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Doctors in India are grappling to diagnose and treat unexplained and persistent symptoms of <keyword id="9814327" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="long-covid" source="Orion">long Covid</keyword> patients due to limited guidelines, whereas researchers have flagged inadequate studies on the condition. With the <keyword id="19896311" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-health-organization" source="keywords">World Health Organization</keyword> declaring an end to <keyword id="19896627" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid" source="keywords">Covid</keyword> as a global <keyword id="416511" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-emergency" source="Orion">health emergency</keyword> in May last year, focused efforts are underway around the world to estimate the burden of long Covid among the population. The condition refers to the set of lingering symptoms affecting varied body parts and persisting well beyond the acute Covid infection period, including cough, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, brain fog and difficulty in focusing. The viral disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While studies have suggested that about a third of those moderately or severely infected are likely to suffer from long Covid, region-wise though, incidence could vary. A study by researchers, including those from <keyword id="19988007" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="harvard-medical-school" source="keywords">Harvard Medical School</keyword>, US, estimated that 31 % of the once-infected people in North America, 44% in Europe, and 51% in Asia, have long Covid, which is "challenging the healthcare system, but there are limited guidelines for its treatment". It was published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases in September. In India, however, studies on long Covid are few and far between. One such study by Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, conducted from May 2022 to March 2023 on 553 patients who had recovered from Covid, found that about 45% had lingering symptoms, persistent fatigue and dry cough being the most common. "There is limited exploratory research on the long Covid syndrome with scarce data on long-term outcomes," the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Cureus in May this year. Understanding the long-term effects of the virus is important for developing management strategies, optimising healthcare delivery, and providing support to recovered Covid patients in the community, they said. Dr Rajesh Sagar, Professor of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, said, "Looking at the current state of long Covid studies in India, it is too premature to say that we understand the condition well enough to know how to diagnose or treat it." Animesh Samanta, assistant professor at School of Natural Sciences in <keyword id="19897094" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shiv-nadar-university" source="keywords">Shiv Nadar University</keyword>, Greater Noida, said, "While studies in India highlight the growing recognition of neurological complications in long Covid patients, more focused research on neuroinflammation is needed." Doctors, too, have reported a rise in patients complaining of symptoms that they did not have pre-Covid. "People who never had <keyword id="6465125" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asthma" source="Orion">asthma</keyword> in the past, post-Covid, with every viral infection, they get a long cough, shortness of breath and wheezing, which require the use of <keyword id="31257" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="inhalers" source="Orion">inhalers</keyword> or nebuliser," senior consultant Dr Neetu Jain, who runs a post-Covid care clinic at Pushpawati Singhania Hospital and Research Institute, New Delhi, said. Dr Arun Garg, chairman, Neurology and Neurosciences, Medanta-The Medicity, Gurugram, said he was noticing a spike in stroke cases among young patients not suffering from known risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. "Similarly, we are seeing more cases of encephalopathy (swelling of the brain) without reason and having a confused state of mind following one or two days of fever. Their MRI scans show no changes. These patients have increased significantly after Covid," he said. In the absence of medical guidelines to diagnose long Covid, doctors are having to resort to broad, non-specific tests and questionnaires to gauge a patient's 'quality of life'. Studies have shown that the fatigue experienced in long Covid is similar to that in cancer patients, with a quality of life similar to patients of Parkinson's disease. "We really do not have any test to diagnose long Covid, even though it is definitely a clinical diagnosis. We diagnose long Covid for people who had at least moderate to severe infection, following which they could never regain the quality of life pre-Covid. Checking for inflammatory markers like C-reactive proteins (CRP) can support the diagnosis," Dr Jain said. "Other than routine blood tests that measure inflammation, we do antibody tests to look for direct markers. In many of these patients, we are finding rare antibodies which are very new to us and were not there pre-Covid," Dr Garg said. Inflammation persisting despite recovery from acute Covid infection is thought to lie at the heart of long Covid. However, tests to measure this specific immune response are lacking, even as researchers have been working in this direction worldwide. One such effort comes from Shiv Nadar University, where a team led by Samanta has developed a fluorescent probe capable of detecting inflammation in brain cells that can arise due to Covid infection. The probe measures nitric oxide levels in brain cells, especially in human microglia cells, where increased NO levels are linked to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Microglia are immune cells in the brain that fight disease and help maintain brain health. Lysosomes within microglia, which help clear foreign disease-causing agents like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, produce nitric oxide as part of an immune response to infection. The probe detects nitric oxide produced in lysosomes in response to infection and thereby allows for a measurement of inflammation levels. This examination method can provide "qualitative information on infection status", said Samanta, corresponding author on the study published in the journal Analytical Chemistry in American Chemical Society. He explained that patients with pre-existing conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis (an autoimmune disorder) could exhibit prolonged neuroinflammation and loss of brain cells following Covid infection. While the probe has shown efficacy in cell cultures, animal studies would need to be done, before testing it in humans, Samanta said. Looking at the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, the study by Harvard Medical School had found that 587 clinical studies were conducted on long Covid, of which about 53% (312) were testing potential treatments. Most of these were found to be conducted in the US (58), followed by India (55) and Spain (20). The trials looked at interventions including physical exercise, psychotherapy, and pharmacological ones such as paxlovid and fluvoxamine. However, "to date, only 11 of these 312 studies have published their results that were not confirmative," the researchers wrote. The team called for studies to look into sleep disorders which were rarely included in the registered clinical studies. Further, interventions targeting the biological processes responsible for long Covid are needed but currently lacking, they said.

Doctors struggle to treat long Covid patients in India; researchers point to inadequate studies

The <keyword id="22366986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="doctor-population-ratio" source="keywords">doctor-population ratio</keyword> in the country is 1:836, which is better than the <keyword id="20522854" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WHO-standard" source="keywords">WHO standard</keyword> of 1:1000, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel told the Lok Sabha on Friday. According to the information provided by the <keyword id="20039511" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Medical-Commission" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="National Medical Commission" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="National Medical Commission">National Medical Commission</keyword> (NMC), there are 13,86,136 <keyword id="20522855" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="allopathic-doctors" source="keywords">allopathic doctors</keyword> registered with the State Medical Councils and the National Medical Commission (NMC) as on July, 2024, Patel said in a written reply. "Assuming 80% availability of registered allopathic doctors and around 5.65 lakh <keyword id="20522856" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AYUSH-doctors" source="keywords">AYUSH doctors</keyword>, the doctor-population ratio in the country is around 1:836 which is better than the WHO standard of 1:1000," Patel stated. She also said that there are 731 medical colleges in the country with an annual intake of 1,12,112 <keyword id="20585495" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="MBBS-seats" source="keywords">MBBS seats</keyword> as of now. Further, there are 72,627 <keyword id="22645227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PG-seats" source="keywords">PG seats</keyword> as of date, she said. Measures taken by the government to augment medical education facilities and to improve medical standards include <keyword id="22366985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Centrally-Sponsored-Scheme" source="keywords">Centrally Sponsored Scheme</keyword> (CSS) for establishment of new medical colleges by upgrading district/referral hospitals, under which 157 new medical colleges have been approved and 109 are already functional. Under the CSS, medical colleges have been upgraded to increase the number of MBBS (UG) and PG seats. Support has been provided for an increase of 4,977 MBBS seats in 83 colleges with an approved cost of Rs 5,972.20 crore, 4,058 PG seats in phase-I in 72 colleges with an approved cost of Rs 1,498.43 crore and 4,000 PG seats in phase-II in 65 colleges with an approved cost of Rs 4,478.25 crore. Besides, under "upgradation of government medical colleges by construction of super specialty blocks" component of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), 75 projects have been approved, of which 66 projects are complete. Under the Central Sector Scheme for setting up of new AIIMS, 22 AIIMS have been approved and undergraduate courses have started in 19 of these. Also, DNB qualification has been recognised for appointment as teaching faculty, to take care of shortage of faculty and there has been enhancement of age limit for appointment, extension or re-employment against posts of teachers/dean/principal/ director in medical colleges up to 70 years. <h2>Claims of Indians being unfit "extrapolated" </h2>Furthermore, Union Health Minister J P Nadda told the Lok Sabha today that WHO's recent report stating that half of India's adult population is physically unfit relied on data collected only from three states and one UT, and the results were extrapolated through a modelling technique indicating inbuilt methodological issues. Responding to a question, Nadda said the WHO defines 'sufficient physical activity' as 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activities per week (brisk walk, lifting light load etc.) or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week (running, digging, construction work, outdoor games etc.). The activity level so quantified is based on a self-reported response to questions about physical activity lasting at least for 10 minutes. The National NCD Monitoring Survey of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 2020 has assessed, inter alia, physical activity amongst Indian adults and found that 58.7% had conformed to the WHO recommendations, Nadda told the Lok Sabha.

Doctor-population ratio in India better than WHO standard, says Govt

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): The Delhi All <keyword id="20858468" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india-institute-of-medical-sciences" source="keywords">India Institute Of Medical Sciences</keyword> (<keyword id="19914075" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="aiims" source="keywords">AIIMS</keyword>) has said that the problem of poor eyesight in children has increased in the last 10 years. While earlier this problem was present in 13 to 15 per cent of children, it has increased to 20 to 25 per cent in the last 10 years. That means if there are 50 children in a classroom, then out of them there will be 15 to 20 children who require glasses. Dr <keyword id="20858465" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rohit-saxena" source="keywords">Rohit Saxena</keyword>, professor of ophthalmology and pediatrics, <keyword id="20858467" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rp-center" source="keywords">RP Center</keyword> at AIIMS, said that in earlier times, only 3 to 4 per cent of children required spectacles but now this number has increased. "Earlier, the problem of vision defects was seen in children 10 to 12 years of age. But now, at the age of 6 to 7 years, the eyesight of children has started deteriorating and they need to wear glasses," said the doctor. Not only this, but the doctor also said that even children under 4 years of age are facing the problem of myopia, or vision defect and the reason for its increase is the continuous use of gadgets like mobile phones, tablets, etc. in children. Children keep using mobile phones and other gadgets for many hours and parents do not interrupt them, Dr Rohit said, adding that before Corona, when parents used to come to us, they used to complain about television hours and ways to solve them. "But now parents say that he uses the phone only for 2 hours, which means that there has been a change in the mentality of the parents, which is affecting the eyesight of children," he added. Dr Rohit Saxena said that if children are studying online, then parents should ask them to study on a computer or laptop only and use smart screens for entertainment. "The distance should be equal to one hand and if the distance is greater than that, then it will also be fine," he added. Professor <keyword id="20858466" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dr-saxena" source="keywords">Dr Saxena</keyword> of the RP Center said that in the last 30 years, the problem of poor eyesight in children has increased rapidly. In this regard, the countries of East Asia are at the forefront. This includes countries like China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. "In the countries of East Asia, 80 to 90 per cent of children suffer from visual impairment. Not only this, if we talk about <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>, this problem is continuously increasing among children in India," said the doctor. "Especially earlier, we used to think that the problem of visual impairment was less common in children in rural areas, but now the figures coming out show that even in rural areas, the problem of visual impairment is seen in small children. This means that even in those areas, the use of mobile phones and other gadgets has increased among children," he said. Dr Rohit said that in the data collected from rural areas in the last 10 years, earlier, 3 to 4 per cent of children had the problem of visual impairment, which has now increased to 7 to 8 per cent. The doctor said that it is very important to increase digitalization, which is a good thing. People are becoming aware of this, even in rural areas. Along with this, excessive use of mobile phones, tablets and other gadgets is harmful to children. "Parents need to be made aware of this and will have to explain this to their children since young minds are not aware of the potential damage," he stated. In such a situation, there are some symptoms. If the symptoms are visible in your child, then pay attention to them. For example, if the child is not able to copy the homework from the board in the class, if the child is copying homework from the other child's notebook, or if the child is watching the board with eyes slightly closed. Additionally, if the child is watching TV very closely, reading books very closely or has watery eyes and is used to constant rubbing of their eyes, these are all symptoms of a vision defect or myopia. Regarding this, parents should immediately take their children to the doctor and get their eyes checked. Along with this, if children use the phone continuously or have to do homework online, then parents should keep in mind that they must take a 5-minute break every half hour and always keep their computer or laptop near the window so that their children keep looking outside while studying. Along with this, if possible, study in the open on the balcony or terrace. Children need to go out 2 hours during the day in the morning or anytime before evening. (ANI)

Poor eyesight in children increased in past 10 years: AIIMS

Toxicology experts will soon train doctors working in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and district hospitals in <keyword id="13126" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="maharashtra" source="Orion">Maharashtra</keyword> and other places in the country about the protocols for diagnosis and treatment of farmers exposed to chemicals and pesticides, a medical expert has said. Toxicology as a subject is quite neglected in the medical curriculum, Dr Tejas Prajapati, a clinical medical toxicologist at the LG Hospital in Ahmedabad, said at a press conference on Wednesday after a symposium on 'Occupational health hazards in agriculture' held at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (<keyword id="40458" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="aiims" source="Orion">AIIMS</keyword>), Nagpur. Doctors at the PHCs are the first contact in the case of a patient exposed to pesticides and chemicals. They are already loaded with various other medical programmes and works and a case of such a medical emergency is immediately sent to higher centres and the "<keyword id="2284670" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="golden-period" source="Orion">golden period</keyword>" is lost, he noted. "The AIIMS along with the <keyword id="333824" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="upl" source="Orion">UPL</keyword> Limited (an agriculture solutions and services company) will provide the actual protocol training to <keyword id="6638497" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="phc" source="Orion">PHC</keyword> doctors from Vidarbha, Maharashtra and the country about the diagnosis and treatment of farmers exposed to pesticides and chemicals," Dr Prajapati said. He said ultimately, the goal is to save the lives of individuals and hence they were doing this awareness programme. Deputy director of health services, block and district health officers and PHC officers from Nagpur attended a training session here on Wednesday, Dr Prajapati said. UPL's president of global corporate &amp; industry affairs, <keyword id="10327161" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sagar-kaushik" source="Orion">Sagar Kaushik</keyword> said this year they will cover three states - Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat - for the training. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/youre-eating-fats-and-carbs-because-your-body-wants-protein/articleshow/95418167.cms">You're eating fats and carbs because your body wants protein</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/us-reports-nearly-30000-weekly-child-covid-cases/articleshow/95397876.cms">US reports nearly 30,000 weekly child Covid cases</a>

Toxicology experts to train PHC doctors on protocols to treat farmers exposed to chemicals & pesticides

<keyword id="53848" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-quality" source="Orion">Air quality</keyword> across Delhi continued to be in the 'very poor' category with AQI at 324. "With severe air quality and high level of pollution in Delhi-NCR, we are observing an increase in number of patients coming to us with complains of redness, Itching, and watering in the eyes," said Dr Ikeda Lal, Cornea and Refractory Surgery Specialist, at Delhi Eye Centre and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital New Delhi. "Patients with pre-existing dry eyes are experiencing exacerbation due to high pollution. We are observing almost increase of 40 rise in number of patients coming to us with eye related problems," he added. Dr Lal explained that pollutants and dust in the air is one of the major reasons for causing eye allergy and eye related problem. Delhi has been witnessing a steep increase in AQI levels after a marginal improvement on Sunday. The city's AQI stood at 348 at 4 pm on Monday, deteriorating from 301 on Sunday. The increase in AQI levels comes after the Centre on Saturday had removed stringent curbs, including a ban on construction work related to linear projects and the entry of polluting trucks, in Delhi following a drop in pollution levels due to favourable wind speed and direction. "The increase in the incidence of dry eye and ocular allergy is causing discomfort even in normal eyes. It aggravates the eye complaints in eyes that are prone to dryness and allergies. If care is not taken immediately, some of these eyes can have reduced vision due to this problem as well," said Dr Rajesh Sinha, Professor of Ophthalmology at RP Centre AIIMS New Delhi. While lubricating eye drops and the use of sunglasses are helpful options, contact lenses and eye makeup should be avoided until the eyes are healed completely, Dr Lal said. Doctors advised to not rub eyes if they itch, wash eyes with clean water; repeat if it still feels uncomfortable. They suggested that cold compresses can help relieve mild itching and to see an eye doctor as soon as possible and avoid prolonged exposure of eyes to pollution.

40% rise in eye related problems due to pollution, say Delhi doctors

New Delhi [India], February 4 (ANI): India will see a surge in cancer cases in the coming years which can go upto 20 lakhs per year by 2026, as estimate by <keyword id="40458" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="aiims" source="Orion">AIIMS</keyword> based on the data provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Dr S V S Deo, Professor of Surgical Oncology at AIIMS Delhi, while speaking to stated that India is witnessing a surge in the number of cancer patients. He further stated, "13-14 lakh people are getting affected by the deadly disease each year and the figure could go in excess of 20 lakhs by the year 2026." The AIIMS doctor mentioned that the theme for this year's World Cancer Day, being celebrated on February 4, is 'closing the gap'. He explained that the theme has been chosen keeping in mind the lack of awareness about the myths surrounding cancer and the need to educate people regarding the disease. Deo stated that people have the misconception about Cancer being incurable which is completely dubious. He explained that the disease can be cured if diagnosed on time and this is why an awareness campaign is being run to impart this information to the public. Explaining the details of the campaign, he said, "different activities have been planned to raise awareness. Doctors will be interacting with people and rallies will be taken out to educate and disseminate information." Sharing tips on how to keep cancer at bay, he said that people need to realise the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and keeping a clean healthy diet. He further explained that processed and packed food items should be avoided as it enhances the risk of cancer. He further said that smoking and consumption of alcohol account for 30 per cent of total cancer cases. Speaking on the rise in gallbladder-related illness, Deo said, "Cases of gallbladder cases in women has been on the rise especially in the north-eastern parts of the country and settlements beside rivers." The doctor said that North-East accounted for the most number of cancer cases related to stomach, gallbladder, neck, head, food pipe etc pertaining to their unhealthy lifestyle and consumption of unhygienic water and food. <keyword id="11889336" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sushma-bhatnagar" source="Orion">Sushma Bhatnagar</keyword>, the head of <keyword id="16351049" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-cancer-institute-of-india" source="Orion">National Cancer Institute of India</keyword> told ANI, "Cases of genetic cancer in children below the age of 16 has increased in the country." She also stated that a major chunk of cancer cases are a result of air pollution, water pollution and an unhealthy lifestyle. Highlighting the spike in air pollution, the doctor said, "It has caused an increase in the cases of cervical cancer. <keyword id="674224" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="delhi-ncr" source="Orion">Delhi NCR</keyword> witnessed 22000 cases of cancer last year of which 50 per cent of cases were treated at the National Cancer Institute, AIIMS." She stated that earlier the majority of cases were recorded in people above the age of 50, but now the younger generation has fallen prey to the deadly disease. The doctor also informed that joint research with IITs is being carried on to develop technology that will help in the treatment of cancer and the negative after-effects of the disease. (ANI)

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Doctors struggle to treat long Covid patients in India; researchers point to inadequate studies

Business Insider India

Doctor-population ratio in India better than WHO standard, says Govt

Ira Alok Puranik

Poor eyesight in children increased in past 10 years: AIIMS

ANI

Toxicology experts to train PHC doctors on protocols to treat farmers exposed to chemicals & pesticides

PTI

40% rise in eye related problems due to pollution, say Delhi doctors

IANS

India's cancer cases will surge to 20 lakh per year by 2026: AIIMS

ANI

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