Health Watch

Glaucoma, sneak thief of sight

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

The World Glaucoma Day fell on March 12. Glaucoma is a disease that cause progressive damage of the optic nerve at the point where it leaves the eye to carry visual information to the brain.

If left untreated, most types of glaucoma progress (without neither warning or obvious symptoms to the patient) towards gradually worsening visual damage and may lead to blindness. Once incurred, visual damage is mostly irreversible and this has lead to glaucoma being described as the `silent blinding disease’ or the `sneak thief of sight’.

There is no cure for glaucoma as yet and vision loss is irreversible. However medication or surgery (traditional or laser) can halt or slow down any further vision loss. Therefore early detection is essential to limiting visual impairment and preventing the progression towards severe visual handicap or blindness.

Your doctor can detect glaucoma in its early stages and advice you on the best course of action.

Therefore when you go for routine examination for spectacles, better get your eye pressure checked.

Due to the silent progression of the disease at least in its early stages up to 50 percent of affected persons in the developed countries are not even aware of having glaucoma.

This number may rise to 90 percent in underdeveloped parts of the world.

Intraocular pressure is considered as a risk factor for glaucoma, together with other factors such as racial ancestry, family history, high myopia and age.

Healthy food, healthy life

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

‘A large number of hotel workers from the Colombo city suffer from Hepatitis and Tuberculosis (TB)!’ This is not a piece of gossip, a part of a tele drama or a movie. This is a news appeared in all leading local newspapers last week. May be now you are shivering and feel sick! Better get yourself checked for hepatitis and TB if you have regular meals from Colombo’s food outlets.

This is the reality of most of the ‘eating houses’ in Colombo. They serve nice tasty food in front but their kitchen is a ‘garbage house’.

On top of that workers are also suffering from infectious diseases. You think that your food is safe because it appears nice and tastes good, but it is not.

The best option is to bring your food from home. Then you can avoid unnecessary trouble. The other benefit is you can cook what you want and always eat healthy food. You can avoid unhealthy cooking ingredients that make food tasty. If you really need to be healthy, you can cook some food for you and bring it with you when you come to work or come to Colombo for any other purpose. This is a must for school children who stay after school.

But if you cannot bring your food from home you can go for hot and steamy food. It will save you for a certain extent. It is good if you can heat your take away food using a microwave before eat it. Another option is asking one of your friends to bring food for you and pay him/her for your lunch parcel.

According to Health Ministry statistics, it is Colombo city where the highest number of TB patients are detected all the time. TB spreads mainly from the Colombo city. If you work or live in the Colombo city and often deal with a large number of people or visiting congested public places, you should be aware of TB and its symptoms.

If your ordinary cough last for a long time and you have other symptoms of TB, you should get yourself checked from a State or private hospital. It will save your health and the health of many others around you especially your loved ones’. Now DOT Centres are available in private hospitals too.

Hepatitis and TB are not the only diseases that spread by consuming unhygienic food. There are other diseases caused by Salmonella, Shigella etc. Hepatitis A is distinguished from other viral causes by its prolonged (2–6 week) incubation period and its ability to spread beyond the stomach and intestines, into the liver. It often induces jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, and rarely leads to chronic liver dysfunction.

The virus has been found to cause the infection due to the consumption of fresh-cut produce which has fecal contamination. Contaminated food and water spread Hepatitis E, another type of Hepatitis.

Sri Lanka’s first Vitrification test tube

With over 300 pregnancies and 150 successful deliveries, the highest in Sri Lanka - to its credit, the Lanka Hospitals Fertility Centre is unquestionably on par with the best IVF centres the world over. Operational for just over 28 months, the fertility centre recently announced yet another achievement for the hospital as well as for Sri Lanka itself – the birth of the first Vitrification test tube baby.

Speaking on the occasion of the announcement, Lakith Peiris, CEO of Lanka Hospitals said “we are very happy to be able to offer this service to families that are unable to conceive through conventional methods and normal medical procedure. The advancements in technology and the fertility clinics commitment to ensuring that our slogan ‘where life begins’, ensures that each of our patients receive our fullest attention to make their hopes for a family a reality”.

The latest development in Vitro Fertilization – Vitrification is the scientific process that involves converting a substance into a glass like solid form through the quick removal of heat. Applying this procedure to freeze embryos, the hospital is able to prevent damage to the embryos and ensures that storage is possible for up to ten years – giving the patient an opportunity to repeat the procedure at a fraction of the cost and without going through the entire process from the start.

With a 42 percent success rate, the ability to have multiple embryos in stored safely makes it possible for patients who do not conceive immediately to try again, or to utilize those embryos to repeat the process for a second baby.

Speaking on the successful delivery of Sri Lanka’s first Vitrification IVF baby Dr Madara Ralapanawe, clinical embryologist said “because our clinic operates with technology that is on par with the best fertility centres in the world and since our staff consist of best gynecologists and other staff in Sri Lanka – the Lanka Hospitals fertility centre aims to deliver results to each and every one of our patients.

We plans to further increase our success rate to over 50 percent, by blastocyst culture (day five embryo transfer) the successful delivery of our first Vitrification test tube baby is indeed a cause for celebration”.

Japanese touch healing therapy

Edward ARAMBEWALA

Dr Shashikant Seth from Bombay, India demonstrated the effectiveness of the Japanese Touch Healing therapy in removing stress in life recently.

He did this at a meeting of the YMCA women’s Auxiliary held at the YMCA Auditorium in Colombo, where he was invited to speak on this healing therapy. The women’s Auxiliary President thanked the Daily News health page ‘Healthwatch’ for writing about the visit of this doctor to Sri Lanka and about this Japanese stress relieving therapy he was advocating, in the medical page on February 28.

Dr Seth in his talk said that this Japanese Touch healing system makes use of using powers in nature in strengthening the immunity of two persons through the touch healing system, which he was going to demonstrate on a few Association members who were having stress in life inflicted neck and shoulder pains, making the movement of neck and arms painful and difficult.

These members who were trusted in the touch healing therapy for less than 10 minutes were able to move their arms and neck easily. Dr Seth got the entire group present at the talk to do some simple exercises, which he said if continued morning and night daily in the morning and before going to bed at night would relieve most of the aches and pains in the body, which most of us get as we advance in years in life.

He also recommended a vegetarian diet for the elders.

Drugs for heartbeat problem

Treating stroke survivors for a heartbeat problem called atrial fibrillation (AF) might prevent many patients from going on to develop dementia, UK experts believe.

Research into nearly 50,000 patients’ records found that AF after a stroke more than doubles the risk of dementia.

Doctors say we should now investigate whether more vigorous treatment with drugs to control AF might delay or even prevent dementia.

The work appears in Neurology journal.

“Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disturbance and affects up to 500,000 people in the UK. Although not usually life-threatening in itself, it does increase the risk of stroke.

These results may help us identify potential treatments that could help delay or even prevent the onset of dementia”. Blood-thinning drugs and medication to slow the irregular heartbeat are often prescribed to reduce stroke risk. Now experts at the University of East Anglia in the UK believe tighter management of AF might also offer some protection against dementia.

They looked at research where people with and without AF were followed up to see how many went on to develop dementia. By analysing 15 separate studies they found that stroke survivors with AF were 2.4 times more likely to develop dementia than stroke survivors who did not have the heart condition. About a quarter of patients with stroke and atrial fibrillation were found to have developed dementia during follow-up.

Lead researcher Dr Phyo Kyaw said: “These results may help us identify potential treatments that could help delay or even prevent the onset of dementia.

“Options could include more rigorous management of cardiovascular risk factors or of AF, particularly in stroke patients.” Rebecca Wood of Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “While this paper shows there is a link between atrial fibrillation and dementia, we don’t yet know if treating atrial fibrillation will prevent or delay the onset of dementia. “More research will give us the answers we urgently need.”

–BBC

Play more, watch less

Sara Gable

Did you know?

Average number of TVs per household: 3

Number of TV murders elementary-aged children see: 8,000

Percent of households with no TV rules: 53

Kids who have a TV in their bedroom: 68 percent

How much more likely these kids are to smoke cigarettes than kids who don’t have a TV in their bedroom: 3.5 times

Love it or hate, TV is part of American family life. Americans watch three to four hours of TV daily. This time includes watching prerecorded movies, playing video games and surfing the Internet, sometimes simultaneously.

We undeniably enjoy these activities, which can be relaxing, entertaining and educational.

Like too much of any good thing, however, research suggests that the amount of time we spend in front of the screen can have negative consequences.

We are more likely to snack on high-calorie foods while watching TV and less likely to be physically active.

No other waking activity burns fewer calories than watching TV — not even other sedentary activities like playing video games, reading and talking on the phone.

Adults who watch three hours of TV a day are far more likely to be obese than adults who watch less than one hour. The same goes for children. The risk for becoming and remaining overweight before the age of 9 increases with the amount of TV time.

National Turn It Off Week, April 19–25, is a good time to take a look at your family’s viewing habits.

How many hours are spent in front of a TV or computer screen compared to other activities?

Instead of turning on the TV and plopping down on the couch, gather the family and come up with a list of alternate activities. Jot down lots of ideas and post them on the refrigerator.

Make changes gradually. Set limits. Experts recommend no more than two hours a day of recreational TV, computers, video games and DVDs for kids.

Going “cold turkey” can backfire. We crave what we can’t have.

Know what your children, at any age, are watching — whether it’s cartoons, sitcoms, sports, news or educational programs.

Talk to them about what they’re seeing. Ask open-ended questions.

Take TVs out of bedrooms. Sleeping with the TV on, even with the sound off, can disrupt sleep patterns and contribute to fatigue. Kids who have TV sets in their bedrooms also score lower in math, reading and language arts than kids who don’t.

Turn off the TV during meals. Use the time to talk about everyone’s day.

Things to do instead of watching TV:

Families

Plan and prepare meals together.

Visit a park or public library.

Go on a picnic.

Play charades or board games.

Take a walk down the street and collect litter.

Dance and sing to music (check your library for music CDs).

Have a family talent night.

Take a “Sunday drive” to a new place.

Plan a dream vacation or party.

Walk around the neighborhood and talk about different houses, trees and gardens.

Catch up at mealtimes (“Share one good thing and one bad thing about your day…”).

Assign everyone a housekeeping chore, schedule a time to do them, and celebrate when done.

Catch-up on letter writing, cards and phone calls.

Adults

Read a book or magazine. Find an author you like and read everything she or he has written.

Look for and try new recipes.

Do stretching exercises or yoga.

Clean out a closet, the garage or the basement.

Find a new hobby or dive in to a neglected one.

Plant flower seeds indoors. When they have sprouted several inches, transplant them outside.

Volunteer in your community.

Clean under the refrigerator and stove.

Hand-wash woolen sweaters.

Set up an easy-to-use recycling station.

Read a local newspaper.

Organize family photos and write picture captions.

Start a scrapbook about your family.

Gather and give away old clothes and household items.

Teenagers

Think about future careers or jobs. Write a story about yourself being successful in that career or job.

Volunteer.

Interview your favorite relatives and record their stories.

Write poems or short stories.

Plan and plant a vegetable garden. Create a weeding schedule for the family.

Sing along to your favorite music. Try writing down the lyrics and understanding the song’s meaning.