The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

BODY & MIND
Use oral rehydration salts to fight dehydration
Tripti Nath

SUMMER poses several civic and health problems as power cuts, shortage of drinking water and dehydration due to water borne diseases like diarrhoea. Dehydration due to diarrhoea causes loss of essential salts, fluids and electrolytes from the body which are vital for survival.

Children under the age of five years are most vulnerable to the consequences of diarrhoea. Failure to rehydrate and replenish the lost salts, fluids and electrolytes can be fatal.

The diarrhoeal diseases research group of the Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases and Nutrition Research at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has evolved a set of guidelines to prevent diarrhoea in children. The guidelines are significant in view of the fact that diarrhoea is the second largest cause of child mortality in India. An estimate by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that six lakh children in India die every year due to diarhhoea.

The Centre for Diarhoeal Diseases and Nutrition Research is of the view that most of these deaths (estimated to be 1,666 everyday can be prevented if parents give WHO recommended Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) soon after the diarrhoea starts and after every stool. The National Family Health Survey reported that in Northern India, the use of ORS among children with diarrhoea is as low as 27 per cent. The Centre endorses the WHO recommendation of ORS and rates it as the best medicine for children with dehydration and diarrhoea. The WHO recommended ORS is a carefully balanced electrolyte solution of glucose and essential salts and provides better rehydration for both adults and children.

Dr Shinjini Bhatanagar at the AIIMS Centre says, “In case of children, the water and salt loss from the body is more than the adults and this results in a drastic drop of energy levels. Besides, dehydration related to diarrhoea often causes so much loss of essential body fluids that the child can face a life-threatening situation. More than any other medicines or antibiotics, these children need immediate replenishment of body fluids which is best done by administering WHO recommended ORS.”

The Centre has advised mothers to breastfeed infants and to avoid complementary feeds before the child is six months old. It has also stressed the need to immunise children, keep food covered, avoid raw or inadequately cooked food and prevent fecal contamination of food and water.

Experts at the Centre have advised intake of sugar and salt solution, buttermilk, rice water, lentil soup with salt, soup with salt and coconut water to prevent dehydration. The Centre says that parents must consult a doctor immediately if the child shows one of the following symptoms- is lethargic or refuses fluids, has sunken eyes

or is excessively thirsty, is unable to take fluids due to excessive vomitting, has blood in stools and has diarrhoea for more than three days.

Brands of WHO ORS available in the market are Electrobion manufactured by Merck India Ltd, Wlayte-P (Wallace Pharma), Punarjal (FDC), Relyte (Shreya Life Sciences), ttk ORS (TTK Healthcare) and Coslyte (CFL Pharma).

Managing pain in the neck or back

Persons suffering from incapacitating back pain can now hope to get some relief without a much dreaded surgery.

Kumar Pain Management & Speciality Clinic (KPMSC) in Vasant Vihar has started treating patients with complaints of pain in the neck and low back with a new technique borrowed from Italy. The treatment called Ozone Discectomy or Ozo-nucleolysis addresses disc herniation caused by protrusion of the soft, jelly-like nucleus of the disc. Disc herniation is one of the most common causes of back pain in the world.

The introduction of the therapy brings hope in the world of Palliative medicine and would be a blessing in India where about 35 per cent people suffer from chronic back pain. Besides, back pain is among the most common type of body pains, second only to headaches.

The therapy provides an alternative to more expensive surgical options as endoscopic discectomy, purcutaneous arthroscopic discectomy and microsurgery.

Dr Vijay Sheel Kumar, Chairman of KPMSC and senior Consultant in Neuro Surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital announced the new therapy at a seminar on spinal treatment organised by his centre at India Habitat Centre.

Dr Kumar says that the therapy is completely non-invasive and has benefited thousands of patients across the world.

It has the potential to become the new gold standard in pain management techniques. ``At present, we are focussing on neck and low back but the therapy has several other applications.’’

Ozonetherapy acts in multiple ways when used for intravertebral disc hernia. A dics consists of 80 per cent water and core protein (cartilage and collagen). When injected, Ozone dissolves in the disc water and gets attached to the three dimensional molecular contents of the core protein of the disc. This results in net decrease in the disc volume and pressure. Its also reduces the production of pain causing substances which resukt from damaged or injured tissue and released chemicals that oppose inflammation.

The senior neurosurgeon says that he learnt the therapy from Professor Leonardi at Ballarea Hospitale in Bologna in Italy and decided to introduce it in his centre for the benefit of Indian patients. He has imported an Ozone generator to manufacture Ozone. ``Ozone is a very unstable molecule and cannot be preserved. It has to be prepared to inject instantly,’’says Dr Kumar.

The treatment protocol entails administering four to six injections depending upon the severity of the problem. The treatment includes injections combined with intensive rehabilitation programme and physiotherapy. Dr Kumar however clarifies that patients who have paralysis or several bladder function problems cannot be treated by ozonetherapy.

The goodness of olive oil

Olive oil, a healthy way of life.

Olive oil has made its way to shelf space in Indian drug stores, groceries, restaurant tables and kitchens for sound healthy reasons. Olive oil has been recognised as the healthiest cooking medium by the American Heart Association and is gaining popularity increasingly in the West and India. Experts say that Olive oil provides monounsaturated fats and antioxidants. Recognising the growing demand for Olive oil in the Indian market, Dalmia Continental Pvt. Ltd. has launched Olive Pomace Oil under the brand name Leonardo. The product will be sold under its newly constituted Olive Products Division. Olive Pomace oil is obtained by heating the olive residue with solvents. This form of oil loses most of its flavour and odour but retains all the benefits of Virgin olive oil.

Level playing field for AIDS patients

The vice captain of the Indian Cricket team, Rahul Dravid, who participated in an AIDS awareness campaign during the just concluded series in Pakistan wants to put an end to inhuman discrimination against persons suffering from AIDS. In an informal interaction with women journalists at Indian Women’s Press Corps on Saturday, Dravid said that it is important to spread the message that people with AIDS can lead normal lives. “We tend to treat them as outcastes. They are part of our society. Even doctors need to be trained on how to report the diagnosis of AIDS. There has to be some understanding of the patient’s psychology and that of his family members,” Dravid said.

SPORTS

Sehwag, Aarti make a dazzling pair
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 24
Virender Sehwag looked dashing in a black bangh-gala coat and Aarti Singh looked resplendent in a dazzling red lehanga. Gold, diamond and rubi shone on the Sehwags’ like diamonds in the sky, but their fleeting appearance at a “media interaction”, a day after the wedding ceremony, at the Nandya Gardens of the Maurya Sheraton hotel on Saturday evening, left the media people disappointed.

Sehwag walked in with a demure Aarti, keeping steps with him, and occupied the two plush chairs mounted on a dais. The couple sauntered in 45 minutes behind schedule, mumbled something very inaudible, and walked back into the hotel to

play the ‘perfect hosts’ at the main reception for a select gathering of friends, relatives, his cricket team colleagues and cricket top brass.

The media were extended a very formal and curt invitation for “interaction with Virender and Arti, following which the reception will take place”. The invitation to the media made it very clear that the “reception” was “only for the invited guests”.

The invites for the media were sent out by the sports management company looking after Sehwag’s marketing and sponsorship deals. The media was given time to interact with Sehwag and Arti from 7 p m to 8 p m. But the newly wed couple walked into the Nandya Gardens only around 7.45 pm and they walked back after spending barely five minutes with a large media gathering.

Television channels had made arrangements for “live coverage” of the function, spending considerable time and energy to setup their equipment. But none of them got a decent “byte” as everything was over before they could even roll their camera.

The media people had not forgotten the unwelcome treatment meted out to them outside the marriage pandal at Union Minister Arun Jaitley’s residence on April 22. Their hackles were raised yet again when they were “denied a decent interaction” with the Sehwags, though they were fully sympathetic to Virender’s need for personal space.

But the advisers around the cricket star seemed to have once again goofed up, and the media dispersed without partaking in the “high tea”.

Salwan School sail into Parle Cup semi-final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 24
Defending champions Salwan Public School, Delhi defeated Santhome High School, Chennai by three runs in the Parle Inter-City Champions Trophy Boys Under-17 Cricket Tournament on the Cricket Club of India ground in Mumbai. Poor running between the wickets cost the Chennai school victory as they were unable to convert ones into twos and paid the price.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, the Salwan top order batsmen found the going tough against some disciplined bowling by the Santhome boys, who picked up early wickets at regular intervals. However, resolute batting by the lower order, particularly Rohit Saini, who cracked an unbeaten 64, brought in a semblance of stability to the Salwan innings, who made 191 for 8 in 50 overs.

Rohit, batting at No 7, bided his time to compile runs slowly but surely, and his half century plus knock, off 117 balls, contained just two boundaries.

He put on 70 runs for the eighth wicket with Gurpreet Singh, who himself played a fine cameo of 36, off 45 balls with three boundaries. Soumik Chatterjee and Robin Bisht were the other batsmen who put some life into the exercise of batting.

For the Chennai school, left-arm spinner D R Anbu Ezhil picked up three wickets for 35 runs. Chasing a modest target, Santhome School began well, with H Gopinath (58) and E Aswin (29) putting on a solid 75-run partnership. But the rest of the batsmen failed to display the same kind of application, and crashed like nine pins, as the Chennai school finished just three runs short of the victory target.

The Salwan bowling attack also did a competent job, with Narender Singh scalping three wickets for 39 runs. Scores: Salwan Boys School: 191 for 8 in 50 overs (Rohit

Saini 64 n o, Gurpreet Singh 36, Soumik Chatterjee 22, Robin Bisht 21, D R Anbu Ezhil 3 for 35, H Gopinath 2 for 34, S Sabrish 2 for 33).

Santhome School: 188 for 8 in 50 overs (H Gopinath 58, E Aswin 29, D R Anbu Ezhil 17, Narender Singh 3 for 39, Arun Choudhry 2 for 39, Rohit Saini 1 for 26). Rohit was named the man of the match.

Sonnet take measure of Delhi Audit
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 24
Sonnet Club defeated Delhi Audit by seven wickets in a Super A Division match of the DDCA League ont the Jamia Milia ground.

Scores: Delhi Audit: 176 for 8 in 40 overs (Raju Sharma 69, Vikrant Yadav 2 for 27, Chetanya Nanda 2 for 27).

Sonnet Club: 178 for 3 in 34 overs (Saket Bhatia 10, Devender Sharma 50, Satish Salwan 2 for 37).

Bright Club defeated Young Friends by seven wickets in a Super A Division match on the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Young Friends: 129 for 9 in 30 overs (Tarun Dutta 33, Sumit Nalwal 2 for 33, Krishan Soni 2 for 23).

Bright Club: 130 for 3 in 18.3 overs (Vivek Kumar 73, Tarun Dutta 2 for 25).

Delhi Club defeated Ravi Brothers by 19 runs in an A-I Division match on the Yamuna Sports Complex ground.

Scores: Delhi Club: 175 for 9 in 30 overs (Gaurav Mehta 44, Neeraj Sharma 2 for 20, Kamal Sharma 2 for 41).

Ravi Brothers: 156 all out in 29.2 overs (Shalabh Gupta 37, Saurabh Tiwari 37, Vipin Sharma 3 for 38, Varun Tyagi 3 for 30).

Young Cricketers defeated Ministry of Health by five wickets in an A-I Division match on the Mohan Meakins ground.

Scores: Ministry of Health: 168 all out in 35 overs (Surender Dagar 52, Naresh Kumar 30, Aviral Himmat Ramka 4 for 24, Sunny Singh 3 for 30).

Young Cricketers: 170 for 5 in 32.5 overs (Abhishek Vashisth 50, Rushil Bhaskar 39).

Jubilant Cup Cricket

The fifth All-India Jubilant Cup Cricket Tournament will be held from April 25 at Gajrula. Rajdhani Sports will take on Jubilant XI in the opening tie. Other prominent teams in the fray are Indian Airlines, ONGC, FCI, UP XsI, L B Shastri, Air Sahara and Varanasi XI.

The tournament will be played on a knockout basis with each over comprising 40 overs. The man of the match will be presented Rs 1,000 in every match while the man of the tournament will be given Rs 5,000.

The winners will pocket Rs 51,000 while the runners-up will be richer by Rs 31,000.