General | OMNI Hospitals

Typhoid Prevention: Essential Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

omnihospitals — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 06:51:09 +0000

Introduction of Typhoid:

Typhoid is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, in which affected patients experience fever. Other symptoms of typhoid in adults may include diarrhea, weakness, headaches, and other symptoms. Typhoid may occur due to eating contaminated food containing the Salmonella bacteria, causing food poisoning. The bacterial infection may affect many organs in the body, and if left untreated, it may lead to life-threatening complications and even death. Thus, it becomes extremely important to take measures for the prevention and control of typhoid. This can be mainly achieved by maintaining a healthy and sanitary lifestyle.

Understanding Typhoid: Causes and Transmission

Typhoid is primarily characterized by typhoid fever, which occurs due to the consumption of contaminated food containing salmonella bacteria. It is more common in unsanitary places or in areas where hygiene standards for food preparation are not maintained. The bacteria can be transmitted through the stool and urine of infected individuals and can spread if proper handwashing practices after using the bathroom are not followed. Additionally, the bacteria can spread through contact with contaminated surfaces that infected individuals may have previously touched. The bacteria can also be transmitted through contaminated food, such as raw or unpeeled fruits, improperly cooked food, and untreated water. Typhoid can even spread through the consumption of unpasteurized milk, ice made from untreated water, and juices. Since the bacteria cannot be seen with the naked eye, it may not always be possible to determine if the food or surfaces a person comes into contact with have been contaminated. That's why it is important to take precautions when traveling to areas with a high prevalence of typhoid cases.

Vaccination: The Foundation of Typhoid Prevention

One of the best ways to prevent typhoid is to get vaccinated, especially for those traveling abroad or residing in areas with a high prevalence of typhoid. In India, there are two types of vaccines available for typhoid prevention, and both are administered as single shots.

The first type of vaccine remains effective for at least 3 years, but it may not be suitable for children below the age of 2 years.
The second type of vaccine can be administered to infants aged 6 months and older.

Safe Food and Water Practices

Following certain habits and practices related to food and water consumption can help in prevention and control of typhoid:

Washing fruits and vegetables: Before consuming fruits and vegetables, it is important to thoroughly wash them with hot water. It is advisable to cook vegetables and meat thoroughly before consumption. Additionally, it is best to avoid fruits and vegetables that cannot be peeled.
Avoiding untreated or tap water: It is recommended to refrain from using or drinking water directly from the tap or any untreated water sources, as water contamination can be a concern in areas with a high incidence of typhoid fever. Instead, consuming bottled water and canned beverages is a safer option.
Eating hot food: It is advisable to avoid consuming food that has cooled down or has been sitting for an extended period. Opting for hot, freshly served food is generally less risky than consuming cold food.

Hand Hygiene: Proper Handwashing Techniques

Frequent handwashing with soap and treated water is essential to control infections. Hands should be washed before preparing food, touching food, or eating. Carrying a pocket-sized alcohol-based hand sanitizer can also help clean the hands when water may not be available for washing. This practice can prevent the transmission of bacteria from infected surfaces to food, drinks, or areas near the mouth.

Personal Hygiene and Sanitation

It is also important to maintain personal hygiene to avoid typhoid infection and typhoid treatment. This can be achieved by following these practices:

Wash your hands frequently using soap and water or sanitizer.
Take a shower and wash thoroughly after returning home from work or unhygienic areas.
Brush your teeth using treated or bottled water when traveling.
Clean the surfaces of hand-held devices such as phones and tablets regularly.
Avoid biting nails and touching your mouth without washing your hands.
Use napkins whenever handling surfaces in unsanitary or unhygienic places, such as public restrooms.
Always keep your surroundings and the inside of your home clean.
Take out the garbage regularly.

Proper Waste Disposal and Sewage Management

Waste and garbage disposal should be done regularly, and sewers inside and around the house should be covered. The management of human waste can also help prevent typhoid. Municipalities should take steps to ensure the proper collection and disposal of garbage from all localities away from housing, as well as implement proper sewage treatment to avoid contamination of the city's food and water sources, thereby preventing typhoid.

Health Education and Awareness

Typhoid awareness and education should be spread through organizing campaigns and distributing leaflets that warn about the harmful effects of typhoid. These efforts may help households adopt preventive measures and practices to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings and homes, while following proper hygiene practices. This is essential to reduce the number of typhoid cases at a local level.

Travel Precautions: Staying Safe during Trips

Vaccination may not be enough when traveling to other countries or places with a high number of typhoid cases. Following certain precautions is essential to prevent and control typhoid.

Avoid touching the mouth: To prevent infection, it is important to avoid touching the face, mouth, and eyes without washing your hands. Make sure to properly wash your hands with soap and water or use a sanitizer before touching your face.
Eat hot food and drink bottled water: When traveling, it is advisable to consume hot, freshly cooked food and drink bottled water. Carbonated beverages may be safer than non-carbonated drinks.
Have contact information for local healthcare providers: Having the contact information of hospitals and healthcare providers in nearby areas can be helpful. In case of any doubts or emergencies, immediate medical attention can be sought.
Always wash hands: Frequently washing your hands is crucial to avoid infection. It is recommended to use soap and water or sanitizer for effective hand hygiene.

Creating a Health-Conscious Environment

As citizens, it is our responsibility to create a safe and sanitary environment for ourselves and future generations in order to prevent and restrict the spread of typhoid. By following personal hygiene practices, keeping our environment clean, taking precautions to minimize the chances of contracting infection, and practicing safe waste disposal, typhoid can be completely prevented and controlled. Conclusion Typhoid may be widely prevalent in areas with poor sanitation and no access to safe food and drinking water. It may also occur due to the consumption of contaminated food resulting from poor waste management practices. Taking care of personal hygiene and following precautions such as vaccines and hygiene practices can help prevent and control typhoid. Visit OMNI Hospitals if you need further information on Typhoid prevention.

Diet for Dengue

omnihospitals — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 07:01:03 +0000

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash. Recovery takes two to seven days. In a small proportion of cases, the disease develops into a more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, hepatitis, polyserositis, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs. The risk of death among children less than five years old is four times greater than among those over the age of 10. Elderly people are also at higher risk of a poor outcome. A feeling of fatigue may last for weeks in adults. International Anti-Dengue Day is observed every year on 15 June. National Dengue Day is held in India on 16 May to raise awareness in affected countries.

Foods to be eaten

Water - Dengue results in major dehydration, therefore, it’s necessary to hydrate your body, drink at least 3-liters of liquids (water, buttermilk, juices, and coconut water). Diabetics should avoid juices and replace with fruit cut. Oral- rehydration therapy is best to overcome weakness & bring the fever down. Fruits - you can take all kinds of fruits. Orange and its juice, known for its folate content, are also said to improve platelet count. Papaya leaf extract is used for treatment. But a beneficial effect on disease outcome has yet to be studied and papaya leaf extract is not considered a standard of practice therapy. Soft food - because of loss of appetite, the diet should be easy to digest, nutritionally dense foods should be added in the diet like mix veg khichdi or daliya, porridge, dal, rice, suji, bread can be given. To enhance the flavour of food, one can add fresh herbs like coriander & lemon. To build up immunity, it is important to have a healthy, well-balanced diet comprising all-important nutrients & natural foods.

Foods to Avoid in Dengue

Oily/Fried food It’s best to avoid oily food and opt for a lighter diet. Oily food contains a lot of fat, which may lead to high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Spicy Food Spicy Food is a big no for dengue patients. It can cause acid to collect in the stomach and lead to ulcers and damage to the wall. Avoid excessive use of masala and garlic. Caffeinated beverages Since more hydrating and relaxing fluid intake is recommended, caffeinated drinks should be avoided at all costs (cool drinks). These drinks cause rapid heart rate, fatigue, caffeine crashes, and muscle breakdown. Take less or avoid tea or coffee. Avoid Non-vegetarian food Non-vegetarian food is a strict ‘No.' Many of them will suffer from hepatitis or indigestion, so better to avoid non-veg. Kalyani P Senior Dietitian HOD Department of Dietetics OMNI Hospitals, Kukatpally

Stay Safe and Healthy This Monsoon

omnihospitals — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 09:01:25 +0000

Monsoon brings lots of excitement, natural beauty, cool breeze and greenery all around us. It also increases the humidity in temperature which raises the chances of infection. Suffering from viral fever cold and cough is quite common. For that, we have to take precautions in this rainy season to avoid diseases related to respiratory infections, a stomach infection, food and water-borne diseases. You also need to take extra care of your little ones due to frequent changes in temperature. So it is very necessary to maintain proper hygiene, having a healthy diet and take proper precautionary measures to avoid illness.

Here are some important tips to stay healthy in the rainy season by Dr Nagavender Rao M, Senior Consultant Physician (General Medicine) at OMNI Hospitals Kukatpally.

Strengthen your Immunity

Increase your intake of Vitamin C through food supplements and natural form to avoid the cold. Food items like orange, kiwi and garlic are the common cure for cold and it also improves the immunity. Hot drinks such as green tea also improve immunity.

Always carry Umbrella or Raincoat

During rainy days make sure to carry your umbrella or raincoat along with you. We never know when it will start raining. It's better to stay prepared.

Drink Boiled Water

During monsoon, make sure you drink only boiled water. Contaminated water can put you at risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

Hygiene and Cleanliness

There are many viruses and bacteria moving around and waiting to attack those with weak immune. Maintaining hygiene and cleanliness is the most important thing.

Remove Stagnant Water

Stagnant water is the breeding ground of mosquito during monsoon, water gets stored in items like discarded tyres, buckets, containers, coolers. Don't let water stagnate. Cooler tray and water tanks must be regularly checked and should be kept covered. Areas should be kept neat and dry. Disinfectants should be sprayed at intervals.

Avoid Mosquitoes

Apply mosquito repellent to avoid getting bit by mosquitoes. Also use a mosquito net while you sleep and if possible install tight mosquito nets to the doors and windows at your home.

Wash your Hands/Take Bath

If you get drenched in rain, take a bath and dry up yourself immediately. Take a bath in hot water, as it prevents the virus from spreading. Before eating food, make sure to wash your hands using soap or hand wash, through this the microbes will not be able to enter your body.

Avoid outside Food

Avoid the temptation to eat street food during monsoon. Outside food might be contaminated and is fatal for your health. Home cooked and hot food is recommended to prevent cold and other monsoon related diseases.

It's necessary for everyone to understand the importance of staying healthy in monsoon. So, make sure to take proper precautions and enjoy this season.

Dr Nagavender Rao M
Senior Consultant Physician (General Medicine)
OMNI Hospitals Kukatpally

Dizziness and Vertigo

Abdullah Saleem — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 05:46:59 +0000

In general, the most common causes of dizziness are activities everyone experiences, at least as children, namely running around in circles or riding carnival attractions that spin, loop or twist. These movements cause an asymmetry in the signals that stem from the vestibular system--a sensory system situated on each side of the head in the inner ear compartments--and that are processed in the brain.

But dizziness can also occur as an unprovoked and severe episodic or even constant occurrence--an understandable source of distress for the person experiencing it.

Here is an excerpt from a video interview of Dr B Jaipal Reddy, Consultant Physician (General Medicine & Diabetology) at OMNI Hospitals, Kothapet on Dizziness and Vertigo - causes, self-care and treatment.

Q. What is dizziness? Are dizziness and vertigo the same?

A. Dizziness is a term that describes a range of feelings, such as feeling unsteady, woozy, weak or faint. It is something that most people may experience from time to time. It is rarely the sign of a serious problem. There are ways to relieve dizziness.

Vertigo is a type of dizziness felt like a false sensation of movement. People usually feel that they, their environment, or both are spinning. The feeling is similar to that produced by the childhood game of spinning round and round, then suddenly stopping and feeling the surroundings spin. Occasionally, people simply feel pulled to one side. Vertigo is not a diagnosis. It is a description of a sensation.

Q. What causes dizziness?

A. Dizziness is common in adults, but it is rarely the sign of a serious condition. Dizziness has many possible causes, including:

- problems or conditions that affect the ears such as Meniere’s disease and labyrinthitis

- migraine

- stress or anxiety

- low blood sugar

- dehydration or heat exhaustion

- a fall in blood pressure when you stand up

- problems with the blood flow to your brain

- motion or travel sickness

- vertigo

- viruses and other illnesses

- brain and nerve-related disorders

- Some medicines and alcohol can also make you feel dizzy.

Q. What are the symptoms of dizziness?

A. If you are feeling dizzy or experiencing a ‘dizzy spell’, you will usually feel light-headed, unsteady or unbalanced and you may also feel weak. You might also feel like you’re going to faint.

Q. How are dizziness and vertigo diagnosed?

A. In trying to work out the cause of a person’s dizziness, investigations may include:

- medical history, including careful questioning about the nature of the dizziness

- physical examination, which may include observing eye movements, positional testing and a - blood pressure check

- specialised hearing or balance testing

- CT or MRI scans of the inner ear or brain

Q. What are the types of vertigo?

A. The two main types of vertigo are:

- Peripheral vertigo:

It is caused by a problem in areas of the inner ear or the vestibular nerve, which connects the inner ear and the brain. This is the most common type of vertigo.

- Central vertigo:

It occurs when there is a problem in the brain, particularly in an area of the brain called the cerebellum.

Q. How common is it to experience vertigo?

A. Vertigo is considered a common symptom. Nearly 40 per cent of all adults experience vertigo at least once during their lifetime.

Vertigo is typically more prevalent in older people, but it can affect anyone at any age. Women are slightly more likely to experience vertigo symptoms than men.

Q. What does it feel like to have vertigo?

A. Many people describe vertigo as feeling like the room is spinning. It might cause you to feel like you’re tilted, rocking, unbalanced, or unsteady.

Sometimes, these unpleasant sensations are worse if you’re standing up, walking, or moving your head around. Many people describe these feelings as physically exhausting and taxing. Sometimes, the sensations are so severe that you feel nauseous or experience vomiting.

Symptoms can last a few minutes, or they can persist for hours. Some people have constant, chronic episodes of vertigo. Others have vertigo symptoms that go away and then reappear after some time.

Usually, symptoms of vertigo don’t include light-headedness, fainting, or motion sickness.

Q. What is the relation between vertigo and ear problems?

A. Symptoms of vertigo are often the result of an inner ear (vestibular system) problem. Your inner ear plays a big role in helping you feel balanced.

Inside your ear, there’s a tiny organ called the vestibular labyrinth, which includes semicircular canals that contain fluid and hair-like sensors.

Other structures in the ear, called otolith organs, help monitor the movement and position of your head in relation to gravity. Otolith organs contain small crystals that make you responsive to gravity.

Sometimes, these crystals can break free and move into the semicircular canals. This can irritate the hair cells within the canals and make them more sensitive to head position changes. It can allow for false messages about your body’s position to be sent to your brain.

Basically, inner ear disorders cause your brain to obtain signals from the inner ear that don’t match up with what your eyes and sensory nerves (nerves that send messages to your brain) receive.

Q. What is the treatment for dizziness?

A. Dizziness often gets better without treatment. If you need treatment, it will depend on what is causing your dizziness.

Potential treatment options may include:

- canalith positioning procedures – a special set of exercises designed to remove inner ear ‘crystals’ in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)

- migraine prevention medication

- medication to dampen the sensations of dizziness

- anti-nausea medication

- balancing exercises to ‘retrain’ the nervous system (usually prescribed by a vestibular physiotherapist)

- counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy – where anxiety or stress is a factor.

Q. What are some the self-care tips to treat dizziness?

A. If you are feeling dizzy or light-headed you may find the following advice helpful:

- Rest as much as possible.

- Change positions slowly, especially when you’re standing up after lying down. Try to sit for a couple of minutes before standing up.

- Avoid sudden, fast movements of the head, such as looking up or around too quickly.

- Try to avoid going up or downstairs as you may fall and hurt yourself if you become dizzy whilst on the stairs. If you have to use stairs, hold on to the railing if there is one.

- Avoid driving or operating dangerous equipment or machinery while you feel dizzy as this could be dangerous to yourself and others.

- If you feel faint, try lying down flat. This will allow blood to reach your brain quickly.

Dr B Jaipal Reddy

Consultant Physician (General Medicine, Diabetology)

OMNI Hospitals Kothapet

How to stay positive and productive during the lockdown

Abdullah Saleem — Wed, 27 May 2020 06:54:43 +0000

Trying to cope with the outbreak of Coronavirus has had huge impacts on all groups of people worldwide. For students, it is a tricky time to readjust to completing university work from home, watching lectures online and being uncertain about exams. For working professionals, it has been finding an ideal workspace to work from home and drawing the lines between work and home. And for other people of the society including homemakers, children, elderly people, domestic workers etc., it has been a time filled with family bonding, relaxation and also bits of uncertainty about the future.

It’s easy to fall into a rut of unproductivity amidst this uncertainty- which is completely expected and justified- but hopefully, these tips will help to start integrating some productivity back into your lives, even during a lockdown.

1. Make daily task lists

This is our top tip for staying productive for getting lots of work done!

Each evening, you can make a list of things you want to get done during the following day. This means that as soon as you wake up, you already have a direction of what needs to be done before you can relax and have downtime. You may find that if you have loads to do but don’t know where to start, it’s far easier to give in to doing no work at all. Whereas, if you have set of written down goals for the day, you’re far more likely to achieve them.

2. Make sure you still escape the house for a (socially distant) walk each day

Despite being in lockdown, you should leave the house (to the terrace or colony streets) once a day for some form of exercise. Something as simple as a walk for 20 minutes will help you stay sane and calm during this time. It also mentally refreshes you during a work break, so you can come back and get right onto completing that daily task list!

(But remember, stay at least 2m apart from anyone you see on these walks/runs).

3. Set-up an ideal workspace for optimal focus

Move around things in your house to create a better working environment. Making a conscious effort to keep your room clean, the window open and a slick deskspace is key so that it remains a productive environment.

Having a confined deskspace of your own will also help you draw the boundaries between work and home while staying at home.

4. Organise and minimise your inbox

Spend 15 minutes deleting and filing emails. You'll be amazed at how much you can lighten your inbox and mind (much needed in a time when content consumption is at its all-time high) in a small amount of time. For bonus points, do this every day for a full week.

5. Meal planning

The upside to not sending kids to school and not going into an office is that you don't have to pack lunches. On the other hand, with everyone at home, you will have to make three meals a day. Spend 20 minutes one day a week thinking through lunches and dinners. This will make mealtimes feel less stressful and rushed, and you can make sure you have everything you need in advance. With stores having uneven inventory, ensuring you can prepare what you want is important.

6. Use the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a management time strategy that works pretty well when you have time constraints like the ones imposed by the lockdown.

The Pomodoro technique consists of setting up a timer for 30 minutes — you can play with the length — to work on one single activity without any interruption (you can take a small break, as small as 5-7 mins, between each 30 min Pomodoro session). Once you have successfully run 4 ‘Pomodoro’ rounds you are allowed to take a longer break.

7. Write down goals for the rest of 2020

Some of us made a list of goals at the beginning of the year, but if you didn't, now is a good time to make one. It will help you visualise life after the Coronavirus outbreak and help you prioritise in the coming months. If you already have a list, take a look and revise as necessary. If you're making a new list, be sure to include larger home projects you would like to complete, ideas for things you want to do with your kids and professional goals.

8. Take breaks!

After one or two hours of doing the same thing, our brain and body get tired. Take small breaks to help you stay focused and finish things on time. You don’t need to take long breaks, just 5 minutes to stretch your legs, meditate, grab a cup of coffee or tea, or take a walk around the house is enough.

9. Send notes

This might be our last tip but the most effective to stay positive and connect!

Write those thank you cards that you have had on your to-do list for the past few months. If you don't have any thank you notes to send, just send a few written notes or cards to friends. It will make you feel good to keep up some connection offline, and the recipient (all your loved ones and even colleagues) will be thrilled to open some real mail!

We would like to emphasise on this - You can’t be perfect at everything, you probably won’t be as efficient as you were before the lockdown. At least not right away, adapting to a new situation takes time. But you can start trying these or other techniques and see which one works for you. But the most important thing is to tell yourself that you are doing your best, and perfection doesn’t exist, but you can improve yourself every day.

This is the best strategy, the only one that works, to stay productive and positive during this crisis.

Do Not Panic

Abdullah Saleem — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 05:36:15 +0000

The Coronavirus infection which started in China at the beginning of this year then spread worldwide to be labelled as a Pandemic by WHO has created terrible panic in the public — both lay public and more so in the educated. Coronavirus infection is likely to kill thousands of people directly but will kill lakhs of people indirectly because of the panic situation we have created for ourselves. We have had these viral pandemics especially so by the Influenza virus every 5-20 years. These pandemics were there for thousands of years, but people did not know how to identify the virus and monitor the spread in yesteryears. With advances in medicine, we are now able to identify the virus with great ease in the last 40-50 years by a test known as Molecular PCR. We have been having cyclones from millions of years. They used to come unnoticed once or many times a year, killing an unknown number of humans and animals, because there was no monitoring. In this satellite era, cyclones in the last few decades are given exotic names - Fani, Hudhud, Titli or Phethai, they are traced from their origin till they hit the coast. The satellite data can roughly predict where and when the damage will occur. In the same way, we were having viral pandemics once in 5-20 years (e.g. Influenza pandemic - 1918, 1958, 1968, 2009) for thousands of years. These pandemics will continue to come once in 5-20 years. In our lifetime every person would have had 2-3 coronavirus infections, 5-10 influenza infections & umpteen rhinovirus infections. We usually recover from them. If you get influenza or coronavirus infection, you will not get reinfected with the same stereotype. In order for the virus to survive in nature, it makes every attempt to change its genetic structure. If there is a minor change in the genetic structure (drift, people can be reinfected with mild symptoms & very low mortality (a small fraction of 1%). If the virus is lucky to get a major change in genetic structure, symptoms are likely to be more severe & mortality higher (a little more than 1%). In the second situation, nearly all people in the community will be affected over some time because they do not have the antibodies against the new virus. In the news, we hear that for every 100 coronavirus tested positive cases, 2-3 people are dying. But in reality, there will be another 10-100 coronavirus cases for everyone tested positive cases, which are not tested because they are mild. Most of the deaths are from the aged group or having underlying diseases (diabetes, immunodeficiency, hypertension, etc). We should not look at coronavirus infection as a nuclear bomb killing everyone infected with it. Whenever a new (stereotype) influenza or coronavirus infection starts in this world, nearly every human being will be infected sometime or the other. This COVID-19 is a new stereotype, we all have to get infected with it over some time. But mind you, most of us will recover & survive to get a new corona or influenza virus infection after some years again. If everyone is going to get infected with coronavirus infection, why this lockdown? If there is no lockdown, the coronavirus infection will spread like wildfire. The health infrastructure will not be able to cater to the needs of thousands of serious cases at a point in time. With lockdown, the spread will be contained. Who knows in the meanwhile we may find an efficient drug or vaccine. People around the globe went panicky, causing -

Stock markets collapse
Real estate collapse
Projects coming to a standstill
Expansions cancelled
Olympics postponed

We might also come across -

Job losses
Companies going bankrupt
Suicides & depression, etc

So, a humble request is to stop panicking (single most important point), follow lockdown by staying back at home, maintain social distancing, follow cough etiquette, hand hygiene & general hygiene. We strongly believe - Nothing is permanent, even bad days. Disclaimer: The information (including figures and statistics) stated in this article, is secondary information. Although it has been drawn from reliable sources, OMNI Hospitals does not certify the validity of the information and will not take any responsibility for any action of the reader based on this article. You are advised to also carry out independent research to know further.

Everything you need to know about Coronavirus

Abdullah Saleem — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 06:15:21 +0000

Q. What is 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)?

A. 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a respiratory virus that causes illness ranging from the common cold to severe diseases.

Q. What are the symptoms?

Respiratory problems
Fever and cough
Shortness of breath
Runny nose
Headache

Q. How does it spread?

A. It is generally spread from an infected person to others through the air by sneezing or coughing. It also spreads when someone touches an already infected person or object contaminated with infected droplets and touches his or her mouth, nose or eye.

Q. Where and how does the infection start?

A. The ﬁrst known case emerged from Wuhan, China in December 2019. The source of the outbreak has not been identiﬁed but according to some research, it has been found that these viruses have come through snakes and bats. And it has gradually spread to Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, USA, France and Australia. In India, few people who have returned from China, have shown mild symptoms of this virus and have been kept under observation.

Q. Is there any treatment?

There is no speciﬁc vaccine for illness caused by the novel coronavirus, but here's what you can do:

Take hot showers to relieve sore throat and cough
Drink plenty of ﬂuids
Set up humidiﬁer in your home/room
Contact your doctor to start medication if symptoms persist

Tips for prevention.

Wash your hands often with soap and water
Avoid close contact with people who are sick
Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze
Consume thoroughly cooked food
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands

Reduce your risk of Coronavirus infection

Clean hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub
Cover nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with a tissue or exed elbow
Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms
Thoroughly cook meat and eggs
Avoid unprotected contact with live wild or farm animals

Headaches – Causes and Treatment

Abdullah Saleem — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 06:19:50 +0000

Headache is a very common health problem that most people come across in their day to day lives due to severe stress. There are several reasons behind causing a headache on a frequent basis. When people get a headache due to stress, it can be cured by taking some rest for an adequate amount of time. In case, people get a headache quite often even without undergoing stress, it is considered a serious headache. Mostly, people take medicine to get some relief from the headache. If the headache is very frequent, such folks should consult a doctor as it may turn out to become severe and complicated. This guide helps in finding out whether the headache is simple or complicated. Get precise answers to all your doubts and queries through this blog. Here is an excerpt from a video interview with Dr G B Varaprasad, Consultant Neuro Surgeon at Omni Hospitals, Kukatpally, Hyderabad on the topic ‘Headaches.’ Get to know more information about headaches, types of headache, causes and treatment options in this guide.

Q. How common is a headache?

A. Headache is a very common problem that appears quite frequently in any individual’s life. There is no age limit for getting a headache. Any person may come across this problem on a frequent basis due to some stress or some strain.

Q. How clinically significant is a headache?

A. The significance of a headache depends on the suffering of an individual. For instance, you may get a headache when you go around or travel for a long time on a summer day. By taking some rest if the headache comes down then, it is not a significant headache. It means you got a headache due to severe stress and strain. When you get a headache repeatedly then, it is considered a clinically significant headache. In such a case, people shouldn’t ignore it and think about it seriously.

Q. How to differentiate between simple and complicated headache?

A. If any headache comes down even before taking medicine then, it is considered a simple headache. If the stimulus is present or not and you are suffering from the headache for a prolonged time then, it is known as a complicated headache.

Q. What is analgesic surgery?

A. Analgesic is a member of the drugs group that helps in providing some pain relief. One should actually know when people need pain killers to get relief from pain and when we need surgery to cure it permanently. For instance, if the patient is using certain medicine for about 3 to 4 days or 1 week then, the headache will be subsided. Such a patient may be free from the headache for about 3 to 5 months. Some other patients require regular medication. If the patient is suffering from second level headache, the doctors must analyze the nerve which is involved in the headache. Analgesic surgery is an invasive procedure wherein the surgeons inject some drugs with steroids to make the nerve senseless causing the headache. If the patient is suffering from the third level of a headache then, they require a surgery wherein the nerve is decomposed.

Q. What investigations should be done for a headache?

A. Headache can be cured through a multi-disciplinary approach. Some of them include ENT specialists, neurosurgeons, neurologists, general surgeons, general physicians and others. There are several fields in the management of the headache. There is no exclusive specialist who can treat a headache. Headache hasn’t evolved to such a greater extent that it requires some specialty. In general, a person may get a headache due to just sinusitis. Some of them may suffer from regular sinusitis. Some sort of investigation must be done on this kind of people by performing a PNH test. This test helps in understanding the condition of the sinusitis. Another investigation can be done to find out the refractive error. In the people with some eyesight, the refractive error might be changed. It may lead to a headache if it is not corrected immediately. Such patients should consult an ophthalmologist. Besides these two investigations, whenever a patient is suffering from the compressions of the skull associated nerve roots, they need to consult a neurologist. A neurologist usually evaluates the problems related to nerves in the skull. Based on the investigations, the patient should visit a specialist if the headache is complicated and severe.

Q. What is the proper approach to treating a headache?

A. Initially, a general physician should be able to find out the major cause of the patient’s headache. After performing some clinical examination and essential investigations, the physician will come to know the root cause of the headache.

Q. What are the causes of a headache?

A. Mostly, people get a headache due to the following reasons: Stress

Not having breakfast in the morning
Repeated sinus infections
Increased blood pressure

The physician will diagnose the major cause of your headaches and provides treatment accordingly.

Q. What is Migraine?

A. Migraine is a neurological problem that comes again and again in a similar fashion to the patient with a similar stimulus. Some of the symptoms of the migraine include blurred vision, nausea, forehead pain, neck pain and more. Each person suffering from migraines will have different patterns.

Q. What are the common conditions in predicting the headache?

A. Usually, people get a headache above the eyebrows. When people get pain in temporals, frontals, supraorbital, parietals, occipitals and suboccipital then, it is known as a headache. Global headache is another type of headache. When a person suffers from a headache all over the head then, it is called a global headache. One-sided headache is another type of headache. All these conditions fall under the headache.

Q. What are the common symptoms of a tension headache?

A. When you visit a doctor for a headache, the doctor asks about the location. Usually tension headache is caused on the top of the head. There are several symptoms of a tension headache. However, it varies from one person to another person. Based on the stress the person has and tensions, it is possible to decide the pattern of a headache. If your headache is associated with some other problems then, the tension headache triggers in some other regions of the head and face. For instance, a person may get a tension headache at the end of a hectic working day. It indicates that you get this type of headache due to work stress and strain. In such a case, you may not be able to locate the proper location of the headache. It can be on the top of the head, on the forehead, on the back or in any other region. This type of headache will be cured automatically when you sleep.

Q. How to find whether the headache is serious?

A. To be precise, regular tension headaches and some sort of migraines need not be worried. If your headache is associated with vomiting and nausea then, you must take the headache as a serious condition. In some cases, the patient’s headache may come down only after vomiting. It is a classic sign of intracranial hypertension.A person usually suffers from the intracranial hypertension headache when there is increased pressure within the skull. Another serious condition is when your headache is prolonged. This kind of headache may completely change the quality of your life. As a result, you may not be able to perform your day-to-day activities. All your relationships inside and outside the house may not be well preserved. It is another serious condition of the headache and you should consult a doctor immediately.

Q. Why there are failures in providing treatment for a headache?

A. Headache has been considered as a simple and most commonly caused problem for every person. At some or other point of time in life, a person will definitely come across a headache. Mostly, people prefer taking some rest or intake a medicine to get instant relief from the headache. Almost all people have this sort of approach towards a headache. Even, a doctor will provide treatment only upon considering the interest of the patient in some cases. If the patient isn’t serious about the doctor’s prescriptions and revisions then, the doctor may not be able to give proper treatment to the patient. Another reason for the failures behind treating the headache is that the patient isn’t highly dedicated to getting treatment from the doctor. If the headache is complicated, the patient needs to visit the doctor regularly to find out the root cause of the headache. There are numerous factors that make the headache more complicated. Besides the physical factors, there are some of the psychological factors and personality disorders that drive the patient towards the cause of a headache. So, the patient should be highly interested and committed to diagnosing the headache from the doctor.

Q. Can kids get headaches?

A. Yes, any individual can get a headache irrespective of the age.

Q. How severe the headaches are in the kids?

A. There are no certain specifications for the severity of the headaches in kids. The parents shouldn’t neglect even a simple headache in the kid. Proper treatment should be given to the kid irrespective of the headache type without ignoring it. Some of the kids mostly don’t fall sick physically unless and until the problem is severe and complicated. Usually, kids are less attentive to a health problem compared to adults. When a kid is completely attentive towards the headache, you must consider it as a serious problem. Try to get a general body checkup to the kid and take him or her to a pediatrician. A minimal evaluation of a headache is very beneficial to the kids. This way, it is possible to give precise treatment without any delay.

Q. At what age do people most commonly develop migraines?

A. Usually, Migraines are developed in the early adolescent period of an individual. This kind of migraines is familiar. If a person in the family has a migraine, there are higher chances of getting migraines early in the adolescent age is very common.

Q. What are the different types of headaches?

A. There are innumerable types of headaches. For understanding purpose, we say there are two major kinds such as simple headache and complicated headache. Mostly, 90 percent of people suffer from a simple headache. Only 10 percent of people suffer from a serious or complicated headache. Instead of naming the type of headache, it is highly better to find out the root cause of the headache and treat it accordingly.

Q. How to improve the quality of life to get rid of headaches?

A. When your headache has become most common in your life or remains for more than 6 to 10 years then, it will surely change your quality of life. If you are totally habituated and your profession has been adjusted to the headache, it brings the biggest change in your identity and attitude. Some of the people usually suffer from chronic headaches. In that case, such people should get a complete evaluation by the specialist. The patient suffering from a headache needs to evaluate the personality changes he or she undergo due to this problem. If the headache has become a part of your life, it is better to consult a psychiatrist who will assess your pattern of headache. In this condition, the specialist plays a vital role in helping the patient overcome the headache.

Q. What are the common psychological aspects of severe chronic headaches?

A. It all depends on the psychological conditions of the individual. Try to know yourself whether you are happy like the remaining people around you in your world. For instance, consider your friends are happily celebrating a birthday party. But, you may not be able to adjust to that as you can’t take the noise, food or smell at the party. The way you receive things that happen in your life shows your condition. Most of the time, such people take a situation in a negative mode. A psychological evaluation is definitely essential when you come across these kinds of instances in your life. Some of them may behave in that way for being bipolar or depressed. A psychologist will be able to give a proper diagnosis to such patients.

Q. Why do I get a headache when I am hungry?

A. Food is the most essential element to remain active the whole day. Your body will have some alarm system and consider your headache is your alarm system. If you don’t take your food at the right time every day, you may get a headache in that situation. If you get a headache when you are hungry then, it could be because of your improper habits of eating. So, it is better to evaluate and diagnose the root cause of the headache. In some cases, there are some reasons behind causing the headache.

Prediabetic state
Lack of regular exercise
Eating habits at night
Glucose intolerance

Q. Why do people get a headache after waking up from sleep?

A. Sleep shouldn’t be a stimulus for the headache. However, it depends on the lying position of the individual during sleep. If you lie on your back in a single position for more than 5 to 6 hours, it may sometimes lead to a headache. It indicates that some pressures in your head are being disturbed. In such a case, you should definitely consult a doctor.

Q. Are tension headaches dangerous?

A. No, tension headaches aren’t dangerous. There is no person without having tensions in their life. However, it is possible to cure this type of tension headache by reducing the tension in your life. Consider what kind of changes can lessen your tension in life and it is quite easy to manage this kind of headache.

Q. Explain chronic headache?

A. A chronic headache is a type of headache that occurs repeatedly every 15 days or monthly. If you get a headache over a period of year or more on a frequent basis then, it is known as a chronic headache.

Q. How long do headaches last?

A. It is a variable thing. It depends on every individual based on their headache type and situation. Some of them may suffer from headaches for a few minutes, hours or sometimes days as well. By considering the time, the doctors usually diagnose them as chronic headaches, vascular headaches, migraines and cluster headaches.

Q. What are the general precautions we need to take to prevent headaches?

A. The major precaution is to get rid of sinusitis as soon as possible. In case, you get a headache due to refractory error, it is advised to get your spectacles re-checked at regular intervals. If you have some dietary habits like drinking more coffee, tea or chocolates, but started getting a headache after stopping them then, you need to diagnose the reason. One of the most important ways of handling such headaches is to avoid them.

Q. How different are headaches in women?

A. Mostly, women are highly prone to several hormonal changes in the body. Every month, women usually face a lot of hormonal changes. Due to these repeated changes of hormones every month, women are more vulnerable to common headaches. Women suffer from different types of headaches, severe headaches and sudden headaches compared to men most of the time. Dr G B Varaprasad Consultant Neuro Surgeon OMNI Hospital, Kukatpally

Importance of People, Process and Technology (PPT) Framework in EMR Implementation

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 11:31:24 +0000

Based on the experience in last two decades, I came to know that top class technology stack may not be required to achieve the organisational goals to automate their business processes to scale-up the customer satisfaction, customer delight, provider and patient experiences. On the other hand, most of the digital transformation projects fail miserably as they are being delivered as technology originated projects. Whereas, as per my study and experience, technology is the component to map with right people and process to achieve the business goals. Here is an excerpt from Dr. Abdullah Saleem,Group CIO, Omni Hospitals to know more about EMR Implementation. The below picture would illustrate the percentage of people, process and technology methodology which enables the success story of the EMR deployment project. The above diagram shows that 70% of the component responsible to deliver the project is not technology, it is the people and the processes which have more role to play for any IT project in health informatics domain to meet the project deadline with quality delivery. Therefore, technology was never a challenge. However, as standalone methodology, people, process and technology are necessary for the organisational transformation to achieve organisational efficiency. You need to balance the three and maintain good relationships among them. Having said that, the organisation should always emphasise to have the right people on board and put the right processes for all the work-flows and then map it with the technology to achieve the project goal toward business optimisation which ultimately in force to achieve the customer satisfaction and customer delights. Technology is expensive and does not always offer a high return on investment, so it’s important to ensure it runs smoothly. Make sure that end users know how to use the technology you acquired - if they don’t or if the technology doesn’t integrate well with processes by the right sets of people, organisation won’t create value from its original investment in the project. In healthcare domain, especially EMR deployment project fail many times as these projects have been treated as technology project instead of people and process driven and as a result the adoption of the application never scaled-up in the Indian geographic as it was supposed to be. Finally, the end user (patient) and provider (hospital) could have never maintained a longitudinal medical record of individual patient. The EMR deployment is clinician driven project whereby the people and process play a vital role to define the workflow with ease of use and then transform it to the simple technology to ensure the utmost users are on the board to adopt the changes. No matter how sophisticated technology you have introduced to EMR based digital transformation (health informatics) project, if the process are not put in order by the right sets of people then it will be a nightmare to scale-up the adoption of the EMR across the organisation as partial implementation of EMR will not help either to the provider or patient to ensure the continuity of care with quality at the hospital. To execute such project, there are too many technology options to choose; from both license and open source resources but getting the people with right experience who can define the complex to simple processes which could be mapped with the technology to get the better ROI and organisational goals is always a challenge to the industry/ product based companies. However, deployment of EMR at a hospital is a big change management initiative which refers to the process by which the hospital undertakes variations in their business strategies, and process in order to become more patient centric. For any healthcare provider / hospital, change management is critical whereby people, process and technology are married together to achieve better adoption rate from the end users to achieve the following:

One-point access to personal health record anywhere, anytime
Better communication between patients and care providers
Avoid replication of records
Reduce medical errors
Cost reduction for patients
Better patient care

PEOPLE: Key element of the project

It addresses to bring knowledge, skills, and process abilities It is all about staff training, awareness, and competent processes. EMR’s deployment depends on the people involved with clinical and non- clinical operation, beginning with the senior leadership, and requires getting them on board. If the planned change isn’t communicated effectively, correctly or within the right amount of time, disconnect can occur, hindering even the most carefully planned improvements towards the application adoption. The organisation must assist employees to adjust their mindsets to achieve the transformation.

PROCESS: Success of the project

It addresses the business needs, and the workforce and competencies required to meet these. It is all about management systems, the best practices and governance framework. It is essential to ensure that right processes and SOPs are in place to support the organisational or digital transformation. For transformation activities to succeed, process is key. Make sure that all the end users are thorough with the business processes and goals. Putting a proper process in place is critical to ensure the team is prepared for the change taking place.

TECHNOLOGY:

Enabler for decision-making

It addresses tools and techniques used to communicate and to make the work efficient. Technology is the final piece of the puzzle that can bring everything together and help keep everything aligned. The right transformation tools can help organisation to maintain compliance in a rapidly changing global landscape, as well. After mapping the process /transformation in technology, it makes more ease of use to run through the process which gives the expected outcome efficiently & logically and as a result, it satisfies the patient and provider both. As a concept, people, process, and technology refers to the methodology in which the balance of people, process and technology drives action: People perform a specific type of work for the organisation using processes (and often, technology) to streamline and improve these processes. This methodology can help to achieve harmony within an organisation and is most often used when deciding whether to purchase or implement new technologies. As it has been agreed by the product owners that EMR implementation is clinician lead project therefore, clinical users always look forward to having the ease of use based system in place and it could not be achieved if right people could have designed the work-flow with simplicity and map it to the technology components. As a result, users would have a feeling that application which they are using is much easier, faster than paper and no training needed which automatically enables all the clinical users to adopt the digital transformation without making major efforts by the organisation in the terms of change management because the clinical users start getting the clinical dashboard on their finger tips for taking the clinical decision at the point of care and also refer these data for their thesis and research papers.

Healthcare Technology 2025

Abdullah Saleem — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 11:27:51 +0000

Healthcare technology in India and APAC, as in worldwide, is reaching an inflection point where it is poised to disrupt an industry that has stubbornly avoided getting disrupted. As old industries like retailing, books, music and television have been disrupted, the healthcare industry is facing its moment where technology driven disruption is at its doors. Surprisingly, this time the disruption might not start in North America! It might happen right here in Mumbai and Hyderabad! Here is an excerpt from Aloke Mullick,Group CEO, Omni Hospitals to know more about the medical innovations and technologies disrupting the healthcare industry.

DISRUPTION

Many industries that were disrupted by technology continued to think that they could not be disrupted. Even technology products like the early smartphone (BlackBerry etc) thought they were on top of their game and failed to see trends already visible in their industries (like touch interface and apps) that were ultimately going to disrupt them. Most disruptions do not happen overnight; they show enough presence and trends that are not picked up by the incumbents. Countries like India are ripe candidates for disruption due to three main reasons: 1) An educated and technology aware critical population mass. 2) Economic imperative to shortcut and leapfrog the incremental growth process and 3) A reasonably well developed non risk averse entrepreneurial ecosystem. I present two proofs of the above: 1) Bharati AirTel investing $ 1 billion on a mobile billing and CRM system, when the industry was still looking at cordless phone options and 2) The explosion in app delivered food retail. Healthcare has defied disruption forces for the simple reason that the key stakeholders (the doctors) are uniquely averse to change. As part of their professional training they are taught to take all new things with a huge pinch of salt, as it might hurt their patients. The status quo is the norm for them. They’re following age old Aristotlean wisdom that change in the way you treat patients, unless well proven through collaborative studies that last SEVERAL DECADES, can hurt the patients. That’s the reason today you can book a lovely mattress on an app and get it delivered at home, whereas to see a physician you need to stand in a physical queue to pay the consultation charges! Yet, three things are happening that will very soon force the doctors’ hands into changing the way healthcare is delivered: 1. The economic imperative – as healthcare becomes private it becomes loss averse and keeps looking for innovative ways to reduce costs through whatever means. A big cost on society is hospital infections and treatment side effects. Are we willing to wait for decades before the next incremental gains come or we use big data analytics to get actionable pointers in a few years? 2. The increasing movement towards fixed price payments by all payers, including those paying out of pocket. This ensures that the costs mentioned earlier are all borne by the hospitals and 3) Patients are increasingly getting frustrated by the paper-based eco system of hospitals. They struggle to get their own data, struggle to stand in a queue, or talk over phones to book appointments, struggle to get prescriptions dispensed in a pharmacy queue etc. The list is endless and typically VERY IRRITATING for a populace which has got used to click based consumption of services. We will now look at a few technology trends, some of which are decades old and available, which are very likely to disrupt the healthcare delivery space over the coming decade in India and Asia.

EMR/EHR AND BIG DATA

Without getting into the semantics of how they are different (I will call both as EMRs), this is an industry whose time has come. Earlier it was great technology which was however VERY EXPENSIVE. A million dollar (minimum) sticker price was a strict no-no for hospitals struggling to nudge their EBITDA into two digits. Besides, the desktop based interfaces were depriving the clinician from valuable eye contact time with his patients. Luckily Indian tech entrepreneurs have a fix now: a mobile based EMR, as powerful as the desktop based one, infinitely more usable by the doctors (its another app among the 100s that he/she already has on her phone) AND available on a very reasonable subscription fee. These EMRs will also have virtual ICU and patient portal functions enabling the doctor to view critical patient data remotely (and give treatment orders) and the patient to book his visit remotely and even conduct a doctor’s consultation, remotely via video conference and pay for ordered lab (with home sample collection) and ordered medications (with home delivery). Suddenly, the million dollar costs have evaporated and the EMR has become affordable, usable and converting the hospital/doctor interface closer to Amazon’s retailing experience. Through the patient portal, the patient carries on his smartphone his ICD coded clinical problem list, diagnostic results, images, medication lists, allergies and past discharge summaries. His whole healthcare experience gets simplified and the smartphone becomes the centre of his healthcare experience, like in retail. I see a huge spurt in adoption even by mid-tier hospitals and a spurt in providers of such technology. As adoption increases, over a few years Indian patient algorithms will be able to guide us into newer treatment paradigms and shorten the treatment evolution cycle from few decades to few years. I rest my case. This will begin re-imagining the chronic diseases management industry as soon as some business savvy investor releases hardware in India at Indian price points with huge volumes.