The Alarming Statistics of AIDS in the World

Not many hospitals in Kolkata provide the treatment for a possible AIDS conditions, but the said disease is engulfing the world at an alarming rate. In spite of the fact that the number of AIDS-infected individuals is decreasing since the past couple of years, but the total number of individuals infected with this disease has increased in the global scenario.

On December, when we observe the World AIDS Day, let’s understand the reasons for the same.

1. Increase in number of polygamous relationships

The count of the individual particularly the young age grouped, who are engaged in a polygamous intimate relationship is increasing in number these days, reason being, involvement with more than one partner, at some point or the other, the pathogens of the AIDS manage to spread the number of its victim.

2. Use of used needles

An infected needle can spread AIDS in a healthy individual. The needle can be used for both medical and harmful addiction purpose, like drugs. The number of individuals seeking both of these has increased in recent years. Even though several medical hubs are mushrooming these days and are providing medicinal needs, not all of them are using sterile needles, either intentionally or unintentionally. These are more prevalent in the healthcare facilities that do not follow protocol while purchasing medical supplies and while disposing of them.

3. Administration of infected blood

A number of people need blood transfusion these days, due to increasing medical illness. Several times, either due to ignorance or involvement of black markets, many unreliable healthcare centers provide blood with possible contamination of HIV agents. It is more likely to happen in those healthcare facilities that accept any individual’s blood without prior screening.

Some of these facts can be easily controlled while some are not. However, it is recommended to lead a healthy lifestyle to keep this deadly disease at bay and also, it is better to go with reliable healthcare providers only. A reliable hospital has either their own blood bank or they have tie-ups with blood banks that follow every protocol while supplying blood bags to ensure it is free of any pre-existing illness.

At ILS Hospitals, not only prevention and care for AIDS is available, it also ensures that a person struggling with HIV virus is given every support on his treatment to recover.

What Happens When Diabetes Remain Untreated for Years?

The death toll in India has been increasing rapidly since 1990 to 2016. One of the big reason behind it is Diabetes and it’s treatment. One would be shocked to know that diabetes as a life-threatening disease. India stands for the second rank with 69.1 million people affected after China with 109 million people affected by diabetes.

Usually, Diabetes cannot be identified at the initial stage but it catches our eyes when one drastically lose weight and show other symptoms of high blood sugar. If diagnosed at the initial stage, it can be cured real easily, if not, one might have to face many health issues. As per an international expert, diabetes complications typically starts with 5 years; within 10 to 15 years, the majority of the patients will progress to have multiple health issues’.

So, what really happens to a human body when it inhabits diabetes over a long period of time?

Diabetic Eye Diseases: This set of diseases includes eyes diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema (DME), cataract, and glaucoma. These diseases can result in a person to lose their vision or worse, total blindness. Effects of these complications depend on how badly they have been affected by diabetes.

Increases Fat and Cholesterol: A severe untreated diabetes over a long period of time can result in the reduction of the formation of good cholesterol and increases triglyceride and bad cholesterol. The density of more bad cholesterol leads to many other health issues such as weight gain, obesity, high blood pressure etc.

Heart Diseases: Base on the previous point, severe diabetes increases the chances of heart disease and stork as more and more amount of bad cholesterol get stored in the heart. This is common in old people and usually known as diabetic dyslipidemia. It is a fatal condition which may increase the possibilities of atherosclerosis or coronary heart disease.

Kidney Failure: High level of sugar present in the body creates difficulties for the kidney to work properly, which often gets damaged or attains other kidney disorders. Though it does not happen with all the diabetic patients, it is better to get treated as soon as possible or else it can arise a question of mortality.

Damages Nerves: Nerves are the medium through which our brain transfer messages to different parts, organ, and functions of our body. A long-term diabetes is said to damage nerve cells which also simultaneously increase difficulties to carry-out our day to day works. This disorder of nerves is known as Neuropathy which further has its own classification.

Deformed Foot: As the long nerves are demolished, the lower limbs get weaker which may cause bunions, flat feet, and other deformities.

Reduces Life-span: All the above-mentioned disease or health hazards increase the complexity of life and sometimes it becomes tough to survive with these abnormalities.

No disease or health-related issues are immortal if it is ignored for a long time. From a minor cough to diabetes every problem not only has side-effects but also treatments. A reliable diabetes treatment can cure all your diabetic problems.

The History of Antibiotic and Its Evolution

The word antibiotic refers to two words, anti means to oppose and biotics means life. Thus, the term antibiotics refer the drugs which are against the living cell. Then why do we consume them? Well simply because the bio cells in consideration is not the host human, but instead the bacterial pathogens that cause infection and side effects.

You can find the antibiotics drugs for a range of medical conditions and illnesses. They predominantly destroy the bacterial growth, but few of then also prohibits the growth of protozoa as well. Antibiotics for virus-related illness is mostly a misnomer as the correct term for the same would be antiviral drugs.

Antibiotics

Antibiotic is an indispensable part of today’s medical science. But how did its journey started? Only a few are aware of. The golden era of antibiotics began in early 1909 with the successful invention of salvation to cure syphilis. But the most noteworthy invention was that of the penicillin in the year 1928 by Alexender Fleming. This was a turning point int he timeline of medicines.

The utilization of penicillin was at its peak during the year 1941, when the penicillin was processed in batch for mass production. It cured a wide range of infections in all over the world. These include minor to mild eye infection, bacterial growth, blood poisoning and lots more. Moreover, its role in treating the soldiers from the World War II is unparallel. Eventually, the oral penicillin was fabricated any produced.

However, with time, it was observed that not every individual was responding positively to the use of penicillin. Few individuals did not respond to this particular antibiotic at all, and for few others, their condition even worsened on its application. Thus came to the time of the invention of erythromycin in the year of 1949.

Antibiotics

Gradually, several antibiotics were discovered and produced for usage over the several next decades. In the present time, there are many antibiotics available in the market. Several of these are over the counter drugs and thus, it does not need any medical prescription for buying them. However, it is always recommended to get a medical checkup before buying and using any medicine.

As we are witnessing the World Antibiotic Awareness Week in the month of November, we, the ILS Hospitals, pay our respect to all those scientists medical personals, who spend hours in researching and inventing these drugs.

Key Facts About Diabetes and the Importance of World Diabetes Day, 14th November

Our body produces several types of hormones and insulin is a rather crucial one for the proper working of our body. Due to the disbalance of levels of insulin, a deadly disease surfaces, which is known as diabetes. The diabetes is a condition in which either the pancreas fails to produce insulin, or the body fails to utilize the produced insulin to maintain the blood sugar level in the bloodstream.

Diabetes

Key facts about Diabetes

The count of people seeking diabetes treatment increased approximately from 108 million to 422 million from 1980 to 2014.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death among men and women from all over the world, as per WHO

About 50 percent of the deaths due to high blood pressure, is a resultant of diabetes

Diabetes is preventable, particularly the type 2, in spite being a genetical trait, through timely, medical aid along with proper diet and regular exercise.

Prevalence of diabetes over the age of 18, has increased from 4.7 % to 8.5 % from 1980 to 2014.

Diabetes is more prevalent in low to middle-income nations.

Diabetes in later stages brings additional illnesses as well. These include slow healing, kidney failure, foot amputation, heart attack, blindness,

Diabetes claims about 1.6 million death annually.

Diabetes in India

As of now, more than 35 million people are diagnosed positive for diabetes in India. Moreover, the CPR (Crude Prevalence Rate) of diabetes is around 9 percent in urban India and 3 percent in a rural population of India. Thus, the number of people suffering from diabetes is highest, as compared to any other country. The IGT (Impaired Glucose Tolerance) of Indian people is significantly high as well. Thus the number of mobile seeking diabetes treatment is highest as well. Thus it is important that people are aware of the symptoms and treatment of diabetes.

Diabetes

World diabetes day and its importance

On 14th November, we observe wold diabetes day every year. It came into existence in the year 1991, by the joint effort of IDF (International Diabetes Federation) and WHO (World Health Organization). It mainly came into existence to address the increasing threat of diabetes over the health and wellness of people from all over the world.

World Diabetes Day

The WDD (World Diabetes Day) is the biggest diabetes awareness campaign in the world, as it reaches more than 1 billion people globally spread in over 160 countries.

Early Symptoms of Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer is the most common type of cancer that starts in lungs. It is the number one death causing cancer in both men and women than colon, ovarian or breast cancer. Through the ling, carbon dioxide is released and oxygen is inhaled. There are two types of lung cancer. They are small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC).

Cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. The more cigarette consumption per day, the greater the risk of developing lung cancer at an early age. The other factors include passive smoking, air pollution or exposure to radon gas and asbestos fibers. It is difficult to detect lung cancers at an early stage as they do not cause any symptoms initially. But it is advisable to visit the doctor as soon as you notice any signs of discomfort related to the same in order to treat it at an early stage. ILS Hospitals is one of the popular hospitals in Kolkata for lung cancer treatment. There are many specialized doctors available for the treatment of this life taking disease.

The common symptoms of lung cancer include :

  1. A prolonged cough or worsening of an existing chronic and painful cough
  2. Coughing up blood or blood in sputum
  3. Constant chest or shoulder pain
  4. Fatigue and feeling tired all the time
  5. Loss of appetite
  6. Shortness of breath or wheezing
  7. Weight loss
  8. Ongoing chest infections
  9. Hoarseness
  10. Depression and mood changes

Lung Cancer

One should immediately consult the doctor if any of the above symptoms persist for an effective treatment. The treatment should begin before cancer spreads outside lungs otherwise it can spread anywhere in the body. It may cause the following:

  1. Bone pain in the back or hips
  2. Changes in the nervous system such as a headache, weakness in arms or legs, disbalance of a body, might spread to the brain or spinal cord.
  3. Jaundice that might lead to the liver
  4. Formation of lumps due to cancer spreading to the skin like above collarbone or the neck.

Since it is difficult to diagnose lung cancer at an early stage, it is advised to consult a doctor if a similar sign is being observed or felt in the body as mentioned above.

Lung Cancer

Therefore, Lung Cancer Awareness Month takes place every November to make people aware of the earlier signs and symptoms of this life-taking disease. The main aim of this campaign is to spread awareness amongst all on how to detect this disease at the right time to save a life.

A Complete Guide to Night-Blindness

What is Night Blindness?

With the word blindness, one might think of complete blindness after it is dark, well, that’s the whole myth. Night Blindness is a condition where a person is unable to see things clearly at dark or may face difficulties in seeing things in the dark. It is also called ‘nyctalopia’.

Though some category of night blindness can be treated with a proper diet and medication, some require surgery and there are some which cannot be treated at all. It’s better to consult an Eye specialist, that doing anything by one’s own self so that one can take necessary steps for its treatment.

Night-Blindness

What are the causes of Night Blindness?

Night Blindness can be caused due to various reason. The most common causes of night blindness are discussed below:

  1. Vitamin A Deficiency: We all have studied this during our school day. The deficit of Vitamin A causes or leads a person towards night blindness. Vitamin A, also called retinol, plays a role in transforming nerve impulses into images in the retina. The retina is a light-sensitive area in the back of your eye. Prescribe nutritional diet can help to restore the condition back to normal if diagnosed at the initial stage.
  2. Genetic Disorder: Like many other genetic factors, a person might also inherit disorder such as night-blindness. Usher syndrome, which is another related genetic condition that affects both hearing and vision.
  3. Abetalipoproteinemia: This is an inherited condition where a body may not absorb the required necessary nutrition from the food, which later may cause the deficiency of vitamins and minerals which will result in first cause mentioned above.
  4. Cataract: It is a condition of eye lenses were a dense cloudy appearance stands between the person and the clear vision. It develops slowly and eventually interferes with your vision. You might end up with cataracts in both eyes, but they usually don’t form at the same time. Cataracts are common in older people above 70 years.
  5. Diabetic retinopathy: It is a condition that occurs as a result of damage to the blood vessels of the retina in people who have diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy can develop if you have type 1 or 2 diabetes and a long history of uncontrolled high blood sugar levels. It might also result in total sight loss if remained untreated.

A Brief Introduction of Polio and Its Vaccine

Polio is one of the most dreadful diseases that frightens parents more than any other disease. The main being the fact that polio is uncurable, the best strategy is the prevention of the same. Several children from all over the India, seek treatment for physical disability and paralysis (partial or total) in the best hospitals. Let’s understand it in brief along with its remedy.

Polio is a generalized term for poliomyelitis. It is caused by either of the three species of poliovirus. It enters the body through the mouth and multiply rapidly and reach the digestive system. It highly contagious as it can spread through oral, nasal secretion and also through contaminated fecal materials. In several cases, it does not show any symptoms of the same. But several times, it enters the bloodstream and damages the nerve cells eventually. This results in paralysis and early death as well, if proper treatment is not provided on time.

Polio

Polio is perhaps one of the oldest illness that can be found in the closet of the human history. It can be traced to as early as ancient Egypt, 1400 BC. It became an epidemic in the early 1900s and then began the hunt for its proper treatment. The anti-polio vaccine was developed using inactivated and weekend poliovirus. There are two kinds of vaccine and mode of its administration and they both are registered as WHO’s list of essential medicines.

IPV- The inactive poliovirus is administrated in the body through injection. It was first developed by Jonas Salk and it came into commercial use in the year 1955.

Polio

OPV- the weekend poliovirus is administrated in the body through oral dosage. It was first developed by Albert Sabin came into commercial use in the year 1961.

Polio

As per the guideline of WHO (World Health Organization), every child of age 5 years or less, is supposed to be given poliovirus. The polio vaccine is extremely effective and has successfully agitated polio from the most of the world population. If considered statistically, the number of cases registered for polio has reduced from 350000 to just 37 in the past three decades.

On this World Polio Day on 24th October, we encourage every parent and guardians to get their infants the adequate dosage of polio. Also, we pay our respects to all the doctors and researchers who worked hard to invent and modify the polio vaccine and healthcare facilities, government and Nonprofit institute’s initiatives which, made it possible for every child on the planet to get the dosage of the same.

Bone Health and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a growing global problem worldwide. After the age of 50, bones become weak and fragile especially in case of women. Fractures affect both men and women with age. Strong bones are essential for overall good health. Good nutrition helps in keeping the bones stronger and healthier.

Although, there are hardly any symptoms of detecting osteoporosis at an early stage. Some earlier signs might include receding gums, weak nails, and weakened grip strength. Without a proper treatment, osteoporosis may worsen leading to the higher risk of fractures. Some common causes of osteoporosis are mentioned below:

  1. Physical inactivity
  2. Smoking
  3. Low body weight
  4. Certain medications
  5. Hereditary
  6. Being female and an older adult
  7. Poor nutrition
  8. Menopause in case of women

 

Osteoporosis

There are many factors which play an important role in keeping the bones healthy. Some of them are as follows:

Bone contains 99% of body calcium and therefore we need to consume foods high in calcium to keep it healthy.

  1. Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium and build bones.
  2. Enough Protein intake is essential to maintain a healthy bone.
  3. Other nutrients include zinc, Vitamin K, and magnesium.
  4. Weight-bearing exercises such as climbing stairs, push-ups etc. should be included in the everyday routine.
  5. Smoking should be stopped.

Apart from these, there are some natural ways to treat bone disease but should be strictly followed under your doctor’s supervision. Some people do get good results with natural treatments.

Osteoporosis can have serious effects. As already mentioned, fractures can be really painful and take a long time to heal leading to other complications. For instance, a hip fracture requires staying in bed for a longer period with other risks involved like pneumonia, blood clots, and other infections.

Osteoporosis

BMD (Bone Mineral Density) is a type of scan to diagnose the disease. It is done by using a type of X-ray known as a dual-energy x-ray(DEXA) and bone densitometry. DEXA scan includes two devises – a central device which is a hospital-based scan measuring hip and spine bone and a peripheral device which is a mobile machine measuring wrist, heel and finger bone. ILS Hospitals being a multi-specialty hospital provides the treatment for Osteoporosis.

World Osteoporosis Day takes place on 20th October, organized by International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) every year. This concept is launched by the United Kingdom’s National Osteoporosis Society in the year 1996. The main aim of this campaign is to spread awareness on bone health. This annual campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.

Expecting Diabetes During the Diwali? Follow These Guidelines

Diwali is around the clock and needless to say, the festival of light is not limited to the lights itself. It involves lots of sweet desserts, crackers, and gifts as well. However, several individuals end up having the excessive level of sugar in their blood and seek diabetes treatment for it. So, that you don’t end up spending your time in the hospital bed, instead of having fun, we provide several guidelines for the same.

1. Limit the consumption of sweet dishes

Diwali is a festival of lots of sweets and snack. Avoiding their temptation is not a solution, It is always recommended to limit the numbers you eat in this duration. In case, you are making sweets at home or ordering from a shop, go for a smaller size of Ladoos and other sweets to reduce the portion size of each serving.

consumption of sweet dishes

2. Go for baked snacks instead of deep fried ones

Not every dessert can be baked, for the ones that can be done, must be. Baking served the purpose of deep frying as well, without adding the excess amount of oil on the plate. It is particularly healthy for people with blood sugar and can be considered as a diabetes treatment.

baked snacks

3. Go for healthier substitute

Substituting sugar with healthy herbs on the food platter is a big ‘no’ for any individual, especially during the Diwali time. Thus, try to substitute heavy, sugary ingredients with healthier substitutions. For example, using toned milk in place of full creamed, honey or applesauce in place of honey.

Healthier Diet

4. Stay away from sweets with silver coating

Though these fancy decoration, looks very appetizing, they are extremely unhealthy. Though it would not directly affect the blood sugar level in the blood, it surely enters the bloodstream due to over-consumption and then can cause severe complications.

sweets with silver coating

Indians are genetically more susceptible to diabetes as compared to other people across the globe. That is why we need more attentive diabetes treatment. Thus, it is important to take every necessary action to ensure that diabetes stays away from us, particularly during festive season like Diwali, when people tend to go for a richer diet.

Though avoiding calorie and sugar-loaded sweets and other snacks, completely is not a feasible solution for the most of the people, adhering to few guidelines would certainly help a lot.

History of Anesthesia

If you have ever undergone a surgical procedure in a hospital or clinic, you must have been remembering administrating a pre-calculated dosage of anesthesia, either local or general. And soon, you lose every sensation and after you regain consciousness, you find that the surgical; procedure is long over. Without the anesthesia, almost every surgical procedure would be impossible to carry out, particularly in these days.

But have you ever wondered how surgical procedures were carried out before the time when anesthesia was formulated? After all, the history of surgery goes long back in time. Let’s understand how the anesthesia came to existence.

Anesthesia

Anesthesia performs three major functions, it enables the patient to feel any pain during the surgery, it enables the body to keep performing the vital actions, such as heartbeat, respiration etc and simultaneously, it disables the body to carry out any movements, let it be voluntary, or reflex.

In the earliest stages of surgical procedures, the patient was given a dosage of alcohol, opium or cannabis, as they used to minimize the sensation, mainly the pain. But unlike, toady’s procedure, they were not up to the mark. With time acupuncture needle was substituted in place of oral anesthesia. Gradually came the time when carotid compression is used to achieve unconsciousness before surgery.

It was Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Boyle, who pioneered intravenous anesthesia.

Then came an era of hypnosurgery, in which the patient is hypnotized by a professional hypnologist before the procedure begins. This procedure was pioneered by Dr. Jules Cloquet, who carried out a hypnosurgery on women for breast surgery. Supposedly, the patient under hypnosis experience tingling like sensation instead of pain, throughout the procedure. Despite the question of its viability, several notable cases have been witnessed, which was done as hypnosurgery. However, this procedure depends on the willpower of each patient and thus, does not work well for every individual and cannot be counted as a reliable anesthetic substitute.

Anesthesia

William Morton is a notable name who initiated the use of ether as anesthesia for surgery and created a revolutionary history. With the advancement of research and development, several new anesthetic substances were formulated from time to time, each surpassing the benefits over the previous ones. Depending upon the type of surgery, either local or general anesthesia is administrated.

In the present scenario, most anesthesia is intravenous and having an anesthesiologist or anesthetist is extremely crucial in any major surgery. Without their supervision and administration of anesthesia, the surgical procedure cannot initiate. During the operation, the anesthesiologist makes sure the patient’s body keep performing all the three crucial actions, as mentioned above.

In this, World Anesthesia Day, we at ILS Hospitals, pay our tributes to each and every one who worked hard immensely to invent the anesthesia, and made the surgical procedures, a rather comforting and bearable procedure.