World Mental Health Day 2007

World Mental Health Day, which falls on October 10th, 2007, embodies the theme

'Mental Health in a Changing World: The Impact of Culture and Diversity'.

Culture can influence many aspects of mental health - including how individuals from a given culture communicate and manifest symptoms, coping style, the kind of family and community supports - and their willingness or reluctance in seeking treatment.


The goal of World Mental Health Day is to address stigma and to show that mental illness is neurobiological - not a scarlett letter with which to be ashamed or a weakness of someone's character. And this year's theme highlights the importance of culture and diversity among us all.
--
Dr Marwah

World Sight Day 2007

World Sight Day, 11th October 2007

World Sight Day 2007 focuses on Blindness and Childhood.

 

KEY MESSAGES

 

 Every 5 seconds someone in our world goes blind…

and a child goes blind every minute

 

 Almost 50 percent of the world's 1.4 million blind children

are needlessly blind

 

 Blindness in Children accounts for one third of the total

economic impact of blindness worldwide

 

KEY FACTS

VISION 2020: The Right to Sight programmes address blindness in children as a major public health priority

Almost 50 percent of the world's 1.4 million children living without sight are needlessly blind, from avoidable causes

The main causes of blindness in children are also causes of child mortality – up to 60% of children who lose their sight will die within a year

Survivors will spend 40 years without sight. Thus, blindness in children accounts for nearly one third of the global economic cost of blindness, though it represents less than 4% of the overall magnitude

Visual impairment in a child limits participation in opportunities for education and self-development

Over 90% of blind children receive no schooling and few are able to realise their full potential

Refractive errors are the most important cause of avoidable visual impairment in school-age children

Care before and after birth can help avoid blindness from malnutrition, Vitamin A deficiency, conjunctivitis of the newborn and retinopathy of prematurity

Look after your child's sight – with vitamin-A rich foods, eye hygiene and safety

Glaucoma and cataract affect children too – but treatment is more challenging than in adults!

Early intervention is key to ensuring that children with eye problems have the best possible outcomes

Vision loss in a parent can turn a child into a carer, preventing access to education – vision care for the caregiver is care for the child

 

 

Dr Marwah

Yoga and its Benefits

Yoga - Introduction

Yoga is practiced all over India daily. Everyday people are reporting their wonderful experiences with Yoga, the transformation of being, taking you beyond the here and now. In one wonderful session of Yoga, people get to practice a number of things; some Yoga poses (asanas) breathing exercises (pranayama), meditation and chanting. In Yoga you get to learn basic terms like Mudras, Bandhas and Chakras. Best of all, Yoga is fun and relaxing while, at the same time, being delectably challenging to beginners. The intermediate and advanced students, who insist on continuing their practices, get more and more of the taste of this great 5000+ year old wondrous way of life. Yoga is for the body, mind and spirit. You learn to use your body, breath and mind to stretch, relax and energize yourself. So get up and go!

Yoga is all about feeling good; feel the blood surging through your veins, the energy pulsating through your nerves, the bliss coursing through your whole being. Best of all, Yoga is apt for all, regardless of age, color, caste, creed or religion; from the healthiest to the sickest, from the richest to the poorest, from the whitest to the blackest. And here are some of the specific – and immense – benefits of yoga:

Benefits of Yoga

• Brings down stress and enhances powers of relaxation
• Boosts physical strength, stamina and flexibility
• Bestows greater powers of concentration and self control
• Inculcates impulse Control
• Helps in rehabilitation of old and new injuries
• Intensifies tolerance to pain and enhancing mental clarity
• Boosts functioning of the immune system
• Enhances posture and muscle tone
• Improves blood circulation
• Results in healthy, glowing skin
• Cleanses and improves overall organ functioning
• Bestows peace of mind and a more positive outlook to life
• Infuses a sense of balance and internal harmony

Best of all, Yoga is highly therapeutic. Some of the ailments proven to be relieved, reversed and even healed through the practice of Yoga are acidity , allergies, Alzheimer disease, anemia, anger, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, bronchitis, cancer, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, colitis, common cold, constipation, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, eye problems, facial wrinkles, gastro-intestinal disorders, headaches, heartburn, hemorrhoids, hepatitis, high blood pressure, hypertension, immune-deficiency, impotence, menopause, menstrual cramps, migraines, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, nervous tension, obesity, osteoporosis, prostate, enlargement, sciatica, skin problems, sleep apnea, slipped disk, sterility, stiffness, stress, insomnia, intoxication, thyroid problems, kidney stones, stuttering and stammering, urinary tract disorders for women, vaginal infections and many more...

So, if Yoga has varied and immense benefits, what exactly is Yoga?

Yoga is a 5000 year old science whose teachings were first imparted not in a classroom or Gurukul, but on the battle field. In the epic Mahabharata, the sage, Lord Krishna is first said to have imparted the teachings of Yoga to his despondent student Arjuna. Around 1500 years later, another sage, Patanjali, went on to enunciate, for the benefit of humankind and eternity, the way to reach the summom bonum of life through a series of 195 aphorisms (sutras) in his epic treatise The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Derived from the Sanskrit root "Yujir Yogey" meaning to unite, to yoke, to join, to put together, Yoga is not about mind over body. On the other hand, Yoga is about developing harmony between them. In Yoga, you use your mind to perceive (diagnose) and guide (heal) your body. Never control, let alone force it!

Yoga is a way of life, a conscious act, not a set or series of learning principles. The dexterity, grace, and poise you cultivate, as a matter of course, is the natural outcome of regular practice. You require no major effort. In fact trying hard will turn your practices into a humdrum, painful, even injurious routine and will eventually slow down your progress. Subsequently, and interestingly, the therapeutic effect of Yoga is the direct result of involving the mind totally in inspiring (breathing) the body to awaken.

Contrary to popular – or unpopular – perception, Yoga positions are not about how far you can reach to touch your toes or how many repetitions you can perform. It is all about paying attention to how your body feels; how it moves without that excruciating pain or agony! Yoga is all about breathing correctly about integrating that breath into your being. Conscious Yoga doesn't call for you to force or strain your never or sinew. Meaning to say, right Yoga is learning how to do things right, do less that gets you more!

Ironically, by doing less – correctly – Yoga enhances your strength, energy, vitality, flexibility and levels of endurance. Accordingly, your body and mind start to become more balanced until, eventually; you find it takes so much less energy to move through the day. Yes, any and everyone can do less…and get a lot, lot more!

Click here to see some Yoga Poses Animation  http://www.yogawiz.com/yoga-poses-animation.php

--
Dr Marwah

Blood donation camp held at a CGHS dispensary in Sarojni Nagar on 08.09.2007

''JEETE JEETE RAKT DAAN, JAATE JAATE NETRA DAAN''

Blood donation camp held at a CGHS dispensary in Sarojni Nagar

''Jeete jeete rakt daan, jaate jaate netra daan,'' said Dr Anita Nanda, director of CGHS, at the inauguration ceremony for a blood donation camp on Saturday, exhorting all those present to follow the maxim. The camp, organised by Dr Anita Jain from CGHS with the help of Indian Red Cross Society, was the first of its kind to be organised at CGHS. It was conducted at a dispensary in Sarojni Nagar from 10.30 am till 2.00 pm.
What was distinctive about the camp was that a contingent of 15 firemen from turned up to donate their blood. Chief fire officer R C Sharma was the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony that kick-started the camp.
Around fifty people had registered for the blood donation camp in advance. ''The number will probably go up to 70,'' said Dr Jain. ''I expect people from the area, from CGHS and from among our beneficiaries to donate blood as well.''
Finally, around 70 people did turn up, although 16 were rejected for various medical reasons. Doctors stressed the fact that donating blood was not harmful. ''An average person has around 5-6 liters of blood in his or her body,'' said Dr Nanda. ''Out of that we are asking you to donate only 250ml.''
Officials from Red Cross asserted that blood donation needed to go up in India. ''Less than 1 percent of the Indian population donate blood, as compared to at least 5 percent in other countries,'' said an official. ''The situation here needs drastic improvement.''
--
Dr Marwah

National Voluntary Blood Donation Day

The Supreme Court Judgment on Blood Transfusion services

The Supreme Court of India in an epoch making judgment on 4th January, 1996, on a Public Interest Litigation petition filed by Common Cause (a voluntary organization in Delhi), directed the Union of India and the State Government to take a number of steps towards revamping the entire Blood Transfusion Services addressing various critical areas.

Some of the major directives of the Supreme Court are:

 To establish forthwith a National Council of Blood Transfusion at the Central, State and Union Territory level, as a society registered under Societies Act 1860 with funds provided by the Central as well as respective State and UT governments and also empowering the councils to raise funds from outside the sources.

 To license all blood banks.

 To stop the professional blood donating system.

 To secure a grant of 100% exemption from Income Tax to the donors either made to National or State Blood donation councils.

 To consider the advisability of enacting a separate legislation for regulating the collection, processing, storage, distribution and operation of blood banks in the country.

Follow-up Action
 

 The Supreme Court judgment provided a good opportunity to reorganize the Blood Transfusion Service. As a result, the Government has already taken the following activities.

 National Blood Transfusion Council and State Blood Transfusion Council have been formed and have started functioning.

 Licenses have been issued to Blood Banks and no unlicensed blood banks are permitted to provide Blood transfusion services.

 Professional blood donating activities have been completely banned w.e.f. 1st January, 1998 in the country.

 Permission has been granted to exempt Income Tax for the donation either to National or State Blood Transfusion Councils. Suitable revisions in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules are under the process.

Dr Marwah

National Voluntary Blood Donation Day

Appropriate clinical use of Blood
 

It is felt that country facing an overall acute shortage of blood.

There is no scientific method to assess the requirement of blood in the country as a whole.

The gap between demand and supply of blood is continuously widening due to mushrooming of super specialist hospitals in the urban areas and continuous inappropriate use of blood.

 It has been estimated that approximately 30 per cent transfusions are either unnecessary or wasteful.

For the purpose of reducing the wasteful use of blood, NACO has already set up 40 component separation units all over the country.

The doctors and technicians working in the component labs have been trained at KEM Hospital, Mumbai.

A National guideline for appropriate use of blood has been prepared and widely circulated.

One plasma Fractionation Training Center has already been set up at KEM Hospital, Mumbai and additional units are proposed to be set up at Delhi, Chennai and Calcutta.

--
Dr Marwah

National Voluntary Blood Donation Day- 1st of October

Voluntary Blood Donation – A Humane Act

 

Nothing is comparable to the preciousness of human blood. In spite of the rapid and remarkable conquests of medical science today, there is no factory that manufactures blood. It is only in human beings that human blood is made and circulated. For those who require blood for saving their lives, sharing from other fellows is the only means. Hence, donation – rather voluntary donation is the only way of accumulating blood at safe storage to meet emergency requirements for saving lives. In times of accidental injuries that shed huge amounts of blood and also in various types of surgical operations for medical treatments, we require blood for transfusion. Unavailability of blood may cost lives. Hence, importance of blood donation is tremendous. This is the greatest gift one can do for the mankind. Voluntary Blood Donors are saviors of mankind. If someone really loves oneself and other fellow beings, the only way to express it is to donate blood voluntarily.

The role of blood in a living creature is unique. The different components of blood have different activities to perform. Red Blood Cells (RBC) transports oxygen throughout the body, White Blood Cells (WBC) constitutes body's defense mechanism, Platelets helps in stopping bleeding and Plasma transports proteins including anti-bodies. Blood also evacuates wastes products from all organs of the body. There are four main blood groups i.e. O, A, B and AB. Group O is the most common and therefore the most in demand.

The average amount of blood present in an adult is 4-5 liters or about 8% of the body weight. Life cycles of the different components are short. The RBC lives about 120 days while white cells last about 3-9 days. New blood cells are constantly generated in the body. A person can donate blood 168 times during his 18 to 60 years. The quantity of blood present in 1kg of body weight is 76ml for males and 66 ml for females. Out of this 8 ml per kg body weight is donatable. Males can donate for every three months while females for every four months. All donated blood is recuperated within 21 days. At one time only 350 ml will be taken from a donor in not more than 20 minutes time including time for rest and refreshment. Blood donation is harmless and safe in the body. Rather, it is a social responsibility. The donor is donating for it as it will be used in saving lives of his fellow beings. He himself may use the same in his own need. So today's donor may be tomorrow's recipient.

Fear of needles, fear of pain, fear of sight of blood, fear of future weakness, fear of possible ill effects, objection from elders, ignorance and illiteracy etc. are all reasons for many people who are hesitant in donating blood. All these myths and misconceptions are to be removed in order that adequate amount of blood is made available at blood banks for saving the patients.

 The significance of observance of a day like the National Voluntary Blood Donation day on 1st October every year is to mobilize voluntary blood donors by motivating the potential donors to motivate for the cause of the society. Egoism in individuals is replaced with altruism. The former represents the motive behind those who seek their own ends and the later connotes individuals who always seek social ends.

--
Dr Marwah