Medical Commission Bill

Doctor MPs’ concern: How can Ayurveda & homoeopathy people practise

allopathy? (The Indian Express: 20180103)

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/doctor-ayurveda-homoeopathy-practise-allopathy-jp-

nadda-parliament-rajya-sabha-mci-nmc-bill-mbbs-5009223/

Medical Commission Bill sent to standing panel, its member doctors ready with many

questions

Written by Abantika Ghosh | New Delhi | Updated: January 3, 2018 5:36 am

JP Nadda, Health Minister, zika virus, zika ahmedabad, Public Health Foundation of India,

PHFI, india news Union Health Minister JP Nadda (Express photo by Jaipal Singh/Files)

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While doctors threatened to take to the streets against the National Medical Commission Bill

2017, representatives of the fraternity inside Parliament, including some in the ruling party,

too have questions about the bill. The spectre of crosspathy (someone trained in one system

DAILY NEWS BULLETINLEADING HEALTH, POPULATION AND FAMILY WELFARE STORIES OF THE DayWednesday 20180103

of medicine practising another), a licentiate exam before MBBS graduates can practice

medicine, and a largely unelected regulatory structure are some of the issues they flagged.

“There are two very contentious things about the bill,” said BJP Lok Sabha MP Dr Sanjay

Jaiswal, a member of the standing committee that will now examine the bill. “The first is the

licentiate examination. On the one hand, the government wants more doctors on the field; on

the other, even if you set a 30 percentile qualifying benchmark, that would mean 30,000

MBBS qualified doctors are taken out of the pool. First there is an entrance examination,

NEET, then again another. There is no licence examination for a lawyer or an engineer. The

second issue is the bridge course. People run homoeopathy and Siddha colleges from

cowsheds — I concede there are some good Ayurveda colleges but there is no regulation.

How can they be allowed to practice allopathy?”

The real problem, he says, is that the NMC Bill was prepared by a committee that had no

representation from the medical fraternity. “The cabinet secretary, the health secretary and

Arvind Panagariya together drafted the bill. What was the problem in taking inputs from, say,

the director of AIIMS?” he said.

Shiv Sena MP Dr Shrikant Shinde, also on the standing committee, said he had come

prepared to oppose the bill on several counts including the fact that NMC would have only

five elected members and replace the Medical Council of India where all members are

elected. “I also wanted to oppose it because it encourages crosspathy that is totally wrong,”

Shinde said. “How can BAMS, BHMS people practise modern medicine? There will be a lot

of complications. As it is, in rural areas people are practising it unofficially. The other issue is

the fees fixation for 40% seats —on the one hand there is a common entrance test on the

other there are differential fees. Who decides who gets what seat?”

The bill says the fees for 40% seats in any medical college would be decided on the basis of

NMC guidelines. Shinde said the penalty provision of 1.5 to 10 times the annual fee would

eventually spawn corruption.

Dr Kirit Solanki, BJP MP, said: “The IMA memorandum talks about the lack of elected

members in the NMC. The government took a wise decision in sending it to the standing

committee. The bridge course for Ayurevda and homeopathy practitioners is an issue that

needs a closer look,” he said.

BJP MP Dr Heena Gavit said the bill as an idea is good, especially given the complaints

about the MCI. “Being from within the fraternity, even we know opinions about the MCI are

mixed. So NMC Bill is a good idea but there are some contradictions in it,” Gavit said. “For

example, the matter of the bridge course is not clear, there are no specifics about what

AYUSH doctors will be taught before they practice modern medicine. There are so few

elected members. States are represented only in the advisory council and not in NMC. Also

instead of an exit examination, why can’t the final year paper be common for all medical

colleges?”

She echoed Dr Shinde’s concerns about the fee fixation.

Autism,

Understood: Link between autism, severe infection while pregnant (The

Indian Express: 20180103)

http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/understood-link-between-autism-severe-infection-

while-pregnant-5009186/

Two new studies from MIT and University of Massachusetts Medical School shed more light

on the link between severe infection during pregnancy and autism and identify possible

approaches to preventing it.

neurology, bacterial attack, autism, pregnancy, severe infection, birth defect, mit research

papers, University of Massachusetts Medical School, indian express Beautiful pregnant

woman sitting at bed and holds hands on belly in bedroom at home. Pregnancy, parenthood,

preparation and expectation concept. Close-up, indoors.

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Written by Gloria Choi and others

Mothers who experience an infection severe enough to require hospitalisation during

pregnancy are at higher risk of having a child with autism. Two new studies from MIT and

University of Massachusetts Medical School shed more light on this phenomenon and

identify possible approaches to preventing it.

In research on mice, the researchers found that the composition of bacterial populations in the

mother’s digestive tract can influence whether maternal infection leads to autistic-like

behaviours in offspring. They also discovered the specific brain changes that produce these

behaviours. If validated in human studies, the findings could offer a possible way to reduce

the risk of autism, which would involve blocking the function of certain strains of bacteria

found in the maternal gut, the researchers say.

In one of the new papers, the researchers set out to learn more about irregular “patches” in

parts of the cortex and to determine if they were responsible for behavioural abnormalities

seen in mice, which include repetitive behaviour and impaired sociability.

They found that the patches were most common in a part of the brain known as S1DZ, and

that the changes in the cortical patches were associated with overexcitement in S1DZ. When

the researchers restored normal levels of brain activity in this area, they were able to reverse

the behavioural abnormalities.

Excerpted from MIT NEWS report

For all the latest Explained News, download Indian Express App

Pollution ‘severe’

Pollution ‘severe’ but no combat measures yet (Hindustan Times:

20180103)

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

For more than a week now, the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in Delhi’s air have been

hovering above the 300 and 180 mark respectively. But the state government is yet to roll out

some of the anti-pollution measures that were supposed to ‘automatically’ fall in place when

such high levels of pollution existed, as per a National Green Tribunal order passed last

week.

SANCHIT KHANNA/HT

n A thick fog cover continued to grip Delhi on Tuesday, as the air pollution levels touched

‘severe’.

The Central Pollution Control Board data says that while the present level of PM10 is around

448ug/m3, the concentration of PM2.5 is around 273ug/m3.

As per the green court suggested plan in the Vardhman Kaushik case, Delhi’s current

pollution has already crossed Category-I and entered Category-II, in which PM10 levels

should be between 300ug/m3 and 700ug/ m3 and PM2.5 levels should be between 180ug/m3

and 400ug/ m3.

Given the present levels of pollution, measures such as putting a cap on number of vehicles,

staggering of office time, imposing a higher Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) and

stopping transport vehicles not destined for Delhi from entering the city, should have been

rolled out automatically by now.

The transport department, which has to implement a majority of the above measures, has

expressed its inability to set the ball rolling due to lack of an ‘order’ from the environment

department.

“The environment department is the nodal agency and those measures can be implemented

only if that department issues an order. Nevertheless, we are already running destination

buses, which are also stated in the plan,” a transport official said.

SM Ali, special secretary of the environment department refused to comment. The state

environment secretary too refused to take calls and messages on his mobile phone went

unanswered.

The government officials said that other measures, like increasing Environment

Compensation Charge and staggering of office times, have to be decided by the chief minister

or the minister concerned. They told Hindustan Times that no meeting in this regard has been

convened so far.

While mechanical sweeping is being done, the government is yet to frame a policy of levying

higher registration fee and road tax on purchase of a second car. Officials said that rolling out

such a policy will take months as it will have to first get an approval from the cabinet and

then the L-G.

The problem is also that the departments are considering the green court’s measures

separately from the GRAP that was notified by the Centre, said experts.

Air pollution

Interest in air pollution only during winter in north India ((Hindustan

Times: 20180103)

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

HT analyses the framework in place to monitor air quality across regions

SOURCE: CPCB, HT CALCULATIONS

From page 01 luru and Hyderabad — the air quality was beyond the ‘poor’ standard on just

4% of the days. On 96% of the days, the air was either ‘good’, ‘moderate’ or ‘satisfactory’.

HT FILE

n It is a known fact that peninsular India is much better in terms of air quality than the

northern parts.

Not all people living in north India can think of migrating to cleaner regions during winter

despite the fact that health hazards due to air pollution are too dangerous to ignore.

This underlines the need for putting in place a holistic strategy to deal with air pollution.

The first prerequisite of formulating any such strategy is the availability of detailed data,

across time and regions, on pollution.

An HT analysis shows there are big gaps on all counts.

The online portal of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) provides air quality data

from government-operated air quality monitoring stations across the country.

According to data on the CPCB website, there are 94 such monitoring stations across 53

cities. But not all of them function regularly.

In 2017, at least 54 stations functioned for more than nine months. But 26 stations had data

for less than three months. Still, this is an improvement. In 2015, just 19 stations functioned

for more than nine months. (See Chart 2)

Non-functioning stations are not a problem in just smaller cities. For instance, in Kolkata, no

PM2.5 data for 2017 is available on the CPCB website.

Most cities neither have enough stations nor do they cover all pollutants.

For example, only 23 cities had at least one monitoring station providing PM2.5 data for

more than 80% of the days.

Of this, 17 had just one station. Delhi had the most: nine active monitoring stations, as per the

CPCB portal. Other organisations, such as SAFAR, have their own monitors but are not part

of the CPCB portal.

The lack of stations is problematic: a single station doesn’t capture the spatial distribution of

pollution in the city.

“This (single stations) is inadequate as it generates a statistically insignificant sample to

represent the city or the range of sources contributing to the air pollution problem in the city,”

says the website of Urban Emissions (India), an independent research group on air pollution.

Based on a thumb rule proposed by CPCB and the districtlevel urban and rural population (as

per 2011 census), Urban Emissions estimate “the need for 4,000 continuous monitoring

stations (2,800 urban and 1,200 rural) to spatially, temporally, and statistically represent the

PM2.5 pollution in the urban and the rural areas of India.”

Sarath Guttikunda, the director of Urban Emissions, estimates that the government would

need to spend ₹7,500 crore every year for the next 10 years.

Here’s hoping that the New Year would see Parliament demanding more funds for improving

pollution monitoring than seeking greener pastures during Delhi’s toxic winter.

Questionable remedy

Questionable remedy: on the National Medical Commission Bill (The

Hindu: 20180103)

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/questionable-remedy/article22354009.ece

Key sections of the National Medical Commission Bill need a rethink

The decision of the Lok Sabha to send the National Medical Commission Bill to a standing

committee for a relook is the right one. First proposed in 2016, the Bill aims to overhaul the

corrupt and inefficient Medical Council of India, which regulates medical education and

practice. But despite its plus points, the NMC isn’t the game-changing legislation it could

have been. One of its goals is to rein in corruption in the MCI through greater distribution of

powers. This is sought to be accomplished through an independent Medical Advisory Council

to oversee the National Medical Commission, the proposed successor of the MCI. But all

members of the NMC are members of the Council, undermining the latter’s independence.

This, and other concerns, must be addressed. Perhaps the most controversial provision of all

is for a bridge course allowing alternative-medicine practitioners to prescribe modern drugs.

One motivation could be to plug the shortfall of rural doctors by creating a new cadre of

practitioners. But if this was the rationale, better solutions exist.

The shortfall of MBBS doctors is partly due to the fact that many of them seek a post-

graduate degree to improve career prospects. MCI regulations prevent even experienced

MBBS doctors from carrying out procedures like caesarians and ultrasound tests, while

nurses are barred from administering anaesthesia. Empowering doctors and nurses to do more

is a reform many have called for, and that would have been easier to implement than a bridge

course for AYUSH practitioners. Yet, the NMC Bill hasn’t taken it up. Another way to

bolster healthcare delivery is a three-year diploma for rural medical-care providers, along the

lines of the Licentiate Medical Practitioners who practised in India before 1946. Chhattisgarh

tried this experiment in 2001 to tackle the paucity of doctors it faced as it was formed.

Graduates from such a three-year programme would only be allowed to provide basic care in

under-served pockets. Massive protests by the Indian Medical Association and poor

execution derailed the Chhattisgarh experiment, but the idea wasn’t without merit. India has

no choice but to innovate with health-care delivery models to tackle the challenges it faces.

The trick is to base these innovations on evidence. There is plenty of evidence that MBBS

doctors and nurses can do more than they are legally allowed to do. But integrating

alternative-medicine practitioners into modern medicine requires a lot more thought. The

government will do well to empower existing doctors before attempting more ambitious, and

questionable, experiments.

New device

New device to help prevent harms of sitting (The Hindu: 20180103)

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/new-device-to-help-prevent-harms-of-

sitting/article22353385.ece

A device that allows you to continuously move your legs while sitting at a desk may boost

metabolic rate more than standing at a workstation, according to a study.

The study by researchers at University of Illinois at Chicago in the U.S. adds to the growing

body of evidence that suggests strategies for increasing non-exercise active thermogenesis,

which are needed to help overcome the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting.

Thermogenesis is a spontaneous activity unrelated to a fitness routine. Sitting has been

identified as a risk factor for early mortality, independent of the presence of a disease, such as

cancer or diabetes.

Up to seven per cent of deaths have been attributed to sitting alone.

The device, which is commercially available, has a movable footrest, suspended from the

underside of the desk, which enables the feet to swing, twist or teeter.

Malnutrition (The Asian Age: 20180103)

http://onlineepaper.asianage.com/articledetailpage.aspx?id=9742710

Calories

Know how to burn calories while sitting at your desk (New Kerala:

20180103)

https://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-308104.html

Sitting all day at work may slowly be killing you but here's something that can help you

overcome its damaging effects.

Continuous movement while sitting may increase metabolic rate more than standing at a

desk, suggests a study.

Craig Horswill, clinical associate professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of

Illinois at Chicago, says the study adds to the growing body of evidence that suggests

strategies for increasing non-exercise active thermogenesis-defined as spontaneous activity

unrelated to a fitness routine-are needed to help overcome the detrimental effects of

prolonged sitting.

Sitting has been identified as a risk factor for early mortality, independent of the presence of

a disease, such as cancer or diabetes. Up to 7 percent of deaths have been attributed to sitting

alone.

"Sitting is bad for our health, but it is a big part of daily life for many people," said Horswill,

an expert in exercise and metabolism in UIC's College of Applied Health Sciences. "Exercise

is a good way to counteract the negative effects of sitting, but just incorporating physical

activity into one part of our day may not be enough to overcome the damage caused by

prolonged sitting and an otherwise sedentary lifestyle."

Because the workday is a major contributor to sedentary behavior, tactics that promote

workstation activity have emerged in recent years, including standing desks, as well as

dynamic pedal and treadmill workstations.

Horswill and his colleagues compared the metabolic rate produced by three workstations:

seated at a desk, seated at a desk equipped with a device that stimulates leg movement and

standing at a desk. The device, which is commercially available, was a movable footrest,

suspended from the underside of the desk, which enabled the feet to swing, twist or teeter.

Participants in the study familiarized themselves with the workstations during one visit. On a

second visit, researchers collected metabolic rate and heart rate data during three progressive

stages: seated, seated with the device and standing. Each stage was 15 minutes.

The researchers found that modest movement while seated elevated the metabolic rate more

than sitting and more than standing, by 17 and 7 percent respectively, and had no detrimental

effect on cognitive function.

"These results suggest that non-exercise active thermogenesis, which we call NEAT, can

increase movement and calorie burning, and may have the potential to impact health," said

Horswill, the senior author on the study.

"We expected to see the metabolic rate increase with each progressive stage, but instead

found that metabolic rates from movement while seated were either equal to or higher than

rates while standing."

The findings are published in the journal Work.

Sugary drinks

Review confirms link between sugary drinks and obesity (Medical News

Today: 20180103)

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320493.php

A new review and analysis of recent studies argues that regular consumption of sugar-

sweetened drinks leads to obesity and overweight in both children and adults. The authors

call for stricter national policies worldwide.

boy drinking soda

Sugary drinks are a risk factor for weight gain in children and adults alike, a new systematic

review confirms.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 36.5 percent

of all adults and around 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States have

obesity.

A healthful diet and regular exercise are both at the core of obesity prevention and treatment.

But all too often, stores will tempt us with foods and beverages that are made to taste good, a

lot of which are packed with ingredients that can exacerbate weight gain.

Sugary drinks have frequently been cited as a seemingly innocuous, easily available product

with a harmful potential when it comes to preserving our health. A study published last year,

for example, showed that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is linked to

the onset of metabolic diseases.

And now, researchers from multiple institutions across the globe — including the Special

Institute for Preventive Cardiology and Nutrition in Salzburg, Austria, the Geneva University

Hospitals in Switzerland, and the University of Navarra in Spain — have teamed up to

analyze recent studies targeting the potential link between sugary drinks and obesity.

"The evidence base linking SSBs with obesity and overweight in children and adults has

grown substantially in the past 3 years," says review co-author Dr. Nathalie Farpour-Lambert.

"We were able to include 30 new studies not sponsored by the industry in this review, an

average of 10 per year."

"[R]ecent evidence suggests that SSB consumption is positively associated with obesity in

children. By combining the already published evidence with this new research, we conclude

[that] public health policies should aim to reduce the consumption of SSBs and encourage

healthy alternatives such as water."

Dr. Nathalie Farpour-Lambert

The review was published last week in the journal Obesity Facts, of the European

Association for the Study of Obesity.

Alzheimer's:

Alzheimer's: 'Triple-action' diabetes drug shows promise as treatment

(Medical News Today: 20180103)

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320491.php

Scientists in the United Kingdom and China find that a new drug for type 2 diabetes may

protect the brain from damage caused by Alzheimer's disease, after testing it in mice.

three pill bottles

Could a diabetes drug help to treat Alzheimer's disease?

In a new paper published in the journal Brain Research, the researchers explain how the

"triple-action" drug resulted in a significant reversal of memory loss in mice that were

genetically engineered to develop human-like Alzheimer's disease.

The new drug "holds clear promise of being developed into a new treatment for chronic

neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease," says study leader Christian

Hölscher, a professor in the Faculty of Health and Medicine at Lancaster University in the

U.K.

Alzheimer's is a brain-wasting disease that accounts for 50–75 percent of cases of dementia,

which is a condition wherein people gradually lose their ability to think, remember, make

decisions, hold a conversation, and look after themselves.

As the disease progresses, the brain undergoes biological and chemical changes, and

particular areas shrink as nerve cells, or neurons, die.

The exact causes of Alzheimer's are currently unknown, but microscopic examinations of

affected brain tissue have revealed two hallmarks: abnormal accumulations of protein

segments known as "plaques" and "tangles."

Current treatments make no real difference

The number of people with Alzheimer's disease is rising rapidly as the population ages. In

2015, there were an estimated 46.8 million people worldwide living with dementia, and this

number is expected to reach more than 130 million in 2050.

In the United States — where Alzheimer's is currently the sixth leading cause of death —

there are an estimated 5 million people living with Alzheimer's disease. This is expected to

rise to 16 million by 2050, accompanied by a significant rise in costs.

To the U.S., the cost of Alzheimer's and other causes of dementia in 2017 was estimated to be

$259 billion and is expected to rise to $1.1 trillion by 2050.

At present, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, and there are also no treatments that

make a significant difference to the symptoms.

Lifestyle (Hindustan: 20180103

http://epaper.livehindustan.com/story.aspx?id=2462346&boxid=119712464&ed_date=2018-

01-03&ed_code=1&ed_page=18

Obesity (Hindustan: 20180103)

http://epaper.livehindustan.com/story.aspx?id=2462346&boxid=120627078&ed_date=2018-

01-03&ed_code=1&ed_page=18

Sleeping (Hindustan: 20180103)

http://epaper.livehindustan.com/story.aspx?id=2462346&boxid=120324446&ed_date=2018-

01-03&ed_code=1&ed_page=18

Sugary Drinks (Hindustan: 20180103

http://epaper.livehindustan.com/story.aspx?id=2462346&boxid=120323206&ed_date=2018-

01-03&ed_code=1&ed_page=18

Cancer (Dainik Gagaran: 20180103)