Dr. Vikram .R. Lotwala

I totally agree Mr Big B. What you say is really a food for thought for all of us Indians, who have a feeling, that whatever is IMPORTED (SIC) is better than Indian product. Even the objection raised by Mr. Bacchan for the term Bollywood is quite correct. We speaks hundreds of language and thousands of dialects, why Cant we have our own term/ name for our Hindi film Industry? Visit Big B's blog at http://bigb.bigadda.com/2009/01/13/day-265/

The Bombay Ophthalmologists’ Association has planned to observe 24th of every month as ‘No Practice Day’ till the time the government passes the much-awaited bill assuring stringent action against those who attack members of the medical fraternity. Thsi is in response of Assault one of the leading Eye surgeon. The incident that has the ophthalmology fraternity rattled was an assault on renowned eye specialist Prakash Kankaria in Ahmednagar on December 24 last year. The former head of the Maharashtra Ophthalmology Association was assaulted and his clinic vandalised by a mob of 12 persons. I think we all doctors should take leaf from our Mumbai Colleague's book and should take the same action and gather support. This way we will make the authorities take some action. I also suggest to observe Aug 24 as Doctor - Patient Protection day .

It very unusual to find good Samaritans these days. Some body who devotes his life in front of family, children . For the duty, for the job, for his guests. I am talking about My. Karambir Kang, who lost his wife and children in 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks. He very much new the impending danger to his family in The Taj Hotel, but he put his duty ahead of family. He managed to save many guests but not his family. He was rightly awarded by Economic times. The Times of India reports: The annual Economic Times Awards ceremony is usually a celebratory affair, but this year the exuberance was tempered—as much by the gathering gloom of an economic depression as the embarrassing taint of the Satyam scandal. But all these preoccupations simply fell away when Karambir Singh Kang walked on stage, shoulders squared but head bowed. It was the most inspiring moment of the evening, and its most painful. Almost everyone in the chandeliered hall—from well-heeled CEOs to hardened journalists to...

Ever wondered why only some heavy drinkers and smokers die young while others live to a ripe old age? Well, the answer lies in the genes, say scientists. INHERENT RISK: Experts have identified two genes that they say put carriers at heightened risk of developing cancer An international team has identified two genes that it claims increases the chances of an unhealthy lifestyle, giving a drinker or a smoker cancer — in fact the genes put carriers more at a heightened risk of developing cancers of skin, lung, bladder, prostate and cervical. Lead scientist Tim Bishop of University of Leeds said cancer was often caused by a “complex” interplay between genetic and environmental factors, and these newly identified genes could go some way to explaining their relationship. The findings, according to them, could allow doctors to identify those most at risk from suffering the potentially deadly conditions due to a combination of genetics and their lifestyle, the Daily Telegraph repo...

Mutant Gene Raises Stroke Chances By 7 Times. Every 25th Indian carries a mutant gene that makes him vulnerable to an “almost guaranteed’’ risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, results of a study published on Sunday suggest. Around six crore people around the globe carry the gene of which more than four crore are Indians, researchers said. “We can confidently say that 4% of the Indian population is at risk of a sudden cardiac arrest as they carry this mutant gene,’’ Kumarasamy Thangaraj of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, who led the study, said. The findings of the study were published in the latest edition of the journal ‘Nature Genetics’. India has a burgeoning population of cardiac patients and, according to a previous study, by 2010 the country will constitute 60% of heart patients across the globe. The new findings shed light on the genetic pre-disposition that increases the risk of heart disease in Indians. People having this mutation have 25 letters...

We grow from the experiences that stretch us. Actually, we grow when we learn from the experiences that stretch us. Seems so obvious, yet so few take the time to reflect on our experiences. When you are stunningly disciplined about your learning you create daily 1% wins. (The small incremental improvements that lead to staggering results over time.) Being disciplined about your learning means that you schedule the time to think about your craft. It could be a post-project debrief that you run with your team. It could be quick review of the past month at a staff meeting. Or, it could be several pages in your journal. Leaders do this until they get to extraordinary. And, then they keep doing it. Here are a couple of tips for getting the most out of your experiences: 3 Questions For every experience ask yourself the following questions: 1. What happened? (Describe the events and the people involved.) 2. So, what? (What does this experience mean? Describe why this is important? Did this ex...

Waking up at 6 am, 32-year-old Nischith S goes for a brisk walk. This is followed by a nutritious, high-protein breakfast. His meal comprises good quantities of fruits and vegetables. Before he is back home from work, Nischith works out regularly at the gym. But what shocked him was when doctors told him that his giddiness during the day, hunger pangs and frequent urge to urinate were early signs of a disorder — diabetes mellitus. “I wonder how it hit me. I have an active lifestyle and my body mass index is normal. Is this because my father also had diabetes?” Diabetologists admit there are no clear answers to these questions yet, but they are close to identifying a set of genes that make Indians genetically more predisposed to the disease. “We don’t yet know what percentage of diabetes is due to genetic factors or how much of a role a rapidly changing lifestyle and environment plays. But with growing incidence, we see genes play a vital role,” said Madras Diabetes Rese...

Some of the abdominal fat is located in the fatty tissue just beneath the skin. This subcutaneous fat behaves like the fat elsewhere in the body; it's no friend to health, but it's no special threat either. However, belly or visceral fat, which is located around the internal organs, can damage your health. One way to evaluate body fat is to measure height and weight, then calculate body mass index (BMI). This is now the standard way to diagnose obesity. Another simple method uses the ratio of the waist and hip measurements. But many experts are turning to an even simpler technique: waist circumference. Because it involves one measurement instead of two, it's more accurate and reproducible. And new research suggests that this simple measurement is the best way to tell who is at risk for the serious consequences of obesity. Scientists thought visceral fat was dangerous because it was linked to elevated stress hormones, which raise blood pressure, blood sugar levels and cardia...

Mumbai: Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze knows all about pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed with the “dismal cancer’’ a year ago and, while fighting it “moment to moment’’, he realised that he might not be around for “more than a couple of years’’. Late detection and lack of medical advances make pancreatic cancer one of the most aggressive forms of the disease, say doctors. But on Tuesday, Mumbai gastro-intestinal specialist Dr Amit Maydeo held out a new tool to boost the fight against pancreatic cancer. “For the first time in India, we have a test that can tell us the future of a patient’s cancer. The test will show whether cancer from the pancreas will travel to the liver or reach the lymph nodes. We will also be able to find out whether chemotherapy will work at all for the patient concerned,’’ Dr Maydeo said during a press conference held at Abheraj Baldota Cancer Detection Centre in south Mumbai. The new test is a combination of two applications—the endoscopic ultra...

The Times of India,Mumbai, Wednsday, 14th Jan 2009 New Delhi: Vicks VapoRub—India’s most trusted over-thecounter remedy against cough and cold for over half a century—can cause harm if used on toddlers. American researchers on Tuesday warned parents against using the popular remedy on children under two years of age saying it could cause “serious respiratory distress’’. Researchers from Wake Forest University reported in Chest, the journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, that the mentholbased ointment causes a young child’s airways to swell and fill with mucus, triggering severe breathing problems because of the small size of their nasal airways. Officials from P&G told TOI that the product’s label already advises against its use in children below two years. It also clearly states that the ointment should not be used inside the nostrils. ‘Most parents unaware of risk as they don’t see label’ New Delhi: US researchers have warned of the adverse effects of Vicks ...

Background Surgery has become an integral part of global health care, with an estimated 234 million operations performed yearly. Surgical complications are common and often preventable. We hypothesized that a program to implement a 19-item surgical safety checklist designed to improve team communication and consistency of care would reduce complications and deaths associated with surgery. Methods Between October 2007 and September 2008, eight hospitals in eight cities (Toronto, Canada; New Delhi, India; Amman, Jordan; Auckland, New Zealand; Manila, Philippines; Ifakara, Tanzania; London, England; and Seattle, WA) representing a variety of economic circumstances and diverse populations of patients participated in the World Health Organization's Safe Surgery Saves Lives program. We prospectively collected data on clinical processes and outcomes from 3733 consecutively enrolled patients 16 years of age or older who were undergoing noncardiac surgery. We subsequently collected data on ...

It is always shameful to read about plight of doctors roughed up by an irate mob and hospital property vandalised because of alleged medical negligence. And it is heart-wrenchingly painful to read about how innocent lives suffered as a consequence; as such incidents are inevitably followed by agitation by medicos in a show of solidarity. Who can forget that over 40 children died in an 11-day strike (triggered by an attack on one doctor) at Niloufer Children's Hospital in Andhra Pradesh, last year? Who can forget that Singhania Hospital in Thane (Maharashtra) had to shut down because a political heavyweight allegedly died due to medical negligence in the hospital? Often the agitations by medicos go beyond the hospital, the district and have state-wide repercussion. And such massive agitation can never be resolved with threat of de-registering doctor— a path adopted by most state Governments, unfortunately. Similar to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, the Maharashtra sta...