PatientsEngage General Community

Chetti Jayanthi Sree, 23 from Bhadradri Kothagudem, Telangana talks to PatientsEngage about the challenges of Sickle Cell Anemia and the support of her family.  Sickle cell anemia is an inherited form of anemia — a condition in which there aren't enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen throughout the body. Normally, the red blood cells in our body are flexible and round, moving easily through our blood vessels. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood cells become…

Jyotsna Kumar who lives with Sensiro Neural Deafness reflects on her father, his loves and interests and how her relationship with him has evolved and come full circle as she now cares for him. For my father, on Father’s Day: He cracked open walnuts on door hinges for me. He was the only one in the house who was fearless with lizards and insects. When it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When I was sick he would take me to the doctor and get me my medicines. He would cut…

Happy Father's Day This Father's Day we share heartfelt messages from our contributors on their fathers and the significance of the support of their fathers in their journey with chronic conditions and disabilities. If you have a thought to share, do write in to us and we will publish it. Or leave us a comment below. Preethi Srinivasan - He (My father, Srinivasan Narasimhan) was my best friend.  Swati Agrawal - He (Sanjeev Agrawal) helped me through the gloomiest of days  Vijay…

Pranav Agarwal, 39, who has been donating blood for the last 21 years and has recently converted to being a regular platelet donor, talks about how a unit of blood from a single individual can potentially help 5 recipients and encourages people to come forward to donate blood to save more lives.  When did you first donate blood? Could you tell us a little bit how it started? From an early age, I had thought about becoming a blood donor. Like everyone else, I was a little squeamish at the…

Is going gluten-free just a fad or is there a valid reason to consider this lifestyle change? Dr. Shital Raval explains what is gluten and the difference between wheat allergy, gluten intolerance and celiac disease. Remember to bookmark this. Along with the growing trend of multigrain goods in the food market and nutritional world, there has also been a proliferating market for gluten-free food products. This has been hand-in-hand with emergent reports of gluten sensitivities and intolerance…

Our ability to worry can help plan and prepare, but when we’re stuck in this state it can prevent us from taking any action at all. Stress can also turn into worry when we get bogged down into concerns that aren’t related to the present moment. We can go in circles on what we could have/ should have done yesterday, or what we could/ should do tomorrow.  A couple of quotes that can help us through these difficult times. Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow   The greatest…

Air Pollution is one of the major environmental risk factors for the global burden of disease and updated estimates put the death toll as high as 7 million people per year.  Public health professional Ramya Kancharla recommends steps you can take to reduce air pollution and how you can limit your exposure to air pollution.  Air pollution is a serious public health concern - and one that you’re likely battling with on an everyday basis, both inside and outside your home. Air pollution…

Did you know that a common activity like pigeon feeding can lead to chronic and sometimes fatal lung diseases? Senior Pulmonologist Dr Prahlad Prabhudesai  answers our questions on health hazards caused by pigeons. Can you imagine going to the park to feed rats? But, we often see people readily feeding pigeons. Scientific evidence reveals that pigeons can be equally hazardous to our health as rodents are. Due to readily available food (provided by humans), there is a marked increase in the…

Zeenat Jahan, advanced life coach, takes us through the myriad benefits of positive psychology that reverses the focus from negative to positive and can benefit people at different stages on the mental health spectrum. At a recent conference on Bipolar Disorder, you spoke about how positive psychology can help adults with depression or bipolar. What exactly is positive psychology? Positive psychology is a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior with a focus on…

Children's books are instrumental in shaping early thoughts and perceptions. Chitra Paul, mom to a teenager on the autism spectrum painstakingly lists 20 Indian books that feature children and young adults with disability. Books that must be read by every child. As a child I don’t remember reading very many books with Indian characters or even those that featured disabled characters. The few books with Indian characters or stories about India were those by Ruskin Bond or Amar Chitra Katha comic…