Auto Immune conditions

Swati Agrawal, a fibromyalgia patient keenly wishes for more awareness and treatment for this incurable, misdiagnosed and misunderstood, invisible illness. Find out how she maintains her health. Listen to her in the video below. New Delhi, 12 May 2016: Well, you know what they say about best laid schemes of mice. In my case, that pretty much sums up Fibromyalgia. In fact, I think Robert Burns would have been impressed with how earnestly fibromyalgia made the schemes of my life go awry. Chronic…

The thyroid gland is fundamental to the functioning of several organs such as kidneys, liver, brain, heart and even skin.  Dr Shital Patel explains the common types and causes of thyroid disorders. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland at the lower-front part of the neck, just below the Adam’s apple. It is an endocrine gland made up of two lobes connected by a isthmus. It is responsible for the secretion of thyroid hormones which regulates body processes such as respiration, body…

Cooking can be a strenuous task for someone with arthritis and other muscle/joint disorders. But you don't have to give up cooking. Here are a few useful day to day tips to minimize the load on the joints and maximize what one can achieve in the kitchen, advises Dr S M Akerkar, Consulting Rheumatologist. This is the first of a 2-part series. The second part addresses the issue with visuals and examples. Your home and kitchen are supposed to be your most comfortable and familiar place in the…

Dry skin affects a lot of people but it is needs more attention as a major feature of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), scleroderma. Sjögren’s India shares some tips on how to handle dry skin.  It can occur in the form of itching, redness, scaling and cracking of skin.  Dry skin occurs as a result of immune dysfunction and destruction of moisture producing structures such as hair, oil and sweat glands. Once destroyed these oil and sweat glands cannot be restored. Although dry skin occurs…

Smitha Sadasivan, who is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, recounts her challenges with accessibility, toilets and medicines at airports and railway stations while travelling. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1999. I can’t sit continuously for long or sit in a chair/wheelchair which is loose or too soft/silky. I need a sturdy chair with an arm rest to support my back and hands, or else I get a back ache, neck ache and stiffness/pain in hip joints. I also require…

Deepthi Nair, who was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis (MG), a rare, neuromuscular autoimmune condition that leads to varying degrees of muscle weakness, finds the ‘invisible symptoms’ of the disease causes misunderstanding among people and pain and frustration to the patient. December 3 is celebrated as International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Last year, somewhere during this time, I had been to the Disabilities Commission to attend to a legal matter. I remember having witnessed a…

Simi Bhatia, 16-year-old college student, is a thalassaemia major patient. Here, she shares the story of her life where her positive outlook leaves little room for grief and despair. I was born with Thalassaemia Major. My parents tell me I was one-year-old when I was clinically diagnosed with the disorder. I used to be constantly sick with fever and chronic cough. My general physician recommended some tests to check my complete blood count (CBC) and haemoglobin level. Sadly, the tests showed…

Endoscopy guru and leading gastroenterologist Dr Vipulroy Rathod’s comprehensive interview on gastrointestinal diseases and cancers makes for an enlightening and interesting read. What is Gastroenterology? Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. Diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which include the organs from mouth to anus, along the alimentary canal, are the focus of this specialty. Physicians practicing in this field are called…

For 20 years Ravi Agarwal* battled with severe Psoriasis that changed his personality from an extrovert, confident person to a withdrawn, edgy individual. Read about his tormenting journey, his lifestyle modifications and his medicines that helped him control and, finally, clear those dreadful itchy, scaly, red patches in some parts of his body. I was first diagnosed with Psoriasis in 1996. It started with a small white, scaly patch on my thigh. Initially, I dismissed…

One of the biggest misconceptions in society about vitiligo, a skin disorder in which white patches appear on the skin in different parts of the body, is that it is a type of leprosy and contagious. Dermatologist Dr Jawahar Mansukhani dispels these myths by stressing that vitiligo is NOT contagious and cannot be contracted from another person. What is Vitiligo? Vitiligo is a chronic skin disorder in which white patches appear on the skin in different parts of the body. This…