Monthly Archives: October 2021

Rheumatoid Arthritis is more common in women

October 12, 2021Health Wiseautoimmune problems, damage of the involved joints, destruction, Dr Siddharth M. Shah, environmental, genetic, hormonal, inflammation, Rheumatoid Arthritis, tissues, World Arthritis HealthShillpi A Singh

On World Arthritis Health, Dr Siddharth M. Shah says that Rheumatoid Arthritis impacts the immune system attacks its joints and organs. It results in inflammation, destruction, and damage of the involved joints, tissues, or organs. Like most autoimmune problems, rheumatoid arthritis also affects women more commonly than men.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune condition that predominantly affects the joints in one’s body. It may also affect other parts like the skin, lungs, eyes, heart, blood vessels, and bones. A dysfunctional immune system characterises autoimmune disorders. The body’s immune mechanism, which is supposed to fight against harmful bacteria and viruses, attacks its joints, tissues, and organs. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system attacks its joints and organs. It results in inflammation, destruction, and damage of the involved joints, tissues, or organs. Like most autoimmune problems, rheumatoid arthritis also affects women more commonly than men. Statistically, it occurs three times more in women than men and is typically seen amongst 30 to 60-year-olds.

What causes the gender differences in rheumatoid arthritis? Rheumatoid arthritis not only affects women more but also causes a severe disease manifestation in them. Although the exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, genetic, hormonal, environmental, and lifestyle factors are assumed to play a role. The gender differences can be attributed to genetic (X chromosome) and hormonal factors. Women’s immune systems are stronger and more reactive; this might help explain a greater prevalence of autoimmune problems. The X-linked genetic factors can also be held responsible for severe disease in women.

Hormonal factors are thought to play a role because the disease is influenced by pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, menopause, and the menstrual cycle. These significant bodily changes fluctuate the hormonal balance in the body. Generally, normal levels of female hormones Oestrogen and Progesterone protect against rheumatoid arthritis.

Sometimes, women who have rheumatoid arthritis may experience disease remission during pregnancy. The condition is also known to flare up post-childbirth.
Breastfeeding has been found to reduce the risk of getting rheumatoid arthritis.
The disease may appear after having a baby or around menopause.
Women may experience worsening symptoms during the second week of their menstrual cycle when the hormonal levels are low.

The disease severity is greater, and its progression is faster in women. Research suggests that women may experience more physical pain for the same painful stimulus as compared to men. Rheumatoid arthritis is also known to cause more disability in women as they have lesser muscle strength than men. In contrast, the male hormone Testosterone suppresses the immune system, which is primarily responsible for the disease, explaining the less severity of symptoms in men.

How to deal with Rheumatoid Arthritis?

It is best to seek timely treatment from a specialist and follow up regularly
Avoid smoking as it worsens the symptoms
Moderate alcohol consumption may have some beneficial effects as it tends to reduce exhibitory symptoms by reducing inflammatory activity
Maintain a healthy body weight as being overweight can worsen your rheumatoid arthritis
Regular exercise has been found to improve rheumatoid arthritis
Frequently consume fish rich in Omega-3 Fatty Acids to gain protection against rheumatoid arthritis

Although there is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, modern medical treatments can help keep the disease under control and achieve remission. The importance of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in women cannot be stressed enough, as they are likely to have a severe disease with rapid progression. Hence, proper, timely medical care helps limit disability and improves the quality of life.

(Dr Siddharth M. Shah is Consultant Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement Surgeon, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim)

Mind it because older adults matter

October 10, 2021The Free Press JournalApollo Hospital, Bhatia Hospital, Chennai, Dr Keerthi Pai, Dr P D Lakdawala, founder, mental health, Mumbai, older adults, Psychiatrist, psychologist, senior citizens, Shailesh Mishra, Silver InningsShillpi A Singh

https://www.freepressjournal.in/amp/weekend/world-mental-health-day-2021-helping-the-elderly-cope-with-mental-health-problems-amid-the-pandemic
The article was published in all editions of The Free Press Journal on World Mental Health Day on October 10, 2021.

Floored by Flowers

October 5, 2021TruJetterBathukamma, Dussehra, floral festival, TelanganaShillpi A Singh

Bathukamma is a unique floral festival celebrated mostly by women and young girls in Telangana during Navarathri. During these nine days, women worship the ‘life-giver’ Bathukamma, and seek her blessings for prosperity. Three elements that form a staple part of the festivities are colours, flowers and water. Men in the house gather flowers and women create Bathukamma as a beautiful flower stack, using different seasonal flowers in seven concentric layers, to resemble a temple gopuram. The goddess is made of flowers, and created every year, which signifies both life and eternity in its colours as well as impermanence. It is immersed in the local water body on Ashwayuja Ashtami that falls two days before Dussehra. The Government of Telangana has declared the Bathukamma festival as Telangana’s state festival. A photo feature with photos by Chandrasekhar Singh M and text by Shillpi A Singh; it was first published in TruJetter.

The nine-day long Bathukamma festival begins on Petramavasya or Mahalaya Amavasya in the month of Bhadrapadam. During these nine days, women worship the nine Bathukammas. The festivities culminate on Pedda Bathukamma or Ashwayuja Ashtami that falls two days before Dussehra. Women walk with their Bathukammas, place it on the banks of the river, pond or lake, sing and dance before immersing them. The festival is a celebration of womanhood, but men also participate in it with equal fervour. Mostly, it is the menfolk who gather flowers and also carry the Bathukamma on their heads before leaving it into the water body as the women watch Bathukammas flow away. The flowers used for making Bathukamma work as purifiers for water bodies and help in ecological conservation.
The marketplace is abuzz with flowers, sellers and buyers during this time of the year. A seller sits with a heap of flowers called Gunugu, the common name for Silver Cock’s comb or Celosia agrentea. Like other flowers used in preparing Bathukamma, this too has unique medicinal values.
Preparing a Bathukamma is an art. The layers of the flower are arranged in the shape of a pyramid with a lotus or pumpkin flower on top of the stack along with Gouramma (a symbolic idol of Gowri made of turmeric). The lotus flower used in Bathukamma represents prosperity.
Bathukamma is made to represent a pyramid with seven layers of different flowers. The flowers that bloom in this season are used for Bathukamma, and are of different colours, variety, fragrance, and shapes. The riot of colours can be attributed to Gunugu, Ganneru and Kashirathnam in red, Beera, Chitti Chamanthi, and Thangedu in yellow, Gaddi Poolu, Kanakambaralu, and Banthi in orange, Challagutti, Malle, Lilly, and Pattukuchhu in white, Gulabi and Chandrakantha in pink, among many others.

For those who are tired of shopping or collecting different varieties of flowers for the preparation of a traditional Bathukamma, or those who do not know how to make one, can buy a readymade one. The cost of a readymade Bathukamma depends on the number of flower layers and ranges from Rs 200 and Rs 2,500.
The arrangement of seasonal flowers in the shape of a temple gopuram requires a deft handling of different shapes, hues, and varieties of flowers and an aesthetic sense to make a Bathukamma look nothing but a piece of art.
For making a Bathukamma, flowers are arranged in seven concentric circles to form a pyramid on a round steel or brass plate with a small edge. Two pieces of thread are laid on the plate, perpendicular to each other, and passing over the centre of the plate. A ‘Vistharaku’ or a plate made of leaves is placed on the steel or brass plate. A layer of pumpkin leaves is spread over the ‘Vistharaku’, over which a layer of Thangedu, tiny yellow flowers with green buds and leaves and long stems, is placed and on top of it, Gunugu flowers are arranged radially. The hollow that is formed in the centre is called Bathukamma’s stomach, and it is kept full and filled with leaves and other flowers. The filling also makes the pyramid strong irrespective of its size. The subsequent layers/rows are arranged with Banthi and Chamanthi or any other colourful flower and even some artificially coloured flowers. On the top of the layer, a pumpkin flower or lotus is placed. Finally, the loose ends of the two threads are drawn up and tied at the top to hold the Bathukamma in position.

In addition to the beautiful layering of flowers, Bathukamma festival is also about folk songs, a great vocal tradition handed down from generation to generation. In the evenings and on the last day, women dressed in their traditional finery assemble at an open ground, keep their Bathukammas in a circle and dance around it while singing soul-stirring Bathukamma folk songs. Their moves are beautifully syncronized with clapping in between that makes for a splendid sight. The older Bathukamma songs depicted people’s problems whereas the current songs are about Telangana culture and traditions.

Happy 43rd to India’s first IVF baby, Durga

October 3, 2021The New Sunday Express MagazineShillpi A Singh

On October 3, 1978, Dr Subhash Mukhopadhyay’s and his team in Calcutta successfully delivered happiness in the lives of a childless couple with the birth of their little bundle of joy. The girl who was nicknamed Durga after the Hindu goddess was born through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) thanks to Dr Mukhopadhyay’s pioneering effort that was the second such successful attempt for IVF across the world. It was a repeat of what his English counterparts Robert G Edwards and Patrick Steptoe had achieved barely days ago, on July 25 with the birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first such baby. The news bode well for thousands of infertile couples who yearned to become parents, but unlike the much celebrated IVF birth in England, there was no noise around his pioneering achievement, the first of its kind in India. Perhaps because the couple chose to remain mum and didn’t want themselves or the child’s public image to be shaped by the manner of conception, and the other stakeholders too remained indifferent to his remarkable achievement. Battling ignominy and failure to be recognised for his monumental work led him to take his life on June 19, 1981.

Meanwhile, Dr Indira Hinduja and Dr Kusum Zaveri helped deliver a baby girl named Harsha on August 6, 1986, who went on to earn the pride of being India’s first test-tube baby. But recognition did come Dr Mukhopadhyay’s way, posthumously, and 25 years after the birth of Durga, the Indian physician was “officially” regarded as the first doctor to perform in-vitro fertilization in India.
The case in point explains the burden of having a progeny, often weighed down by the shame and embarrassment of not having one without any medical intervention, and sets the tone for the problem called infertility, a condition that needs attention and like any other ailment, can be cured with proper treatment. To fulfil parenthood dream, one needs to get past the maze of ignorance to access medical care that often comes at a price, endure all the pain that is borne by the patient, and doctor in equal measure, and get assurance in abundance that one day it would be all worth it with a baby around to wipe off all the weariness of undertaking the arduous journey called IVF.