Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

14th November,2009 was a special day for Wockhardt Hospitals,Bangalore.Apart from being Children s Day .. the day also celebrated as the day when Children from all over the city assembled at the hospital to say a big Cheers to Life. These Children were all at some point of their lives threatened by life threating congenital disorders,who managed to overcome their medical problems with a little help from the Hospital.

More than 50 children aged between 3 and 13 who had undergone cardiac surgery at Wockhardt Hospitals were treated to a variety of fun filled activities on the occasion of Children’s Day. Dr Devananda, Pediatric, Cardiac Surgeon Wockhardt Hospitals, who took part in the celebrations spoke on the prevalence of Congenital Heart Disease in India vis-à-vis the developed countries and stressed the need to create awareness among people that the Congenital Heart Disease is curable.

“Congenital Heart disease in a child is not the end of the world. This is a treatable condition with excellent success rate, the children present here today of all ages are a testament to this fact.” Dr Devananda, Pediatric, Cardiac Surgeon Wockhardt Hospitals

“Today, India has the expertise and the knowledge to treat this condition, however there are two major obstacles we need to overcome that is that lack of awareness of the disease and the non availability of finance as insurance companies in India do not cover pre-existing diseases” he added.

Magic shows, caricature, face-painting, interactive games and competitions enthralled the children who were eager to participate, adding to the happiness and joy of this special occasion.

But these were not your regular kids. All of them had suffered from life-threatening heart problems , at some point or the other and had gone through complicated surgeries at the Bannerghata Road,hospital at Bangalore.

"It was great to see these children doing so well and enjoying themselves at Children's Day. Seeing them so happy, no one would have guessed that they were suffering from fatal heart problem at one time," said Dr Devananda, pediatric cardiac surgeon.

The "reunion" party was as emotional for the families as it was for the doctors. And in between the celebrations, the parents recalled those difficult times when they were scared about their children safety.

Deepak Singh, father of Vikram Singh, who had a serious heart disease, said, "We had to take him to the hospital daily for checkups and after a lots of tests, we got to know that he had a hole in his heart. Those were the most difficult times of our life. But now that he is healthy, I have no words to explain how happy we feel."

A magic show, dance programmes and many other interactive sessions made the day special for the children. The enthusiasm of the kids soon inspired the adults too as many of them joined the little ones in the buoyant celebrations and some even shook a leg.

"Apart from the fun that we had, this event was a great platform to spread awareness about heart ailments. Also, families, which had gone through similar trauma, were brought together and the sharing of their knowledge and experiences, made the event a memorable one," said Dr Devananda.

He went on to add, "India, today, has the expertise and the knowledge to treat heart ailments, but we face two major obstacles. One is the lack of awareness and second is the non-availability of finance as insurance companies in India do not cover pre-existing diseases. We need to look into these issues now."

Prof. Dr. C.V Harinarayan, Chief Consultant Endocrinologist, Specialist in Metabolic Bone Disease and Osteoporosis, Wockhardt Hospitals,Bangalore has been conferred the prestigious Fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS) degree for his outstanding contribution in the field of metabolic bone diseases.

Prof. Dr. C.V Harinarayan through his work on metabolic bone disease has documented through extensive population surveys, the high prevalence of low dietary calcium intake and varying degrees of Vitamin D deficiency in South India. His groundbreaking work could potentially contribute to revision of national guidelines of dietary allowances for calcium and Vitamin D.

The FAMS degree is one of the highest and most coveted hallmarks of distinction in the medical profession given for original academic work in India.

Prof. Dr. Harinarayan M.D. (Int. Med.), D.M. (Endocrinology)has completed his DM in Endocrinology from AIIMS, New Delhi. He has many National and International awards to his credit. Prof. Harinarayan is an excellent clinician, accomplished researcher and scientist, with over two decades of experience. He is specialized in Endocrinology, Diabetes, Thyroid and Metabolic Bone Diseases. He has won several laurels for demonstrating wide prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency, as the predominant cause for radiological bone changes in Primary Hyperparathyroidism in India.

November 17th is observed as World Epilepsy Day .Eplilepsy is the commonest serious neurological disorder; prevalence figures ranging from 2 to 5 per thousand people.The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 10% of people have a seizure at some point in their lifetime, with 50 million suffering from active epilepsy. A study conducted by the Christian Medical College in Vellore in 2006 estimated that neurocysticercosis is the cause of nearly one-third of all the cases of active epilepsy in both urban and rural regions of Vellore. The study estimated that "about 1 million patients in India with active epilepsy attributable to neurocysticercosis''.

Neurocysticercosis is a condition in which parasitic tapeworms, from contaminated water and food, find their into the brain of an unsuspecting individual. The colony of tapeworms, which are breed in the brain, can trigger headaches, epilepsy, imbalance and even sudden death. On National Epilepsy Day on Tuesday, most doctors feel the battle against epilepsy can be won to a great extent if two of the preventable causes, namely birth injuries and neurocysticercosis, are dealt with firmly and effectively.

About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, with almost 90% of these people being in developing countries. Epilepsy is more likely to occur in young children, or people over the age of 65 years, however it can occur at any time. Epilepsy is usually controlled, but not cured, with medication, although surgery may be considered in difficult cases. However, over 30% of people with epilepsy do not have seizure control even with the best available medications. Not all epilepsy syndromes are lifelong – some forms are confined to particular stages of childhood. Epilepsy should not be understood as a single disorder, but rather as syndromic with vastly divergent symptoms but all involving episodic abnormal electrical activity in the brain.