Category: Wellness

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Wellness

Looking for a good doctor? Let this site help you

Run by three Mumbaikars, the website treatum.com helps doctors and patients connect instantly without either of them wasting any time.
by The Editors |editor@themetrognome.in

A good business model is seldom born out of complicated Powerpoint presentations or lengthy sales talks. It is often born out of a simple concept, which you can then refine into a workable enterprise.

Three Mumbai men and friends – Amol Sonavane, Ayub Siddiqui and Ravi Shet – met at a café and were merely discussing different areas in healthcare and IT, when they stumbled upon the perfect solution to an age-old conundrum: how can a person find the right doctor without going to several others or asking around for help? Out of this question came www.treatum.com, the site that the three founded in March 2014 and which is a platform for patients and doctors to find each other with minimum fuss and without wasting time. “If one wants a doctor in a certain area, for example, they can call up a phone-based service like Justdial or go on the Internet and launch a general search. The problem with this is, firstly, that you will receive the names of doctors in a wide geographical area. Secondly, the results are often what not you require – if you have a skin ailment, you can’t go to just any skin doctor. Getting the right doctor for your problem is difficult,” explains Ravi ShetRavi (in pic on left), speaking to The Metrognome.

How does it work?

All a user has to do is log on to the site and ask a question pertaining to his or her problem. “The site offers answers if you want to ask an expert. We also connect you to the right doctor after first understanding what you are looking to address. This saves the patient’s valuable time,” Ravi explains. He adds that many people are unsure of which kind of doctor they need, so they simply describe their problem to the site and get feedback. “At our end, we have over 70 doctors listed with us, in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune, so we find out the geographical location of the patient, details of his or her ailment, and then coordinate with the doctor. We don’t interfere in the patient-doctor interaction at all, nor does our business work on the principle of taking a commission from the doctor for every patient that comes through us,” he says.

He also explains that the patient’s query is also looked into to separate pranksters from genuine patients. “We also work only with doctors who have a good track record. Some background checks are also conducted on the doctors’ credentials, because we don’t want to have fraudulent doctors on our roster,” he says.

The site does not charge patients for asking information or eventually interacting with a doctor and taking treatment. “The site is completely free to use for patients, while we charge a small premium for doctors registering with us,” Ravi says.

Why doctors should tie up with the site

On the other end of the spectrum for this site are the medical professionals who register with them for a yearly fee. “Many doctors today don’t have their own website and may be listed with a phone search company. This means that their names will often be lost in the overall lists that these search companies have. Instead of this, we offer doctors a microsite that lists all their information, past successes, any photos or videos, all contact information, etc. We develop the content for the microsite ourselves and maintain the backend processes, too,” Ravi explains.

He claims that doctors and hospitals can register themselves with the site in just 60 seconds. “All the doctor has to do is click on the ‘Are you a Doctor?’ section to get started,” he explains. Depending on the package the doctor pays for, he or she may get a range of services from the site.

How patients can benefit further

Apart from the ease of finding a reliable doctor and getting an appointment with the site’s help, patients can also call up their helpline and speak to the staff to get accurate information. “We also offer patients attractive discounts on some services under the ‘Save your money on Treatments’ section where they can get the best deals on skin, hair, eye, and other treatments, and we don’t charge for these deals,” Ravi says.

He says the site has helped several patients already, and not just in Mumbai. “We had a query from Finland recently, and the patient received excellent treatment from our doctor in Mumbai. There have been queries from other places, too. Ultimately, our site runs on the basis of quick help and trust. We are not here to make money out of patients who are looking for urgent help,” he says, adding that patients appreciate the process of appointments being made for them and quick service.

(Featured image courtesy www.newindianexpress.com)

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Wellness

Of prenatal fitness and other matters

Childbirth educator Sonali Shivlani’s new book is a handy guide for expectant mothers wanting guidance before, during and after birth.
by Salil Jayakar | @Salilicious on Twitter

sonali shivlaniMumbai-based Sonali Shivlani (in pic on left) is a childbirth and lactation educator with a certification from Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA), USA. She began practicing as a child birth trainer in May 2004 with BEAMS, a specialty hospital for women. In 2005, she set up her own practice and introduced her prenatal program which covers all aspects of pregnancy, birth and the post-partum period for couples. Since inception, Sonali’s Pregnancy Program has helped more than 10,000 pregnant couples prepare not only for the pregnancy and the birth of their child but also for the months thereafter.

Sonali is the author of Prenatal Fitness 360°: The Way to a Healthy Pregnancy, which draws from her rich experience as a childbirth educator and combines it with her passion for fitness. “Though this is my second book, this is the one I have worked on the longest – 18 months. It is twice the pregnancy gestation period so you can say it is twice the satisfaction,” she says.

In an e-mail interview with Salil Jayakar, Sonali talks about her new book and why it is a must-read for pregnant couples…

Why a book on prenatal fitness?
Fitness is close to my heart and I think I have been exercising for as long as I can remember. When I became the Executive Director for CAPPA India in 2009, it did not have any training program for fitness during pregnancy. I felt strongly that this was an important and crucial area since a fit mom will deliver a fit baby. We had long discussions and they (CAPPA) gave me the green signal to actually pen the fitness educator program. The program was launched worldwide in 2012 and as the Director of the program, I train internationally once a year and spread this knowledge to trainers all over the world. Somewhere along this journey came the thought of writing this book.

How easy or difficult was it to put this book together?
There are many books in the market that talk about various pregnancy-related topics but I could not find any which had it all. So I said to myself: Why not write what I consider the perfect book? I have written the book in simple, easy to understand language making sure that all technicalities are taken care of. I have also included daily meal plans and exercise routines to follow so that moms can follow a variety every day.

The toughest was getting the illustrations right. The book has over 150 illustrations and these are postures so they have to be absolutely correct. Also, placing the images during type setting took days as they would keep getting mixed up. Since I was the only technical person on board, I had to actually go through the book innumerable times to ensure that each exercise was paired with the correct illustration.

What to put in was easy. I would close my eyes and think about what I wanted as a pregnant mom and pen it down. A part of me wanted to write more about the ups and downs of pregnancy, changes in the woman, role of the partner on the emotional front, etc but I had to stop somewhere.

Is prenatal fitness a real issue with pregnant mothers? Aren’t they more worried about other stuff?
A pregnant woman would worry about delivering a healthy baby, a safe and easy birth, the right weight gain, losing weight post birth, etc. All these aspects are related to fitness. Research shows Expectant motherthat if a mom is exercising during pregnancy the baby is also technically exercising and hence, is fitter. Exercise is a mood elevator and hence pregnant women experience less mood swings. It also makes you energetic, improves sleep, prepares the body for a smoother birth experience and of course, helps in the right weight gain and loss. The right nutrition will help as well.

Does this book dispel any myths about prenatal fitness? Please elaborate on some common ones.
This is touched on briefly. Some of the common myths that women have is that it is not safe to exercise, weight lifting cannot be done during pregnancy, eating for two means eating double, any amount of weight gain is normal during pregnancy, and so on.

What can readers expect from your book? Are men expected to participate, too?
There is a section on couples’ exercise. I have actually given women 10-minutes-per-day routines which means there is no excuse to not exercise. Also the book has been reviewed by three prominent obstetricians and they have each written a note as a prelude to the book.

What are your top 3 tips on prenatal fitness?
Be happy, listen to your body and eat healthy.

Sonali signs off with these words: “I want fitness during pregnancy to be accessible to each and every pregnant mom and with this book I hope to bring prenatal fitness to their homes.”

Prenatal Fitness 360°: The Way to a Healthy Pregnancy is available on Amazon, Amazon Kindle and Flipkart. For more information contact Sonali on +91 98212 90090 or +91 22 65068534 or write to sshivlani@gmail.com.

(Pictures courtesy Sonali Shivlani and www.parentingnation.in)

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Wellness

Heart attack risk higher in winter?

Cardiologist Dr TS Kler discusses how the winter can have an adverse effect on your heart, even cause heart attacks.

DR T S KLERAs the temperature stays on the lower side of the mercury, cardiologists across India are advising heart patients to be watchful.

Extreme cold weather not just brings flu and asthma attacks in its wake, it also increases the risk of heart attacks. In fact, evidence suggests that the number of patients reporting heart attacks increases during the winter months. However, awareness regarding these dangers remains abysmally low among people, including among heart patients.

A number of factors cause heart attacks to spike in the winter season:

The most significant is the risk of hypothermia or a sudden loss of body temperature which can put the body in a state of shock. The body suddenly loses its capacity to produce warmth on being exposed to chilly conditions. This may also happen when a person is not adequately protected or covered. This can be extremely dangerous for people living with heart disease. In fact, a lot of people who suffer hypothermia die of heart failure. People with coronary heart disease also often suffer angina or chest pain when exposed to cold weather. The answer is in adopting complete warm protection from head to toe, and dressing up in layers to prevent heat from escaping.

Winters are more stressful to the heart as compared to summers. When the weather is too cold, the heart has to work harder by pumping more warm blood to the peripheral areas of the body. Blood pressure is also seen to rise in winters, putting people at greater risk of heart attacks.

The arteries and veins are believed to tighten or constrict when the weather is extremely cold. This may restrict the supply of oxygen to the heart, putting it under risk.

Another factor is shortage of vitamin D. Often in winters, the Sun refuses to bestow its heat for days resulting in dark, gloomy days. A crucial impact of this sun denial may be shortage of vitamin D in the body, which is not a good thing for the heart.

Cholesterol levels often fluctuate with change in season, which may leave people with borderline high cholesterol with greater cardiovascular risk during the winter months.

How to stay safe

It may sound like common sense but preventing exposure to cold is the main way to stay safe in winters. Often we do not take the cold weather seriously, dressing casually and not bothering about the impact of cold on our bodies. For healthy people, this may just bring a few days of coughing and sneezing or fever at the most. However, in people with heart ailments, this can be catastrophic. So, wear enough clothes, in layers to prevent heat from escaping. Cover yourself, head, neck and feet included, with warm clothes to prevent exposure. Never step out unprotected. Always wear a head scarf to keep the head and ears insulated. Make sure you wear warm socks and gloves to minimise chances of the body losing heat, and hypothermia.

Avoid exhausting yourself. The heart which is already under stress coping with the drop in temperatures might not be able to take another bout of high stress activity. Take rest between work.

Importantly, never take chest pain lying down. Any sign of discomfort should prompt you to immediately rush to a doctor. This can sometimes be life saving.

The writer is Executive Director (Cardiac Sciences), Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi.

(Pictures courtesy www.extremehealthradio.com)

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Wellness

Fortis starts New Year with good health

Fortis Hospital, Mulund organises its very first ‘Health Mela 2015’, aims to keep people healthy all through the New Year.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Healthy people make a healthy nation. However, recent changes in lifestyle, unconventional influences, ecological imbalances, and improper food habits are contributing to the creation of an unhealthy community. In view of the soaring health concerns affecting children and older people, Fortis Hospital, Mulund organised the ‘Health Mela 2015’, aimed at providing information on all that one needs to maintain good health.

The fair commenced yesterday, January 9, 2015.

School girl drawing healthy diet at Fortis Hospital Health Mela 2015.Emphasising good food habits and healthy living, ‘Health-Mela 2015’ was an amalgamation of numerous activities – ranging from free health screenings, drawing competition for children, healthy-baby contest for toddlers, and a series of lectures imparting knowledge about healthy living and how to keep the ailments at bay. The Health Mela also offered customised health check-up packages, as a first step towards wellness. People were offered tests for blood pressure, total cholesterol, blood glucose, ophthalmic, heart rate and many more. Stalls were set-up in the Hospital premises, offering vital information about the person’s health and wellbeing.

Talking about the objective behind the initiative, Dr S Narayani, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital Mulund, said, “The ongoing health fair will help people get the New Year off to a healthy start. The ‘Health Mela’ is an attempt to educate the community about how important it is to have preventive healthcare.” She added that the event also targeted the needs of children by providing valuable information on nutrition and exercise. “Besides being educative and informative, the event was also a fun-and-frolic environment for the children. Nearly 200 children from various age-groups participated in drawing competitions organised by the Hospital. Similarly, nearly 65 toddlers were part of the healthy baby contest,” said Rinku Mavani, Head of Marketing and Sales at the hospital.

(Pictures courtesy Fortis Hospital, Mulund)

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Wellness

Understanding the FX Syndrome

Have you heard about the FX Syndrome? It is caused by a genetic mutation and it affects several young boys.
by Ritika Bhandari Parekh

Every new born baby’s face is searched diligently for signs of its mother or father’s features. It could have its mother’s eyes or its father’s nose. But apart from these obvious physical attributes, how can one know if the genes responsible for that baby are normal or have gone haywire?

One major impact of this can be the genetic condition known as the Fragile X syndrome (FXS). FXS is caused by a gene mutation in the FMR1 gene, at the time of conception. The FMR1 gene is important for producing proteins that help in our brain’s development.

As the FMR1 gene is found in the X chromosome, it usually affects young boys and results in mental impairment, learning and communication disabilities. FXS is also a major cause of autism in children. Luckily in India, there is an organisation called the FX Society which helps to support families fighting the FXS.

Ami and Shalini41-year old Shalini N Kedia, chairperson of the Indian FX Society, started the organisation 11 years ago because of a personal experience. She says, “I realised that there is very little information about FX in our country. I wanted to do something about this.” Despite no medical background, she decided to accomplish three tasks for society.

“Our main role is to support the families which are already diagnosed with FXS. We give them accurate information and explain the dos and don’ts when dealing with the child. Since it is a genetic disorder, not everyone is acquainted with the science,” she explains.

“One of our major accomplishments is that we are very well networked all over the country today. So if your child tests positive, they are referred to us. And with our team of gynaecologists and paediatricians, we explain how something goes missing in the brain,” she adds.

Accompanying Shalini in her mission is 37-year old Ami Mehta Kothari, secretary of the FX Society. A trained multi-sensory educator, Ami has 10 years of experience in teaching special needs children. Ami says, “Our society also educates professionals in the country, because many children are not diagnosed because of ignorance. So we try to have seminars and workshops in educating people. Our third major task is to give women information so that they can take an informed decision when they opt for another child.”

Since there is no particular cure for FXS, the problems can be improved with various treatments. These treatments consist of special education, speech and language therapy, as also occupational and physical therapy.

The Fragile X Society is present all over the world, with the maximum research being done in the US. They have created reading and writing programmes for special needs children. “We have all the international level programmes, facilities and therapies available in the country. Last year, we facilitated the opening of Ummeed, a child development centre at Lower Parel. Thus, we can claim that any child who is diagnosed will get the best facility and treatment,” says Shalini.

But the crux of the matter is creating awareness. “The rate at which the syndrome is growing, we are definitely looking forward to take professional help of a PR firm in helping us reach more people,” Ami adds.

So if you know any child in your neighbourhood who has attention problems or is undergoing delayed development, help them reach out to the FX Society in India. Alternatively if your parent or grandparent is having balance or tremor-related problems, ask your doctor about Fragile X testing.

For more details, log on to http://www.fragilex.in or call 022 666 42151/+91-98201 99092.

(Featured image courtesy www.babycenter.in. Image is used for representational purpose only)

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Wellness

Mumbai youth organise four-day free medical camp

From cardiac to dental checkups, every testing is offered free for poor, BPL families, in partnership with Seven Hills Hospital.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai is teeming with Good Samaritans. One of these is Dr Shezanali Hemani, a south Mumbai-based young doctor, who, with a group of other youth, is organising and hosting a free four-day medical camp for Mumbaikars starting today, October 27, 2014. The camp is open to holders of orange or yellow ration cards only.

Shezanali HemaniSpeaking to The Metrognome, Dr Hemani (in pic on left) said, “I and a group of youth recently came up with the idea of revolutionising the health of the common people. Good health usually starts from early diagnosis, which most people don’t undergo. This means we miss the opportunity to nip a lot of diseases in the bud, and this neglect can sometimes even result in long illness or death. By diagnosing a disease early, we can go a long way in preventing and treating it.” He adds that people coming for consultation only need to get their current health reports along. “Plus, patients who are suffering a blockage or require a surgery or therapies like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, kidney transplant, hernia, prostrate or kidney stone will be treated for free,” Dr Hemani says.

Organised by the Khidmat-e-Azadar and Educare Foundation in association with Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri, the camp will  be a four-day affair at four different locations in Mumbai. The camp will provide a host of testing for blood pressure, blood sugar, ECG, 2D ECO, angiography, bypass, angioplasty, blood grouping, dental check-up and consultation for dental and cardiac problems. See chart below for schedule of camps:

Day/Date                    Venue                                                                                        Timing

27 October                      Malwani. Az Zehra Charitable Clinic, Chawl
No:14, Near Shankar Mandir, M.H.B. Colony,
(Monday)                    Gate no: 7, Gaikwad Nagar, Malad (W), Mumbai         10 am – 4 pm.

28 October                      Kurla. Shia Jama Masjid,
(Tuesday)                    Hallo pull, Kurla (W), Mumbai                                          10 am – 4 pm

29 October                      Mumbra. Roshni Apartment, Thakur Para,
(Wednesday)               Near Mumbra Police Station, Mumbai                            10 am – 4 pm

30 October                      Govandi Bada Imambada, Lotus Colony,
(Thursday)                   Shivaji Nagar Junction, Govandi, Mumbai                   10 am – 4 pm

Know someone who can avail of these camps? Call Dr Shezanali Hemani on +91-8956708222 or Sohel Ajani on +91-9029751888 for details.

(Pictures courtesy Dr Shezanali Hemani)

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