Journalism of Courage
As the medical community worldwide marks Prostate Cancer Awareness Month through September,doctors warn that it is the second-most frequently diagnosed cancer type after lung cancer. Of the 7.6 million deaths due to cancer across the world,one-sixth are caused by prostrate cancer. In India,awareness about the disease remains low. About 70 per cent of all prostrate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65,and studies suggest that after 70,most men have some form of prostrate cancer though there might not be outward symptoms,says Dr Bhalchandra Kashyapi of Jehangir Hospital. Though there are no warning signs of early prostrate cancer,it is relatively slow-growing and survival rates are high,provided treatment begins as early as possible,he adds.
Wiping out Disease
Customised Treatment
A 60-year-old woman with two fractures was treated with a rare knee replacement surgery by doctors at Inamdar Multi-speciality Hospital. When she came to the hospital,she had severe pain in her right knee. From her X-ray reports,we found that she had a fracture in the proximal tibia (shin bone just below the knee). The reason for her stress fracture was her age and osteoporosis,which made her bones weak, says Dr Qaed Dhariwall,who conducted the surgery. Within three months of her surgery,the patient suffered another fracture at the tip of the prosthetic rod in her tibial bone. Doctors then decided to put in a prosthesis with the femoral component,with a rod long enough to treat both the fractures together. Such a prosthesis is not available in the market,so the component had to be tailor-made.
Fresh Blood
Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh was recently nominated as next regional director (RD) of World Health Organisation (WHO) for a five-year term by the 11 member states of the region. Dr Singh is the first woman to be nominated for this post. She started her WHO career in 1998 as a member of Dr Gro Harlem Brundlands cabinet,who was WHO Director-General at the time. Dr Singh served as the executive director for sustainable development and healthy environments in Geneva,and from 2000 to 2013,as the deputy regional director for WHOs South-East Asia Region. The 32-member executive board of WHO is expected to appoint Dr Singh as regional director in January 2014,in Geneva. She is expected to take office at the Regional Office in New Delhi on February 1,2014.
New Skills
Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) hosted a three-day National Temporal Bone Dissection workshop,organised by Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery,between September 13 and 15. The workshop was attended by over 50 young ENT surgeons from the armed forces and from civil hospitals across the country. The workshop began with a live webcast of real-time surgeries and dissection done by noted surgeons such as Dr A G Pusalkar,Dr K P Morwani and Dr Narayan J.
compiled by Anuradha Mascarenhas
