A super-speciality hospital here has redefined the approach to healthcare by providing world class treatment completely free.
Patients referred to Sri Satya Sai Institute for Higher Medical Sciences hospital do not have to come in with a credit card or a cheque book.
"Here we don't charge for anything, whether it is a heart bypass, lung operation, or a brain surgery," says Satyaranjandas Hegde, a top neurosurgeon and director of the 330-bed hospital. "In fact, we have no cashier or a billing section."
Treatments, tests, medicines, food and hospital stay are all free, "and if some tests cannot be done here, we get them done outside at our cost," says Hegde.
On an average day, surgeons here perform six neuro and seven heart surgeries. Together with laboratory tests, X-ray scans and outpatient procedures these are worth over Rs.5 million ($100,000) in commercial terms but done free, says Hegde, who quit his high paying job in another hospital because he did not like the "commercial culture" there.
He was not the only one to make the switch. Kolli Challam, head of anesthesia and critical care, left his flourishing practice in Abu Dhabi two years ago to join Hegde's team.
Government dispensaries do offer free treatment for minor ailments but tertiary care always involves money, says Hegde. "It is a disaster for a poor family if one of its members requires brain or heart surgery. It means selling family jewels to meet hospital costs or just pray to god and hope for the best."
For thousands of Indians - as well as patients from neighboring Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka - their god comes in the shape of the Sai hospital. Set up in 2001, it is run by a medical trust created by Sri Satya Sai Baba, a spiritual leader with a global following.
Built with trust funds, the Rs.200 million that the hospital spends annually on salaries, medicine, equipment and maintenance come entirely from unsolicited donations from his devotees.
"The state government gave us land and the power supply for hospital is free," Hegde said. "Companies give us medical equipments at discount and one computer firm installed Rs.10 million ($20,000)-worth hospital software at no cost."
The hospital does not advertise to fill non-clinical positions. Skilled workers queue up to volunteer their services because of their faith in Satya Sai Baba.
Those who man the gates, serve at the reception and counsel patients are all volunteers inspired by Baba's philosophy that "seva," or selfless service, is service to god. People wanting to offer 'seva' are so many that there is a waiting list for volunteers, says Hegde. "We keep rotating them to give everyone a chance."
Sai hospital is actually known as a "temple of healing" as it provides medicare in a spiritual ambiance devoid of commercialism, its employees say. "I can see god's mission being carried out here," said former president of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam during a visit to the hospital in 2006. "The doctors and staff looked to me as angels."
Free service does not mean compromising on quality or standards, Hegde points out. "Ours is as well equipped as, or better equipped than, corporate hospitals."
The hospital, with highly qualified physicians and surgeons, attracts dozens of specialists from India and abroad because they are either devotees of Satya Sai Baba or "infected by the desire to do seva", says Hegde.
Sivaraman Yegyaraman, a practising cardiac electro physiologist in Stratford, New Jersey, is one such specialist who comes to Sai hospital twice a year at his own expense. "I had always wanted to place my medical training at the service of the under-privileged and Sai hospital presented me the opportunity," he told IANS during his recent visit.
Another regular visitor, Ravindra Goyal, chairman of neurosciences at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, is a Satya Sai Baba devotee. "Each trip to this facility charges and motivates me to apply the principle of 'selfless service' to my work back in the US on my return," he said.
What makes the Sai hospital unique? It is not just the state-of-the-art technology or high quality service but the spiritual ambiance pervading through the campus, says hospital manager Sri Krishna.
"It actually makes me feel I am entering a temple and not a hospital," said Akella Chendrasekhar, medical director of Wyckoff Medical Center in New York. He was one of three specialists who came from the US spending their own money to conduct a workshop on 'critical care medicine' at the Sai hospital last week.
By redefining medical care Sai hospital has clearly shown it is certainly possible to provide the best treatment absolutely free, says Hegde. "There is no reason why this model cannot be replicated in other places in India and even abroad."
Thirty-two-year-old Manaka Singh remembers being discriminated against as a child by the elders of her family who thought she was possessed and inauspicious because of a birthmark on her neck.
"People still have myths associated with these birthmarks and I had to face a lot of discrimination because some people in my family thought I was possessed and was inauspicious," Singh said.
"This discrimination forced me to get rid of this mark because it was affecting my mental state and social interactions," she added.
According to Anup Dhir, senior cosmetic surgeon at Apollo Hospital, some other myths associated with these birthmarks are that they are caused when an expecting mother sees something strange, or experiences a great deal of fear. None of this is true, of course.
Kaya skin clinic's medical head Snehal Sriram agrees with Dhir: "Some people believe that birthmarks are caused by anything done or not done during pregnancy. There is no truth to these old wives' tales about these 'stains' being caused by something the mother did or ate."
Though the real cause behind birthmarks is still unknown, they are mostly harmless and painless.
As Dhir explains, a birthmark is a blemish on the skin formed before birth. It is a vascular lesion (abnormal tissue) and looks like soft raised swelling on the skin, often with a bright red surface, and some may look a bit like a strawberry or may be a black or a brown mole.
"They are a benign overgrowth of blood vessels in the skin, and are made up of cells that usually form the inner lining of blood vessels. Some birthmarks show up soon after a baby is born. Most birthmarks are obvious at birth. Some kinds of birthmarks fade or go away as a child gets older. Others stay the same or get bigger, darker, or thicker," Dhir told IANS.
Another reason for having these birthmarks is to have extra colour (melanin pigment) in that part of skin, says Mumbai-based cosmetic surgeon Meenakshi Agarwal.
Different types of birthmarks are vascular (such as strawberry hemangiomas, port-wine stains, and stork bites) and pigmented (such as moles, cafe-au-lait spots, and Mongolian spots).
"Hemangiomas are caused by many tiny blood vessels bunched together and vary in severity whereas port wine stains are caused by abnormal development of blood vessels and last a lifetime," Agarwal told IANS on phone.
A lot of people shy away from social gatherings to avoid unwanted attention because of these marks.
Pragya Khanna, 18, is very conscious about the birthmark on the right side of her cheek. She hides it with her hair whenever she goes out and tries to avoid meeting new people who ask her about this black patch.
"Every time I meet a new person, his attention is automatically directed towards my cheeks and the worst part is that either they will stare at it or else will ask me obvious questions like what is it? It does get embarrassing for me. Hence I either try to hide it or else avoid meeting new people," Khanna said with a bit of irritation.
"I am planning to get rid of this because my confidence level is already shattered and I don't want to live my life with people staring at my face," she added.
The good news is that most of these marks can be treated with laser therapy.
"These treatments can be painful and it is very important to know the benefits and risks involved in it. Success rate varies according to type of mark. Though lasers are generally successful on improving them but at times complete cure may not be possible," Dhir said.
According to experts, one should take a few precautions after undergoing treatments.
"After the birthmark has been treated with surgery or laser therapy, avoid scratching the treated area. It's also important to restrict exposure to the sun for several weeks after surgery. Until the treated areas are completely healed, use sunscreen regularly," Sriram said.
A diet of fruits and vegetables, washed down with red wine or green tea, could help keep cancer and heart disease at bay.
That's thanks to polyphenols -- antioxidants that shut down and prevent cancerous tumours, according to new research published in the November issue of The FASEB Journal.
The research, by French scientists, describes how very high doses of polyphenols prevent cancerous tumours by cutting off the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumour growth.
Polyphenols are commonly found in red wine, fruits, vegetables and green tea.
The researchers found that relatively lower doses of polyphenols play a beneficial role in those with diseased hearts and circulatory systems by facilitating blood vessel growth, the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) reported.
The amount of polyphenols necessary for this effect was found to be the equivalent of only one glass of red wine per day or simply sticking to a healthy diet of polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables - known as the "Mediterranean Diet".
The study adds to a growing body of research showing dose-dependent relationships for many types of commonly used compounds.
"When it comes to finding treatments for complex diseases, the answers are sometimes right there waiting to be discovered in unexpected places like the produce aisles and wine racks of the nearest store," said the Journal's editor Gerald Weissmann.
"But it takes modern science to isolate the pure compound, test it in the lab, and to go on from there to find new agents to fight disease."
Indo-Asian News Service
Healthy teeth might help protect the heart by preventing cardiac infections, according to German researchers.
Proper oral hygiene can help prevent heart infections known as endocarditis, which start when bacteria finds their way into the blood, according to the German Society for Cardiology, Heart and Circulatory Research (DGK) in Cologne.
Until now, operations were considered one of the major risk factors for the condition.
"But our study showed that 80 percent of endocarditis patients didn't have any surgery before the outbreak of the disease," said Christoph Naber, an assistant professor with the West German Heart Centre in Essen during a DGK meeting.
One theory is that bacteria can enter the bloodstream when people with bad teeth chew. But the evidence is not yet conclusive, experts said.
Yet, it has been shown that people with healthy teeth suffer from irritants carried in the bloodstream less frequently. Apart form that proper oral hygiene can only "have good side effects".
DPA
Sleeping a lot during long-distance travel can increase the risk of developing deep vein thrombosis, says a US scientist who advises people to do some exercise while on a journey.
Long-distance travel, whether by plane or car, leads to increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot that forms in the deep veins of the legs, said Alan Lumsden, a vascular surgeon with the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center in Houston.
The clot can travel unnoticed through the blood stream and lodge in the brain, lungs, heart or other areas causing severe damage to organs. Symptoms include pain and tenderness, swelling, redness and increased warmth in one leg, reported Newswise wire.
"If you are travelling overseas or cross country, make sure to get up and walk around at least every two hours, and try not to sleep more than four hours at a time," Lumsden suggested.
"You should also drink plenty of water or juices, wear loose-fitting clothing, eat light meals, and limit your alcohol consumption," he added.
Those who do not have the ability to get up every couple of hours and walk around they can extend both legs and exercise while sitting itself, the researcher said.
"In some cases, a physician might suggest that a patient go on blood thinners or simply take an aspirin before and during a long trip to avoid the problem."
Indo-Asian News Service