Trypanophobia – is the extreme fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. And it is one of the main reason why many people, though willing to take part in blood donation drives, don’t gather enough courage to do so. Blood Donation is essentially a voluntary act where one allows one’s blood to be taken out from his/her body for any medical purpose. When I asked many of my friends and relatives about their views on blood donation, I came across many misconceptions and myths that are prevalent in the society about the procedure and it’s benefits. So here I am writing this post to help you understand that there are many benefits of donating blood as compared to an almost blank list of disadvantages of doing so.

Being altruistic : It goes without saying, that the most important benefit of blood donation is the most satisfying feeling of being a reason for saving someones life, in most of the cases you are unaware of who the person is. And this feeling cannot be described unless and until you yourself experience it. Did you know that only 3 teaspoons of blood can save a life of a premature baby in blood crisis?

Free Health check-up : Every time you donate blood, you get to undergo a free health screening! You are subjected to a basic health check up where a doctor, a nurse and a lab technician wont charge you for getting your vitals checked. Your hemoglobin level is also tested. If it is low, then you will not be allowed to donate blood. Besides hemoglobin, your blood pressure and body weight will also be checked. In addition, your blood will also be subjected to screening for  the presence of five diseases, namely Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria. If you are not suffering from these diseases, only then you will be allowed to donate your blood.

Iron overloading: Blood donation is one of the most easiest way to get rid of the excess iron accumulated in our body due to over consumption. Excess of iron is not good for health as it is responsible for formation of free radicals which cause damage to the body cells and tissues and are also related to various heart diseases and cancers. Iron oxidizes cholesterol which in turn causes atherosclerotic changes in the blood vessels. Iron overload is also seen in Hemochromatosis which is a genetic disease due to defective iron metabolism causing serious damage to pancreas, adrenal glands, indirectly resulting in diabetes, liver disorders, etc. Thus donating blood on a regular basis will help one to regulate the iron levels in one’s circulation, especially in young males, thereby decreasing the risk of heart diseases.

Calories : It is said that one pint of blood which may be around (350-400 ml which is only 7.5% of your total blood volume) on an average burns 650 calories!

Press F5 to refresh : Once you donate blood, the blood cell count in your body decreases. This stimulates your bone marrow to produce new red blood cells so as to replenish the loss. Indirectly, this stimulates the production of new blood cells and thus it refreshes your circulation.

When talking about the disadvantages, the list is almost blank except for the fact that sometimes your blood pressure may drop temporarily or you may experience nausea or dizziness for a few seconds. But at the end the feeling of saving one’s life and the free health benefits that come along with it, should certainly motivate one to plan a visit to a blood donation drive, once you end reading this post. Try it once, I assure you… it feels good!

Most of us feel sad in our daily life. It’s not unusual for someone to feel the ‘blues’ now and then. But then what exactly falls in the criteria of being ‘depressed’? Let me put up a few points for you to help you identify the signs and symptoms of Depression. Do NOT stop reading further! Even if you feel you are strong enough mentally to not ‘encounter depression at any point ever’, I insist you to go through this once, as it might help you help your dear ones or friends in their low times. I would specifically write focusing on the younger teenagers who I feel are the most vulnerable lot during this exam season.

Being sad is not unusual but being sad most of the time is. The phrase ‘most of the time’ medically suggests a period of at least 2 weeks of sustained sadness of mood. If this sadness is often giving you problems with your studies or your performance in schools/colleges, your behavior at home or with friends or getting addictions like alcohol, smoking or problems during sex, then most probably you are going through DEPRESSION. To put it in a simpler way to help you identify I am putting down a check list below with criteria for depression. Remember that the following symptoms should not be secondary to any other medical condition.

1.You feel depressed most of the day, nearly every day like feeling empty or feeling sad. In younger age and children this may rather manifest as irritable mood.

2. a significant decrease in interest in activities which used to be pleasurable before.

3. a marked decrease or increase in weight or appetite. (>/= 5% of baseline body weight)

4. inability to sleep or excessive sleep pattern

5. feeling tired/lethargic most of the day, almost everyday.

6. often feeling ‘I am worthless’ or excessive or inappropriate guilt about something.

7. psycho-motor agitation/retardation : restlessness or slowing down while performing activities or doing mental work.

8. inability to think rationally or finding it difficult to take any decision on your own.

9. Lastly… recurrent thoughts about death and not just fear of dying, thinking about suicide with or without  a plan ready.

So if you check at least 5 out of the 9 criteria, you are just one of the ten people in this world who are going through Depression. But as you can see, by that statistics, Depression is really common in today’s world. At least 4 percent of adolescents get teen depression each year. But the good news is that you have treatment  ready and if you take early interventions, you need not worry much about the duration of the treatment or relapses.

(courtesy: AASRA)

If you are depressed, please TALK to someone! It is very important to talk and ventilate yourself. There are many people out there waiting to LISTEN to you. The sooner you do this, the better. You can yourself visit some mental health professional or take someone’s help, someone whom you trust the most, your family member, your friends, your teacher. Remember there is always some help around you. You need not feel ashamed of what you are going through, however down your life takes you. They say, “If you are going through hell… still Keep going!”

Having depression doesn’t mean you are mentally ‘weak’, it’s just another ailment which needs ‘treatment’. Some may need psychotherapy, some may need medicine and some may even need both. Your Psychiatrist, unlike few years ago, has many choices to choose the right medicines today with minimal side-effects. Antidepressants are no longer always ‘sedatives’. Psychopharmacology is an upcoming trend today. Needless to say, if you know someone who might be going through depression, please step forward and offer help. If directly helping doesn’t work, talk to an adult related to that person whom you can trust.

Why do people get depressed? The answer is a huge one. There are many causes for depression just like any other medical disease like diabetes, heart disease or say liver disease. Mental disorders are different only in the aspect that they affect your day-to-day activities and their management requires a psycho-socio-behavioral approach and not just an individualistic one.

I hope this article helps those who need help and also for those who are willing to help… Remember,

“We cannot help everyone, but Everyone can certainly help someone.”

Related Articles

• Essential Facts about Clinical Depression (brighthub.com)
• What are Mood Disorders? (brighthub.com)
• Cognitive Psychology for Teen Depression (brighthub.com)
• Teenage Depression: Are Girls at Greater Risk? (everydayhealth.com)

Stem cell research is a relatively new technology and it primarily deals with working with the most primitive human cells (stem cells) and developing them into any of the 220 variants of cells in the human body. Where do we find these stem cells? When a baby is born, the cord blood is a rich source for these stem cells. The cord blood is nothing but the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and the placenta once the baby is born.

These stem cells are a very rich source of the blood cells in the human body. Till now bone marrow was seen as a good source of stem cells and bone marrow transplant was ‘the’ treatment in many blood disorders in the younger population. But due to the recent advances in clinical research revolving around cord blood stem cell research it is proved that cord blood is the most important source for blood stem cells as far as the quality and the therapeutic approach is considered. This blood can be easily retrieved from the umbilical cord without causing any harm to the child. Later it can be stored in approved bank centres and can be used at any point of time to replenish the stem cells in various medical disorders.

Thus cord blood banking is just like an insurance by saving it for the future, if need arises. It is a one in a lifetime opportunity as the blood has to be collected and processed within 10 minutes of the child-birth. It is much advisable for those parents who themselves have the disorder or have a family history of the blood disorders. It has nothing to do with the mode of delivery, whether normal or cesarean.

The process:

1. The medical staff usually has a specialised kit for collecting the cord blood.  Once the baby is born, the umbilical cord is clamped and the blood from the cord is collected in a bag that comes along with the kit. Some doctors advise to do this before the placenta is delivered where as some think its insignificant.

2.  The mother’s blood is also collected and lab tested for any infectious diseases.

3. The baby’s and  the mother’s blood are then labeled and transferred to the processing unit. Part of the umbilical cord is also collected (10-25 cms) in the cord tissue collection containers which is usually done by the obstetrician.

4. Then all the samples are kept in the kit box along with the frozen gel packs and sent to the lab.

5. An array of tests are conducted on the fetal blood, the mother’s blood and the cord tissue. There are certain eligibility criteria to which the samples have to go through and accordingly the samples are accepted, rejected or quarantined.

6. The accepted samples are harvested using a red cell depletion method aided by a chemical called ‘HESPAN’ which facilitates the separation of red cells from the white cells. This is further subjected to centrifugation for more accurate results. The cord tissue is washed, minced and put into tissue culture for extracting a pure mesenchymal stem cell population.

7. Once this is done, the processed sample is mixed with a cryo-preservation solvent (Dimethyl sulphoxide) which prevents the crystallization of the cells which could lead to cell membrane damage. Later the sample is preserved in a very low temperature freezer (-196 degrees centigrade). These preserved samples remain viable for decades as the recent researches have concluded.

Cord blood stem cells can be used for transplant as well as regenerative medicine. In transplant medicine, patient undergoes through chemotherapy to receive cord blood stem cells to regenerate healthy immune and blood system. In transplant medicine, availability of more cells helps the patient to recover faster reducing chances of complications considerably.

Regenerative cord blood stem cells applications are used to repair damaged organs or tissues. In regenerative treatments, availability of more cells makes multiple treatments at a time possible. Today, cord blood stem cells are being used widely to treat hearing loss, brain injury, Cerebral palsy, heart disease, congenital heart defects, Juvenile diabetes, liver disease, orthopedic injury and spinal cord injury etc.

(Disclaimer:  The above post was written only from informative point of view. Kindly do not take this as an advice or a consultation. Do consult your physician for more detailed information and the pros and cons related to cord blood stem cell banking)

Related Articles

• What Is Cord Blood? (brainz.org)
• Cord Blood Stem Cells Can Save Lives, So Save It! (genzpad.com)
• Banking stem cells from teeth and cord blood (nextbigfuture.com)
• What Is Cord Blood Used For? (brainz.org)

We live in a country where our fear of mental illness is so deep rooted that we tend to become irrational when we think of those mentally affected. Our society has been stained with so many misconceptions and wrong theories about mental illness. I want to ask all of you who consider yourself to be a part of this ‘NEXT” generation, how many time have you giggled at a roadside beggar wearing some filthy clothes, muttering and laughing to himself. I am sure most of you have. Honestly, even I was no exception to this…

But have you ever wondered why did you laugh at that guy? You would say, because he is Mad! So? Would you have reacted similarly at a person with high fever or say having Diabetes or any other damn illness? I am sure you would not!

Today we still hear news that Women are branded as “witches” (chudail) and then burned or stoned to death in many pockets of our country. Elders still see mental illness as some ‘Devil‘s possession’! And what is the solution they teach us? Beat such ‘deserving’ victims with broomsticks and lathis and ‘drive away’ the spirit out of their bodies! It was not long ago in our soceity that patients with psychosis were taken to an asylum, usually very far away from the ‘normal’ civilization and chained so that others could live safely. But in between these hard truths there’s also something to smile about. Atleast certain portion of our society has come a long way in giving the mentally ill, a treatment that is far more humane…

I did a short post in Psychiatry few months back in a public hospital. People including even my relatives raised an eyebrow on my decision! They looked suspiciously at me. “Kirti tu bhi paagal ho jaayega kuch dinon me, chod de ye sab!” (Kirti, even you will go crazy in few days, leave this post)

‘Paagal’… Now that is something i sure giggle at! I wonder often, who must have ‘invented’ this word! The nearest english analogue of paagal would be ‘Crazy‘ or ‘Mad’, right? So aren’t you crazy about so many things in your life? So should i call even you as ‘paagal’? Baseless theory right? So are many theories about mental illness in our society.

Ask people around and most of them (70%) will say a person becomes mentally ill because ‘uska dimaag kamjor hai’ (his brain is weak). But the fact is that mental illness cant be “cured” only by ‘strengthening’ your mind or your will power. What happens next? The ill person becomes more and more aloof. A blanket of guilt and secrecy covers him thereby blocking every possible intervention which could have pulled him/her out of that loneliness till the situation gets out of hand.

But here i want to ask each one of you have you ever ignored that nasty cough or that 100+ fever? So my question remains, ‘If your physical body is so special to you, your brain in fact is the most integral part of it! Then why ignore mental illness? Why laugh at some one whose brain has fallen ill.’ Everyone who has a heart can get a heart attack, similarly everyone who has a brain can have mental illness! And so if you still think you are immune to mental illness, well… you know what I mean.

Indians always cry over racism they face on the basis of their colour. But aren’t we Indians racist when it comes down to stigmatizing people with mental illness and branding them as ‘abnormal’?

The need of the hour is to wake up and embrace a new ideology towards mental health. Its time to break away those shackles of old ideas and myths and misconceptions and think responsibly and rationally when it comes to meeting a mentally ill person. Such a person is not ‘dangerous’ or ‘funny’… deep inside he/she expects a small gesture of love and understanding from you…

So tap your brain a bit if you really think you are ‘Normal’ and think about this… Rather than pointing your finger at them, let your helping hand be a reason for light in that lonely darkness…

Related Articles

• Mental illness: A helping hand (cbc.ca)
• Henry’s Demons: Living with Schizophrenia, a Father and Son’s Story by Patrick and Henry Cockburn – review (guardian.co.uk)
• Why do we overlook mental illness clues? (timesunion.com)
• You: Education crucial in eliminating stigma of mental illness – Pueblo Chieftain (news.google.com)

Okay let me come to the point. Impotence or Erectile dysfunction is the inability to maintain an erection while having intercourse. The other ill-effects of smoking are very well known by those who smoke, but recent medical research shows that smoking is one of the leading cause of impotence in men. Well you will ask me how???

In order to maintain an erection, the blood supply to the penis should be adequately maintained. Smoking constricts the blood vessels of the body, thereby reducing blood flow. As a result, many men find themselves unable to maintain an erection. 20% of impotent Smokers are also believed to have abnormally low blood pressure. This reduces the flow of blood to the penis. Low blood pressure is caused by atherosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits, especially in penile area. This is thought to be engendered by arterial injury caused by smoking! Atherosclerosis decreases the calibre of your blood vessels reducing the amount of blood reaching your tool!

When your penis is erect it is because blood gets trapped inside it, once it enters and then there is no easy way out before you ejaculate. Now cigarettes have nicotine in them which dilates or open up these valves even before you let your passion unfold, frustrating both you and your partner leaving your head low, just as your dick!

So how do you avoid this embarrassment? One of the best ways to treat impotence is to prevent it in the first place. Stop Smoking! Yes, i know it is easier said than done, but there has never been a better time to stop than now. There are numerous aids available to help you quit this life-threatening and embarrassing habit, including patches, gums and medications. Think about it! Sticking that butt in your mouth will never make you a man than holding your lovers face in your hands, filled with content and deeply satisfying love… Enjoy your love life…

“A civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence.” – Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

India has made it’s mark on this globe… no doubt on that. It is the largest democracy of the world, second populous country (soon to conquer the first position), one of the most fastest growing economy and the third largest military force in the world. India is now not referred as the land of sadhus and snake charmers any more. The world looks at India as one of the emerging superpower in near future, a country whose spacecraft made the most dramatic discovery in space history, a country whose film industry is gearing up to rub shoulders with Hollywood!

Toss the coin… and you will have statistics that will shame you, those numbers which are often scribelled with and manipulated by our caretakers sitting on those responsilble seats in the government to glorify their achievements after their 5 years of ruling us! India’s 74% population still stays in rural areas, still fantasizing the distant city life, the literacy rate still stagnates at 64% sixty years after independence. Okay Yes, India is the twelfth largest economy in the world, but what about the 22% population still living under the poverty line? When the basic amenities are not taken care of, its not at all surprising for me that India’s health sector is something which none of us will ever boast of!

I recently went through some statistics regarding the medical infrastructure in India. India is said to have 289 institutions providing undergraduate medical training (196 MCI recognized, 77 MCI permitted, and 16 in the “danger zone”). Amongst these institutions when one ponders over the mental health sector you get an even more shocking picture! The postgraduate training in psychiatry includes Doctor of Medicine (MD) (83 centers, 159 seats), Diploma in Psychological Medicine (DPM) (46 centers, 107 seats), and Diplomate of National Board (22 centers, 36 seats). Strikingly, 25% of the medical colleges in India do not have a Psychiatry Department. Apparently, there are only around 4000 psychiatrists in India to serve the five crore mentally ill population currently!!!

Having said that I want to stress on this issue that India is gaining ground in various fields but at the same time the stress factor involved is also increasing exponentially but unfortunately is not taken seriously. A meta-analysis of 13 epidemiological studies consisting of 33,572 persons reported a total morbidity of 58.2 per 1000. Another meta-analysis of 15 epidemiological studies reported a total morbidity of 73 per 1000. However what astonishes one is the fact that the bulk of the affected falls in the 15 to 45 year age group, which is the working class in our young society. Talk about the existing facilities in the country and they fall way short of the required norms, which makes the situation still worse.

The gravity of the problem can be felt by the fact that the number of psychiatric beds in the country is only about 0.2 per 1,00,000 population and there are only two psychiatrists per 10 lakh population. The major share of psychiatric facilities lies with the government sector (especially mental hospitals), which is centered on certain areas of particular states. The psychiatric services have not yet been integrated into the primary health care system and this leaves large populations in dire need of such facilities, with no hope of effective treatment. Therefore, they seek help from the private sector and there are no clear policies regarding treatment of the mentally ill in the private sector. A significant population in India cannot afford private hospital care and the insurance system in the country is in its infancy. The rehabilitation of psychiatric patients is also given little importance in the existing mental health framework. Its high time now that the people ruling us should integrate all psychiatric services into primary care and with an effective public-private partnership look forward to provide us a comprehensive mental health care.

…Or else what Sigmund Freud said a century back can very well happen even in the twenty first century and crumble the mental health infrastructure in India!

Its the 24th October 2009… and the clocks ticking in front of me… both the minute and the hour hand come together and embrace each other with the number 12 watching them from behind… it seemed as if they whispered sweet nothings in each other’s ears and planned a wonderful journey again for the next 12 hours to meet at their same romantic spot…

I am just sitting in my room with my new lappie, just surfing through few of my medical sites as a pop up catches my attention… <click>… and Its Aritra, my twitter buddy… i read his tweet… “@aritrasen : @kirtitandel Blog has been launched with some new posts”

I click on the link that he provided me… His Blog ‘Denken‘ was quite a nice one with him recollecting his first tweetup (meeting of twitter users from a particular geographical area) in Siliguri, West Bengal. I instantly got fascinated by this idea of blogging. I was aware i was too late on that, but as they say its never too late… I decided then and there – I am going to have a blog of mine – impulsive as I was! I was completely amazed as i browsed my other friend’s blogs too and thought that I can too try my hand on this. Since childhood i had this habit of writing in my diaries but it was not that consistent… It never picked up in that sense…

So the next thing i did was opened this WordPress site and registered myself. The whole procedure took pretty much time to understand but I was enjoying it. Writing in a diary was like keeping all your thoughts to yourself but this Blog idea meant like broadcasting your thoughts to the world… a huge world! And then lot many ideas started creeping up in my mind… I always believe that whatever we do should be meaningful. I asked myself the same regarding my decision to blog. Then I thought I will use this tool for many other purposes too. At the moment apart from just letting my mind open I feel I will also use this  blog to dispense out valuable medical and health awareness topics to you all. Because I believe awareness is very contagious… It spreads in no time. Like how American Author Jim Rohn says, “Words do two major things, they provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” And using this principle I want to do my bit to this mankind. And I am sure it will definitely help everyone.

Having said that now I am thinking of writing down a list of topics on which I will be posting. I hope you all will enjoy reading my posts as much as I do while writing them.

Here I would like to sincerely thank my Friend Aritra for that pop up which trigerred my brain to start this new journey. Thank you Dude… So here’s wishing everyone a happy life and happy reading…

God Bless,

Kirti