The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

What has TV done to save people’s eyes?
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, June 16
The word ‘tele’ means to watch ‘far off things’ and vision means ‘sight’. So obviously the people with eyesight can watch the TV. But if every sixth visually challenged person in the world is an Indian, shouldn't it be the primary duty of telecasting companies to make people aware about the importance of having good vision? But hardly any government agency or NGO has done anything to educate people on how to save their vision.

Daman Singh has almost gone blind as he has developed cataract in both his eyes. He only knows that he would get it removed, may be at one of the free camps that are regularly organised by NGOs. He doesn’t know anything beyond that. There are millions of Indians with failing eyesight who would lose their vision unless and until they are given information as what to do when their vision fails due to cataract. Dr Arin Chatterji, an ophthalmologist, says cataract is a major cause of blindness. He says, “cataract operations should not be allowed at such camps. The people who arrange camps think that they are doing good deeds. But hygiene is casualty and many people develop infections and lose sight. Moreover, the doctors performing surgery use old methods whereby the patient after recovering has to wear thick glasses as lenses have been removed. Has television made the effort of telling people what to do when the vision starts failing? What steps should they take? How long should they wait for the surgery? What kind of surgery is required? If people are made aware of these facts it would be a great service to people and it would be a right step towards preventing blindness.

Dr Arin Chatterji who has visited many rural areas when serving in Christian Medical College said condition in villages was pathetic. They were totally ignorant of what to do in case of failing eyesight and opted for operations at some free camps. The quality of life of these people deteriorates. Some went blind due to infection and lack of medication as there were not many follow up camps. If the people were educated through television that intraocular lenses could make their life more comfortable and they should only opt for these, there would be lesser number of sightless people.

Some advertisements featuring popular cine stars like Aishwaraya Rai, Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya on TV motivate people to donate eyes after death. It is a good beginning, but more important is to educate people about cataract surgery. The doctors ought to opt for intraocular lenses though these are expensive than the glasses. If people who arrange eye camps really want to serve humanity they must take extreme care in maintaining total cleanliness at camps. The onus is on television to make people aware about it.

Ways to prevent food poisoning

FOOD poisoning cases usually increase in the summer and rainy seasons. Many people are sensitive to certain foods and suffer a food allergy. The usual symptoms of food poisoning are nausea, severe vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain coming on from four to 30 hours after eating the infected food. To these may be added double vision, muscle weakness, headache, cold sweats, prostration, collapse and rarely death. These are the symptoms of a severe intestinal infection, which is what food poisoning usually is. Food poisoning is caused by bacteria that grow in food that is not handled properly. Bacteria can grow rapidly when certain foods, especially meat and dairy products, are not prepared carefully or left at temperatures between 40°C and 140°C. The bacteria produce a poison that causes an acute inflammation of the intestines. Bacteria that survive the canning process may grow and produce toxin in the jar. Most of the food poisoning occurs when cold cuts, dressing, sauces and other food get too warm at parties. The germ or microbe that causes it usually belongs to the group called Salmonella, though staphylococci.

Prevention and general remedies :-

— Wash your hands, cutting boards and outer tops frequently. After handling raw meat, wash your hands and utensils before preparing other foods. Do not eat meat, dressing salads or other foods that have been kept for more than two hours between 34°C and 40°C.

— Keep party foods on ice. Do not eat raw eggs or sauces made with raw eggs.

— Discard any cans or jars with bulging lids or leaks.

— When you eat out, avoid rare and uncooked meat. Eat salad bar and deli items before they get warm.

— The most important thing to remember in treating food poisoning is that an inflamed stomach tends to go into spasm when stretched, resulting in vomiting. Consequently, if you are vomiting and take anything by mouth, it should be in very small quantities at frequent intervals.

— Do not consume any milk or dairy products during and for at least 72 hours after an episode of food poisoning. Take frequent small sips of barley or rice water, salted lime juice. Once you feel ready to eat, start slowly with easily digested foods such as mashed bananas, bread toast and diluted juices.

— Take ginger tea thrice daily. It helps to stop nausea and cleanse the digestive tract as well as providing fluids.

— Take Lavanbhaskar powder 1 tablespoon, twice daily with lime water.

Dr Anil Dheer

250 patients examined
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 16
A two-day free neuro camp, organised at SNTC, concluded today. Dr Manoj Sobti and his team examined nearly 250 patients. The majority of the patients were suffering from headache, epilepsy, backache and cervical problems.

During the camp 50 CT scans were done. Ten patients were identified for surgery.

SPORTS

PAU Club, Friends Club enter semifinals
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, June 16
Friends Club drubbed Rana Club by 78 runs and PAU Club outclassed Campus Club by five wickets to secure their berths in the semifinals of the 7th Invitation Cricket Cup Tournament being organised by the College of Agriculture at the Punjab Agricultural University ground here yesterday.

Both matches were curtailed to 18 and 22 overs, respectively, because of overnight rain. In the first match, Friends Club, batting first scored 143 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the allotted 18 overs with Rajan Singh, Harbhajan Kala and Satnam contributing 46, 43 and 29 runs, respectively.

Friends Club bowlers then restricted Rana Club to a total of 65 runs in 14.3 overs to wrap up the issue with a convincing margin of 78 runs. Rajan and Manpreet scalped three victims each conceding just 12 and 2 runs, respectively.

Brief scores: Friends Club — 143 for 4 in 18 overs. Rana Club — 65 all out in 14.3 overs.

In the second match, Campus Club were dismissed for 114 runs in 21.4 overs. Mithun and Rajan Kapoor made 27 and 19 runs, respectively. PAU Club achieved the target in 20.3 overs after losing five wickets.

Brief scores: Campus Club — 114 all out in 21.4 overs (Harjeet 3 for 20, Ravi Rana 2 for 22 and Baljeet 2 for 9). PAU Club — 115 for 5 in 20.3 overs (Amandeep 26, Sohail 34, Nitin 17 n.o and Mithun 2 for 24).

SAN Jain school win: An all-round performance by Chinton Sehgal (3 for 22 and 46 n.o.) and an equally useful batting by Tarun Passi (38 n.o.) helped SAN Jain Senior Secondary School to defeat KVM Senior Secondary School by nine wickets in the Sixth Chaman Lal Malhotra Cricket Cup Tournament, being organised by the Ludhiana District Cricket Association at the Arya College for Boys ground, here on Sunday.

Jain school won the toss and elected to field. They seized the initiative by restricting KVM School to a paltry total of 122 runs in the stipulated 25 overs. Only Karan Kalia made a worthwhile contribution of 51 runs.

For Jain school, Chinton Sehgal grabbed three wickets, while Karan Kanojia chipped in with two for 10 runs.

Jain school surpassed their opponents’ total after losing just one wicket.

Brief scores: KVM Senior Secondary School — 122 for 9 (Karan Kalia 51, Arjun Puri 15, Bharat 11, Sandeep 10, Chinton Sehgal 3 for 22, Karan Kanojia 2 for 10 and Sanjeev 1 for 41 )

SAN Jain Senior Secondary School — 123 for 1 ( Chinton Sehgal 46 no, Tarun Passi 38 no, Jatin 15 and Shivam 1 for 19).