Health Woes when Travelling

In a country where start ups, new ventures, franchisees and multiple branches across the country are common place, it is but obvious that one has to travel a fair amount for work.

A friend who travels very often for work, finds herself in a different city every third week, and invariably after the travel itself, a change in the air (rather the pollution), the water, causes her to fall ill.

Everything from an upset stomach (Delhi Belly is real), to sore throat, fatigue of travel, fever, or worse viral infections.

And since one is travelling for work, taking a day off to recuperate is not really an option.

Recently this friend was off to Bangalore for a month long stint as part of her consulting job. And on day 3, she started feeling a bit under the weather; it was a bad bout of inflamed tonsils.

A visit to the GP closest to his Hotel, and some antibiotics later, she was healed and back to work for a total of 5 days before it came back, and this time with a vengeance, and inflammation was a lot worse, difficulty in swallowing food, even water, stuffed nose, you know the symptoms.

And this time she wasn't ready to go back to the same doctor, because obviously, the doctor didn't do a good job the first time.

And now the question was who and where?

That’s when my friend used a very cool service that exists in Bangalore, called Zywee. 

www.zywee.com

It’s basically a listing service for Doctors, Hospitals, and Healthcare. With reviews, contact details, timings, and prices. 

In a world where reliance on technology is at an all time high, we need more services like Zywee to help us with our very real, non technological, can't troubleshoot to fix, health problems.

Do yourself a favour and stay informed of services like Zywee, in your city or the one you travel to, you never know when you might need it.

The importance of First Aid for Spinal Injuries

10 days ago, my father slipped and fell down the stairs. 

He is 64 years old, weighing 85 kgs and a highly diabetic patient. We found out the next day, when we took him to the hospital that he had suffered a fracture between C5 and C6 vertebrae of his spine. This had compressed the nerve next to it rendering his arms stiff and unmovable. The doctor told us that the best thing we did was give him the right first aid that saved him from paralysis. 

Here are some of the things you can do when a geriatric in your house falls down.

1. Do not move the person unless they are in an emergency such as fire or if they have fallen in an awkward position. If you have to move them, ensure their head is balanced. Do not attempt this single handedly. Have one person near the neck and one near their feet. Call your doctors immediately.

2. Check for their breathing, especially if they are vomiting or have difficulty breathing, roll them to their side. If they have breathing problems, do not attempt CPR, because that can strain the neck, instead attempt chest compression techniques.

3. Make them lie on their back with least stress to the neck. Any extra pressure may severe the nerves, rendering them paralysed (worst case scenario).Add a neck brace if you have one handy.

4. Check for swelling and bruises. Most of them will not appear immediately. Make them move their arms and legs to check for onset of nerve damage.

5. Check their memory with a few simple questions, such as the year, the current president or a few arithmetic problems, to see impact on their speech pattern and brain function.

6. To manage the pain till the doctor arrives, you can give them any pain killer such as Dolo 650, after they have ingested some water and food.

First aid is critical to ensure the patient does not suffer from any severe damage. Since spinal cord bones are non regenerative, to ensure minimum damage, they need to be taken to the hospital within 12 hours. Also any surgery that has been suggested needs to be done within 24-36 hours to minimize the damage.

Currently, my father has undergone surgery, where the doctors have inserted a titanium plate to help healing. A graft from his neck was used to fuse the cervical vertebrae with the titanium. He is healing slowly with the help of physiotherapy, which the most important postoperative care, for any bone & muscle related injuries. 

www.zywee.com

Scary situations like this need expert help, find an expert near you who can help you in your time of need. Zywee can help you locate everything from Doctors to Tests to Hospitals to Medicines that are delivered home.

Diabetes - Prevention is the Best Cure

At the start, let me clarify, I do not have Diabetes, but with two parents who have Type II Diabetes, I stand a high chance of getting it.

I've seen my parents, take care of what they eat, check their blood sugar every Sunday, taking an Insulin Injection, in the stomach. So I've seen what living with Diabetes is like, up close and personal.

Since Diabetes is a stress related, Life Style Disease, so I've heard, I lead a typical Mumbai Life, too much work, crazy traffic, Active Social Life, love of good food and sweets, and finally not enough exercise.  

So basically I'm Stacking the numbers against me, and if I want to continue enjoying my life without compromising what I eat, what I drink and mind my sugar levels, I need to make very big changes in my life and lifestyle, and I need to make them now in my Mid Thirties.

So here are some small changes one can make to make sure Life Style Diseases like Diabetes are kept at bay.

Get more active, sedentary jobs are a prime cause for life style disease, it all starts with a lack of exercise. We need to clock at least 10,000 steps in a day. Invest in a pedometer and start keeping track of your daily step count. Pick an exercise routine that works for you. Walk for 15-30 mins a day, take the steps, and just get physically fitter. 

Keep your weight in check, a thickening waistline is the first indicator of metabolism slowing down, your body isn't functioning optimally, and now its time to watch the calories, start the exercise, irregular habits of any kind will only send you metabolism spiralling done the "probable future problems" rabbit hole.

Better eating habits, try to balance your intake across the food groups, don't buy into fad diets, your body needs nutrients, watch your portions if you have a tendency to over eat, try super cards or brown rice, unpolished lentils, as healthier options, include veggies & fruits in your diet. Ate at regular times, pushing Lunch hour at work is a terrible way to live, the body needs nourishment at regular times, and all the hard work needs you to be well nourished.

Get enough sleep, sleep deprivation is a cause for bad moods, cranky behaviour, fatigue, low energy, grogginess, which leads to excessive intake of caffeines, sugar, sometimes excessive eating. Try to wake and sleep at the same time everyday, even on weekends, start your day early on weekends and treat yourself with an afternoon nap after a good lunch, our bodies respond well to discipline and regular habits.

Get regular Health Checkups, prevention is the best cure, keep track of your health, ECGs, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, Eye Tests, Pap Smears, Mammograms whatever you need, once a year, year and a half. It's like checking your car before a road trip; you don't skimp on the oil, fuel and air check there, do you? 

https://www.zywee.com/

Find out more about health packages from Zywee, book the one best suited to you. Get information about Hospitals and Doctors who can help you  with what you need.

And finally take a break once in a while, your body needs to recharge just like your devices, and lazing once in a while, freeing your head of white noise, and generally worrying about nothing will go a long way in keeping you healthy.

For the Love of Food!

"If music be the food of love, play on" said Shakespeare in the Twelfth Night, I always thought there was something wrong with the quote, I'm convinced that he was talking about food being the love, the music, the joy of life but 'twas lost in translation.

I Love Food, that is a gross understatement, I live to eat, I dream about food, I cook up recipes to try. I'm the one reading the menu card, long after the order has been placed, because I want to lose myself in the scrumptious offerings an eatery has, so what if I try nary one or two dishes. I'm the one talking about food when I'm hungry, mentally salivating over flavours and favourite foods. OK, so you get the point I love food.

In a country blessed with diverse geography, a variety of ingredients, spices that tingle and tickle, a person like me would be spoilt for choice. 

And I am, in fact we all are (the foodies for sure); India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is smorgasbord waiting to be sampled, to tempt and tantalise your senses.

From Kari Meen, to Rogan Josh, Undhiyu to Patodi Macch, I could wax poetic about the food this country has to offer.

Of course, every time I travel the only order of business is try sample as many local cuisines, dishes, visit as many iconic eateries as I can, and each time I come back with my soul as satiated as my belly.

And not only had I visited a new place, I had relished the delicacies it has in store for me, enjoyed its unconditional love albeit for a little while, why love because there is no greater act of love than to feed a belly – hungry or otherwise. And that’s what we do in India, show our love through food, whether its goodies exchanged at festivals, or friends dropping over, or just a mother trying recipes to feed her finicky kids.

Now Food Tourism, is the new kid on the block, places trying to use the soft power of their cuisine to attract tourists, using the power of the Chicken Tikka Masala to lure visitors to come have a bite, and it’s a great concept. I mean in the 60’s it was yoga and spirituality, which made everyone make a beeline for India.

And of course food is soft power today, all you need to do is take one look at Social Media sites and you will find an abundance of food pics, TV shows like Master Chef, are broadening our knowledge of food and making us more experimental with what we want to try.

If you’re a foodie like me, do yourself a favour and travel across India sampling tasty morsels, the delicate doodh puff, the hearty sund, the chunky pethas, the list is endless.

In fact companies like Tikka Safari, organise food trails & food tours, where the journey is spent visiting places, with the intention of eating great food, chasing unknown delicacies in a place you've never been, getting invited by a local family for a traditional meal, or cooking in a communal kitchen.

Book yourself on a trip and eat your way across India, after all there is no love sincerer, than the love of food.

The Side Effects of Self Medication

We live in a country where self medication is common place, in fact people take pride in popping pills that they can purchase OTC - Over the Counter. 

Uncles offer advice on what symptoms mean and which pills alleviate said symptoms, chemists are part time doctors and peddle their latest wares, listing out the benefits of vitamins, antidotes and keep you young medicines.

I know so many people, who keep a handy stock of pills, for every known common ailment and sometimes uncommon ones as well. And at the first sniffle, tickle or pain, starts the self diagnosing, "Maybe it’s this, maybe it’s that" and down goes the medicine with a beatific smile.

  

We also live in a country where prescriptions aren't necessarily needed, and the length of the relationship with your friendly neighbourhood chemist, is prescription enough.

Of course with apps like BuzzPharma, ordering medicines home is easy, prescriptions are essential, and no part time doctors to deal with, I reckon that the crazy pill popping and self medication will stop.

There are some serious side effects to self medicating. 

First of all - one mustn't self diagnose, unless you have spent a few years studying and a few hundred nights cramming your head with all the possible ailments that mankind suffers from, you really have no idea what you're dealing with. With new diseases on the horizon attacking our species, getting a diagnosis from people who know best is the safest way ahead.

Second of all – if you have an ailment that’s common, like a case of tonsillitis say, do know the degree of infection, can you peer inside your own throat and figure out if your tonsils are pink, swollen, blotchy or oozing pus (yes that happens). So how would you know the dosage, the anti biotic, what medicines are needed to counter the side effects of the anti biotic (yes, sadly that does happen too), what to eat (I was once prescribed vanilla ice cream to deal with a very bad case of tonsillitis, I speak from experience) and how long must you consume the medicine.

Relapses occur when a dosage hasn't been taken for long enough to kill the offending bacterial intruder. A less than required dosage just sort of stuns the bacteria and then it gathers steam and before you know it, you’re out of commission again and now dealing with a strain which has grown immune to the said drug (what doesn't kill the bacteria makes it stronger, survival of the fittest – pick your metaphor)

And also aren't you weakening your immunity, by popping pills regularly aren't you building up a chemical co-dependency to deal with common ailments that your body is designed to fight and throw out of its system. Yes one does feel weak when the body is battling a nasty intruder, but that’s an indicator that you need to rest, hydrate, consult a doctor and take a day off. It definitely does not mean pop a pill and head to work, that just makes it worse.

And finally with self medication one really only cures low hanging fruit, I mean a headache is not an ailment it’s a symptom of something deeper that’s not right, sometimes as simple as dehydration, or oncoming myopia but an Aspirin or a Disprin is not going to fix the dehydration of myopia, but it will make you ignore what your body is trying to tell you and maybe worsen the problem for another day.

Do yourself a favour, don’t self diagnose, don’t self medicate, reach out to a doctor if you’re unwell.

Today it’s as simple as logging on to a Zywee.com and locating a doctor, hospital, reading reviews and making an informed decision about who treats what ails you.

Experiences with Fertility Treatments in India - Part 2

My experiences with Fertility treatment started a year ago, in early 2014 and my doctor suggested to drop a few kilos( I am 5.9” and 80 kgs), reduce stress in my life (due to excessive travelling for work), and start the medication Metformin (insulin resisting drug), Meprate (period regulator), and Folic acid. The treatment plan according to the gynecologists across the world was the same.

I started with Yoga and running to lose a little weight. I was also on the medicines prescribed, I started menstruating regularly. But the insulin resisting drug, had some serious effects on my mood.

At work, I would often get frustrated and angry, and when I ate some food, I could feel the physical effect of my anger draining. When I met my doctor for a regular checkup, she informed me that the side effect was rather extreme. She suggested that I stop Metformin and continue with Meprate and Folic acid. I was getting a regular scan almost 1 a fortnight. My scan showed that while there were many eggs in my uterus, none of them were growing to the required size or fertilizing. This is when my gynecologist recommended that I start taking Gonadotropin injections starting with 75ml every day for 7 days. This cost me Rs.14000.

My eggs were scanned during the week and on the 7^th day and she suggested that I take it

for 3 more days. During this scan, my eggs had grown to a significant size . I was feeling a lot of pain in my uterus. I started bloating and I put on about 3kgs in 10 days. My stomach was the size of football, I started having all the symptoms of (what I thought) was pregnancy, back pain, irregular sleep, mood swings etc.  During the ovulation period, I found it physically difficult to have intercourse. 

I called my gynaecologist and asked to see her and after a scan she confirmed, that I developed ovarian over stimulation.

My eggs had grown even larger and fluid was leaking to the other parts of my body. This could also happen while you are pregnant due to the now balanced LSF:FSH. So we had to wait till my next cycle to find out if I was pregnant . As a home remedy, she asked me to drink up to 5 litres of water a day to ensure electrolyte balance, stop exercising and to call her if I felt any shortness of breath or nausea. I was distraught with the fact that my doctor had informed me this was rare and that she was monitoring my dosage closely. 2 days later, I had nausea and she suggested that I check in to emergency services at a hospital close by. Check out Zywee.com to locate a hospital nearest to you.

By the next day, I was given plenty of IV, my blood, weight and urine quantity constantly checked. I was also given an ultrasound to discover any complications  such as the fluid had moving to my lungs or spleen. After 1day at the hospital and Rs.35000 spent , I was discharged and told to wait for 2 weeks for the OHSS to resolve itself. In the next 2 weeks I lost 4 kgs and discovered that alas I was not pregnant. I was asked to stay off all medications for a month.

And for the next month, the treatments ceased, and having a gynaecologist I trust has what's made this journey bearable.

Find a gynaecologist you trust, because the road to having a baby, if one is reproductively challenged is long and arduous.  Log on to Zywee.com and find your trusted doctor.

Experiences with Fertility Treatments in India

I am a 37 year old married woman, eagerly aspiring to motherhood(being a mom), this is my first long  (1.5 years) exposure to the Indian Gynaecological Medical experience.

I first met my gynaecologist; she came highly recommended from trusted friends who are mothers themselves, in mid 2013. She is young and talented doctor, approachable and a typical South Indian family doctor educated in England. Her husband is a Heart Surgeon, so all in all a trusted doctor. So it was very easy decision in placing my ovaries and body in her hand.

My first appointment was easy enough, she asked for my age, previous pregnancy attempts, lifestyle habits, etc. She also wanted to know how long we had been trying to get pregnant. I have not been pregnant before and nor have had any complications. I had found when I was 26 that I have PCOD. The doctor then told me that I would need to start with treatments only if I wanted to get pregnant, which I did not at that point in time, so I continued to live my life. My work took me travelling around the country and the world, which meant I had a hectic life and a very social lifestyle. After my marriage at the age of 33 yrs, I wanted to give some time to our relationship and 3 years down the line started to think on the lines of being a mother. We had not specifically used any contraceptives for the last 1 year. So the lack of pregnancy clearly showed me there was something amiss.

Based on the doctor’s recommendation we took a few tests including hormone’s test (LSH: FSH ratio), insulin level, blood tests to negate any sexual diseases and my husband took a hormone test and fertility test including sperm count and motility. The results were as follows: My FSH (Follicle Stimulating hormone) count was very low and I had an insulin resistance. My husband results were fine.

 

Based on the results, the gynaecologist confirmed that I had PCOD (Polycystic Ovarian Disorder)

By this time more than 6 months had flown by and I had invested Rs.13000 on the hormone test for us. Our appointments and scan were each Rs.500 .I was aware that my age and my lifestyle were an impediment, so I asked the doctor that question that every woman hoping to be a mother asks. “Am I too old to be a mother? Can I become a mother biologically, do I have a defect? Do I have to try IVF?” My doctor very calmly told me that I can be a mother and that PCOD is common enough, with 1 out of every 4 women suffering from this condition, and that this can be fixed. She also assured me, that I will be a mother in a year or so at least by the time I am 38 years old. I left the gynaecologist feeling very confident of her and my abilities.

The journey is far from over, this is just the start, if you or any one you know are in the same situation as me, I'd recommend that you start research early on and get yourself tested and be prepared for an arduous journey.

Empower yourself with information of the best resources available to you, website like Zywee.com provide information about doctors & tests that one can get done, should one find themselves in this situation.

Part 1