World Asthma Day, 2015

World Asthma Day

May 5 is celebrated as the World Asthma Day, all over the globe. Around 120 million people around the world suffer from Asthma and the numbers are burgeoning. World wide deaths due to Asthma have reached a staggering 1,80,000 annually. In developing countries, this menace is profoundly effecting all age groups and the incidence of deaths varies considerably across geographies. India for instance, has en estimated 15-20 million asthma patients at present. Among them, 10% - 15% in the age group of 5-11years are effected by Asthma. The economic costs associated with Asthma are estimated to exceed those of TB and HIV/AIDS combined.

What is Asthma ?

Asthma is a chronic lung disease marked by attacks of spasm in the bronchi of lungs, making it difficult to breathe. It is usually concerned with allergic reactions and other forms of hypersensitivity. It causes recurring wheezing, chest tightness, breath shortness and coughing. Asthma usually affects all age groups, but statistically is starts during childhood.

How it affects the body ?

Asthma effected people have inflamed airway tube. The function of airways is to carry air to and from the lungs, but the inflammation makes the passage very sensitive and swollen. The delicate airways are susceptible to reaction with inhaled substances. These reactions make the air tube muscles tighten, narrowing the passage way. Cells in the passage might produce more than usual mucus, further narrowing the passage. This causes less air to travel to and from lungs to different body parts.

Causes of Asthma

1. Weak immunity for allergies from surroundings.

2. Hereditary passage of the disease from parents

3. Respiratory infections during childhood

4. Contact with air borne diseases

Symptoms of Asthma

1. Coughing, specially early morning or night time

2. Wheezing

3. Chest tightness

4. Shortness of Breath

Treatment

Asthma has no cure till date. Being a chronic condition, it requires continuos medical care.  It can glare up any day. However, with small changes in our daily routine, lifestyle, eating habits and exercise, it can help keep it under control. Though, due to advancement in medical technology, it also can be controlled and managed through various other means. Using anti-allergy shots and medicines through a device called nebulizer are the most prominent ways of controlling asthma.

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World Kidney Day 2015

Kidney is a vital organ in the human body. Unfortunately, kidney diseases are on a roll and with the burgeoning rate of population increase, it becomes imperative for us to spread awareness
about it and ways to improve lifestyle for a healthy kidney. Kidney diseases are common in 8-10% of the adult population and millions of people die prematurely due to chronic kidney disease complications. High Blood pressure and Diabetes are the most common causes of kidney diseases. Though Kidney transplant operations and dialysis  are common workarounds, there is no particular cure for Chronic Kidney disease.Today, on the World Kidney Day, 2015, let us pledge to take little precautions everyday towards a healthier future.

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National Rural Health Mission

The state is accountable for raising the level of nutrition, the standard of living, and providing enhancement in public health as a primary onus. In spite of the referendum, 8% of primary health care centers have no doctors, 39% have no technicians, 18% PHC’s done even have a pharmacist.
In 2012, NRHM saw its inception under UPA government as per the Million development goals of United Nations. The NRHM seeks to provide efficient healthcare facilities to minority groups, improving access, enhancing equity, promoting decentralization. And pooling resources. NRHM is a two phase scheme with core strategy 1 and supplementary strategy 2 encompassing reduction in Infant Mortality rate, Maternal mortality rate, universal access to healthcare, immunization and prevention, control of diseases, mainstreaming ayurveda and promoting healthy lifestyles. Institutional mechanisms such as Village Health and Sanitation Committee, Accredited Social Health Activist, Rogi Kalyan Smitees and Panchayati Raj Institutions have helped educating and empowering the neglected sections of the society on health care issues. Rural India has since then seen a decline in the IMR. Another aspect NRHM touches is Monitoring and Evaluation. Under it has been organised ‘People’s Rural Health  Watch’ through which mission activities would be monitored at state and national level. It will also include the civil society organization to analyze the implementation of the mission.

However, there are a few concerns that have transpired from time to time. The very first concern is the unsystematic analysis of previous policies. Goals of ‘Health for all by 2020’ have still not been taken care of. Primary Health care approach was never implemented. Next concern is about appointing accredited social health activist in a village. The basic education demanded is up to class eight which excludes a chunk of women who have been denied basic education to the already present gender biases. The next concern is regarding the acceptance and viability of Indian Public Health Standards for Community Health Centers(CHCs) and that all healthcare programs at national level should be delivered through CHCs.
However the strategies of NRHM are based on sound principles and lessons from previous mistakes are taken into account while formulating new initiatives. NRHM reaches out to both urban and rural population, but there is still scope of improvement in the process of accountability, monitoring and evaluation in order to achieve a sustainable healthcare model designed for the diverse population of India.

ALS Challenge

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease is a progressive neuromuscular disease. Though the disease can occur at any age, it generally occurs in the age group of 40-70. Every year around 5000 cases surface up in the US. In most of the cases diagnosed, the cause of the disease is unknown. Neither lifestyle, genetics nor eating habits have given any clue to the cause of the disease. Starting from weakness, twitching, loss of control, the symptoms may progress to breathlessness, difficulty in swallowing and paralysis. There are various techniques for diagnosing this disease including laboratory tests, spinal tap, MRI and EMG. As of today, there is no known cure for this disease.
The ice bucket challenge has gained attention all over the world as one of the most innovative ways to spread awareness about a disease. Till now, it has raised a whopping $100 million and is still counting. This is a huge increase in funds to the ALS association compared to the $2.8 million last year. The video campaign- wherein a challenger has to throw a bucket of ice cold water on himself/herself and dare three other people to do the same- has made a mark on every social media. As per Facebook, more than 15 million people have posted, commented or liked a post related to this challenge.
It is interesting how this campaign became viral. It began with Pete Frates, a baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in 2012. Ever since Frates posted it on Facebook, around 9 million people actually have taken this challenge. Since decades, charity raising has been following a conventional three step process. Targeting rich people in a community, requesting for money and then organizing fundraisers, and events to expand the reach and create awareness. But the ice bucket challenge has given a completely new dimension to the way individuals all over the world could be involved. The main reason for its success is that its real, fun and tactile. Social media has helped launch this campaign to another level.
However, There is a backlash to this campaign. The message of the campaign i.e. awareness about ALS is getting lost in the process. People are more concerned about completing the challenge for the thrill of it and do not care about the real spirit behind the cause. Non profit organizations should have consistency in their fund flow and it should not be a one time affair. Will the ice bucket challenge able to convert this campaign into more satisfactory and tangible communication for the masses?  It may not create a mark in sensitizing people about the social responsibility they bear, but it sure did bring home the idea how social media used in the proper way could have a huge impact on social causes.

Ebola a menace ?

With more than a million people affected by Ebola virus in West Africa, the outbreak of this contagious virus has taken a toll, forcing WHO to declare it as a public health emergency of International Concern. To make things worse, this disease does not have any known fully tested vaccine or treatment.
The first strain of Ebola emerged in Sudan and Zaire in 1976, near a river called Ebola, hence the name. There are five known strands of this virus till now, four of them effecting the human species. This disease is often severe, followed by fatal illness, with a mortality rate up to 80%. Fruit bats are considered the most likely carriers of this virus. The introduction of this virus into the humans was through close contact with the infected animal. Once in contact with the virus, it can spread within the community through direct contact with the blood, or other bodily fluids and secretions of infected person. Health workers are the most frequently exposed people, and inadequate resources and improper training makes them more susceptible to the virus.
In Africa, it all started with handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys and fruit bats. Being easily communicable, this virus spreads like forest fire. Once inside the body, it works by liquefying the internal organs, causing some victims to bleed even from their pores.
Outbreak persists in countries with poor sanitation and shortage of resources to contain the virus in isolation. As far as India is concerned, apart from constant monitoring, India’s health machinery has to be strong enough and the health officials be given proper training in case this virus strikes. Africa is now facing difficulty in isolating the patients and treating them, for lack of infrastructure and resources. Having a huge population, India would face similar problems when dealing with an epidemic of such magnitude.  The government has already swung into action taking precautionary measures like obtaining data of passengers traveling from effected countries and tracking them.
 However, unlike the United Kingdom and the United States, no treatment facilities with right equipments have been set up to deal with sudden outburst of patients. Though circulars have been issued from the government to health departments, there has been no impartment of training at the ground level to deal with an outbreak. This could have serious economic consequences too, with other countries preventing flights to and from India, as is being one with Africa right now. Also, with Africa’s growing population pushing into tropical environment: farming, forestry, grazing cattle humans become more prone to carrying the infection to their communities. Medical research teams are on the run to make drugs that could bring the situation under control. It is being debated if  untested drugs like ‘Zmapp’ from Mapp Bio-pharmaceutical could be rolled out in the market or if it is unethical to introduce untested drugs inside a human body.

FMCG Pharma Handshake

Dabur recently re-branded its largest selling brand Chyawanprash, an ayurvedic health tonic, as a youth product. A youth icon would connect better to the targeted age segment and so its brand ambassador was changed to Mahendra Singh Dhoni from Amitabh Bachchan. Chyawanprash is one of those brands that blurs the distinction between FMCG products and pharmaceuticals. Many companies want to be positioned where the product would be considered as a benefit to both categories. Drug companies want to get into healthcare, and vice versa.
The consumer healthcare segment is growing at a whopping 18%, 1.5 times the rate of FMCG sector.Rising fees of medical professionals, an increasing zeal for self-medication, aggressive marketing and faith in the conventional system of ayurveda are the key growth drivers for this sector. Increase in expenditure with a blend of lifestyle related diseases and increasing awareness among public, makes sure there is an ever-growing demand in the market. With the arrival of many foreign and domestic players, much of which came through inorganic methods has made this segment open and attractive. With the recent take over of Paras brand by Reckitt, a dominant FMCG player in the market, has now access to many OTC brands such as Moov pain relief, Krack heel cream, D’Cold and Itch Guard.
Paras’s excellent distribution network, covering over two million locations across India, will hurl the RB’s OTC portfolio.
Emami is another player grasping hold of healthcare segment with products like Sona Chandi Chywanprash, Himani Fast Relief, Mentho plus Zandu. A major appeal for OTC pharmaceutical companies are the margins, which are double in case of FMCG.
The personal care market has a penetration which is six times that of healthcare market on one hand, whereas healthcare market is increasing at 20% year on year whereas personal care segment at 15%.Chemists play an important role in the success of OTC drugs, taking charge of daily ailments for consumers who cannot decide their medication. People prefer to purchase OTC medicines from chemist shops rather than grocery stores, where they are readily available. The main reason for this consumer behavior is because of the advice given by chemists.
Simultaneously, drug manufacturers are also seeping their way through the FMCG segment. For instance, Aventis pharma, launched Combiflam cream in selected markets. Combiflam has been traditionally served as an OTC pain relief tablet.The future holds tremendous growth prospects for both the industries if they work in synchronization.

Innovation in Cancer Cure

Cancer has become one of the biggest threat to human race globally. The mortality rate due to cancer has been found out to be an alarming 806000 cases by the end of the last decade. Statistically, it is the second most common disease in India with about 0.3 million deaths per year. The inability to deal with its diagnosis and treatment makes us all the more handicapped to drive away this menace prevailing on the globe for centuries. The causes of such high incidence rates may be both due to external(environmental) and internal(hereditary) factors. Nearly 10 million cases of cancer are diagnosed around the world annually and half of them are from developing countries.
Recent innovative drugs have brought about mind boggling results in lung cancer, melanoma and other deadly tumors, seldom controlling the cancer cell count to zero percent.But recently, in a breakthrough development by Novartis, the third biggest drug maker on Forbes Global 2000, it claims to have discovered a technique of curing cancer all together, making it in their $9.9 billion research and development priority list.

A successful trial of this technique embedded with expert capabilities of DNA sequencing machines that can unlock genetic codes, can prove to be a new milestone in the way cancer cells are treated.
This technique involves a procedure wherein first, some amount of blood is drawn from the patient. Then magnetic beads covered with proteins are added to the blood cells. Then a virus is put in place to change the cell’s DNA, creating a receptor that is intended to attack Leukemia. More such cells are grown, beads removed and finally the blood sent back to the patient’s body which target the infected and cancer cells.
However, there are a lot of hurdles before a complete sustainable solutions is patented. Novartis has to run clinical trials in both adults and kids of different demographics, keep a manufacturing plant in place to create customized treatments for patients and then find out ways to reduce side-effects. Cancer drugs represent 19% of Novartis’s sales but Joseph Jimenez, its CEO is bent on doubling the figures, seeing the huge potential market for cancer cure. Innovation in the cancer cure industry has helped top notch companies like Roche, Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb to deliver life saving solutions for patients for whom every second is a question of survival.