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  • Stock pic of a doctor in a white coat measuring the BP of a patient whose arm has a BP monitor band
    Less Than 10% Indians Have Blood Pressure Under Control
    In an interview with PatientsEngage,  Dr Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Vice President – Research and Policy, PHFI and one of the main authors of the study answers questions on the findngs and implications of population based study on Hypertension in India. The Silent Killer or Hypertension continues to strike us with an estimated 10.8% of all deaths, which equates to 9.4 million deaths each year worldwide1. These are the statistics from the study published by Nature’s Journal of Human…
  • A stock pic of a face with the butterfly shaped rash typical of Lupus
    Helping Patients Accept A Diagnosis Of Lupus - A Doctor's Perspective
    Dr. Chethana Dharmapalaiah, Rheumatologist at Aster CMI, Bengaluru shares her experiences on sharing a Lupus diagnosis with her patients, the stories of hope amidst all the despair.  I have been practising as a rheumatologist since more than a decade. I was barely exposed to a handful of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and an even lesser number of patients with lupus during my undergraduate training. No doubt the awareness has increased now amongst doctors across specialties and the…
  • Sangeetha Wadhwa, Thalassemia Major on the right most holding a trophy in front of a stage
    "I Lost My Sister To Thalassemia But I Want To Save Others"
    Sangeeta Wadhwa, a thalassemia major and psychologist, co-founder of Youth Thalassemic Alliance appeals for extensive premarital mandatory screening to bring down new occurrences and dreams to see India become like Cyprus one day - with zero thalassemia. You are going to be speaking on thalassemia at a public platform in Delhi today.  What is your talk going to focus on? Being a psychologist counsellor I will be highlighting a range of topics affecting people with thalassemia.…
  • Sjogren Syndrome Webinar Event
    Webinar: Living Better With Sjogren's Syndrome
    In our next Live Q&A session of 'Living Better' series, we speak wth Kirtida Oza, founder of Sjogren's India on the challenging symptoms of Sjogren's Syndrome and their management. Sjogren's Syndrome is a less understood autoimmune condition and it can affect your day to day schedules. Send in your questions in the comments below or on our FB page.  Date: 30 April 2019 Time: 5 PM India Time, (7.30PM Singapore Time) If you you like to join on Zoom here are the details: Join from a…
  • A park where people are walking and a sign on a tree that indicates not to feed birds
    Can Pigeons Cause Lung Diseases?
    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…
  • A mother and her autistic son both wearing white and standing against a book shelf
    Indian Children’s Literature Featuring Characters with Disability
    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…
  • Walking With A Loved One With Bipolar Disorder: Rewarding Yet Taxing
    Hvovi Bhagwagar, a clinical psychologist who works a lot of persons with Bipolar Disorder and their families, puts the spotlight on challenges faced by the family caregivers and what they can do to help the persons with Bipolar Disorder as well as themselves.  Arman is a 32-year-old social activist. He is well-respected for his many welfare activities. Diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder in his teens, his life has been a constant internal struggle. His parents, one of whom was diagnosed…
  • Webinar: Living Better With Parkinson's Disease: The Early Stages
    Announcing the next webinar in our ‘Living Better’ series and focus at the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. In partnership with PDMDS. This session will cover how patients dealt with their diagnosis, the various activities they engage in, the challenges posed due to their symptoms, changes in lifestyle, how it affects relationships, and perspectives in life. We speak with persons with Parkinsons and Head of therapy & research at the PDMDS on strategies and activities that help manage…
  • Children With Autism Can Perform In Commercial Theatre - A Director's Perspective
    Diana Tholoor, a Movement and Theatre trainer and Director of Plays recently worked with a cast of 50 children and young adults on the autism spectrum to mount a production of Jungle Book on stage. She shares her perspective in the second part of this interview series.  1.   Why theatre? How does theatre help children and adults on the autism spectrum? Theatre is an integrated art form that produces simultaneous results through a single production. Amongst the many alternate…