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Musical way to recover from illness – Times of India
Published: April 30, 2008 Does music affect living beings? And more relevant to doctors and patients, does music help recover from an illness? A series of experiments on animals has shown that a stimulating and an enriching environment can significantly enhance...
A Doctor’s Viewpoint Changes When the Patient Is His Father – Washington Post
Published: April 15, 2008 Each morning as I head for my morning rounds, I routinely hurry through the hallway alongside the cardiac catheterization lab not noticing what goes on inside. But, this morning it was different. On the table, under the x-ray beams, with a...
Food colour making children hyper – Times of India
Published: April 06, 2008 Nearly every kid's food is “decorated” or “tainted” with artificial food color and additives. While they make food look pretty, there may be a downside. Can our children's daily consumption of juices, candy, and soft drinks with these...
Five easy steps to living long and well – Times of India
Published: March 16, 2008 Reaching the age of 90 and being in good health may be easier than we think, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It’s well known that our genetic makeup influences our life span, but until now it was unclear what...
Honestly, I Could Not Help Him – Washington Post
Patient's Routine Visit Becomes An Ethical Challenge for a DoctorPublished: March 04, 2008 My patient had come for a routine doctor visit. He was a well-built, soft-spoken middle-aged man who was always polite, respectful and adhered meticulously to his HIV...
The biochemistry of Sudarshan Kriya – Times of India
Published: February 24, 2008 "If we reduce the number of oxygen radicals, we improve the antioxidant status in our body and live longer" Manoj Jain Ever wonder what causes us to age resulting in death of our body cells over the years, develop heart disease leading to...
An aspirin a week… – Times of India
Published: January 27, 2008 Imagine a drug which can reduce pain and fever, spare the muscles of the oxygen-starved heart, prevent strokes, and save 110,000 lives per year. To add to its stellar performance, imagine if it can also reduce certain types of breast...
Essay : Putting Pay on the Line to Improve Health Care – The New York Times
Published: September 04, 2007 Every quarter I get together with my partners to review the performance of our medical practice. Like a manager of a car dealership, I bring out the numbers. I show them how many patients we saw in the previous months, what we billed, how...
How I Learned to Treat My Bias – Washington Post
Published: April 15, 2007 At our hospital in Tennessee not long ago, I saw my picture on the hallway message board alongside those of other doctors in a display thanking us for our service. My Asian-Indian complexion set me apart -- it's something that I am rarely...
Gita and Ganesh in Space – Hindustan Times
Published: March, 2007 As Indians we swell with pride to see Sunita Pandya Williams, an Indian-American, walking in space. For me, the event has special significance, since I grew up with her in an upper-middle class suburb of Boston. She lived less than 100 meters...
Recognizing a Sacred Bond Sometimes Obscured – New York Times
Published: January 23, 2007 I carry the card in the glove compartment of my car. It is not a Valentine’s card from my wife, or a graduation card from my mother. It is a simple greeting card, with a cheerful watercolor of wildflowers, sent to me by a patient I cared...
Summer diseases – Shelby Sun
Summer is fun, but it isn’t without hazards. In fact, a surprising number of people become ill or are injured during the summer months. The good news is – summer diseases and injuries are preventable. Take the case of skin cancer. Over one million new cases of skin...
American Cancer Society Reaffirms the Benefits Of Mammography – Shelby Sun
October is national breast cancer awareness month and October 17 is mammography day. If you are confused about the screening recommendations for a mammogram, you are not the only one – so are many doctors. A few months ago, the American Cancer Society updated its...
www.mypyramid.gov – an awesome resource – Shelby Sun
It’s very likely that you have visited the new food pyramid website, www.mypyramid.gov. How do I know? Because, the site was clogged for several days after it’s unveiling, due to unprecedented network traffic. The old food pyramid, which was first introduced in 1992...
Mark your calendar – Flu shot – Shelby Sun
On Monday you have a hair salon appointment, on Wednesday it’s dinner at Martha’s place and Friday morning is your flu shot appointment at the pharmacy. If the last appointment is missing you better mark your calendar. Last year 2 of every 5 seniors in Tennessee...
The world is flatter and fatter – Shelby Sun
The obesity pandemic - slowly and silently - is killing more people in the world than the bird flu may ever kill. In United States alone, an estimated 300,000 individuals die annually from obesity and its complications such as diabetes, heart disease and breast...
Medicare drug bill – a step towards privatization of Medicare – Shelby Sun
The Medicare legislation being voted on by Congress this week hopes to bring the greatest change to Medicare in its 40 year history. The plan is sure to effect our health, our pocket books, and the future of our health care industry in America. The bill is not just...
Meditation – not just for the mind! – Shelby Sun
Last week I attended a talk by Dr. Herb Smith a former Rhodes College psychology professor. He was teaching meditation. I am often asked , “what is meditation?” As doctors we have a fairly sophisticated definition. Scientifically we define meditation “as stylized...
Diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease – Shelby Sun
Last week, at a breakfast meeting Governor Mike Huckabee spoke about his personal battle and victory over diabetes. As the talk was interesting, one fact stuck to our minds – “every 21 seconds someone new is diagnosed with diabetes.” This threat of diabetes became...
Dehydration from Bright Lights and Bright Sun – Shelby Sun
When Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza, the newly crowned Miss. Universe, fainted on stage, she was likely squeezed by her tight dress and dehydrated from the bright lights. Dehydration is more common than we think. Thirst is a symptom of dehydration as is dry mouth, decrease...
Improving Care for Sepsis Patients – Shelby Sun
A visit to the hospital can be traumatizing. Even more traumatizing can be when the team of doctors and nurses are not coordinated in the recognition, diagnosis and management of a critical illness such as sepsis. Sepsis is a life threatening response of the body to...
Sticking to It – Shelby Sun
When Ms. Landers, a 30 year old HIV positive patient, comes to my office and is failing on her HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), I wonder why. Is it because the medicines are not working and resistance has developed? Is it because there is drug-drug...
Time for a check up – Shelby Sun
The odometer on my Toyota Avalon just passed 100,000 and soon the “check engine” light went on. It was a reminder that I needed to take my car for routine servicing. Thought it is annoying the “check engine” light is an “in the face” reminder of needed preventive...
To eat or not to eat: Spinach – Shelby Sun
Last week while having dinner at a hospital board meeting at the Peabody, I wondered if I should eat the salad – especially the spinach. It is hard to imagine that spinach, the food of Popeye-the sailor, could be more harmful than healthy, yet such is the case in...
Meningitis Vaccine for Teenagers – Shelby Sun
Our pediatrician poked a pen in my teenage daughter’s arm and said “That’s how much it will hurt, or I will give you ten dollars” He was talking about the meningitis vaccine. Meningitis is an infection of the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, and can be caused by...
Memphis – First in Addressing Childhood Obesity – Shelby Sun
Who would have imagined that the first interactive national conversation on childhood obesity would begin in Memphis? But that is what is happening on September 17, 2005 as 1,200 people – parents, youths, doctors, politicians, corporate executive, school teachers, and...
Norfleet Forum- Focuses on Diabetes and Obesity – Shelby Sun
For several months I have been on the planning committee for the Norfleet Forum, which is an annual meeting in Memphis of health care providers, to be held on November 13-14. The Forum has taken on the challenge to reverse the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the...
Only in America …dietary guidelines – Shelby Sun
Only in America do we order a big double cheese burger, large fries and a diet coke from the drive-through and the government tells us this is wrong. Early this month when the new dietary guidelines were unveiled by the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human...
Patients and Family are Part of the Healthcare Team – Shelby Sun
Few weeks ago my wife, also a physician, and I attended a medical seminar on teamwork. A Navy pilot, Steve Harden, was teaching us teamwork skills from the aviation industry so that we could reduce medical errors in the healthcare setting. The hotel ballroom was...
Feel the power of prayer – Shelby Sun
Last month I spoke to students at Rhodes College on “Does Prayer Really Work?”. I am not a preacher or a pastor but a doctor. Why would a doctor be talking about prayer? A controversy has brewed in the field of medicine- whether doctors should pray with their patients...
Quality Improvement Projects in India
Books
Mindfulness
The Mindfulness Model
Management of Infectious Diseases
Roadmap for Quality Improvement
Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle Rejuvenates a Marriage
MAHAVIRA - The Hero of Nonviolence
Cook Books