Health Corner

Workshop on clinical research
Symbiosis Center of Health Care (SCHC) has organised a workshop on clinical research which will be conducted on August 6 and 7 at Symbiosis Law School Auditorium. The workshop will be inaugurated at the hands of Dr C L Kaul,ex-director,National Institute of Pharmacological Education and Research (NIPER). Eminent speakers from National AIDS Research Institute (NARI),Serum Institute,Pune University,Chest Research Foundation,Research Faculty of SCHC will also be present. Vice-presidents of renowned pharmaceutical industries will talk on various subjects related to clinical research such as good clinical practice,study design in research,pharmaco vigilance,data management,regulatory affairs in research,research methodology and so on. There will be a panel discussion on clinical research at the end of the workshop. The students of the Certificate Course in Clinical Research (CCCR) will be awarded the certificate of completion informs Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar,director,SCHC,and dean,Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS).

Stress management for women
Observing the challenges faced by working women,Just For Hearts recently conducted a stress management workshop for all women employees from the Bhagini Nivedita Bank.This workshop was held at Nigdi- Akurdi and was aimed at overcoming the stress related problems for the all women employees of the bank. The workshop included an interactive question and answer session with well known cardiologist Dr Ravindra L Kulkarni,founder director,Just For Hearts. This workshop also had a live demonstration of relaxation techniques by yoga expert Aishwarya Joshi. While addressing the session,Dr Ravindra L Kulkarni,founder director,Just For Hearts,said,“A heart attack is nothing but the result of an unhealthy lifestyle along with excessive stress at the work place and at the home front. So women must practice self-management through a healthy diet,regular exercise,routine health check-ups and a stress free life.” Joshi advised,“Regular yoga practice will help women as they progress through life’s stages. Hormonal balance associated with premenstrual,post-partum and menopausal changes can affect chemical vulnerability to stress and depression. A healthy diet and regular exercise will help all the women working in the bank to remain healthy,fit and active.”

Polio awareness campaign for doctors
To spread awareness about the effective control of the spread of Polio,Rotary Club’s District Polio Committee has planned an awareness campaign for the doctors this year. Consisting of 20 presentation sessions,each lasting for about an hour,the programme will be held in August and September. The campaign will cover around 200 general practitioners in and around Pune. The first programme in this series will take place on August 5, 2010 at 3.30 pm at Ruia Mukbadhir Vidyalaya,SP College Campus. This programme will strengthen the ‘polio eradication campaign’ in immediate as well as distant future. Till now,the thrust of the polio eradication campaign was providing polio dosages by way of routine immunisation and pulse polio drives. However,this year the centre of their efforts will be ‘AFP Surveillance’. AFP Surveillance means investigating thoroughly and keeping the record of the patients with Acute Flaccid Paralysis. AFP is always used during polio outbreaks. AFP is also associated with a number of other pathogenic agents including,enteroviruses,echoviruses and adenoviruses and some other conditions of neurological diseases. Out of this,polio virus infection has to detected and treated. This is the most effective and ultimate way of eradicating polio. The typical cases of AFP are patients,less than 15 years of age,with high grade fever,loose motions or/and vomiting with weakness of a limb (hands,arms,legs,feet). It is mandatory for every doctor and hospital authority to report such cases of polio to the WHO authorised ‘reporting medical officer’,if they find such cases in their clinic or hospital. However,it has been found that most of the private general practitioners in India and some small hospitals never report these cases to the proper authorities. This is one of the main reasons why polio eradication is facing problems. The AFP surveillance will have to be continued for three or more years even after the last detected case of polio,to declare our country as ‘polio free’.