The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

3 pc Indians suffer from morbid obesity: expert
Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 19
A two-day symposium on lifestyle diseases and emerging trends in cardiac care began at the Fortis Hospital here today. Attended by over 500 persons, it focused on new-age diseases that were becoming the biggest killers the world over.

Dr R. Murlidharan, endocrinologist, Fortis Hospital, started the session with his talk on prevention and management of obesity from childhood. Dr K.P. Singh, endocrinologist, informed the gathering that people who suffered from problems like overweight and blood sugar control, together known as metabolic syndromes, were more likely to suffer from heart disease as compared to those who did not have such problems.

Dr Shikha Sharma, nutritionist, Nutri Health Systems Limited, stressed the fact that a major determinant of health was one’s diet. She emphasised on the consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids, which were commonly found in foodstuffs such as seafood, fruits, onions, garlic and whole grain, and discussed bringing about a change in the eating habits.

Dr Pradeep Chowbey from Sir Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi, said while over 3 per cent of Indians suffered from morbid obesity, there was still hope for them as a radical procedure had been developed to control it. The surgery involved placing a band in the stomach to reduce its capacity by 15 to 20 cc leading to weight reduction in a slow and steady manner over a period of time.

Tomorrow’s talk would be on trends in cardiac care. The speakers will be Dr G.S. Kalra, Dr Sary Aranki, Dr M.S. Hiremath, Dr K.K. Talwar, Dr Gilbert Mudge, Dr Suresh Joshi, Dr Dhiraj Narula, Dr Arvind Agnihotri and Dr Achintya Moulick. Tomorrow would also feature a panel discussion chaired by Dr Jagmohan S. Varma.

Meanwhile, Dr Sandeep Mehrishi, pulmonologist and sleep order expert, who was talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the symposium, said over seven per cent of the population in India was suffering from sleep apnea, a disease caused by lack of oxygen absorption while sleeping.

Dr Mehrishi said snoring was sleep apnea’s only symptom and signified a large number of related ailments that could lead to hypertension, heart attacks and even strokes. ‘‘Snoring was not harmful per se but when it was related to sleep apnea, it could be a pointer towards serious heart and blood pressure problems. At the same time, sleep apnea itself can lead to these problems. So either way, sleep apnea could not be ignored,’’ he said.

Dr Mehrishi added that a large number of persons suffered from unrecognised sleep apnea. ‘‘Loud snoring or the kind that led to gasping and waking up should not be taken lightly. A sleep apnea patients was constantly sleepy and drowsy, he said.

Talking of prevention of sleep apnea, Dr Mehrishi said the most important step was to control weight. Lead an active life; don’t drink or smoke. A patient suffering from sleep apnea would have to use a CPAP machine, the most effective cure of the problem. This machine had to be used during sleeping. The other cure was to lose weight, he said.

Dr Mehrishi, however, pointed out that snoring among children did not necessarily signify sleep apnea but could be due to enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

85 lawyers donate blood
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 19
As many as 85 lawyers, today donated blood at a camp, was organised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association in association with Chandigarh Blood Bank Society.

Among those who donated blood was Mr M.L. Sarin, who donated for the 85th time.

The camp was inaugurated by Chief Justice B.K. Roy. Other judges, including Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Hemant Gupta, also visited the camp and interacted with the donors.

A team of doctors from the Sector 37 blood centre supervised the camp. This blood bank, is was informed, it a 24-hour facility, where replacement of blood is not sought from the needy.

SPORTS

Kashish excels in State Athletic Meet
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, November 19
Kashish of Baptist Public School, Sector 45, won the shot put event in the Bharat Petroleum Chandigarh State Athletic Meet which began today at Athletics Complex, Sector 7, here. Padam Shri Milkha Singh, President, Amateur Athletic Association, Chandigarh, inaugurated the meet while Ravinder Talwar, Secretary, Chandigarh Olympic Association, grace the occasion.

Rajneesh, Surinder, Mandeep, Kuldeep, Didar Singh, Jashanpreet, Kritarth, Naveen, Yesu Raj, Harinder, Jaswinder, Jyoti Sharma, Talwinderjit Kaur, Amandeep, Inderjit, Simranjit, Gurpreet, Sujeet Pal, Reena, Amandeep, Raj Kiran, Naheed, Veena Yadav, Sakshi and Harpinder were declared winners in different categories.

Defeated: Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, Chandigarh, defeated Guru Nanak Public School, Chandigarh, by 28-13 while New Public School, Sector 18, Chandigarh, beat St. Stephen's, Sector 45, Chandigarh, by 40-36 in the Emily Gosain Memorial Sub-Junior Basketball Tournament played at St. Xavier's School, Panchkula, today.

In other matches, New Public School, Sector 18, beat St. Stephen's by 36-23, St. Xavier's Chandigarh ‘A’ team defeated St. Xavier's Chandigarh ‘B’ team by 23-11.

Inaugurated: The Panjab University Inter-College Volleyball Tournament began at Rayat Technology Campus. Mr M.S. Farooqi, SSP, Nawanshahr, inaugurated the tournament.

Results: knock-out stage:

Boys: Rayat Engineering College, RIEIT, defeated PTJR, Hoshiarpur, 25.11, 25/15; GNE, Ludhiana, defeated SUSCET, Tangori, 25/05, 25/10; BIS, Moga, defeated GIS, Bhatinda, 25/21, 19.25, 15/7; PCET, Lalru Mandi, defeated CEC, Landra, 25/22, 22/25, 15/11; AIET, Faridkot, defeated RIMT, Mandi Gobindgarh, 25/16, 25/16; Saint Soldier, Jalandhar, defeated MIMIT Malout 25/17, 25/16; Bhutta Engineering College, Ludhiana, defeated Amritsar Engineering College 26/14, 28/26; DAV, Jalandhar, defeated BMS, Mukstar, 25-1.

Girls: MIMIT, Malout, defeated RIEIT, Rayat, 25/-7, 25/19; BBSBCET, Fatehgarh Sahib, defeated SBBSIET, Padiana, 25/08, 25/02; IET, Baddhal, defeated GNE, Ludhiana, 28/26, 28/26.

Chetan plans to train children
Our sports Reporter

Chandigarh, November 19
“I want to lay stress on below-10 age group kids who could be trained fundamentally and would certainly give better results in the long run,” said former Test cricketer Chetan Sharma, who has recently opened a cricket academy at CL DAV Public School, Sector 11, Panchkula.

Chetan, who is based in Delhi for the past few years said nearly 25 youngsters from different schools come for practice in the evening. He said since children cannot devote two sessions daily, so till March they will have only one session, but after the annual examinations we will have two sessions.

He said he would try to rope in cricket academy players from Delhi, who would be invited to play here so that Panchkula academy players get maximum exposure. Chetan said he charges a nominal fee from the youngsters for the academy and even had plans to make it free for poor children.

Chetan praised, Mr V.P. Paul, principal of the school, in providing residence to their coaches and also his desire to promote cricket in Panchkula.

Cycle expedition for peace flagged off
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 19
As many as 35 students of the Department of Geography, Panjab University, today started their cycle expedition from the university to the Wagah Border. The motto of the cycle expedition was ‘world peace’. The Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, Ms Kamlesh, flagged off the cycle rally.

Rally: Members of the Joint Action Committee of Teaching and Non-Teaching Employee Union of Panjab University today organised a rally in protest against the non-implementation of the pension scheme. Mr Dharam Pal Sharma, president of the union, said it has been decided that a signature campaign would be started from Monday. The signatures would be sent in form of representation to the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister.

The employees also marched towards the office of the Executive Engineer demanding submitting of the ACR’s of the non-teaching employees.

Symposium: A symposium on ‘ mathematical sciences in memory of Prof Hansraj Gupta’ was inaugurated at the Department of Mathematics, Panjab University. The first PhD thesis, written by Hanraj Gupta, was presented to the Department of Mathematics by his son-in-law, Mr Rajinder Malhotra. The function was presided by Prof R.P. Bambah, Former Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University. The symposium was inaugurated by Prof M.S. Raghunathan, Professor of Eminence, School of Mathematics, Mumbai. The inaugural function was followed by technical session.

Red Cross Function: Ms Jean Rodrigues, wife of Punjab Governor and Pro Vice -President of Punjab State Red Cross branch, presented awards and mementoes to the children and social workers at a two-day Children’s Day celebrations at Punjab Red Cross Bhavan here today. She appreciated the society for celebrating the Children’s Day. The students who won the first, second and third positions in essay writing, on the spot painting and cultural programme competition were awarded cash prizes and certificates. Dr Jagtar Singh Khatra (DPI) Elementry, also spoke on the occasion.

Invitational golf tournament held
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, November 19
As many as 75 golfers from revenue services, Income Tax and Customs and Central Excise took part in one-day Central Revenue Invitational Golf Tournament held at the Chandigarh Golf club.

The tournament was divided into three categories, 0-12 handicap,13-18 handicap and19-24 handicap. Earlier the tournament was inaugurated by Mr S.S. Bedi, Chief Commissioner, Indian Customs and Central Excise while the prizes were distributed by Ms Baljit Bains, Chief Commissioner, Income-Tax, North West Region, Chandigarh.

Results: handicap: 0-12: IJS Grewal 1, Babla Singh 2. handicap13-18: Rajeev Kapoor 1, SK Mittal 2. Handicap19-24: GC Negi 1, Milap Jain 2. Longest Drive; Gurdish Pal Singh1(270 yards), Deepak Garg (251 yards) 2. Nearest to the Pin: HBS Gill1, (4.5 feet), Kulwaran Singh (6.5 feet) 2.