A SIMPLE LIFE

With Radhakrishnan, Dr Lancy and Dr Edmond Fernandes at M S University, Vadodara

When Team Mullerpulse met once upon a time

During the session with Prof A M shah and others

Dr Lancy Lobo and Fr Cedric Prakash

Dr Jayesh Shah, Research Associate, Centre for Culture and Development, Vadodara, Gujarat

Deccan Herald Report on Health Concern Foundation

BMC has taken Veena Beena Apts to Court, but what about this incident ? are the govering board chair and secreatry been arrested ?

U T Khader , Minister of Health, Government of Karnataka

With Dr Martin Greene, Cardiologist @ Ottawa Heart, Canada

Dr Edmond Fernandes with Dr Lancy Lobo, Director, Center for Culture and Development, Gujarat

World No Tobacco Day program

At Work

Health Concern Foundation - July 27th Program at Town Hall

World Anti-Tobacco Day and Health Concern Foundation May 31st, 2013

With Dr Sanjay Zodpey and Dr Kamath

With Dr Sanjay Zodpey - Director, Public Health Foundation of India and Dr Kamath -Head, Dept of Public Health, Manipal University and  Chief, Public Health, Health Concern Foundation

On Medical Diplomacy

Medical Diplomacy is the art of politely managing inflated egos, neatly bringing in ideas whose time has come and creating an environment which blends the powers of nature towards igniting a better world. - dr edmond

In the Labour room Operation Theatre

Revisiting the Philosophy of Health - World Health Day

As Published by Mangalore Media Company !

Revisiting Health: Our Priority Listing

By Dr Edmond Fernandes

Health is a shaky situation in our nation with the increasing disease burden contributing to almost everything equally. The question I would like to raise here is, have we made health our priority listing? Or do we happily compromise it to meet our greed, our ambitions and our necessities.

With our changing tide of workload and the direction in which we are moving, it does not look very encouraging. It grossly appears as an under-belly of compromise.  7^th of April is known as World Health Day, and it is a day which requests us to keep the things we need the most and not continue to ignore it till it hits us back very badly.

It is not a very difficult task to walk for half an hour a day, or do something creative which keeps the flame burning in you. The more you dwell on your hobbies, the more life appeals to you and the more meaning it adds, simply enhancing your inner health, mind and body, heart and soul. Now when I speak about health, it does not have a bracket definition, your mood, your physical status, your body metabolism within, your reactions to situations and circumstance, everything defines your health. Your health is like a beam balance, which way it turns depends largely on what you do with it.

The basic care that needs to be given to the body for nourishment is well known to all. We know very well that we should eat a balanced diet containing carbohydrates, proteins and fats. We also are aware that junk food must be avoided. But honestly, how many of us follow what we know?

We have only one life to live, is it worth so much of sacrifice? I would rather suggest you have the things you like, but let it be within acceptable limits. At the same time, give your body a run often. Walk up the stairs to your office or your flat, go to the places of worship by walk rather than taking your vehicle, avoid lifts unless very much in an urgency.  Your daily dose of nourishment is as important as you feel the air is for you. So giving the body, its needed nourishment is beyond the need to stress upon.

 Smoking is something which influences health to a great extent. After knowing the ill-effects of tobacco and alcohol, there are lot of people who refuse to quit. While there are groups who help in ways manifolds, it needs a deeper questioning of one’s own self. I would like to talk about this at a later date.

Moving on, we have to also shift focus towards gossiping. Gossip is a dangerous disease which affects not only the psyche but also the mind. It consumes a person to such an extent that the daily life of the person begins to be influenced by such gossips. Ask yourself in such situation whether that gossip talk is really needed? Would it benefit anyone? Would it be best left unsaid?  If you get an answer to all these questions, perhaps you could afford to take it forward.

I have tried to suggest in broad strokes the philosophy of health and in what way it could be improved beyond the realms of medicine. I come to believe that you can do more to your health than what a over-worked doctor could ever do to you. It is a matter of un-professionalism that although doctors advice people on the importance of sleep, they are sleep deprived during their duty days and work for nearly 24 hours, often beyond. If that is not enough, they meet with inflated egos on a daily basis. 

Creativity is killed, and scientific research ignored. In the bargain, they often lose their springtime of their life in purposeless suffering due to poor governance and shaky decisions. I am convinced that World Health Day is a day for all to embrace, Doctors included to create a better world, a world where there is more confidence, more calmness, more peace and above all more hope.

The quintessence of a healthy life.

Beating The Bacillus - World Tuberculosis Day !

http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=2021

As Published :

24th of March is known as World Tuberculosis Day, but the effort to communicate ways and means to comprehend how this disease affects us and what are the ways in which we can prevent the spread on a larger scale has to be magnified. Have you come across some people coughing in the bus or train while travelling? This question does not raise a pointer to suggest that the person may be suffering from Tuberculosis, but nevertheless it cannot be absolutely ruled out. It is true that common cold and cough is perhaps the last thing medical science will ever conquer, but it’s always good to be sound about the possibilities within.

Tuberculosis as a disease has many dimensions and often so it creates a scenario where complications occur. But it fascinates to know and realize that there are treatment protocols which simply need to be followed and it is because of this protocol following failure which increases the disease burden and causes treatment failure. Patient compliance plays saviour during the treatment too. A study thesis of a person known to me, pointed out that in a small defined area of Udupi, there are more than 38 regimens of treatment being followed by different doctors. This is a matter of growing concern to the medical community and also it’s something the patients should be aware of. There are other contributing factors of why it happens, but the fact that the guidelines laid down by RNTCP( Revised National TB Control Program) is being ignored paints a sorry shape to the whole story, in the bargain we sometimes may lose the battle against Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is caused by the infection Mycobacterium Tuberculosis of which the majority of cases occur in developing and poorer nations of the world. It is important to note that this infection occurs by inhalation of droplets from infected patients. This triggers series of changes in the lungs and begins the war towards destruction. The starting symptoms may be evening rise of fever associated with cough; there could be weight loss and general debility. Often it may go unrecognized for some days and may remain without any symptom which makes the diagnosis difficult. The global burden of Tuberculosis is more than one third of the world’s population and the efforts to reduce this are becoming a difficult battle. The complexity of this disease manifesting with other diseases is on the rise and it is seen in patients suffering from HIV and other immune-compromised states.

Dr Prashant Bhat, World Health Organization, RNTCP Consultant says that,  “Tuberculosis is  a major cause of worry and studies point to suggest that TB care is abysmally poor in meeting international standards protocols. There is a need for private practitioners to stick to set treatment pattern rather than give treatment as they feel like.”

The moral of the story which I intend to tell you is that Tuberculosis as a disease is perfectly and completely curable provided the medications are taken strictly without any compromise. It is requested not to follow Dr Google in this day of information overload as it may only end up confusing you more than convincing you.  A safe bet is to approach your doctor and stick to the advice he has to say.

It is my belief that if we stick our neck deep with RNTCP laid down guideline protocols and not experiment with the guidelines, we may not be able to wipe out Tuberculosis burden and its complications completely, but we can certainly create a better world to live in.

- Dr Edmond Fernandes, MBBS, Medical Journalist , India.