In ‘awake’ surgeries, surgeons must watch what they say

The surgeons talked about many surgical procedures, ranging from biopsies to abortions to cataract surgery. A growing number of surgeries performed with only local anesthesia create new challenges for surgeons, according to interviews with U.S. doctors. Surgeries using new local anesthestics that numb an area of the body but leave patients awake, tend to have a shorter recovery time, but can also cause distress and anxiety for patients, researchers write in the American Journal of Surgery. These “awake surgeries” also raise new issues for surgeons, who must balance the needs…

Symptoms of Dengue Fever and How it is Different From Regular Flu

Dengue in India Dengue has become, in recent years, an annual scare during the monsoon season in India. It is not uncommon to find newspapers and television channels full of stories on Dengue’s rising incidences. The statistics are equally concerning. In 2014, there were 40,571 reported cases of Dengue in India and 137 subsequent deaths. This number rose sharply in 2015, to 99,913 reported cases and 220 deaths. This year, the situation is as grim. In Delhi itself, 171 cases have already been reported, the highest in five years, with…

Organ donation hits rejection hurdle

Failure shouldn’t send a wrong message: Doctors When family of Sovona Sarkar donated the 71-year old’s organs in June, her kidneys gave new life to two young renal-failure patients. A month and-a-half later, the body of one of the recipients rejected the donated kidney. The other’s condition is also a cause for concern, but doctors at SSKM Hospital have not yet given up hope. Experts though, stressed that one rejection, or even two, should not mean the end of the road for cadaver organ donation. “Any transplant operation always carries…

Revealed: Smartphone use at night does not affect your sleep

Revealed: Smartphone use at night does not affect your sleep (Donald Iain Smith/Getty Images) For those who love late night reading in tablets and smartphones, there’s good news as a recent study has stated that daytime light exposure can help fight sleep disturbances which may be caused due to late night use of electronic gadgets. The study has revealed that ample exposure to daytime bright light can help young people who used self-luminous gadgets for up to two hours in evening in getting a sound sleep. “Our most important finding…

Capacity of humans to reproduce beyond 30 is reducing

Capacity of humans to reproduce beyond 30 is reducing (Getty Images) The capacity to reproduce both in males and females beyond the age of 30 has witnessed a steep decline due to lifestyle and environmental changes, fertility experts said. According to the experts, until two decades ago females could become pregnant even in their late 30s, but now the only option left for even younger women to conceive is through IVF. Women are born with with 1-2 million eggs, which is reduced to 100-200 thousand in the early 20s. As…

Decoding Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

An increasing number of women are getting afflicted with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (Thinkstock) Hollywood actress Zoe Saldana recently revealed that she suffers from Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, a condition where her immune system attacks her own thyroid gland, causing extreme muscle pain and tiredness. In an interview, the actress said, “Your body doesn’t have the energy it needs to filter toxins, causing it to believe that it has an infection, so it’s always inflamed. You create antibodies that attack your glands, so you have to eat clean.” The actress, who admitted that her…