Germs in your home: Time to clean up
Cleaning is a big part of our lives. Phones, jeans and even the family dog will all, at some point, need a major scrub down. But when should that happen? And when will you have to do it all over again? We consulted a microbiologist, underwear specialist and clothing designers on how often you really [...]
TIPS to treat liver problems
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a procedure to create new connections between two blood vessels in your liver. You may need this procedure if you have severe liver problems. This is a surgical procedure but is done by a radiologist using x-ray. A radiologist is a doctor who uses imaging techniques to diagnose and treat [...]
The success story of ERAS
Five years have gone by and 78-year-old H.W. Goonesekera from Panadura has got a clean bill of health at the last check up which included a colonoscopy recently. Diagnosed with colorectal cancer, five years ago, after he had “irregular bowel movements”, usually he would have had to undergo surgery the ‘traditional’ way. Things have changed [...]
Near death experiences – Are they real?
But that the dread of something after death- The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn No traveller returns- puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? – Hamlet – William Shakespeare Hamlet contemplates suicide but draws back as what [...]
Traditional diet: The 10,000-year-old secret to healthy living
“I started looking back instead of looking forward,” explained Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan, making what would seem quite an unorthodox statement for a scientist. A Hon. Director of the Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage, Dr Gopalakrishnan visited Sri Lanka for the first time last week, delivering a series of talks in association with Ashtangir Yoga Mandir [...]
Pregnant travellers offered new flight advice
The safest time to fly during pregnancy is before 37 weeks or, if carrying twins, before 32 weeks, new advice says. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says flying is not harmful during a low-risk pregnancy, but there may be side-effects. If more than 28 weeks pregnant, a woman should take her medical notes [...]
More than just care for children
Tucked in a corner of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) for Children in Colombo is a room with brightly-coloured pictures on the wall. A beautiful kingfisher, frogs, dogs, houses and children adorn the walls, along with a height-measuring tool. In and out go parents carrying babes in arms, holding on tightly to toddlers or accompanied [...]
Dealing with the three aspects of MS
It was on multiple sclerosis (MS) that Dr. Ruwani Gunawardane, a Visiting Professor of the University of Maryland, United States of America, focused on at a recent lecture delivered at the surgical auditorium of the National Hospital in Colombo. Dealing with the three aspects of ‘Why does MS exist?’, ‘What we can do to reduce [...]
Butter is better?
Guidelines that told millions of people to avoid butter and full-fat milk should never have been introduced, say experts. The startling assertion challenges advice that has been followed by the medical profession for 30 years. The experts say the advice from 1983, aimed at reducing deaths from heart disease, lacked any solid trial evidence to [...]
