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HEALTHWA+CH
Visible
Benefits
A shorter
procedure with a smaller incision makes phacoemulsion cataract surgery
popular
 Blasting
the blurry world of cataract is a new sound-based eye surgery technique-phacoemulsion.
Cataracts, creeping up with age, affect 3.8 milion people in India every
year. "Surgery is the only option," says leading ophthalmologist
Mahipal Sachdev of the Centre for Sight in Delhi, "there is no medical
cure." And phacoemulsion surgery is increasingly becoming the surgery
of choice.
Sight is
a complex function, involving different parts of the eye working in harmony.
The lens is particularly important, focusing light, much like a camera,
to produce a clear picture. Cataracts develop when old lens cells accumulate
and disperse the light coming into the eye, producing a blurred image.
Since the
1970s, curing cataract involved removing the clouded lens from the eye
and replacing it with a plastic lens-a procedure called Extracapsular
Cataract Extraction (MEA). This had inherent drawbacks. Surgeons had to
make a large incision, about 10 to 12 mm, in order to take the lens out.
Local anaesthesia was required, which in less experienced hands could
affect the optic nerves. Recovery of vision took 8-10 weeks, while the
danger of infection from healing stitches hovered in the background. Also,
during recovery, says Sachdev, the lens could collapse even with violent
coughing.
Phacoemulsion
surgery is a minimalist designer surgery. Just 20 minutes, and for only
Rs 10,000-20,000, vision is restored and you're back at work in a day.
Since it is a stitchless procedure, there is no chance of inflammation
occurring. Drop anaestheties suffice, reducing the probability of side
effects. The wound is so small and so secure, says Sachdev, it does not
give way. No wonder, one in five eye surgeries for cataract in urban India
Today are phaco.
Phaco uses
sound waves to blast the inner lens, or nucleus, to pieces with a probe
inserted through a 3 mm incision. A foldable plastic intraocular lens
is then pushed into place. The improving quality of multifocal lens furthers
phaco's popularity. According to Sachdev, the lens not only corrects cataract
but also rectifies near- and farsightedness. "I can see clearly and
I feel happy about it. The improvement is more than what I expected,"
says 68-year-old lawyer D.K. Bhattacharyya, back to work after a recent
phaco cataract surgery. Says another female patient: "After the operation,
I could even thread a needle." Sachdev predicts even better lenses
that will make this procedure more efficacious. The future, it seems,
is phaco.
-Supriya
Bezbaruah
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IN
SMALL DOSES
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 LIGHTER
VEIN: It is now official. A strong deterrent for cardiovascular
diseases is a good sense of humour. Scientists in the US studied
300 patients, half of whom were healthy, while the others had either
suffered heart attacks or had undergone treatment for blocked arteries.
Heart patients were 40 per cent less likely than their healthy counterparts
to see the funny side of life. It is possible that laughing releases
chemicals which relax the blood vessels. It is also known that mental
stress damages the protective barrier lining blood vessels. Whatever
the reason, laugh and you will live longer. If not, at least you'll
have had a good time.
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ITCHY
BUSINESS: So you think no one can tell that you haven't
showered today? Well, mosquitoes can. What's more, they'll love
you for it. Especially if you haven't showered for three days. Dutch
scientists discovered this after collecting sweat from volunteers
and using it as bait for Anopheles gambaie mosquitoes in special
traps. Sterilised sweat had no effect though; mosquitoes apparently
relish the bacteria that grow on sweat. The idea is to identify
the bacterial chemicals to develop odour-based mosquito traps to
fight against malaria. Now that's guaranteed to hike the demand
for air-fresheners.
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EASILY
SUSCEPTIBLE: In the movies it would be a viral vengeance.
HIV, according to a researcher at the aids Control and Research
Centre in Mumbai, not only infects more Indians than ever before,
it also leads to aids killing Indians faster than Americans. HIV
suppresses the immune system, leading to fatal infections. While
in san Francisco, an HIV infection takes almost 13 years to kill,
HIV-positive Mumbaiites succumb in just 7.2 years. On an average,
once diagnosed with full blown aids Indians live up to 13 months
without treatment. A reason for early deaths could be that tuberculosis,
often harboured by aids patients, is rife in India.
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METRO TODAY
Ayodhya
is an issue that is pre-determined. And it matters little in the present
fuss that the foremost casualty is the truth, writes INDIA TODAY Deputy
Editor Swapan Dasgupta in 
