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HEALTH
WA+CH
Quick
Fix
Speedy
and less painful, new-age treatments are slowly but surely initiating
a medicare revolution in India
By Farah
Baria
Arthritis.
Tendons. Femur. Tibia. Cartilage. The entire nation seemed to have signed
up for a crash course in physiology after the prime minister's knee replacement
surgery. But the fundamental question still begs to be asked: did Atal
Bihari Vajpayee really need to be operated upon? Not if he had sought
the latest technology in the early stages before the disease became a
chronic condition, believes Dr G.N. Mahapatra, director of the West Coast
Diagnostic Laboratory and Arthritis Clinic in Mumbai.
 Mahapatra
specialises in a new technique called radiosynviorthesis, a complex name
for a simple procedure that can be conducted even in a clinic. How does
it work? Often joint pain is caused by the inflammation of the synovium,
a thin membrane that covers all human joints and contains lubricating
synovial fluid. Constant friction between the bones in a joint causes
the synovial tissue to swell and thicken, resulting in crippling pain.
While major
knee surgery requires replacing the offending natural bones with artificial
ones to prevent friction, Mahapatra's treatment seeks to destroy the inflamed
outer tissue by injecting a radioactive substance called yttrium 90 that
penetrates the swollen synovium and shrinks it to its original size. Mahapatra,
who has treated 80 patients, claims he has seen a dramatic improvement
in 90 per cent of the cases within eight to 10 weeks of a single shot.
"Radiosynviorthesis
doesn't work in advanced cases of osteoarthritis where the inner cartilage
is eroded," warns Dr Darius Soonawalla, a leading Mumbai orthopaedic
surgeon. "However, it can be used in the early stages of rheumatoid
arthritis where the synovium is mildly inflamed."
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