Is it bane of Bacchus or simply laws of Karma in action? Two people died in Mumbai the other day for no fault of theirs. Yes, I am pointing towards the Nooria - Drinking and Driving case. 

First and foremost two papers of the same group have reported the same incident with dissimilar facts. But that is besides the point. 

My issue is that what was going on inside the mind of a 27 year old female (who has stayed on her own in US too) to drive a vehicle after drinking around 6 - 7 large pegs.  You are not 14 or 16. At 27, many people get married, already have kids and move ahead steadily in their profession. In my opinion, someone who can down 6 - 7 pegs and move around is not an ocassional drinker. I am not passing a judgement here. My point is that if you are going out with friends and it is evident that you are going to drink then why not hire a cab and move. Drink to your heart's content and then come home safely. Mumbai is flooded with Meru and Mega cabs apart from the usual taxis. There is no dearth and the lady who can afford to drive a Honda CRV definitely does not have dearth of funds. 

And what kind of friends does she have? Are they worthy of being called as "friends" or they are just acquaintances? They are friends for Gods sake not relatives. We get to "choose" our friends atleast. 

I hope people drink, binge, party, do everything but not end up messing up their lives when they are just spreading their wings. The anguish that the parents and loved ones feel in these circumstances dont go away easily. The people who lost their lives because of her action - what explanation do we have for their families? Faith is shattered and take ages to get resurrected. And many lives change forever. 

Am I passing a comment or criticizing like we usually do while watching cricket or lawn tennis on TV or Nooria could have actually used her mind and evaluated this before she set out of her house? Only God and she knows. 

If you drink, just catch a cab and fasten your seat belts.  

Stress is a part and parcel of today's life especially in urban areas primarily because of the tremendous changes in the lifestyle of people over the last decade or so. Its primary reason being trying to meet demands which are beyond our capabilities. Leading a stressful life for a long can create a lot of other disorders. Stress is difficult to deal with because its not something which can be cured by taking a few pills prescribed by a doctor.

Stress requires more effort, it actually means a complete change in the lifestyle. Over a long period we have become used to a lifestyle which is not in harmony with our true nature. As a student, as professionals, as parents we become used to satisfy the demands required by our roles and somehow in almost all cases we tend to put our health (physical and mental) last.

Now this is where the root cause of stress lies. Our priorities needs to be looked into and we need to create harmony so that health prospers, however, in this mindset of wealth creation we end up paying a huge price of losing our health.

Cure - Cure is actually not the right word to be used here, an ideal word will be prevention, though we can not be idealistic. Simple way of looking at this problem is to visualize that our energies are always moving outwards it. We need to shift focus from outside to inside. We need to keep a small portion of day reserved for us to not only do physical exercise (most advisable would be yoga which helps remove harmful chemicals and hence balances our body equilibrium within the body, also it is tested tool for many centuries now) but above all we should also do meditation as it gives mind some time to relax and energize itself so that we are ready to face the challenges ahead with more vigor.

Autism is a kind of problem where the children could not interact properly with others, where they have problems in social interactions and problems in communications where they are not able to able to express themselves properly and they have a repetitive behavior where they repeat the activities again and again.

The repetitive activity might be a stereotyped behavior like making same kind of sounds repetitively or body rocking, or compulsive activity like following strictly certain rules such as arranging objects in a line , sameness in behavior, they are resistant to change or following a kind of ritual or restricted behavior such as preoccupation with television program, toy or a game and sometimes self injurious behavior such as hand biting , skin picking or head banging.

Though, they find it difficult to interact socially, still they believe in quality of friendship rather than the number of friends. They feel lonely sometimes and would like to interact with others but since they do not understand that why the other person is smiling at him and even if they are able to understand it they find it difficult to communicate with them as they found it difficult to find words and express themselves.

Sometimes they also have speech defects or deficits and they are not able to communicate due to this. For the treatment basically the speech therapy and behavior therapy and occupational therapy is recommended besides psychoactive drugs as prescribed by the clinical practioner.

Dr Smita Pandey Bhat
Clinical Psychologist
Gurgaon, Delhi - NCR, INDIA
Email : dr.smitapandey@gmail.com
Url : http://child-psychologist.blogspot.com

Speaking to youngsters, one can clearly see the dooming credibility of the institution of marriage. Couples today admit that they had issues even in the courtship. How can the undealt issues be dragged in a marriage, which in India is a 7 birth committment. So that means the issues will have their impact for next 7 seven births.

With a stranger , we do not take 7 seconds to flare up and react irrationally, but we can be indifferent to our partner who will stay with us for a lifetime. Marriage is somewhere lost its purpose, and why not, no one is there to tell and no one is there who knows it. Marriage is only confined to wedding function and frills. It is all about a fancy dress competition and the celeberation. What for, no one knows. People forget the couple, and the whole show is about "the hitek buffet", the glamour. Nowhere the couple are told why are they following all the processess.

Couples come to us( marriage counsellor) with issues which sometimes they laugh reciting. Deployed at senior management levels in big corporates, they make billion dollar decisions, excute country wide plans, resolve grave issues amongst a 1000 employees. But to their own life, they act indifferently, when at work, they talk about employee engagement. They practice theories of rewarding and compensation in HR departments, but fail to acknowledge small , precious gestures of their life partners.

Why is all this happening ? Because they are themselves starving for love or they do not know what is love. Their work profiles have educated them to sense what they are entitled for - the CTCs, perks. But they have somehow lost human touch. It is all about emails, chats, video conferencing. They have their team huddles, but no family dinning table talks. And this is what they have to offer or not to offer in their marriage.

They result is marriage starving for love. A mass movement needs to be brought in this country around re-inforcing the meaning, purpose of marriage. Couples need to be oriented to the councept of marriage. The system should help individuals and couples to grow. People like us should come up together and fight against this indifference to such a vital part if life.

Stress is the physical or mental demand upon a person that exceeds the capacity of the body. It means stress the pressure on the person that makes the person loose his balance.

During stress - heart beat increases, palpitations increase, the person starts breathing heavily, or one can have butterflies in his or her stomach, the person starts blushing, sometimes, the person also stammers while speaking.

Stress is the part of life. Basically, it is of two kinds:- Eustress and Distress.

Eustress is the stress or tension which comes into the events or incidents of happiness like marriage, birth of a child, getting a new job etc.

Distress is the stress or tension which comes due to the effect of unpleasant events like loosing a job, or death in a family or getting divorced etc.

1. The first thing is to realize that you are under distress. You should be able to catch the symptoms like having excessive fatigue, increased palpitations, facing sleep problems, inability to relax and so on.
2. The next thing is to find out the sources how to relieve it. Find out somebody with whom you can talk out your stress. Talk out with the significant others and have their support. This is the kind of social support you are gaining and thereby reducing your stress. Also, you can take their suggestions or physical help if you require it.
3. The next thing is to do some physical exercises, like going to gym, run or exercise or practice swimming, jogging etc.
4. Sit and relax. Listen to your favorite music, , take out time for yourself and most importantly listen to your body.
5. Indulge in pleasurable activities, which you enjoy to do e.g.: go for riding, go for outings, go for movies.
6. Spend time with your family. That is another way of reducing stress.
7. Do not carry the burden of your work to home. Do not convert your home into office.
8. Be calm and maintain your cool. If your heart has started beating faster, take your time and relax. Practice any of the techniques of relaxation twice daily.
9. Give yourself positive self statements e.g.: “I will be able to make it, I can do this"
10. Have proper sleep and practice methods of sleep hygiene.
11. Finally, a little stress is a booster but excessive stress is unhygienic so recognize that unhealthy part and remove it from your life. Crack jokes, spend some time leisurely and enjoy your life as much as possible.

Dr Smita Pandey Bhat is a Counselor and Clinical Psychologist.

U - 51/8,
DLF Phase 3,
Gurgaon, Delhi - NCR,
INDIA
Email : dr.smitapandey@gmail.com
Url : http://child-psychologist.blogspot.com

Swine influenza (also known as H1N1 or swine flu or hog flu or pig flu) is an infection caused by one of the several types of influenza virus. This virus is common through out pig populations worldwide. Common transmission of virus from pigs does not always lead to the disease.

The meat of the infected animal poses no risk of infection when it is properly cooked. It is feared that the swine flu may become a major global pandemic in the cool seasons. Many countries are now trying to create vaccines and are planning massive vaccination programmes. \

Transmission of the H1N1 virus happens through direct contact between infected animals and people with intensive exposure to poultry and pigs. Professionals such as veterinarians and meat-processing workers also have a high risk for infection.

Primary symptoms of Swine Flu

1. Fever
2. Cough
3. Sore Throat
4. Body aches
5. Head ache
6. Chills
7. Fatigue

Swine flu can be fatal, more so in young children, pregnant women, and elderly people. Common causes of death are:

1. Respiratory failure (Pneumonia)
2. High temperature (Neurological failure)
3. Dehydration (Excessive vomiting and Diarrhoea/ Electrolyte imbalance)

Treatment

All the medical systems in the world recommend that prevention is the best approach to swine flu. This has three components -

1. Prevention in pigs
2. Prevention of transmission to humans
3. Prevention of spread among humans

Prevention through Complementary and Alternative Medicine

1. Regular practice of Pranayama (Bastrika and Kapalabhati), will increase the lungs capacity and immunity against any infection especially swine flu.
2. Home remedies for Swine Flu
   1. Juice of tulsi (basil) with honey
   2. Fresh ginger juice with honey
   3. Clove powder with milk
   4. Cinnamon bark powder with milk/ warm water
   5. Fresh juice of pepper mint / powder with warm water
   6. Cardamomum powder
   7. Turmeric powder

All remedies when mixed with one spoon of honey and taken twice or thrice a day is effective against the swine flu.

Ayurveda recommends medicated fumigation as an effective method of controlling any type of air borne infection. Gum resin of neem (Azadirachta indica), shallaki (Boswellia serrata), guggulu (Commiphora mukul), and white mustard are used as fumigants.

Common Ayurvedic remedies for Swine Flu

1. Dasamoola Katutryam Kashayam – An Ayurvedic, pure herbal formula, effective against all types of respiratory infections and poor immunity. It is also good for fever, cough, body pain, etc.
2. Vyagradi Kashayam – An Ayurvedic, pure herbal formula effective against all types of respiratory infections and fever. This improves lung function, removes toxins from the body, and improves body metabolism.
3. Kanchanara Guggulu – An herbal Ayurvedic formulation proven effective for improving immunity and lymph gland functions.
4. Agasthya Rasayanam- Improves the respiratory function and ability.
5. Chyavanaprash – Improves the general immunity and particularly prevents respiratory infections.
6. Haridra Kanda – Ayurvedic formulations with turmeric and improves the immunity.
7. Khadiradi Gutika - Improves the general immunity and particularly prevents respiratory infections.
8. Ayurveda recommends regular detoxification therapies like purgation, emesis, and medicated smoking to eliminate all unwanted toxins and to provide immunity against any kind of infections.

Dietary recommendations

1. Timely intake of food, preferably warm food, is very important.
2. Avoid foods that are pungent, hot, too salty, or sour.
3. Avoid sauces, vinegar, pickles, cheese, paneer, curd (yogurt), fatty foods, and fizzy drinks.
4. Avoid alcohol and smoking.
5. Use honey on a regular basis.

Ayurveda and other complementary medical systems can help in prevention and successful management of swine flu.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression is America's leading mental health problem. Depression has been classified the common cold of psychiatry.

It may vary from slight sadness to utter misery and dejection. Most of us get the blues, and it's considered quite normal. But when those feelings of dejection and misery stay on, it could be a serious case of depression; doctors may classify it as major or clinical depression. A major depression is something that is considerably more than your everyday blues. When you need professional help, it becomes clinical depression.

Depression is frequently an after-effect of material abuse or the result of a physically continuing state of ill-health. The US statistics on Stress and related disorders show that an annual expenditure of $7500 per person is incurred on compensation claims which are stress related, a cumulative amount of $300 billion.

Stress-related disorders, mainly Depression are touted to be THE occupational disease of this new century. No other solitary factor is predicted to cause loss of more man days of work. Competitiveness and corporate productivity are facing a major drain through this one disorder. Numerous health problems are related to stress; these range from heart diseases to liver cirrhosis to suicides to memory loss to obesity.

According to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association in 2004, more than two-thirds of Americans are likely to seek help for stress. The same survey confirms that one out of four workers have availed a day off for mental health reasons to cope with the stress factors in their lives.

Similarly, the National Institute of Mental Health report that 18.8 million American adults suffer from stress-related depression. This includes twice as many women as men. Anxiety disorders are a co-occurrence with stress and depression. The WHO (World Health Organization) reports the number of depression-affected in the world as a stupendous 121 million.

What we deduct from these statistics is three facts:

• we need to consider that stress is a genuine health issue, anxiety and depression are off shoots of stress, and women are twice as likely to suffer from stress as men.
• The symptoms of stress and depression may vary.
• More often than not stress is the starting point of any state of depression.

Random incidents like deaths, job losses etc can stress you out, but they are not regulars in your life. It's those little daily incidents like missed appointments, flat tires, bounced checks and imminent deadlines that burn you out more and cause chronic stress. Stress mobilizes your body's reflexes and releases certain hormones into the blood stream.

The results of this maybe increased or decreased respiration and heart rate, elevated or very low blood pressure and sugar level etc. This state when mis-managed leads to a host of physical and psychological symptoms including extreme loss or gain of appetite, drastic change in bowl movement patterns, pain, fatigue and irritability. As it progresses, attacks of anxiety may result. The person may develop unhealthy sleep patterns, may lack concentration and decision making power.

All these external manifestations are actually the outcome of a tormented mind. Experts like Dr. H.K. Bakhru say that stress contributes to more than 80% of all major diseases. Depression if often caused by a malfunctioning of the adrenal gland. Irregular dietary habits containing a high content of white sugar, coffee, tea and chocolates while lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables can be an indirect pathway to a decreased supply of oxygen in tissues; this increases the level of carbon dioxide in the body and results in general depression.

Excessive and indiscriminate use of drugs also leads to faulty assimilation of vitamins and minerals by the body and causes depression. Even marginal deficiencies of the B vitamins- thiamin, riboflavin and folic acid- can cause or aggravate depression says Melvin R Werbach, M.D. of the School of Medicine, University of California. Many Americans don't get to eat a diet that is plush with the essential Bs. Whole grains are generally absent in the American daily food, the focus is on refined grains. Treating depression, stress and anxiety using Naturopathy does not involve suppressing your naturally produced symptoms with drugs.

Rather, Naturopathy assumes that a person's body reacts in a certain way because it has been abused it in some manner. The naturopathic approach works to bring the body back into balance. Although antidepressant or stress-reduction pills may give temporary relief, individuals who take these pills risk side effects such as liver damage, hypersensitivity, insomnia, hallucinations, and a host of other discomforts and illnesses.

According to Naturopathic medicine, diet plays a major role in an individual's state of mental health. Dr. Priscilla of the University of California prescribes nutritional therapy to build up brain chemicals like serotonin and norepinephrine, which effect mood and are often found lacking in depressed people. 5 She recommends eating whole grains, green vegetables, eggs and fish.

Some of the other good mood foods are whole wheat bread, bananas, oranges and grapefruits. Whole wheat bread is rich in the amino-acid tryptophan. Once it enters the brain, this amino acid boosts levels of serotonin, the soothing, mood-elevating brain chemical. Bananas are rich in magnesium and research shows that increased magnesium intake results in less anxiety and better sleep. Nuts, beans and leafy green vegetables, oranges and grapefruit are invaluable in treating depression on account of their high Vitamin C content. Furthermore, the body's ability to fight fatigue is considerably decreased by the lack of Vitamin C.

There are many home remedies which are used in the treatment of depression as well.

• Apples and cashews are excellent for this purpose; supplementation with vitamins B1, phosphorous and potassium aid in the synthesis of glutamic acid which ultimately controls the wear and tear of nerve cells.
• Whereas the thiamin in cashews stimulates the appetite and the nervous system, the riboflavin in the nut makes sure that the body keeps active, happy and energetic.
• Asparagus is another wonder drug in this context. The root of asparagus is highly nutritious and used as a herbal medicine for mental disorders. It is a good tonic for the brain and the nerves.
• Cardamom is used likewise.
• Other effective treatments use the herb lemon balm and roses.

There are other approaches individuals can take in the treatment of depression and stress. Exercise, for example, effects the body's production of hormones, enhances the beta-endorphins, and improves the function of the automatic nervous system. Yoga, meditation and herbal oil massages are other techniques used in treating depression. The Mayo Clinic Health Letter of January 2005 lauds the benefits of massage in stress reduction. 

Furthermore, the March 2005 issue recommends meditation to manage stress successfully. According to this report, meditation can reduce high blood pressure, anxiety, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress syndrome and visits to health care providers. The Mayo Clinic, which is currently holding a study analyzing the effects of yoga and meditation on stress reduction with results to be released in 2008, endorses several relaxation techniques that are classified under procedures of Naturopathy. 

According to Naturopathy, there is no one method that will treat depression and anxiety. Rather, a combination of all the above mentioned techniques will bring a person to his or her normal state of health. Adequate rest, relaxation and a sound sleep wraps up the treatment effectively and successfully.

Few days back a person came to me with the complaints that he is not able to concentrate on his work anymore. He had sleepless nights and that he lost pleasure in most of the things he used to like. Also, he used to feel sad, gloomy and irritable all the time. He felt that his life is not worth living and that he should die. All the time he felt tired and low in energy. What is this person suffering from?

The answer is depression.

The people in depression feel sad, tired and low in energy all the time. They are usually not able to concentrate on their work. Either they sleep very less, wake up early in the morning or they sleep too much and feel like not getting up in the morning. The time becomes hard for them to pass as they feel very gloomy and sad. They lose pleasure in their surroundings and feel that it is very difficult for them to stand the day.

Since the arrival of the day is very painful to them they feel very difficult to get up in the morning. Even if they are not feeling sleepy they lie in the bed as the arrival of another day is not welcoming anything new to them. They feel low in energy all the time and not able to enjoy their day to day usual activities. Sometimes they feel like crying and they actually cry a lot. Most of the time they feel that they are no good, they cannot do anything well and that they are worthless.

They cut themselves of from the social circle because they have lot of shame and guilt about themselves not performing well. They feel helpless because of moving away from the society. They feel hopeless as all the things appear to them as gloomy and that they feel that the life has come to an end and that there is no hope in their life. Sometimes they think of committing suicide as well because they feel hopelessness in their lives. Sometimes they plan to take suicidal actions. Mostly people do not act on these plans but sometimes they actually does act over these plans.

So you need to be very careful if someone related to you is suffering from these problems. The treatment for depression is the medications and psychotherapies. The medications involve several antidepressants which try to ward off depression. The idea behind medications is that prolonged stress can make neuro chemical changes in the brain which might cause some changes in emotions and behavior.

The response to stress is a fight or flight reaction. Either you try to maintain your behavior through fighting it off or you try to avoid these situations or run away from the situation. For example if a snake comes through your way you will be frightened and you will undergo a lot of emotional changes resulting in the fighting behavior (to kill the snake) or the flight behavior (running away from the place). You experience these emotions due to changes in the chemicals in your brain.

But these emotions become permanent if the stress is prolonged as these chemicals cause derangements in your brain. Taking medications from outside would try to maintain your equilibrium. The medications would try to release either those chemicals in your brain which release those neurotransmitters that are healthy for you or try to block those neurotransmitters that are unhealthy for you. Psychotherapies like cognitive behavior therapy focus on the thinking style (cognitions).

It believes in the concept that the thinking style affects your emotions and behavior. If you start thinking positive then your emotions and behavior will be positive and if you think negative then your behavior and emotions will be negative and you will feel sad and gloomy all the time. So it is all about your perceptions - how you perceive the world.

For example do you feel the glass is half "empty" or half "filled". The therapist try to validate your thoughts from the reality, he/she try to focus on the evidences that what evidences are there which makes your assumptions and automatic thoughts. Then therapist gives you lots of homework’s and a schedule of activities to keep yourself busy all the time so that you do not find it difficult to kill time and that you are engaged constructively which can bring back your zeal and enthusiasm towards life. Therapist acts as a support towards all the activities you do and he/she tries to encourage the person who is depressed.

One thing I would like to add here is that the antidepressants and the Cognitive Behavior therapies might be used separately but when they are used in combination, the results and benefits are more effective. Please find out if anybody related to you is suffering from these symptoms and try to help him or her. You may contact your nearest clinical psychologist and psychiatrist for the advice.

Dr. Smita Pandey Bhat
Clinical Psychologist Delhi
Email : dr.smitapandey@gmail.com
Url : http://child-psychologist.blogspot.com 

Breast cancer has emerged the largest common cancer amongst urban women in India and we are losing a large number of women to this highly treatable disease because of poor awareness and very late diagnosis and detection. It is high time that we built a high degree of awareness amongst all strata of society about breast cancer.

Education and awareness will play a big role in future in saving precious lives of women in our society. So what really is the cause of breast cancer? Certain changes in DNA can cause normal breast cells to become cancerous. DNA mutations lead to enhanced risk of developing breast cancer.

There have also been some genetic factors that have been found to cause breast cancer that runs in the family through generations. For example , BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two genes that have been found to be responsible for hereditary breast cancer in women. But most breast cancer DNA changes happen in single breast cells during a woman's lifetime instead of getting resulted from the genetic factors or gene mutation.

What then are some of the things that can reduce the risk of breast cancer ?

• Exercise: Exercising apart from the obvious benefits may decrease hormone levels and help lower breast cancer risk. The effect of exercise on breast cancer risk may be greatest in premenopausal women of normal or low weight. The routine must involve a workout regimen four or more hours a week on a sustained basis.
• Reduced Exposure to Estrogen: Decreasing the length of time a woman's breast tissue is exposed to estrogen may help prevent breast cancer. Exposure to estrogen is reduced in the following ways:
  1. Pregnancy: Estrogen levels are lower during pregnancy. The risk of breast cancer appears to be lower if a woman has her first full-term pregnancy before she is 20 years old.
  2. Breast-feeding: Estrogen levels may remain lower while a woman is breast-feeding.
  3. Ovarian ablation: The amount of estrogen made by the body can be greatly reduced by removing one or both ovaries, which make estrogen. Also, drugs may be taken to lower the amount of estrogen made by the ovaries.
  4. Late menstruation: Beginning to have menstrual periods at age 14 or older decreases the number of years the breast tissue is exposed to estrogen.
  5. Early menopause: The fewer years a woman menstruates, the shorter the time her breast tissue is exposed to estrogen. Endogenous estrogen is a hormone made by the body.

Being exposed to estrogen over a long time may increase the risk of breast cancer. Estrogen levels are highest during the years a woman is menstruating. A woman's exposure to estrogen is increased in the following ways:

1. Early menstruation: Beginning to have menstrual periods at age 11 or younger increases the number of years the breast tissue is exposed to estrogen.
2. Late menopause: The more years a woman menstruates, the longer her breast tissue is exposed to estrogen. 
3. Late pregnancy or never being pregnant: Because estrogen levels are lower during pregnancy, breast tissue is exposed to more estrogen in women who become pregnant for the first time after age 35 or who never become pregnant.

• Radiation Exposure: Radiation therapy to the chest for the treatment of cancers increases the risk of breast cancer, starting 10 years after treatment and lasting for a lifetime. The risk of developing breast cancer depends on the dose of radiation and the age at which it is given. The risk is highest if radiation treatment was used during puberty. For example, radiation therapy used to treat Hodgkin disease by age 16, especially radiation to the chest and neck, increases the risk of breast cancer. However, radiation therapy to treat cancer in one breast does not appear to increase the risk of developing cancer in the other breast. For women who are at risk of breast cancer due to inherited changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, exposure to radiation, such as that from chest x-rays, may further increase the risk of breast cancer, especially in women who were x-rayed before 20 years of age.
• Obesity: Obesity increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women who have not used hormone replacement therapy.
• Alcohol: Alcohol consumption also increases the risk of breast cancer. The level of risk obviously increase as the alcohol intake increases.

October is a breast cancer month. We are organizing a breast cancer " Walk for Life" on 25th October at the Noida stadium. Please do join in or organize an event of your own in your community. Let us increase awareness about cancer in our immediate environment. You can save many precious lives.

"Every Life Matters" 

Pradeep K Jaisingh www.internationaloncology.com