Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

The Human heart pumps nearly 5 quarts of blood through your body every minute. Even while sitting still, your heart beats 60 to 80 times each minute. These heartbeats are triggered by electrical impulses that begin in your heart's natural pacemaker, called the sinoatrial node (SA node). The SA node is a group of cells located at the top of your heart's upper right chamber (the right atrium.

Any irregularity in your heart's natural rhythm is called an arrhythmia. Almost everyone's heart skips or flutters at one time or another, and these mild, one-time palpitations are harmless. But if you have recurrent arrhythmia's, you should be under the care of a Cardiologist or Rather an Electrophysiologist.

Arrhythmia's can be divided into two categories: ventricular and supra ventricular. Ventricular arrhythmia's happen in the heart's two lower chambers are, called the ventricles are affected. Supraventricular arrhythmia's happen in the structures above the ventricles, mainly the atria, which are the heart's two upper chambers are affected.

Arrhythmia's are further defined by the speed of the heartbeats. A very slow heart rate, called bradycardia, means the heart rate is less than 60 beats per minute. Tachycardia is a very fast heart rate, meaning the heart beats faster than 100 beats per minute. Fibrillation, the most serious form of arrhythmia, is fast, uncoordinated beats, which are contractions of individual heart-muscle fibers.

Heart block happens when the SA node's electrical signal cannot travel to the heart's lower chambers (the ventricles).

Many factors can cause your heart to beat irregularly. Some people are born with arrhythmia's, meaning the condition is congenital. Some medical conditions, including many types of heart disease and high blood pressure, may be factors. Also, stress, caffeine, smoking, alcohol, and some over-the-counter cough and cold medicines can affect the pattern of your heartbeat.

Whether you have symptoms and what those symptoms feel like depend on the health of your heart and the type of arrhythmia you have. Symptoms also depend on how severe the arrhythmia is, how often it happens, and how long it lasts. Some arrhythmias do not produce any warning signs. Contrary to popular belief, heart palpitations do not always mean that you have an arrhythmia.

Symptoms of Bradycardia: You may feel tired, short of breath, dizzy, or faint.

Symptoms of Tachycardia:You may feel a strong pulse in your neck, or a fluttering, racing heartbeat in your chest.

Symptoms of Fibrillation:You may feel chest discomfort, weak, short of breath, faint, sweaty, or dizzy.

• A standard Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is the best test for diagnosing arrhythmia. This test helps doctors analyze the electrical currents of your heart and determine the type of arrhythmia you have.

• Holter Monitoring gets a non-stop reading of your heart rate and rhythm over a 24-hour period (or longer). You wear a recording device (the Holter monitor), which is connected to small metal disks called electrodes that are placed on your chest. With certain types of monitors, you can push a "record" button to capture your heart's rhythm when you feel symptoms. Doctors can then look at a printout of the recording

• Electrophysiology Study (EPS) are usually done in a cardiac catheterization laboratory. A long, thin tube called a catheter is inserted into an artery in your leg and guided to your heart. A map of electrical impulses from your heart is sent through the catheter which helps doctors find the kind of arrhythmia. During the study, doctors can give you controlled electrical impulses to show how your heart reacts. Medicines may also be tested at this time to see which will stop the arrhythmia. Once the electrical pathways causing the arrhythmia are found, radio waves can be sent through the catheter to destroy them. (See radiofrequency ablation in treatment section below.)

• A tilt-table exam is a way to evaluate your heart's rhythm in cases of fainting. The test is noninvasive, which means that doctors will not use needles or catheters. Your heart rate and blood pressure are monitored as you lie flat on a table. The table is then tilted to 65 degrees. The angle puts stress on the area of the nervous system that maintains your heart rate and blood pressure. Doctors can see how your heart responds under carefully controlled times of stress.

How is arrhythmia treated?

Dr V. RAJASEKHAR a Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist with Kamineni Wockhardt Hospital. He has successfully implanted many ICD devices and Pacemakers and is considered to be one of the leading experts in this field. Dr. Rajasekhar is also an expert in EP study as well as Radio Frequency Ablation. He can be contacted at enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net

The words "heart failure" sound alarming, but they do not mean that your heart has suddenly stopped working. Instead, heart failure means that your heart is not pumping as well as it should to deliver oxygen-rich blood to your body's cells.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) happens when the heart's weak pumping action causes a buildup of fluid called congestion in your lungs and other body tissues. CHF usually develops slowly. You may go for years without symptoms, and the symptoms tend to get worse with time. This slow onset and progression of CHF is caused by your heart's own efforts to deal with its gradual weakening. Your heart tries to make up for this weakening by enlarging and by forcing itself to pump faster to move more blood through your body.

According to the American Heart Association, people 40 and older have a 1 in 5 chance of developing CHF in their lifetime. This is because people are living longer and surviving heart attacks and other medical conditions that put them at risk for CHF. People who have other types of heart and vessel disease are also at risk for CHF.

• Previous Heart Attacks
• Coronary artery disease
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
• Heart valve disease (especially of the aortic and mitral valves)
• Cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle)
• Congenital heart defects (defects you are born with)
• Alcohol and drug abuse

Symptoms can help doctors find out which side of your heart is not working properly.
If the left side of your heart is not working properly (left-sided heart failure), blood and fluid back up into your lungs. You will feel short of breath, be very tired, and have a cough (especially at night). In some cases, patients may begin to cough up pinkish, blood-tinged sputum.

If the right side of your heart is not working properly (right-sided heart failure), the slowed blood flow causes a buildup of fluid in your veins. Your feet, legs, and ankles will begin to swell. This swelling is called edema. Sometimes edema spreads to the lungs, liver, and stomach. Because of the fluid buildup, you may need to go to the bathroom more often, especially at night. Fluid buildup is also hard on your kidneys. It affects their ability to dispose of salt (sodium) and water, which can lead to kidney failure. Once CHF is treated, the kidneys' function usually returns to normal.

As heart failure progresses, your heart becomes weaker and symptoms begin. In addition to those listed above, here are some other symptoms of CHF:

• You have trouble breathing or lying flat because you feel short of breath.
• You feel tired, weak, and are unable to exercise or perform physical activities.
• You have weight gain from excess fluid.
• You feel chest pain.
• You do not feel like eating, or you feel like you have indigestion.
• Your neck veins are swollen.
• Your skin is cold and sweaty.
• Your pulse is fast or irregular.
• You feel restless, confused, and find that your attention span and memory are not as good as they were.

• Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) can be used to check for an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and stress on the heart. It can also show your doctor if you have had a heart attack.

Other imaging techniques, such as nuclear ventriculography and angiography, can provide a firm diagnosis and show doctors how diseased your heart is.

Many therapies can help to ease the workload of your heart. Treatment may include lifestyle changes, medicines, transcatheter interventions, and surgery.

• If you smoke, quit.
• Learn to control high blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and diabetes.
• Eat a sensible diet that is low in calories, saturated fat, and salt.
• Limit how much alcohol you drink.
• Limit the amount of liquids you drink.
• Weigh yourself daily to watch for fluid buildup.
• Start an aerobic exercise program that has been approved by your doctor.

• Angioplasty is a procedure that is used to open arteries narrowed by fatty plaque buildup. It is performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory. Doctors use a long, thin tube called a catheter that has a small balloon on its tip. They inflate the balloon at the blockage site in the artery to flatten the fatty plaque against the artery wall.

• Stenting is used along with balloon angioplasty. It involves placing a mesh-like metal device into an artery at a site narrowed by plaque. The stent is mounted on a balloon-tipped catheter, threaded through an artery, and positioned at the blockage. The balloon is then inflated, opening the stent. Then, the catheter and deflated balloon are removed, leaving the stent in place. The opened stent keeps the vessel open and stops the artery from collapsing.

• Bi-ventricular pacemaker is recommended for patients with Moderate to severe heart failure who have a low ejection fraction , as the name suggests this device stimulates both the heart ventricles simultaneously so that they co-ordinate in synchrony. This improves the ejection fraction (which is a measure of the pumping capacity of the heart) thereby improving the quality of life of the patient. Commonly known as a CRT device is a device which is smaller than the palm of an adult hand. A specially trained cardiologist implants the device.

• Studies have shown that Heart Failure patients are at a higher risk for Sudden cardiac arrest. Special CRT devices are available which can potentially stop life threatening ventricular fibrillation (very fast heart rates) by delivering an electrical shock (called defibrillation in medical terms) to the patient. This device is a combination of a conventional Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (the “shock box”) and the pacemaker. It is commonly called as a “Combo” device or a CRT-D (D stands for Defibrillator).

The best way to prevent heart failure is to practice healthy lifestyle habits that reduce your chances of developing a heart problem. It is also important to find out if you have any risk factors that contribute to heart failure, such as high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. Many patients with congestive heart failure can be successfully treated, usually with a percutaneous coronary intervention.Patients should carefully follow their doctors' advice. In doing so, they can continue to live full and productive lives.

Minimally invasive spinal surgery has revolutionized the surgical treatment of sciatica, disc prolapse, canal stenosis. Minimal Access Spine Surgery has become a boon to patients suffering from these problems, who dread a spinal surgery due to the fear of postoperative pain, rehabilitation and risk of general anesthesia.

The spinal cord is a delicate fluid filled long tube with multiple nerves coursing through it like tendrils. The above-mentioned diseases cause pressure on the bag or the nerve roots giving rise to pain, tingling, numbness and even weakness in the lower limbs. Left neglected it can lead to permanent weakness of the leg, foot, or urinary system. The vertebra encloses delicate structures within it, protecting the vital cord & nerve from injury.

To remove the pressure on the nerves and the cord it is imperative to remove the prolapsed disc, thickened ligaments or the bony growths.

In Standard Laminectomy surgeries the whole posterior part of 1 & 2 vertebrae would be excised, so as to access the diseased part. This procedure does relieve the patient of his symptoms but due to the excision of the lamina & Interspinous ligament it predisposes the patient to developing spinal instability & Postoperative adhesions. Laminectomy has a high incidence of repeat surgeries and also the postoperative recovery is prolonged (1 – 3 days).

As a commitment towards improving the quality of life by enhancing the level of medicare, we at Wockhardt Hospitals, continuously strive to make the best use of cutting edge Medical Technology. The YESS system is being used in India for the first time at Wockhardt Bone and Joint Hospital, Hyderabad. With the help of YESS apparatus, Endoscopic spine surgeries can be carried out under local anesthesia and the postoperative stay of the patient is reduced to only a few hours..

Tennis elbow is an inflammation around the bony knob on the outer side of the elbow. It occurs when the tissue that attaches muscle to the bone becomes irritated. The bony knob is called the lateral epicondyle, and tennis elbow is also called lateral epicondylitis (ep-ih-kondah- LY- its).

Playing a racket sport can cause tennis elbow. So can doing any thing that involves extending your wrist or rotating your forearm- such as twisting a screwdriver or lifting heavy objects with your palm down. With age, the tissue may become inflamed more easily.

The most common symptom of tennis elbow is pain on the outer side of the elbow and down the forearm. You may have pain all the time or only when you lift things. The elbow may also swell, get red, or feel warm to the touch. And it may hurt to grip things, turn your hand, or swing your arm.

The muscle that allows you to straighten your fingers and rotate your lower arm and wrist are called the extensor muscles. These miles extend from the outer side of your elbow to your wrist and finger. A cordlike fiber called a tendon attaches the extensor muscles to the elbow. Overuse or an accident can cause tissue in the tendon to become inflamed or injured.

Your doctor can usually diagnose tennis elbow from your symptoms and from the look and feel of your elbow. He or she may order an x-ray to be sure the bone is not diseased or fractured. In some cases, other tests may be needed.

Wearing a tennis elbow splint allows the inflamed tendon to rest, so it can heal. Using your other hand or changing your grip also helps take stress off the tendon. And oral anti inflammatory medications and heat or ice can relieve
pain and reduce swelling.

To prevent flare-up after treatment , you may need to change the way you do some things. Gripping with the palm up, lifting heavy objects with both hands ,or vary activities through out the day will help reduce stress on the tendon. When you play racket sports or golf ,be sure to condition your muscles ,do warm-up and cool-down exercises, and use the correct strokes.

About Wockhardt Hospital, Bone and Joint care :The Wockhardt Hospitals Bone and Joint care is one of our super specialties and is a center of excellence with highly skilled clinical expertise.

The Wockhardt Bone and Joint Care is equipped to treat all types of musculo-skeletal problems ranging from Trauma Surgery to Minimally Invasive Arthroscopy Surgery. The hospital also specializes in surgery for joint replacements, sports medicine, ligament repair, knee surgery, spine surgery and physical therapy for rehabilitation.

Wockhardt Bone & Joint Care has complete technology and advanced skills to perform Microscopic Lumber & Cervical Discectomy, Endo-scopic Spine Surgery and Arthroscopic surgeries such as Ligament Reconstruction in the knee, Subacromial Decompression in the shoulder.For online appointments write into enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net or logon to our website at wockhardthospitals

Doctor Sachin Bhonsle,(MS (Orthopaedics, FRCS Glasgow, UK) Consultant Joint Replacement and Orthopaedic Surgeon Wockhardt Bone and Joint Care, Mumbai,India answers some most commonly asked questions on Knee Surgeries .



1. Evolution around knee surgeries in India over the years.

This decade has been very progressive for orthopaedics in India to the extent that we can call it an orthopaedic decade. A lot is now on offer to improve quality of life to those with arthritis and joint injuries. As late as 1980s most people with worn out joints had no choice but to lead an invalid life. There are very few surgeons in our country with resources to provide reconstructive joint surgery. Also to those few who could afford, the treatment options were limited as well as expensive. In late 80s Arthroscopic or keyhole surgery started gaining popularity in India. This was a boon to youngsters involved in sports. Around the same time Joint replacements became more readily available. This is when Indian companies started coming up with reliable prostheses. As we rolled into the third millennium standard knee and hip replacements were optimised in a number of cities and centres across the country.

2. Percentage of Indian undergoing Knee Replacements every year

This varies greatly compared to western countries. Reliable figures are not available but a vast majority of Indian patients tend to procrastinate on knee arthritis rather than having surgery. Knee tends to be most commonly replaced joint in India because of higher incidence of knee arthritis compared to hip in our subcontinent.

3. Who is a candidate for knee replacements?

Any person with a painful and irreparably worn out knee joint can be a candidate. There has been a classic approach to do it after the age of 60 because older prostheses tended to last only 10 to 15 years and revision surgery was difficult. But now the contemporary designs are long lasting, techniques are more refined and revision surgery facilities have been developed optimally. Therefore we contemplate doing joint replacements at much younger ages.

4. What advancements have been made in total knee replacements? Advancements in surgical methods and how it has been revolutionized over the years
To know more about Bone and Joint care at Wockhardt Hospitals, or to schedule an appointment with Doctor Sachin Bhosel,please write to enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net

It is not everyday we get to hear real life examples of customer services from Institutions ,that manages to surprises us pleasantly. True Customer service is not led by individuals but are most often powered across the length and breadth of the Organization

Mr Ramanujam Sridhar CEO, of brand-comm, also the author of "One Land, One Billion Minds" writes about some exceptional customer services which he had experienced in recent times and Wockhardt Hospital features in this list of handful of companies.. In a recent article is Hindu Business Line,Mr Ramanujam writes about how some companies has managed to raise the bar when it comes to service standards. You can find the entire article here..

When it comes to Wockhardt Hospitals.. he narrates an incident which happened recently.

"On February 1, in the middle of the night, a shock awaited me. I got a frantic call around midnight that my mother was unwell. We rushed there, only to find that she was seriously ill. Her pulse was failing and one of us had the presence of mind to c all the emergency care of Wockhardt hospital on Bannerghatta road in Bangalore, close to where we stay. Even as my mother continued to struggle over the next half hour we sat around hoping against hope that she would be okay. The emergency unit arrived from the hospital in time with all the paraphernalia - ambulance, stretcher, life-support equipment, a team of five including the duty doctor. They tried to revive her, even as we kept watching and praying. Sadly, it was too late. They left saying that there was very little they could do and it was all over.

Amidst all the grief I still realized that they were providing a necessary service and had to be paid for it. I asked them how much I should pay and at first one of them said that I had to pay for the injection. Then he called the hospital and said there would be no charge for the emergency visit of the entire team. While my mother was a patient of the hospital and used its services regularly this was still something that any hospital would have been justified in charging for. Today, a month later, I am able to talk about this and with effort even write about it. But clearly there was an element of surprise in their handling of the situation. Given the reputation that some hospitals have of being more commercial than they ought to be, this sensitive handling of a tragic incident came like a breath of fresh air to someone who was in a state of shock. "

You can read the entire article called "Empathy with the consumer should be the guiding principle of service."

Doctor Atul Ganatra,Gynecologist,Wockhardt Hospitals,Mumbai shares his thoughts on Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia is a complication of pregnancy.Women with pre-eclampsia have high blood pressure, protein in their urine, & may develop swelling of feet etc .The more severe the pre-eclampsia, the greater the risk of serious complicationsto both mother and baby.

Pre-eclampsia is thought to be due to a problem with the afterbirth (placenta), and so delivering the baby early is the usual treatment.Medication may be advised to help prevent complications.

• Are pregnant for the first time, or are pregnant for the first time by a new partner. About 1 in 30 women develop pre-eclampsia in their first pregnancy.

Pre-eclampsia runs in some families so there may be some genetic factor.Pre-eclampsia can also affect various other parts of the mothers body. It is thought that substances released from the placenta (afterbirth) go around the body and damage the blood vessels, making them become leaky.

Pre-eclampsia can develop anytime after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Pre-eclampsia is present if:

Just a high systolic pressure, for example, 170/70 mmHg or just a high diastolic pressure, for example, 130/104 mmHg. Or both, for example, 170/110 mmHg.

However, any substantial rise in the blood pressure from a reading taken in early pregnancy is a concern, even if it does not get as high as the levels listed above. (You may have quite low blood pressure to start with.)

No. Many pregnant women develop mild high blood pressure. Most do not have pre-eclampsia. With pre-eclampsia you have high blood pressure, plus protein in your urine, and sometimes other symptoms and complications listed below. About 1 in 5 pregnant women with high blood pressure progress to pre-eclampsia.

Therefore, if you develop mild high blood pressure, it is vital that you have regular ante-natal checks which can detect pre-eclampsia, if it occurs, as early as possible.

• Headaches.

• Blurring of vision, or other visual problems.


• Vomiting.

HELLP syndrome occurs in about 1 in 5 women who have severe pre-eclampsia. HELLP stands for 'haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets' which are some of the medical features of this severe form of pre-eclampsia. Haemolysis means that the blood cells start to break down. Elevated liver enzymes means that the liver has become affected. Low platelets means that the number of platelets in the blood is low and you are at risk of serious bleeding problems.

The only complete cure is to deliver the baby. At delivery the placenta (often called the afterbirth) is delivered just after the baby. Therefore, the cause of the condition is removed. After the birth, the blood pressure and any other symptoms in the mother usually soon settle.
It is common practice to induce labour if pre-eclampsia occurs late in the pregnancy. A caesarean section can be done if necessary. The risk to the baby is small if he or she is born just a few weeks early. However, a difficult decision may have to be made if pre-eclampsia occurs earlier in the pregnancy. The best time to deliver the baby has to balance several factors which include:

• The severity of the condition in the mother, and the risk of complications occurring.
• How badly the baby is affected.
• The chance of a premature baby doing well. As a rule, the later in pregnancy the baby is born, the better.

However, some babies grow very poorly if the placenta does not work well in severe pre-eclampsia. They may do much better if they are born, even if they are premature. As a rule, if pre-eclampsia is severe, then delivery sooner rather than later is best. If the pre-eclampsia is not too severe, then postponing delivery until nearer full term may be best

Globally, preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death. By conservative estimates, these disorders are responsible for 76,000 maternal and 500,000 infant deaths each year.

Doctor Archana Juneja,M.D (Med.),DM (Endo), DNB (Endo),Consultant Endocrinologist at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai shares her thoughts with us on "Thyroid Disorders"

The thyroid is an endocrine gland located in the front of the neck, overlying the wind pipe (trachea) and food pipe (oesophagus). It produces the hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxin (T4) which circulate in the blood. These hormones control the metabolism and function of our body cells. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), a hormone produced by the pituitary gland in our brain, regulates the production of T3 and T4. T3 and T4, in turn, exert a negative feedback effect on the TSH production.

Iodine is the main constituent of the thyroid hormones.

Thyroid disorders arise either because of abnormal production of thyroid hormones (excess or under), abnormal structure or congenital developmental disorders.

Goiter: Goiter refers to an enlargement of the thyroid gland. Common causes for goiter are iodine deficiency and auto immune thyroid disease wherein antibodies, which slowly destroy the thyroid, are produced in the body. The symptoms of thyroid dysfunction are very subtle and can be easily overlooked. Hence a high index of suspicion is required to diagnose these disorders.

Hypothyroidism :Hypothyroidism refers to reduced activity of the thyroid gland leading to underproduction and low levels of T3 and T4 hormones in the blood. The TSH levels rise due to the negative feedback effect of the low hormone. This can occur because of primary damage to the thyroid gland by antibodies or because of drugs like lithium, amiodarone or iodine containing solutions. Very rarely, some pituitary tumors cause low TSH levels and thereby reduce the production of T3 and T4. This is called secondary hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism is more common in females. The usual symptoms of hypothyroidism (uncontrolled) include slowing of metabolism with tiredness, lethargy, cold intolerance., weight gain, mood changes, dry coarse skin, hoarse voice, heavy menses, infertility, anemia, high cholesterol etc. In children hypothyroidism leads to short stature and low IQ.

This is diagnosed by checking blood hormone levels which show low normal T3 and T4 with elevated TSH in primary hypothyroidism and a normal TSH with low T3 and T4 in secondary hypothyroidism. Tests like anti-microsomal or anti-thyroglobulin antibodies establish the cause of the problem.

Treatement

Treatment is replacing the deficient hormones by thyroxine tablets (T4 tablets eg: Eltroxin, Thronorm, Thyrox). The dose required is 1.6-1.8 mcg/kg to be taken every day in the morning on an empty stomach. Drugs like iron, calcium and antacids interfere with thyroxine and need to be spaced out. Treatment is usually lifelong except in rare circumstances. Yearly monitoring of TSH is required to decide the appropriate dose for each patient.

It can affect both sexes but is more common in males. The usual symptoms of uncontrolled hyperthyroidism include weight loss, palpitations, increased sweating, tremulousness, prominence of eyes, heat intolerance etc. In addition to these, silent diseases like irregular heart rate, heart failure, osteoporosis and worsening of diabetes can occur. Cigarette smoking can worsen this state.

Diagnosis is by detecting high normal T3 and T4 with low TSH levels in blood. Further investigations like technetium or radio-iodine scans may be useful to distinguish between thyroiditis (temporary hyperthyroidism, no treatment required) or Graves' disease (definitive therapy required).

There are various options like drugs, surgery and radioactive iodine depending on various factors like age, goiter size, eye complications, recurrent disease etc. In addition, beta-blockers for controlling symptoms and calcium and Vit. D supplements should be given to prevent osteoporosis.

Refers to benign growth of thyroid in patches leading to formation of nodules (single/multiple). The thyroid enlarges slowly and most common symptoms are of compression of the trachea or the esophagus. Thyroid hormone levels are usually normal. An ultrasound, a technetium scan or fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the nodule may be required.

Treatment options are watchful observation, surgery or radioactive iodine ablation depending on the clinical condition.

Thyroid malignancies are rare and usually seen with single nodules. Risk factors are extremes of age, large size and a rapid increase in size. The prognosis is good if detected early. Surgery followed by radioactive iodine therapy and thyroxin supplementation lifelong is the usual protocol of treatment.

Thyroid disorders can lead to infertility and miscarriages in women. Thyroid hormones are essential for normal brain development in the fetus. The developing fetus does not have a functioning thyroid gland till, at least 6months of pregnancy. It is totally dependent on the mother’s thyroid hormone, which should be maintained in the normal range. Both low and excess thyroid hormones in the mother can adversely affect the fetus. Low thyroid hormone levels in the fetus causes mental retardation. Hence, a hypothyroid mother should continue her thyroxin tablets in pregnancy and if necessary, may need to increase her dose. Similarly hyperthyroidism can cause low birth weight and heart failure in the fetus. A hyperthyroid mother should take tablets to control he hormone levels and should have blood tests done at regular intervals.

All babies born to mothers with thyroid problems should have thyroid hormone levels done on the 7th day of life.

Dr. Archana Juneja brings with her to Wockhardt Hospitals dedicated training and clinical expertise in Endocrinology from K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai. She has also worked as a Consultant Endocrinologist at Chennai and has managed a comprehensive spectrum of endocrine cases including the extremely rare Carney’s complex and intersex disorders.

has extensive research experience on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Cushing’s syndrome, thyroid disorders in pregnancy, and insulinomas and has also worked in collaboration with Interventional Radiologists on projects like Inferior Petrosal Sinus Sampling (IPSS) for ACTH and Arterial Stimulation and Venous Sampling (ASVS) for insulin, which is being done at very few centers in India.

To schedule an online Appointments with Dr Archana Juneja Please write into enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net or click here