Vikas Vaidya

By Vikas Vaidya Suresh Shetty, Maharashtra’s Minister of Public Health in a high level meeting held in Mantralaya asked officials not to spare those who violate Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) act.  In the meeting several measures were decided which might fetch far reaching results. The minister emphasized to all the official in public health department to be proactive and asked them to see that the violators of PCPNDT act are not spared. It was also decided to request the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to provide all logistical help in the statewide drive to check the violators of this act and book them speedily and try to punish them at the earliest. The meeting also discussed doctors who were caught in determining sex of the fetus in sting operations. Henceforth, it was decided that there will be better collaboration between the state nodal agency and Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC). State nodal agency would depute officers to reinforce th...

By Vikas Vaidya It was in 1974, when he completed his five years of professional training in Cancer treatment in United Kingdom. He got lucrative offers from USA, Tata Cancer Hospital, Ruby Clinic, Pune. The choice was difficult at that time especially with more lucrative offers. But he refused and decided to stay in Nagpur to serve the people here only. He realised that the facility to treat the cancer is absent in Nagpur and he became founder Director of Rashtra Sant Tukadoji Cancer Hospital. Dr Harish Kulkarni who had to make early struggle to get admission to MBBS is celebrating his 80th birthday on Sunday, September 15. By the grace of God, he is healthy fit and fine and still practice. His father Dr Trimbak Waman Kulkarni was the first Radiologist of Central India. Dr Harish too felt that he should become doctor. But his luck was not in his favour. His number was 49 and there were 48 seats. Then he completed B.Sc and went to get admission to MBBS. By that time seats too wer...

By Vikas Vaidya It's not just the lack of sleep, but sleep patterns and routines too, influence and determine your health, reveled Dr Rajesh Swarnakar, well-known Chest Physician at Getwell Hospital. Dr Swarnakar said, “If you can not sleep during night hours, and have to sleep during daytime, then it may be lead to increase in waist. Women can experience decreased fertility and also there is a risk of cancer for men and women both. Losing out on sleep during the night could also make you more likely to demonstrate dark personality traits such as deceitfulness and narcissism.” Dr Sushant Meshram, who has Sleep Centre which is Central India’s first one said, “Everybody knows the importance of a good night's sleep. Lack of good sleep many times result into feeling low on energy, lethargic, weak. If one has lack of sleep for the whole month, then his or her social life becomes difficult. Lack of sleep is also associated with some major lifestyle diseases too.” Dr Nainesh Pate...

By Vikas Vaidya There are boards displayed near Government Medical College and Hospital and Super Speciality Hospital, reading ‘bypass taliye’ (Avoid bypass). Some doctors advertise chelation therapy can be an alternative to bypass. Experts warn that there is no alternative to bypass and Chelation therapy can be very dangerous. No approved medical research has found any benefits to chelation therapy for any use other than removal of heavy metals from the body. One Cardiologist at Super Speciality Hospital said that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers over-the-counter (OTC) chelation products to be unapproved drugs and devices. There are no FDA-approved OTC chelation products, says one doctor on condition of anonymity Dr Sameer Mehta, world famous Cardiologist bluntly opposed the chelation therapy. He said, it can lead to many side-effects, and one should not go for chelation therapy. The use of EDTA chelation therapy as a treatment for coronary artery disease has not...

By Vikas Vaidya Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) has patented eight projects prepared by students of various polytechnic colleges in State. Around 26 projects are in pipeline, the applications of which have been filed for patenting. Out of the eight projects the two are from Vidarbha. They include Agnihotri School of Technology, Wardha and P R Patil Institute of Polytechnic and Technology, Amravati. In the projects those are in pipeline has two institutes from Vidarbha, they include P R Patil Institute of Polytechnic and Technology, Amravati and Priyadarshini Polytechnic, Nagpur MSBTE has been conducting contest under ‘Promoting Creativity and Talent’ for various polytechnic colleges in State. The judge committee comprising of academician, industry expert selects the project and MSBTE give away the award. MSBTE has from last two years been conducting "Project Competition" for final year diploma students at various institutions in Maharashtra state...

By Vikas Vaidya Correct reporting of any health event is the key-factor becasue then awareness can be spread amongst masses in a proper way. Many times, the health events, statistics are reported without authentic base. This needs to be dealt with proper care. For this, R Shankar, President of Heal Foundation is trying to create pool of doctors throughout India. This pool will help journalists to write right information. “We are creating a pool of doctors so that any journalist of India can approach the doctor in this team to know the correct information. Medical terminologies is one thing and the process of healing of the patient is another aspect. One needs to understand this whole process. While writting report either one must be aware about the process, else they should have someone who can make them understand the process. Unless the journalist understand, he or she cant write correct report or if they write the vague report then it would go tangent to the readers,” said R ...

                                                               Dr Shashank Joshi                                                    Brian Pinto                                                ...

By Vikas Vaidya Concerns over milk safety and nutrition for children were addressed at the Third National Health Writers and Editors Convention organised by HEAL Foundation, with experts reviewing a recently conducted study that revealed low awareness among Indian mothers on the relation between milk boiling and nutrition loss. An entire session was devoted to “Milk in the New Millennium - Innovative Dairy Technology and Child Health,” with distinguished speakers talking about the importance of nutrition in early childhood and the important role milk plays in nutrition of children. According to the study, conducted by Tetra Pak in collaboration with research-based agency Millward Brown, only 17% of mothers surveyed believed that boiling milk affects its nutritional properties. Even more startling is that 59% mothers felt boiling increases milk’s nutritional value and 24% felt it does not impact its nutritional properties. Dr Kalpesh Date, Pediatrician and Neonatologist said, “M...

    By Vikas Vaidya WHEN 45 year-old Kusum Wankhede of Kolhu village, Katol tehsil came to Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH), nobody thought that her case would throw a light on new disease as far as medical fraternity of Central India is concerned. She had multi-organ dysfunction with involvement of liver, kidneys, lungs and meningitis and her platelets were reduced. Malaria and Dengue were suspected and ruled out by specific blood tests. Scrub Typhus was suspected when careful examination revealed a black mark (left by mite’s bite) called eschar was noticed over the patient’s right side of the chest. The eschar, which occurs at the site where the mite bites is the single most clinical diagnostic clue. Dr Prashant Joshi, Professor and Head, Department of Medicine, IGGMCH checked her and identified that she was suffering from Scrub Typhus, a new disease in human. It was identified earlier in other parts of t...

By Vikas Vaidya Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan has consented to an idea of setting up separate vocational, sports and technical universities in the State, proposed by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. This idea was put in the meeting of Joint Board of Vice-Chancellors (JBVC) held at Mumbai, chaired by the Governor as Chancellor of State universities, at State Guest House, Shayadri, on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Vice-Chacellors of Non-Agricultural Universities. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan; Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar; Minister for Higher and Technical Education Rajesh Tope; Minister for Medical Education Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit; Minister for Public Health Suresh Shetty; Minister for State for Higher and Technical Education D P Sawant; Minister of State for Finance Rajendra Mulak; Chief Secretary Dr Jayantkumar Banthia; Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health T C Benjamin; Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education Anand Kulkarni; Principal Secretary, ...