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HEALTH
WA+CH
Remedial
Rays
Phototherapy
makes light of common skin diseases that blight many lives
 Ancient
Indians believed in the healing powers of sunlight. Modern India had for
long ignored its therapeutic value in favour of chemical treatments. Now
light-based phototherapy is back as modern medicine's potent weapon against
common but socially devastating skin diseases like leucoderma (white patches
in the skin), eczema, psoriasis (scaly lesions) and pruritis (itching).
Leucoderma, for example, affects 1-2 per cent of the world population,
many of them (approximately 8 per cent) Indian, and has no known cause.
Until now, it didn't have a cure either. The disease is not contagious
but the scars of social ostracism can be deep and damaging.
With more
than eight out of 10 patients cured, phototherapy has an impressive record.
Not only that, newer techniques are also coming into vogue. Says R.K.
Joshi, a consultant at Delhi's Apollo Hospital: "More and more people
are coming for phototherapy." At Rs 200-500 per sitting, relative
affordability contributes to its popularity. The treatment can last from
a few weeks to a few months, according to S.K. Bharija of Delhi's Ganga
Ram Hospital.
Phototherapy
utilises in a more measured and controlled pattern the ultraviolet (UV)
rays that occur naturally in sunlight. The rays are medically multifunctional-their
anti-inflammatory qualities act against eczema, dermatitis and itching.
They also banish the ugly scales of psoriasis by preventing cell proliferation.
But the rays are most popular as promoters of pigments that colour the
incriminating pale patches of leucoderma. After applying psorelen, a chemical
that makes the body sensitive to light, the affected part is exposed to
UV rays. Psorelen can either be applied on the affected region, or, for
larger areas, taken orally. Since September this year Apollo Hospital
has offered bath psorelen treatment for systemic ailments. The gentler
UV-a ray treatment has been used during the past decade, but takes longer
to show results. Short, sharp doses of the more intense UV-B rays is the
latest line of treatment that has been made available in India recently.
UV-B is particularly effective in patients with acne and pruritis.
In the West,
UV light has been reported to cause skin cancer, but Indians, being darker,
are rarely at risk, says Joshi. According to him, the treatment is safe
as long as precautions are taken to protect vulnerable regions, and proper
doses are implemented. However, Bharija warns that long-term exposure
without protection can lead to premature cataract. UV-a-cured leucoderma
patient Raj Khurana is unfazed. After a lifetime of misery, this summer
he can finally wear short sleeves without fear of repulsion.
-Supriya
Bezbaruah
In Small Doses
Old
Drugs to the Rescue: Ancient remedies might come to the rescue
of anaemics, a tribe that includes the majority of Indian women. Iron
supplements help when low iron levels are the cause. But ruptured red
blood cells (RBCs) can sometimes be the problem. Now Indian scientists
report that three ayurvedic medicines - raktabardhak, punarnavasav and
navayaslough - are effective in preventing a type of anaemia, haemolytic
anaemia, in which the rbcs get broken down. All three drugs have been
shown to prevent the destruction of these cells in the spleen.
Pets
and Stress: Stressed? What you need is a dog. Pets, particularly
dogs, reduce cardiovascular stress. A study monitored the effect of dogs
on 60 volunteers with hypertension. In the absence of dogs, volunteers
reacted similarly to simulated stress situations whereas the group with
pets showed little signs of hypertension. Looks like canine is the way
to calm.
Rhythm
Out of Sync: For years, those in favour of natural birth control
systems followed the "rhythm method", based on the knowledge
that the average woman is only fertile between days 10 to 17 of her menstrual
cycle. Now a British study clearly says that method simply doesn't work.
The study was conducted on more than 200 women with regular cycles aged
25-35 years, using a variety of biochemical tests, including hormone levels
in daily urine samples. Most volunteers were potentially fertile every
day of the month. The situation could be even more unpredictable in teenagers.
So timing isn't everything.
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Among
the major spin-offs of developing the LCA is the mountain of confidence
that India's aeronautical engineers have gained. But there's still plenty
to do, writes INDIA TODAY Deputy Editor Raj Chengappa in
