The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Now, Noida also has Apollo Clinic
Tribune News Service

Noida, October 18
Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited (AHLL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Apollo Hospitals Group, today launched its 11th Apollo Clinic in NCR Delhi. Set up in association with Sunehari Exports Limited, the Family Health Centre will enable easy access of a comprehensive range of quality healthcare services to the residents of Noida.

Mr Ajay Jadeja inaugurated the Apollo Clinic in the presence of Mr Ratan Jalan, CEO, Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited. Mr D. Panda, Additional CEO, Noida administration, and Mr S. K. Mishra, Member, Customs Board, were also present on the occasion. Speaking about the opening up of Apollo Clinic at Noida, Mr Ratan Jalan, CEO, Noida administration, and Mr S. K. Mishra, Member, Customs Board, were also present on the occasion.

Speaking about the opening up of Apollo Clinic at Noida, Mr Ratan Jalan, CEO, Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited, said, “In a country like ours, there exists an overwhelming need for a strong primary healthcare backbone. As a leading healthcare service provider, we at Apollo believe that the only way to ensure a healthier population is to make quality day-to-day healthcare services accessible to everyone. The Apollo Clinics are a revolutionary step in that direction and I am personally delighted to be a part of yet another Apollo Clinic launch in India.”

Spread across 4000 sq ft, this Apollo Clinic is a perfect blend of functionality and elegance and is unlike any other clinic in its neighbourhood. Its warm, cheerful interiors are in soothing contrast to the cold, clinical ambience people expect from any healthcare set-up. Highly efficient processes and the well-trained staff ensure comfort for any customer right from the moment he/she walks in.

BODY&MIND
Neurological Society to brainstorm in Dec
Tripti Nath

Over a thousand neurologists, neuro-surgeons and trainees in the two specialities have marked three calendar dates in December to attend the 52nd annual conference of Neurological Society of India at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh. The three-day conference, scheduled to begin on December 12, will bring together some of the most well-known neurologists and neuro-surgeons across the country. Prominent among those who are expected to attend the conference are: Dr Gauri Devi, former Director of NIMHANS, Bangalore, Dr Wadia from J J Hospital, Bombay, Dr Singhal from Bombay Hospital, Dr Jagannath and Dr Arjun Das from Chennai, Dr Madhvi Behari, Head of the Department of Neurology, AIIMS, and Dr Suri, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, and Dr Dasgupta from Kolkata.

The Department of Neurology at PGI, Chandigarh, has reserved December 10 and 11 for brain-storming sessions for nearly 800 trainee neurologists and neuro-surgeons. These dates are significant as the Department of Neurology, PGI, Chandigarh in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, will offer trainee neurologists and neuro-surgeons from India and those from SAARC countries a unique opportunity to enrol themselves for an international EEG course. The fee for the course is Rs 1,000. The course organisers are Dr Hans O. Luders, Chairman, Department of Neurology and Dr Imad Najm, Associate Professor, Section of Epilepsy from the same department, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA.

Dr S. Prabhakar, president of the Indian Academy of Neurology and organising secretary of the conference says: “The prime objective of the meet is to exchange ideas on research done in the last one year and plan strategies. Stem Cell Research will draw special focus during discussions at the conference.

The conference includes special sessions on stroke, nutritional disorder and neuro diseases, genetics of neurological and neuro-surgical disorders, epilepsy, migraine, degenerative diseases and peripheral neuropathy. This is the second time that PGI is hosting the conference.”

Dr Prabhakar is sure that the session on stroke will provide answers to questions on its medical and surgical management. “Stroke or brain attack is now the number two cause of death after cancer in India. In PGI, we have a grant from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to research on the etiology of stroke.”

Dr Prabhakar, Head of the Department of Neurology, PGI, Chandigarh for the last 13 years, says that the conference will contribute to awareness on neurological and neuro-surgical disorders. “India has only 700 neurologists for a population that has crossed one billion. The entire North India has only 200 neurologists, of which 120 are based in the national Capital. While Punjab has nine, Jammu & Kashmir eight (four each in Jammu and Srinagar) and Haryana one. There is no neurologist in any other part of J&K.

Barring major Punjab towns like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, no neurologists are practising in small towns. Chandigarh has only 10 neurologists and that too if you count those in PGI. The Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital does not have a single neurologist.

Neuro-surgeons play a crucial role in treatment of brain injuries, head injuries, spinal injuries and stroke, but there are only 800 neuro-surgeons in the country. There are not any neuro centres either.

The reasons are not far to seek. The number of centres offering super speciality courses in neurology and neuro-surgery are countable few - the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bombay University, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore,

Postgraduate Institute, Chandigarh, Institute of Neurology, Chennai, Bangur Institute of Neurology, Kolkata, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute, Lucknow, Sri Chitra Thirunal, Trivendrum and an institute in Vellore.

These centres have state-of-the-art technology and manpower but what about district hospitals. “The scenario is alarming. If you were to look at our burden on account of neurological diseases, 2.2 per cent of all the diseases are neurological in nature. We are trying to tell the Medical Council of India (MCI) to introduce neurology as a discipline in all medical colleges and provide neurological and neuro surgical services in all district hospitals,” says Dr Prabhakar.

Obesity: Danger ahead: Fat is ugly, slim is trim - says the mirror on the wall and it never lies. But few overweight persons have the patience to try regimented and seemingly unrealistic dietary modifications imposed overnight by slimming centres. The market is flooded with pills and food supplements that promise to reduce weight over a fortnight and front pages of newspapers often have convincing photographs of persons who have benefitted from such slimming centres.

Enamoured by figure-hugging clothes of models on FTV and the ramp, fat women sometimes go to ridiculous lengths to lose weight. Starving instead of following a strictly controlled diet is not uncommon. But now, a Delhi-based doctor claims to have evolved a novel method of treating obesity. Dr Suneet Khanna, Consultant in Obesity Management and former Medical Vice-President of VLCC Obesity Management Clinic, believes that controlling obesity is your hands. And ask me how? Dr Khanna has termed his method of treatment AMRFT (Accelerated Metabolic Rate Finger Techniques). AMRFT is a combination of certain finger and thumb movements, with or without any breathing pattern.

AMRFT has to be done once a day for a minute to four minutes. According to Dr Khanna, “Obesity is generally due to wrong food habits. To overcome it, one has to either decrease the food input or increase the output (any aerobic activity over a stipulated period). Use of AMRFT everyday for one minute to four minutes increases the NMR (Basal Metabolic rate) and controls weight. He says that he has tried the technique on 50 clients of different age groups. Each male who tried AMRFT for a month reported an average weight loss of 5 kg. For the same period, the females lost 4.5 kg. In the subsequent month, an average weight loss of 3.2 kg was achieved. All clients responded well to the AMRFT technique and maintained the weight loss for more than six months. Dr Khanna says that the advantages of trying AMRFT are that it does not involve any food supplements, exercises, machines or medicines. Besides, it is affordable, has no side effects and can be used on a child also. He says that obesity cannot be neglected, as it constitutes an overall risk to the cardiovascular, nervous, musculoskeletal, GIT, genitourinary, endocrine and reproductive system.

Medical relief for carbonated drinks: The much-advertised and much-maligned carbonated drinks don’t cause osteoporosis, opined experts at a recent seminar organised by National Dialogue, an independent body of concerned citizens. Specialists invited to the seminar discussed the prevalence of the disease and its impact on India. They said that it is a myth that carbonated drinks like Cola cause osteoporosis. It is only persons who take several carbonated drinks every day who run the risk of getting osteoporosis. They also discussed recent development and new methods of treating osteoporosis in the country.

SPORTS

Shahabad bag Nehru girls hockey title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, October 18
SGNP Girls Senior Secondary School, Shahabad defeated Government Girls High School, Ranchi 6-2 via tie-beakers, after being locked 2-2 at the end of regulation play, in the final of the 10th Nehru Junior Girls Hockey Tournament at the Shivaji Stadium on Saturday.

The Shahabad girls had to encounter a stiff resistance from the Ranchi girls before clinching the issue in the tie-breaker. Ramneek Kaur put Shahabad in the lead in the 15th minute and held on to it till the half time. On resumption, Rashmi Mundu pulled off the equaliser for Ranchi and then Premshila Kujur put them in the lead. The winners fought back to level the score through Harpreet Kaur, to take the battle to tie-breaker.

Ramneek Kaur, Joydeep Kaur, Karamjeet Kaur and Jatinder Kaur found the mark for Shahabad in the tie-breaker while only Anora Tirkey and Poonam Tirkey could hit the target for Ranchi. Shahabad received a cash prize of Rs 96,000 and their coach Amarjeet Arora was awarded Rs 8,000.

Sanjay Gandhi Vidyapith, Motera (Gujarat) crushed Birsa Munda Vidyapitha 4-0 to take the third place. The Birsa Munda girls, who put up a stout defence in the first half to restrict the Gujarat girls to just one goal, caved in on resumption to concede three goals. Pinki Lakra opened the account in the seventh minute when she scored a brilliant field goal. In the second half, pivot Rambala Devi was on a rampaging mood as she dazzled through the Birsa Munda defence to slot in three goals in a row, in the 35th, 38th and 51st minutes to record a hattrick. Lt-General B. K. Bopana, director-general of NCC, gave away the prizes.

Columba’s lift Reebok cricket title
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, October 18
St. Columba’s defeated Delhi Public School, R K Puram by 17 runs to lift the Reebok Shri Ram School Cricket Challenge at the Palam Cricket ground. Put into bat, St. Columba’s were able to post a challenging total of 208 in 35 overs, thanks to the scintillating batting performances of Shivam Gupta, who cracked 96, and Ankit, who blasted an unbeaten 87. And then the Columba’s bowlers took over, to decimate the DPS batsmen, who were shot out for 191 in 34.3 overs.

Shivam Gupta was named the player of the tournament.

Scores: St. Columba’s: 208 for 3 (Shivam Gupta 96, Ankit 87 n o, Arjun Suri 1 for 22, Anuj 1 for 31). DPS: 191 all out in 34.3 overs (Jatin 58, Abir Lavasa 30, Victor Wilkins 3 for 43, Ankit 3 for 20).

Gyan Bharati win

Quick knocks by Abhilash (38) and Prashant (39) and deadly bowling by Ankul (3 for 18) helped Gyan Bharati School defeat RSB School, Hastal by six wickets and entered the quarter-final of the National Bal Bhavan Cricket Tournament at the Bal Bhavan ground.

Scores: RSV School: 169 for 8 in 25 overs (Jitender Paul 47, Bittoo 34, Anukul 3 for 18, Mateek 2 for 14).

Gyan Bharati: 172 for 4 in 23 overs (Abhilash 38, Prashant 39, Pritam Kataria 2 for 38).

Ganga beat Dhani Ram

Ganga School edged past Dhani Ram 1-0 in the Nivia Schools Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium on Saturday. Rehmat scored the match-winner. In the second match, DDA defeated Lovely Public School 10-0.

ADMINISTRATION

No bursting of crackers after 10 pm, decrees DM
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, October 18
The District Magistrate of Sonepat, Mr Balwan Singh, has banned the storage and sale of crackers in congested and residential areas in this city and elsewhere in the district on the occasion of Divali.

According to a report, exercising the powers vested in him under Section 144 of the CrPC the District Magistrate has also banned the bursting of crackers and explosives after 10 pm. He said the use of crackers and fireworks would be permitted between 6 pm and 10 pm. No fireworks or crackers would be burst between 10 pm and 6 am.

The District Magistrate has further ordered that no person should sell or store crackers and explosives without obtaining the requisite licence under the Explosives Act of 1884. He has also warned against storing explosives in excess of the quantity permitted under the law. The District Magistrate has also ordered that no person should sell rockets, fast moving and dangerous kind of bombs. Every seller should keep buckets full of sand and water for use in case of a fire. The distance between two shops should be at least three meters and no booth should face each other. A minimum of 50 meters’ open space should be available around each booth selling crackers.

The District Magistrate further ordered the crackers would be sold between 8 am and 8 pm. The manufacture, sale or use of firecrackers generating noise shall be prohibited. He has also allocated places in Sonepat, Ganaur, Kharkhauda and Gohana towns for the sale of firecrackers. The Duty Magistrate, the Tehsildar, Sonepat, the Naib Tehsildar, Sonepat, the Naib Tehsildar, Gohana, the Tehsildar, Ganaur, and the Tehsildar, Kharkhauda, have been authorised to take action against the persons found violating the orders. Mr Jaivir Arya, DTO, and Mr Sham Lal Tanwar, District Revenue Officer, have also been appointed as duty magistrates in reserve.

The District Magistrate said the prohibitory orders would come into force with immediate effect and remain in force till October 26.