Timely awareness and intervention can prevent liver ailments World Liver Day – 19th April, 2019

New Delhi: With Westernization trending up among the Indian youth, poor lifestyle is attributing to an increase in number of liver ailments. Keeping our liver in a perfect condition is very much important for all. Taking the decisions late in the case of health issues which shows the symptoms of having liver disease is itself for it to be one of the most common diseases in India. 

According to recent reports of WHO, around 45% of the global diseases and 60% of mortality rate is attributable to chronic diseases accounting for over 35 million deaths annually. Considering the statistics from last few years, Liver related diseases are being recognized as one of the most common diseases which are becoming the reason for increasing death rate in India. 

As per the recent data provided by Globacan India 2018, Liver cancer was ranked 12^th amongst the most frequent cancer in India, accounting for around 30000 new cases of liver cancer recorded.

“Cirrhosis is an end result of a variety of liver diseases characterized by fibrosis and architectural distortion of the liver with the formation of regenerative nodules which needs to be timely intervened before becoming life threatening disease. The World Liver day is observed every year on April 19 with the aim to build awareness among masses about the importance of liver in human body, about the liver issues, cases of liver diseases and new inventions which are available to treat liver related diseases.” said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, Founder and CEO, 3Hcare.in

Cancer seems to have a way of deeply invading the lives of those stricken by the disease. And very often the treatment isn't much friendlier to patients. But some recent advances in cancer treatment are helping, including some minimally invasive and non surgical procedures, especially in case of Liver tumours. 

“While surgery to remove a liver tumor offers the best chance for cure, surgery is not an option for more than two-thirds of patients with primary liver cancer which is said to be the fifth most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Approximately, seventy percent of patients with liver cancer cannot opt for surgery for many reasons, like, the tumours could be too large to be removed or they could be too close to major blood vessels or other organs. And many a times, patients may have many small tumors in the liver, thus making surgery too risky or impractical.” added Dr. RP Singh, HOD - Gastroenterology, Saroj Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi.

Liver is the main player and unique organ in human body and has a special capacity of regeneration. Everything we consume passes through the liver and it helps to digest it. It fights infections, removes toxins, controls cholesterol, regulates blood sugar, and makes proteins. People should take care of their liver by adopting healthy lifestyle, and have a balanced diet of proteins, grains, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, and fats.

10 Mistakes Made by Every UPSC CSE Aspirant and How to avoid it

1. NOT following the curriculum - one of the biggest mistakes the aspirants commit is not to follow the syllabus given by the UPSC. Many of them start their preparation without referring to the syllabus and within no time find themselves in ‘no progress zone’.Though the topics may be vast, but not completely unlimited. CSE aspirants need to break this myth as this may prove fatal in the long run costing you with time, money, energy and resource. In their course of preparation, consider the UPSC syllabus as your roadmap to start with and continue referring it at all points of preparation.

2. Missing to go through previous years - Aspirants donot realize that the previous year papers can help them prepare in accordance with the latest trend followed by the UPSC. While preparing, refer to previous years after each step in order to co-relate witht hetopics finished, as this is a good indicator of whether you are moving in the right direction or not.

3. Piling up irrelevant books – Flooding the room completely wth UPSC preparation books does not always land you in success. For effective preparation, choose handpicked books that are genuinely relevant. Though there are several market place in the city that is the hub for such preparation books with various authors and publications available, scrutinize for the relevant book to idealize your preparation. It is preferable for the aspirants to seek advise from their seniors, experienced mentors or reliable sources before going for a book purchase.

4. Not getting basic reference – Most of the aspirants do this by going for heavy weight books instead of getting the basics clear. The NCERT books upto 12 standard are a good source of knowledge to initiate steadily. This is the most atomic sized mistake that can compel your preparations to fall.

5.  Writing skills deficiency – the mains exams is the criteria for the selection process that includes writing essays. One lacking writing skills may not be well efficient in clearing theselection process. The aspirants should be well equipped with facts and wisdom, fluent flow of knowledge in a very precise and skillful manner. Being one of the toughest task, if not rectified on time, failure is guaranteed. Aspirants should be focusing on exam pattern oriented writing rigorously rather than blogging to improve writing and typing skills. 

6. Way of Choosing optional paper – Aspirants opt for the optional paper based on the subject scores and marking trends, length and extent of the curriculum and subject that covers almost the GS paper. These insights and estimations can prove fatal during results. Optional paper should be chosen in such a way that it should also suit the aspirants interest and inclination towards it.

7. NOT perceiving the bottomline of the newspapers – if the newspapers and the magazines are not understood about ‘what and how to read’, the results will yield low in the long run. A newspaper has three segments from an exam point of view – events (that gives facts and figures), Issues (provides views and reviews that helps in developing an individuals understanding and opinion on contemporary subjects.) and gossips. In addition articles on various other segments also helps aspirants to frame and write well structured essays. Hence utilize the newspapers with persistent efforts.

8. Improper analysis of your strengths – SWOT analysis is  undertaken to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. As the nature of the UPSC exam demands high dynamism and adaptability, candidates miss to analyse their inbuilt strengths nad weakness along with the posing opportunity nad threats. This takes them in a wrong direction during preparation leading to loss of tempo and zeal. Aspirants should therefore keep a consistent grip overtheir strong areas and atleast a loose fist over weaker section.

9. Not prioritizing the task – improper management of time can lead to undesirableoutcomes. As aspirants put years together for UPSC preparation, managing time and prioritizing their work is must. Any ambition without a time frame is nothing more than a fantasy. Understand the difference between urgent and important to achieve fruitful benefits.

10. Circumventing regular reviewing – To retain the information stored during the preparation it is necessary to revise consistently. There has to be a very well maintained cohesion between what you read and 'revise' what have you read till date. Video Lectures, Subject Audios and Group Discussions (Group Study) can prove to be a boon for an aspirant of UPSC CSE. 

3Hcare Labs now functional at Gajraula

 
3hcare Labs opens its third lab in Gajraula, as a part of its vigorous expansion plan
 
Gajraula: After opening labs in Kosi and Jhajjhar in quick succession, 3Hcare Labs inaugurated its 3rd successful lab in Gajraula today. Being a part of its aggressive planning to expand its offline footprints across tier 3  & tier 4 cities throughout India, the leading online healthcare portal 3hcare.in has already ramping up the activities in western UP and Haryana.  
 
The labs which are being operated under the name of ‘3HCare Labs’ assures free home sample collection and same day delivery of reports assuring the best quality tests for the local. Most of the tier 3 & 4 locations are thriving with only sample collection centers and limited quality certified labs that urge the patients for outstation travel even for getting a basic pathology test. Delay in report availability may also affect their due course of treatment. After the advent of such pathology labs in the rural areas, patients will be highly benefitted. To assure quality services the lab is already undergoing ISO certification and will soon be receiving NABL accreditation.” Says CA (Dr) Ruchi Gupta, Founder & CEO, 3hcare.in
 
Most of the tier 3 & tier 4 cities are devoid of even the basic healthcare services like diagnostics, and are in demand of critical attention. In such a scenario, where the rural towns and villages are devoid of certified pathology labs, 3hcare labs (which is well established as 3hcare.in in the online segment) has a greater scope for penetration and a stronghold in these villages and towns in the offline segment as well.

Diabetic Women more at risk of small vessel heart disease than Men

 If you are a diabetic, have been treated for coronary artery disease with angioplasty, stents or coronary artery bypass graft surgery and the signs and symptoms haven't gone away, you may be having diffuse small vessel disease. Small vessel or coronary microvascular disease is a condition in which small arteries in the heart that are not visible in angiograms become narrowed and cause signs and symptoms of heart disease such as angina chest pain. The large vessels in the heart can become narrowed or blocked through atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty deposits build up in the arteries. In small vessel disease, the narrowing is in the heart’s small vessels due to which they can't expand properly when the patient is active resulting in inadequate supply of oxygen-rich blood. This inability to expand due to endothelial dysfunction may cause small vessels to actually become smaller when one is active or under emotional stress. The reduced blood flow through the small vessels causes angina or a heart attack and is usually diagnosed after a check for blockages in the main arteries of the heart show little or no narrowing in the large vessels but patient has angina symptoms. When small vessel disease is present along with large vessel disease, the condition may be suspected only when a patients has angina even after a successful angioplasty or bypass surgery.

Although anyone can have small vessel disease, it's more common in women and in people who have diabetes, are obese, smokers, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, unhealthy diet and inactive lifestyle. Diabetics normally feel less pain and chances of painless myocardial infarction that may go unnoticed are more. Diffuse small vessel disease is more difficult to detect and less easily treatable and if left untreated can cause coronary artery spasm, heart attack, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. When in a symptomatic patient coronary angiogram does not show blockages in larger vessels, additional tests for smaller arteries narrowing such as Stress Thallium test imaging and Cardiovascular Cartography heart flow mapping may be of help.

Because the blocked or narrowed blood vessels that cause the disease are very small, angioplasty, stent and surgery are usually not helpful. Small vessel disease treatment involves medications to control the symptoms of narrowed small blood vessels.

According to Dr. S.S. Sibia, Director and Consultant, Sibia Medical Centre, Ludhiana  There has been some research on diabetic patients who have Coronary Artery Disease treated with External Counter Pulsation (ECP) therapy. ECP is an option for small vessel disease patients as it dilates the coronaries, opens dormant blood vessels and stimulates angiogenesis . An analysis of data from the International EECP Patient Registry concluded that “ECP is safe, well tolerated and associated with improvement in angina, functional status, and quality of life and that clinical benefit was maintained in most patients at one year” in diabetic patients. Patients with Coronary Artery Disease and diabetes often make excellent candidates for ECP Therapy since diabetic patients are at known increased risk for interventional complications. Reports from ECP centres suggest that patients who have undergone ECP not only have better control of their blood glucose levels but have also had their physician lower (or in some cases, completely eliminate) the dosage of diabetic medication needed to maintain an optimum blood sugar level; this is not surprising since the benefits of EECP have a similar systemic effect to that of physical exercise.

While we wait or the last word on treatment of small vessel disease, the best option would be to look into ways of preventing small vessel disease - controlling the major risk factors of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. Things than can be done that may help reduce risk include eating a heart-healthy diet with low saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet.

Eating a heart-healthy diet that includes plenty of whole grains, lean meat, low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables. Also, watch the salt and fat intake as eating too much salt and saturated or trans fats may increase your blood pressure and cholesterol. Regular exercise, even 30 minutes a day, helps improve heart muscle function and keeps blood flowing through your arteries and prevent a heart attack by helping achieve and maintain a healthy weight and control diabetes, elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure. And last but not the least stop smoking or use of any other tobacco products totally.

Effective answer writing tips for IAS Mains Exam 2019 by subject experts

 Mr.A K Mishra, Founder & Chairman, Chanakya IAS Academy

The journey from being a Civil Services aspirant to becoming a successful Civil Servant undoubtedly takes the candidates through tough terrains, but the destination is indeed so powerful that it is worth taking those challenging terrains.

After appearing for Civil Services Preliminary examination 2018, aspirants must be having a tough time while preparing for mains, as prelims exam went quite unexpected. The weightage of the questions had shifted a lot from the typical analytical questions to current-affairs based questions, stressing much on testing general knowledge of the aspirants in this year’s preliminary Exam. So, although no one can predict the upcoming Mains examination, we, being an academy, which has been helping students prepare for this coveted examination for past 25 years, can lend you a helping hand with some effective tips devised after a discussion with successful candidates and field experts.

HERE ARE 7 TIPS TO HELP YOU MASTER ANSWER WRITING SKILL FOR THE UPCOMING MAINS EXAMINATION 2019

As an IAS aspirant, you must already know that this stage of the exam preparation must be entirely dedicated to mastering the Art of presenting your opinions and thoughts efficiently in your writing and connecting your answers of a particular question with the current issues being faced in the society. So what you need to do first and foremost…

1.     Know your syllabus well

2.     Develop a strong hold on each and every subject subjects

3.     Religiously follow current affairs

4.     Practice answer writing

5.     Discuss the issues and the things, you have the knowledge about, with peer groups and seniors

6.     Watch toppers videos

7.     Start thinking from a problem solver’s perspective rather than a common person, because you are going to be an administrator

Mastering the art of answer writing for Civil Services Mains 2018 requires a tremendous amount of practice, every day. So students must begin with making notes on every important topic, and after getting a sound hold on subjects, the aspirants are advised to begin solving the questions. Find an explanation for every question you come across on the topic you learn and question yourself constantly, not giving up, until you have all the answers. Even if you fail to revise all the answers in the last leg of your preparation, with rigorous preparation, your mind will still recall the most of what you have practiced, while writing the actual Civil Services Mains Exam. Then practice solving previous years question papers without fail, this is one of the most important practices every aspirant must do during the preparation. Then Enrolling for Mains Test Series and solving maximum mock test papers for Mains boosts up the preparation process multiple times.

Now these are some important tips which will help you during your actual examination phase for Mains

1.     Read your question well – Always read your question properly and re-read it again until you have understood what is exactly expected in your answer. You must spend an approximate of 8-9 minutes per question, so try to spend no more than the 1 minute of your time to read your question, understand it and underline the keywords, you must weave your answer around.

2.     Analyse all the aspects – Having understood the exact demand of the question, analyze all the aspects that must be mentioned, starting from giving background details of the subject to explaining the subject further in detail. Cover as many dimensions as possible in an answer rather than just covering the issue in depth with quality analysis. Do not forget to recall the facts and current in-news information related to the topic.

3.     Frame a well-structured answer – Introduce your subject in a short paragraph, giving immediate way to the main explanation of the question being asked. Just avoid giving lengthy paragraphs and instead use pointers for multiple arguments or sub-points to the explanation. Balance your answer with multi-faceted aspects of the topics and explain it all in as brief manner as you can. Conclude this answer on a positive note, for, the examiner will appreciate your affirmative take on the situation.

4.     Mind your hand-writing – Handwriting has never, in Civil Services Exam, been considered for marking a candidate’s suitability and caliber for the job. But in our opinion, a good handwriting will always stimulate your examiners’ mind and help them come at ease with your answers. So, ensure making your answer presentable with clear handwriting, decently big characters’ size and enough space between the words.

5.     Enrich your answer with facts/dates/names/other details – An exceptional answer, especially considering the current trend of questions, must have enough factual backing of the current affairs details, views, dates, names, etc about the topics and a little more about the related aspects of your topic.

6.     Explain your answers more clearly and precisely with the help of diagrams, charts, maps & quotations – Students are always advised to back their answers with the relevant and supporting diagrams & charts; and for the answer related to geography-based questions, maps are the ultimate rescue. Use these extra, but relevant elements to enhance your answer quality. It is no-where advisable to overload your answer with these elements, as a supporting paragraph to explain your answer is always better than doing away with the embellishment. Give diagrams and other elements, only where needed!

7.     Quality comes with regularity in practice – As we mentioned above, to master the art of writing efficient answers in the Civil Services Examination, rigorous practice is crucial. Hence, you must solve as many Previous Year papers and Mock Tests as you can.

3hcare marks its offline presence in india. Opens 2 labs in succession, aims to expand pan india by 2020

3hcare.in, a leading healthcare portal, recently announced its expansion of offline footprints throughout tier 3 & 4 cities by opening their labs in Jhajjhar and Kosi. The online portal is aggressively ramping up its activities in other locations in Haryana and Western UP and plans to expand PAN India by 2020. 

The pathology labs will operate under the name ‘3Hcare Labs’ which assures same day delivery of reports and free home sample collection to all the neighboring customers. To assure quality services the lab is already undergoing ISO certification and will soon be receiving NABL accreditation.
“There is a gigantic gap between the availability and the demand for pathological labs in small villages and towns which is promising potential for growth. With the recent launch of our labs in Kosi and Jhajjar, many local residents have been benefitted. To cater to quality services, 3Hcare Labs offers better and consumer-friendly services like home sample collection and timely reports. With a tremendous rise in population, an upsurge in chronic ailments, insufficient availability of diagnostic centers and demand for accurate and timely medical care, 3Hcare Labs aims to provide the best quality pathology services here.” Says CA (Dr) Ruchi Gupta, Founder & CEO, 3hcare.in 

Due to the absence of qualitative certification and entry barriers, local diagnostics in tier 3 &4 cities are thriving with only sample collection centers and the patients have to travel to the nearby metro cities even for basic pathology tests. In such a scenario, 3hcare labs (which is well established as 3hcare.in in the online segment) has a greater scope for penetration and a stronghold in these villages and towns in the offline segment as well.
Delhi-based 3Hcare.in is one of the leading healthcare portal in India rendering services such as diagnostics and plan my surgery with over PAN India reach.

Doppler Ultrasounds helps check better growth of infants internal organs

CA (Dr.) Ruchi Gupta, CEO & Founder 3Hcare

What is a Doppler scan?

A doppler ultrasound is a noninvasive test that is used to measure the blood flow through the umbilical cord and to the different parts of the baby’s body like his brain and heart. The test shows if he is getting all the  oxygen and nutrients he needs via the placenta.

Regular ultrasounds uses sound waves to produce images but they can’t show blood flow. 

Doppler gives doctors an idea about visual or audible representation of blood movement through veins, arteries and blood vessels with sound waves.

It is conducted through handheld device called transducer.

There are three main types of Doppler Ultrasound: continuous, duplex and color.

• Continuous Doppler Ultrasound

It is also known as Bedside ultrasound. Doctor uses small, portable unit to listen the reflected sounds. The sound waves are audible diagnostic tool as blocked blood vessels make a certain sound as do narrowed and open blood vessels. It is used for a quick diagnosis of potential restrictions in blood flow.

• Duplex Doppler Ultrasound

Along with the sound waves, it produces a visual picture. The dynamism of sound waves make blood vessels to create an image. The sounds are also used to convert the graphs using a computer program to evaluate the direction of blood flow and the speed at which blood is moving.

• Color Doppler Ultrasound

It is similar to duplex doppler ultrasound. Here instead of sound being converted into a graph, a color picture of blood flow speed and movement is created from the sounds.

Power doppler ultrasound : Power doppler comes under color doppler ultrasound. It penetrate organs to look close at what’s going on with blood flow inside the organ. The final image includes a color overlay showing blood speed and direction.

The expecting parents go for scans as they think its their only way to see their little one before the delivery. But for doctors , these scans can determine lot of things regarding health of baby and mother.

• It helps in confirming formal heartbeat.
• It tells about the progress of the pregnancy.
• It checks the status of the umbilical cord.
• It also checks the status of the placenta. As placenta supplies all the nutrients to the baby. 
• It tells the position of the baby in the womb. And looking after the position doctor can determine the delivery date.
• It determines the health of the mother.Also any issues or complications like clots or cysts in the mother that can cause problems before or during labour. 
• It can tell the general development of the baby in terms of length and weight. 

How does doppler test work?

Doppler test during pregnancy is just like normal scan. Sonographer rubs gel over tummy and moves hand held device called transducer probe over the skin.

The ultrasound machine emits high frequency sound waves to the body through this transducer probe. Waves travel to varying lengths inside the body and get reflected back. The reflecting waves are caught by the probe and it is sent back to the machine.

Machine computes data and converts it into a relay of what exactly is happening inside womb. It can also convert that video into an image.

Image looks the same one that more like baby’s first photo.

Why doppler test during pregnancy?

Doctor advice to go for Doppler ultrasound during pregnancy to check foetal umbilical blood flow, placental blood flow and blood flow in the heart and brain. Using the result, doctors determine if restricted blood flow due to sickle cell anaemia, RH sensitisation or restricted blood vessels is to blame for foetal abnormalities.

Restricted blood flow to the foetus could cause:

• Lower birth weight 
• Reduced size
• Impaired development

If sickle cell anaemia is diagnosed, child may undergo a special form of Doppler ultrasound known as the transcranial Doppler to evaluate the risk of stroke.

Some more reasons are:

• Mother is suffering from diabetes or high bold pressure. This can cause issues in blood flow to the baby.
• Mother is carrying twins or more. 
• Mother is smoker. Smoking causes blood flow slow to the thinning of blood vessels due to Nicotine. Also apart from the carbon monoxide present in the cigarette, smoke impairs the ability of blood cells to carry oxygen.
• Mother has suffered a miscarriage before.
• High or low BMI as the time of conception.

Benefits of Doppler Test in pregnancy

It helps in identifying pregnancy problems non-invasively. It is more reliable than traditional ultrasound procedure. The f an unborn baby can be heard in the early stage around 12 weeks pregnant. Doctors observe and monitor foetal development much earlier than other technologies. This test can also be conducted if pregnant women suspect that their baby's heart has begun beating earliest by the 5th week of pregnancy.

This scan assures assures healthy pregnancy. Also the high-risk pregnancies due to low amniotic fluid levels, Rh-incompatibility or twins sharing the same placenta.

These scans are extremely necessary to determine that baby is at the best of health and is not having any problems related to blood flow.