Thursday, 10 October 2013

11 October, 2013

Mera dil hai Hindustani! – Pakistan man brags about Indian heart

Forty-year-old Pakistani national Mohammed Zubair Ashmi, who  got a new lease of life after he underwent a heart transplant surgery at a Chennai hospital in April, has a change of heart towards India.
‘Today, I proudly tell people that my heart is Indian,’ he says, adding that after the transplant he is feeling energetic. He is one of the many patients on whom cardiac transplant has been performed in Chennai which sees maximum number of such surgeries in the country, thanks to the efficient organ sharing network in Tamil Nadu. 
Ashmi, who worked as a religious teacher in a mosque in Pakistan’s Gujarat  was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy — a condition in which the heart becomes so weak and enlarged that it begins to affect  blood supply to lungs, liver and other organs. With his heart’s pumping efficiency dropping from 60% to 10-15% and several parts of body getting swollen, he repeatedly found himself in several hospitals in Pakistan. Hopes of a normal life had completely faded till doctors felt that a heart transplant can be a way out. Doctors in Pakistan discussed his case with Dr KR Balakrishnan, director of cardiac sciences, Fortis Malar Hospital at Adyar in Chennai. Soon, Ashmi was in India.
‘After his arrival, we performed a detailed medical examination. We realised that he also suffered from renal failure, and had fluid in his lungs and abdomen. Besides, he tested positive for hepatitis C. All this just made his condition extremely difficult to treat,’ explains Dr Balakrishnan.  
Despite being on continuous medicinal support, Ashmi’s cardiac function deteriorated. This left the doctors with no option but to either put him on the heart transplant wait list or to fit him with an artificial heart implant device. He was put on the list. After a wait of about two months, the heart tissue of a 37-year-old road accident victim, who was declared brain dead, matched with Ashmi. 
On April 23, Ashmi underwent the transplant and was discharged in June. He is back in Chennai for a check-up, and the doctors are pleased to see the developments. Now, he can walk up to eight kilometres and is teaching students in a madarssa. 
 ‘Today I am alive because of an Indian heart. Before coming to his country, I had different thoughts in mind. But the hospitality of people and kindness of the doctors made me to change my mind. Lots of the people spoke with me after this surgery. I proudly say my heart is Indian,’ Ashmi says.
‘For my second travel to India, the Indian Embassy immediately sanctioned my visa. People in Pakistan are asking me whether I can get them things such as shoes and clothes, or food and toys from Chennai. People of both the countries must treat each other with respect,’ he adds. 
11.10.2013

New, cheaper dialysis system expected by 2016

A private hospital on Wednesday announced that it would be able to produce a new and cheaper method of haemodialysis in India to help chronic kidney patients.
Stating that India was home to 75 million people with chronic kidney disease, and that nearly 200,000 new kidney patients required dialysis every year, Pratha C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals said that in collaboration with Medtronics, a leader in medical technology, her hospital would unveil the new system in about three years. 
The new dialysis system will be portable and helpful for kidney patients, who often pay for costly treatment after getting admitted to hospital, she said.
11.10.2013









Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all
John F Kennedy


No comments:

Post a Comment