PatientsEngage General Community

Naved Patel, 26 year old chef, entrepreneur, food stylist, suffered severe allergy from his pet dogs that left him acutely breathless, damaged his power to smell and scarred him for life. Here he narrates how it all began. We also talk to Dr. Anil Ballani to understand dog allergy. We are a family of passionate pet lovers. At age 20, when I landed up with 3 dogs in the house, I was over the moon. I was the proud owner of three puppies - two Labradors and one Pug. I named the Labradors Hugo and…

By making a few modifications and changes in the house, a wheelchair user can be as independent as possible. Here are a few suggestions. How to make your house wheelchair user friendly Use wooden planks (in picture above) as portable ramps. Remember the ramp should have 1" rise for every 12" length (1 to 12 ratio). Put handrails on both sides of stairs. To take a wheelchair through a doorway, it should have at least 32" clear opening. Reorganise the furniture to give more space for wheelchair…

Diabetes Management can be challenging and distressing for a lot of families. In our Live Discussion sessions we talk to eminent doctors and patients for tips, vital information and motivation. In continuation of our series on Living Better With Diabetes we have with us Dr. Usha Sriram, Diabetes Specialist, Founder, Diwaaas.   Jayesh Shah, Type 2 Diabetes, Mumbai  Marianne de Nazareth, Type 2 Diabetes, Bengaluru Dr. Usha is passionate about the role of families in diabetes…

Personal safety and sexuality education is critical for children and young individuals with Intellectual disabilities, auditory or visual impairments. But it often does not get the right level of attention from parents and teachers. Enfold Proactive Health Trust, a Bangalore based NGO, has devised a project ‘Suvidha’ to address this gap. Read on. All children, irrespective of the ‘normalcy’ of their neural or physical development, have a right to safety and dignity. Personal safety education…

Snacks and starters are an easy way to consume unhealthy calories at parties. Are you making smart choices? We pulled together some of our favourite tip posters on how to eat healthy at parties.  1. The Right and Wrong Way of Eating Nuts  While nuts are healthy, they should not be fried, salted or chocolate coated or honey coated. Unsalted, raw or dry roasted nuts are best. If you like them crisp, just pop them into the woven for a nice crunchy texture.   2. I love samosas…

Shilpa Aneja, who credits her own Breast Cancer recovery to a positive mindset and her passion for fitness and exercise, shares step-wise process to build stamina based on her own experience.  I believe even though you cannot always keep cancer from coming back, it's important to eat right, exercise regularly and go for follow up check ups. Being fit makes you feel positive and keeps a lot of health issues at bay. Before you start, here are a few pre-requisites: Speak to your doctor…

To move or not to move to a senior living community is a topic of discussion amongst many as they approach retirement and for many years after retirement. Retired Chief Executive Mr. S. Balagopal shares the factors that affected their choice and what they like about their senior living community. #QualityOfLife Tell us a little bit about your background and your family.  I am a Physics Graduate with an Electrical Engineering degree as well and have worked in the Private Sector in…

Urinalyis or Urine Tests are often prescribed by doctors to detect certain conditions. Dr. Shital Raval explains what the results of a urine test mean, and the right way to collect a urine sample.   #KnowYourTest Series What is urinalysis? Urinalysis or Urine tests are a group of tests conducted on your urine that a doctor may prescribe. These tests are indicators of acute or chronic conditions or illnesses. It can also help detect insidious infections like urinary tract infections or…

Dr Neena David, a Clinical Psychologist, emphasises the importance of developing positive coping skills, a sense of resilience and a growth mindset among adolescents and teenagers as they have long term positive mental health outcomes and stave off suicidal tendencies. You have many years of experience in setting up processes for school mental health programmes. What changes did you need to bring about in your programmes over the years? I am not sure I understand this question- ‘your programmes…

Dr Divya Parashar Head of Rehabilitation Psychology at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre narrates what helped one of her patients, who was paralyzed waist down, come out of his self-imposed exile at home to face the world in a wheelchair.  “I don’t want to be seen in a wheelchair, and you can do nothing about it,” said a very determined Deepak (name changed to protect privacy), sitting in my office. A fever had rendered him paralyzed from waist down three years ago. Every morning, he would…