Struck down by dementia
It mainly ails the elderly and regrettably even in the developed world it is “poorly recognized”. This is why we need to discuss dementia at length, reiterates Senior Consultant Neurologist Dr. Padma Gunaratne, pointing out that there are 50 million people struck down by this disease across the world. Why poorly recognized, she asks, answering [...]
Go purple
The colour purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red and often symbolizes royalty and magic. So, this magical purple has many advantages even when it comes to vegetables that come in varying shades. They are rich in anthocyanins that are flavonoid pigments with many health-boosting antioxidant properties. Anthocyanins while preventing [...]
Facing adversity:Vital lessons from psychology
What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burnt me. Now they are content with burning my books – Sigmund Freud All of us have to face adversity at one time or the other, at times expected and at other times unexpected. We have in our own ways faced such adversity [...]
Giving love, care and support to their clients
The importance of memory screening is underscored over and over again by the Co-Founder and President of the Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation (LAF), Lorraine Yu.It is not just advice to do this or that – LAF facilitates this vital screening every fortnight throughout the year, all for free with no price-tag being placed on it. “Every [...]
Reach out before it’s too late
“But in the end, one needs more courage to live than to kill himself” – Albert Camus “Sri Lanka marked World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. Here Clinical Psychologist Chrishara Paranawithana details what everyone should know about suicide. There is a severe lack of awareness on mental health in Sri Lanka which contributes to [...]
Do CT and MRI scans lie? Yes they do!
Three months ago, a 42-year-old man saw a family physician for low backache of two weeks duration. He had no sciatica (pain radiating to buttocks or legs) and no tenderness on pressing that area. After a quick cursory examination of the back and spine, the family physician ordered a MRI scan of the lumbo-sacral spine. [...]
Gut-friendly ‘vibrant pair’
When you are born you have none, but by the time you are two weeks old your digestive system is quickly colonized by a huge population of bacteria that will stay with you for the rest of your life. These beneficial bacteria are required to keep your intestinal tract healthy. And though we don’t really [...]