The Indian Practitioner

HIV-AIDS and Anti-Retroviral Therapy: Awareness, Benefits and Challenges

Dr. Sagar Koli — 2025-01-08

World AIDS Day observed on 1st December 2024 aims for the right to health by addressing the inequalities that hinder progress in ending AIDS. India has a large number of people living with HIV and factors like socioeconomic strata, stigma and lack of awareness, are till hurdles to cross even though the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) organisation have made significant strides. Here we discuss the HIV prevalence and burden, evolving anti-retroviral therapies, and improvement in life expectancy over the last decade.

Medi Matters

The Indian Practitioner — 2025-01-08

Navigating the Double Burden: Mental Health Challenges in Women with Inflammatory Arthritis

Dr Kavita Krishna — 2025-01-08

The impact of mental health on women with arthritis is significant, highlighting the unique psychological challenges they face in managing chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, spondylarthritis, and other immune-mediated arthritis. Depression, anxiety, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and sleep disturbances are prevalent yet often underrecognized issues that exacerbate the burden of arthritis. The complex relationship between physical and mental health requires an integrated approach to care, including psychological support, patient education, and the provision of resources to address the unique needs of women with arthritis. Strategies such as integrating mental health services into rheumatologic care, promoting physical activity, and addressing caregiving burdens are crucial to improving mental health outcomes. By breaking the cycle of mental health challenges, healthcare providers can improve both the physical and emotional well-being of women with arthritis, enhancing their quality of life and disease management. This article explores the common mental health disorders in arthritis, the barriers to seeking mental health care, and possible remedial measures to address these challenges effectively.

Raising Awareness with the Indian Neurology Community on the Global ‘Paraquat’ and ‘Parkinson’s disease’ conundrum

Kattamreddy Ananth Rupesh — 2025-01-08

Paraquat is one of the extensively used herbicides in Indian agriculture.Its use is linked to acute toxicity and a range of associated risks, including the absence of a specific antidote for managing accidental exposure, its potential for abuse, long-term sequelae, and its documented association with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease. While the exact mechanisms remain unclear, paraquat can cross the blood-brain barrier, and contributeto the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, a key feature in the progression of Parkinson’s disease.Several studies have demonstrated an epidemiological association between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease (PD) with researchers divided on the strength of this link. The active involvement of the Indian neuroscience community is needed to investigate the role of paraquat in causing Parkinson’s disease as a huge population of our country is being exposed to this herbicide. It is essential to generate clinical data on paraquat exposure and its potential neurological impacts, and conduct neurological assessments on such cases toassess its acute and chronic neurotoxic manifestations.

Do you remember when you read a full paper from scientific journal?

Dr. Abhijit Trailokya — 2025-01-08

Scientific medical journals have been published since the early 1600s. Physicians are encouraged to read these journals to enhance their knowledge, maintain their professional competence, and stay updated on the latest developments in the medical field. Clinicians often face significant challenges in reading journal articles regularly, despite the importance of staying updated with current research. Clinicians might not read full articles from scientific journals as frequently as expected for several reasons like time constraints, complexity of information, lengthy articles, complicated statistics with tables and figures, limited access of journals, and many more reasons. Most of the clinician read only the title and abstract of the article which if found relevant, they may rarely proceed to full text.The real challenge is to present complexity of research finding in an understandable way so that clinicians can assimilate and apply it effectively.

Dilemmas of Healthcare Workers in Combat Zones

Ashoka Jahnavi Prasad — 2025-01-08

This article highlights the critical role of healthcare workers in conflict zones, emphasizing the severe health impacts that extend beyond the battlefield. Drawing from personal experience in Bahr-el Ghazal, Sudan, the author underscores how war-induced disruptions to health systems exacerbate preventable deaths from diseases like pneumonia and childbirth complications. Indirect health effects, such as malnutrition, mental health disorders, and child mortality, often surpass combat-related fatalities. Dr. Prasad calls for a shift in moral frameworks, critiquing the "jus in bello" and "double effect" principles, while advocating for Michael Walzer's "double intention" approach to protect civilian health. At a time when war is raging in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine, causing massive civilian casualties, this article is especially timely. It stresses the urgent need for global action to reduce war's indirect health impacts, noting that with modern health interventions and technology, the world has the means to prevent this avoidable suffering.

Dr. Naresh W. Paliwal: Pioneering Segmental Thoracic Spinal Anaesthesia in India

Dr Imran Ahmed Khan — 2025-01-08

Dr. Naresh Wamanrao Paliwal is a prominent figure in the field of anaesthesiologyfor his contributions to segmental thoracic spinal anaesthesia (STSA) in India.Dr. Paliwal graduated in medicine from Govt Medical college Nagpur,Maharashtra in 1983 and completed his post-graduate training in anaesthesiology in 1986from the same institution. He is currently working as Associate Professor in the department of anaesthesiology at Dr.Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College in Amravati.Dr. Paliwal's contributions to anaesthesiology, particularly in STSA, mark a legacy of innovation, resilience, and dedication to patient safety and satisfaction. Dr. Paliwal authored a groundbreaking handbookon STSA.Dr. Paliwal’s dedication to advancing anaesthetic safety and efficacy not only transformed the practice of anaesthesia in India but also left an unforgettable mark on the global anaesthesiology community.

Nutraceuticals

The Indian Practitioner — 2025-01-08

AYUSH / Alternative Medicine

The Indian Practitioner — 2025-01-08

Medi Devices / Medtech

The Indian Practitioner — 2025-01-08

News

The Indian Practitioner — 2025-01-08