HEALTH

Cardiologist’s stress on yoga
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 7
A daily regime of 20 to 30 minutes of exercise and a strict maintenance of ideal body weight is required to keep heart diseases at bay. This was suggested by world renowned cardiologist, Dr Naresh Trehan, Executive Director, Escorts Heart Institute, while talking to TNS here today.

Dr Trehan along with a host of cardiac experts were in the city today to attend the prime continuing medical education (CME) programme on the latest advances in cardiac care.

Stating that the government was doing little in trying to educate the public about the prevention of heart diseases, he informed that the Escorts institute had undertaken such a programme in Delhi and its outskirts.

Commenting on the high cost of cardiac surgeries, Dr Trehan said both in the USA and India the number of people who can actually afford a heart surgery on their own is less than 1 per cent, but the big difference comes in the fact that in the USA, a majority of the population had a health insurance cover, such was not the case in India.

‘‘What we have here is not life insurance but death insurance. And the mediclaim scheme which is available is not being popularised at all.’’ he said.

At the CME, Dr Trehan discussed the advantages of ‘beating heart surgery’ as compared to the conventional heart lung machine dependent surgeries. He emphasised that the cost of surgeries was likely to come down. He also talked about operations involving the use of the latest in the field of robotics.

Dr T.S. Kler, Head of the Department of Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology of the Escorts institute, talked about the tachy cardia and the incidence of sudden death in the country due to ventricular fibrillation. ‘‘On an average 14 lakh people die each year of tachy cardiac-related problems,’’ he said. Dr Kler while talking to TNS explained that tachy cardia meant having heart beat of more than 100 per minute and was basically congenital in nature but could manifest at any age or in patients with a heart disease who were more prone to sudden death. ‘‘Even post-bypass surgery patients can suffer from it. Implantation of a pace maker is essential in such patients." he said.

Dr S.C. Manchanda, Head of the Department of Cardiology, AIIMS, New Delhi, emphasised that yoga could be the solution to a large number of stress-related disease since it involved everything from exercise to a good diet and good lifestyle habits.

Dr K.K. Talwar of the Department of Cardiology, AIIMS, said now endomyocardio biopsy was possible in cases of patients with an enlarged heart who could then focus on a single treatment. He also informed about the use of an assist device for patients who were waiting for a transplant. ‘‘This device can help the heart function till the patient is able to find a donor for the heart,’’ he said. Dr Talwar also stated that a new surgical technique called Batista was being used as another bridge to transplant where an enlarged heart was cut to reduce its size.

Relief for kidney transplant patients
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, April 7
Good news for patients suffering from renal failure! Two kidney transplants have been performed on two patients at the Silver Oaks Hospital here. The hospital has become second such centre in the area to have a department of renal services after the PGI, Chandigarh.

Talking to mediapersons, the Director of the hospital, Dr Akhil Bhargava, said a team of surgeons, led by Dr Arjinder Singh Bains, Dr Ravi Angral and nephrologist, Dr LK Jha, performed kidney transplant on 28 year-old Ram Krishan from Dewamandi in Bhiwani district, Haryana, and on 35-year-old Sunil Kumar from Jhajjhar. Both patients got kidneys from related donors, stated the doctors.

Ram Krishan had suffered a cardiac arrest while being brought to the hospital for dialysis. “After reviving the patient in three weeks, the transplant was done after his brother, Ramesh Chander, donated his kidney. In the second case, the sister of Sunil Kumar donated her kidney”, said Dr Arjinder Singh Bains, who had performed 700 kidney transplants.

He claimed that as per the guidelines of the government and the provisions laid down under the Human Organ Transplant Act, 1994, only related donors of patients were accepted. The hospital got permission from the Punjab Government to perform transplants in September 2001.

In case of an unrelated donor, the case had to be referred to a committee of health expert, headed by Principal of Government Medical College, Patiala. “We have to look for unrelated donors in case the patients had a family history of diabetes or polycystic disease”, said Dr Bains. The procedure of seeking kidney from cadaver patients (brain dead) has not found much response.

There is one centre each at Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar besides the PGI and the Silver Oaks that cater to the patients coming from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. The surgery costs around Rs 1.50 lakh, including the medicines.

Warning against artificial colours
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 7
The Director, Health Services, UT, has warned public in general and the business community in particular that the use of “saunf” colour and artificial sweetener in food items is strictly prohibited.

It is also mandatory to give a declaration on the label to the effect and failure to give such a declaration is against the provisions of the PFA Act and punishable under the law.

The DHS has also stated that arhar and masur dals contain artificial colours and are being sold in the market after polishing. The use of the colour and polished pulses is also prohibited as it is injurious to health.

The DHS has also stated that public can easily test if a food article is artificially coloured by putting it in water and seeing if the water gets coloured.

SPORTS

Selections for Shivalik Academy
Our Sports Reporters

Chandigarh, April 7
The two-day trials for Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, in four disciplines athletics, volleyball, basketball and hockey — were completed yesterday. The boys were shortlisted and selected for Shivalik Academy in respective disciplines. Dr D.S. Bedi, Director-Principal, interviewed all candidates along with other panel members which included Mr Vijaypal Singh, general secretary, Chandigarh Volleyball Association, Mr Mohan Nagreta, Mr M.S. Gill, Mr A.S. Yadav, and Mr B.S. Randhawa. Mr Bedi later said they had great difficulty finalising the names. In volleyball, a participant had come from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. Sunil Kumar from this academy had represented India in the international junior volleyball meet.

Soccer trials

As many as 90 boys reported for the soccer trials held on Saturday at Sanjay Public Senior Secondary School, Sector 44. The trials were for Sanjay Football Academy which is now a known name in football. The academy will provide free-education, sports training and other facilities to about 50 boys who will be shortlisted in three age groups — under 14, under 17 and under 19. Out of the total, 68 boys were selected for further tests such as 30 metre flying start, standing broad jump, 6x10 meter shuttle run, standing horizontal jump, forward bend and medicine ball. The players had come from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. According to Mr T.R. Sethi, Chairman of the school, the players will be given free coaching under the supervision of football coach Ranjit Rana, board and lodging and free education. The final trials and personal interview will be held tomorrow.

Cricket tourneys

Ekta XI beat Gaurav XI by 52 runs in the VI UT league cricket tournament played at the PEC grounds here on Saturday. In another match at the same venue, Uttaranchal Club defeated Pushpak XI by nine wickets. At the Gursagar grounds, Chetna Cricket Club overpowered the Food Corporation of India by 128 runs. At the Sector 16 cricket stadium, Punjab Civil Secretariat beat Sports Promoters XI by 20 runs. In another match, Phoenix XI defeated Gallant XI by four wickets. At DAV Senior Secondary school, Sector 8, DAVC-8 lost to Inde-Dutch XI by two wickets.

Matches

Elite XI outplayed Panchkula Sports Club by 43 runs in the VI UT League Cricket Tournament played at the Gursagar grounds here on Sunday. In another match, Sun XI outclassed Panchkula Cricket Club by seven wickets in a rain-curtailed match of 15 overs a side. At the PEC grounds, BBMB XI routed Pushpak XI by 33 runs. In other matches played at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, Panchkula Coaching Centre beat CNS XI by eight wickets, while HT XI defeated Sunrise XI by 10 wickets.

Ban on sale of cut fruit
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, April 7
Taking a precautionary measure against breaking out any epidemic in the district, the Panchkula administration has banned the sale of cut fruits and exposed eatables till December 31.

Exercising her powers under Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987, the Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Jyoti Arora, has issued a notification banning the sale of cut fruits and other eatables placed in the open for public with immediate effect.

The DC has also ordered the sellers to cover their products either with a thin wire mesh or keep them in glass showcases.

In addition to this, traders dealing with ice and milk products have been directed to get the sample of raw materials tested from the government laboratory and the public analyst.

To curb the sale of cut fruits and other eatables exposed in the open, different health officials and other administrative level officers have been authorised to conduct raids and take samples of the items.