The Indian Practitioner

Breast Cancer Awareness and Screening – The role of the Primary Care Physician

Dr. Ankit Jain — 2024-11-15

Breast cancer is one of the commonest cancers in women globally and specially in India. It leads to a considerable health care and economic burden, affecting both morbidity and mortality. October is observed as breast cancer awareness month. Screening is the most beneficial method of early diagnosis which enables timely intervention and treatment. Unfortunately, rate of screening in India is low as compared to western countries. This is due to barriers and challenges including population size, socio-cultural diversity, lower access to specialty care, and economic limitations which need to be overcome. Therefore, a risk based targeted approach by improving awareness and recommending screening at the primary care level with family physicians rather than a mass age/gender-based screening approach may be more relevant in India to help build a firm foundation for breast cancer screening, and improving its efficiency and benefits.

Medi Matters

The Indian Practitioner — 2024-11-15

Breaking the Silence: A Call for Compassion and Connection on World Mental Health Day

Dr. Shuchin Bajaj — 2024-11-16

October 10th is World Mental Health Day, and we confront a global issue that continues to affect millions mental illness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1 in 8 people, or 970 million individuals worldwide, live with a mental health disorder, with anxiety and depression being the most prevalent conditions.¹ Yet, despite the growing awareness, the stigma surrounding mental health often prevents those in need from seeking help. It’s time we shift our focus beyond statistics and recognize the individuals behind these numbers each with a story, a struggle, and a need for compassion.

Vitamin D in Health: A Brief Narrative Review

Dr. Kiran Acharya — 2024-11-16

Vitamin D is a sunshine vitamin as sunlight exposure is necessary for biosynthesis of this fat-soluble vitamin. Vitamin D plays an essential role in bone and skeletal health as well as it is implicated in multiple non-skeletal functions such as immunity. Deficiency of vitamin D, defined as serum levels <20 ng/mL of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, is widely prevalent and is a global health concern. In India, Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is much ubiquitous and affects all ages irrespective of diet, lifestyle and regional differences. VDD is found to be associated with various disorders such as infections, diabetes, and cancers. For VDD, prevention is a best strategy achieved easily with adequate skin exposure to sunlight in routine life. Treatment of VDD demands treatment for 6-8 weeks with active vitamin D followed by maintenance therapy to maintain adequate levels. Inappropriate and overzealous treatment can lead to toxicity and therefore, a cautious approach is necessary while managing VDD with vitamin D supplements. Supplementation with vitamin D has shown to reduce the risk of mortality. In conclusion, vitamin D is a delight that sun can help us synthesize it and its deficiency can be prevented. As modernization is increasing with indoor lifestyles, VDD may further increase globally demanding early diagnosis and appropriate treatment to reduce the VDD consequences and improve overall health.

Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Innovation in Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Harsh Nayak — 2024-11-16

The paper discusses how intellectual property rights have influenced innovation in the pharmaceutical industries in India. The research puts an effort to analyse the policies presently upheld regarding IPRs and their implications to find out the impact of these policies on the processes leading to the development of new pharmaceutical products and technologies. This study is based on qualitative data attained from interviews conducted with 12 key stakeholders: in-depth interviews with pharmaceutical researchers, legal experts, and government officials. The findings veer sharply between positive and negative impacts of IPR on innovation, while generally reverberating the acclaimed dual role of IPR: to incentive research and development by protecting the investment of the creator or innovator, and to hinder accessibility and affordability, especially access to vital medicines. It finally concludes with recommendations for balancing IPR enforcement with accessible health imperatives by suggesting policy changes that give a more innovation-friendly face to the pharmaceutical sector in India.

Eventration of Diaphragm: A Rare Case Report

Dr. Sanjay Tandon — 2024-11-16

Diaphragmatic eventration is the abnormal elevation of the diaphragm with normal peripheral attachment. It can be either congenital or acquired. Usually diagnosed accidentally, it is asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic with shortness of breath or non-specific GI symptoms like epigastric pain, burning sensation, regurgitation, nausea, belching and abdomen distension. Here is reported the case of a 71-year-old male who presented with abdominal distension, pain, and bloating along with shortness of breath after meals, that had increased for the last 1 month. This brought him to the pulmonary department of our hospital and he was accidentally diagnosed as eventration of the diaphragm. Eventration leads to a decrease of the movement and even paradoxical movement, causing poor lung expansion and decreased blood flow, generating a hypoxia mediated vasoconstriction. This elevation of the diaphragmatic dome to the chest also allows the protrusion of abdominal contents to the thoracic cavity. If respiratory distress is serious and persistent surgical fixation of the diaphragm, is procedure of choice.

Applicability Of The Disease Model In Psychiatric Practice: A Personal Perspective - Part 3

Dr. Ashoka Jahnavi Prasad — 2024-11-16

How does one understand what is a disease from the mutual perspective and how does this perspective shape psychiatric practice. This is a very complex and difficult to rationalise definition. The reason being the human being and the human mind are in itself marvellously difficult to understand. Though they say it is all about mind over matter, the concept of mind itself is nebulous and therefore characterisation of mental illness and defining it is challenging. The author in a three part expatiation, attempts to peel off the leaves covering this subject and attempts to reach the kernel. This is the third and concluding part of the series. The first and second parts were published in August and September.

Reflections – World Mental Health Day 10th October

Dr. Jayesh J Sheth — 2024-11-16

Nutraceuticals

The Indian Practitioner — 2024-11-16

AYUSH / Alternative Medicine

The Indian Practitioner — 2024-11-16

Medi Devices / Medtech

The Indian Practitioner — 2024-11-16