, Sanjeev 4 for nine, Chetan 2 for 27). Basketball tournament In the semi-finals, ISDSSS-21 prevailed upon Carmel Convent School, Sector 9 at 37-03 with a half time score of 20-03. In the other semi- final, BV-27 got the better of Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, at 24-6 with a half time score of 10-4. In the boys section, the
semi-final matches will be played tomorrow morning between DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 and SD Public School, Sector 32, while in the second semi-final it will be between Vivek High School, Sector 38, versus DAV school, Sector 8, Panchkula. Unique Club win Inter-school matches |
Follow traffic rules: Admn CHANDIGARH The high court had, in its order dated September 25, held that the use of mobile phones while driving was prohibited. It would be mandatory for all four-wheeler manufacturers to provide seat belts. The drivers and the passengers of all four wheelers must use the seat belts. Similarly, smoking while driving had been prohibited by the court. The Administration is committed to enforcing the directions of the court, a press note issued here said. |
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