Jan.2: The medical education in India has got a new appraisal as the America’s authorised body for granting recognition to health science courses has approved the standard of education in the country. This recognition is expected to encourage students to opt for medical education in India. Until now China is considered as the cheapest medical education destination and attracts major portion of the students from the developing countries. On the backdrop of congenial atmosphere existing between India and the US quality factor is given more importance than the cost factor. The recognition came soon after the British Court verdict allowing Indian medical practitioners to live and practice in the UK.

The recognition is based on six parameters such as syllabus, teaching, evaluation, extension, research and impact of education processes. This decision is based on the Raising US market needs. The extent of freedom allowed will extend the movement of Indian medical students or doctors to the US or any other country. The parity is valid only for the period of two years and is subject to USNCA review. The USNCA will function as a monitory body that take care of the recognition and accreditation procedures of the Medical Council of India. At present MCI parameters and procedures are considered as the recognition of the courses.

In future the parity status is well connected to the MCI standard that in turn depends on the performance of the medical colleges. In short the medical education system in India will get a new mould that will allow it to catch up with the global changes. So the international academic standard and the connected infrastructure facilities will enables India to become a hub of health tourism and haven for patients who wish to have treatment abroad.

Dec 28: The concept of nanotechnology has a tremendous influence in various fields. The impact of which is now being felt in the medical sector. The extended possibility of nanotechnology allows the companies to develop better quality drugs. This technology is expected to captivate the medial world, the trend of miniature drugs will soon be a catch phrase in the market.

Drug researches are focussing their attention to discover unbelievably minute drugs that will be millionth of a millimetre or less to help in identifying diseases, enabling affordable treatments using targeted and effective medicine.

In India Dabur company put forth the nanotechnology based delivery system in the form of onco drug Nanoxel early this year that has created a sizeable impact. Now it is the turn of Biocon India’s leading drug manufacturing company as it is planning to launch Abraxane, a nanoparticle-based taxane to prove their presence in the surging field of nanotechnology. As the next initiative Biocon will launch a nanodrug named Abraxane that could cure breast cancer, in early 2008. Bharat Biotech is another company that is planning to exploit the scope of this innovative technology.

While commenting on this the CMD of Biocon Ltd, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said: “Nanodrugs are the need of the hour and it adds more value to the drug delivery system. It is playing a prominent role in life cycle management of the available drugs the entry of this technology has revolutionised the concept of drugs and it also encourage bioavailability and efficiency to a greater extent.”

In the near future we will see brand new nanodrugs that act as a remedy for problems related to skin implants, knee joints, valves, silver gels, tissue repair patches and lot more ailments.

India with its huge wealth of best quality hospitals and treatment facilities that ranges from traditional Ayurvedic treatment to most modern surgical treatments remains the top priority destination that cater to the needs of medical tourists. The attracting feature of getting treatment in India is the lower treatment cost as compared to the developed countries without any compromise in the quality of the treatment. The success rate is also high and the service level is also up to the highest standard as it evolved from the rich heritage.

There are adequate numbers of hospitals in India that are best in their standard and are equipped with all major technical equipments for the satisfaction of the patients. The sound infrastructure and the professional management will add great value to the treatment of the patients from abroad.

Among lot other treatments dental treatment in India is gaining prominence among the foreign visitors as the treatments in their home countries is more expensive as they will not be refunded the treatment cost under the national health schemes. While in India the cheaper treatment cost will allow them get the best treatment by paying lesser cost.

A dentist in the US charges $300-$400 for a filling, at the same time that same treatment in India would cost $20-$30. Each year thousands of visitors both from the USA and Europe arrives in India for the purpose of tourism along with the medical treatment. The southern state of Kerala is the ideal destination for tourism and it also gained reputation for its extensive treatments related to Dentistry.

There are several best quality hospitals that hold the credit of competent dental surgeons and other experienced visiting consultants. The extensive dental treatment packages available in India that include smile designing and dental implants. With world class hospitals India offers tremendous scope for medical tourism in general and dental healthcare in particular.

Generally, bariatric surgery is associated with improved mental health after surgery with symptoms of depression diminishing. This is to be expected as bariatric surgery provides many patients with the tool needed to achieve a long standing ambition to lose weight. For many patients weight loss enables a range of new social and emotional interactions to take place and the new reduced size is certainly more socially acceptable.

However the January 2008 Harvard Mental Health Letter suggests that over a longer period of study incidence of poor mental health increases suggesting that subjects of weight lose surgery may need more long term counselling and emotional support.

Quote:

“The weight loss following surgery generally improves mood, at least initially, but in studies, depression and anxiety scores were reduced significantly one year after surgery, but tended to be higher two and four years later and some research found higher-than-expected rates of suicide among surgery patients.”

Unquote

When 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan died after being refused funding for a liver transplant by her insurance company, the grounds for refusal was that the treatment is “experimental” and not presumably of proven clinical value. The company finally back down, but not until it was too late. Expect litigation any time soon.

US Insurance companies routinely do not cover experimental treatments for obvious reasons. Desperate patients will cling to any straw regardless of efficacy. Notwithstanding that,  is liver transplantation  really experimental?

It sounds like the company had confused risky with experimental. There is no doubt that medicine and surgery has a great deal more to learn about liver transplantation and especially the ideal management techniques. That is not to say this is experimental. Changing the body’s largest organ is inherently risky but not an experiment!

Globe Health Tours offers liver transplant surgery in India and Singapore 

Whenever two people meet together and discuss body mass index, there is a disagreement of what the correct number should be. The table below lists the commonly accepted values for western people:

Although BMI is broadly accepted as a shorthand indicator for general health, it is also criticised for giving an often inaccurate view of weight and for over-emphasizing weight over other health factors. Indeed the focus on unhealthy diets above being healthy is an obvious manifestation of this trend.

Nothwithstanding these criticisms, people with high BMIs are unquestionably risking their health and statistics clearly show a correlation between obesity and poor health.

GHT offers obesity surgery in a number of destinations around the world.

The British Fertility Society has advised that the PGS test (pre-implantation genetic screening) should not be offered to women experiencing problems with infertility as it there is no evidence that it works and could damage the chances of the  woman conceiving.

Since the test usually costs £2000 which si the same as the cost of a round of fertility treatment in Norway, this is both good news and a relief for prospective patients who can often feel under pressure to undertake the test.

GHT offers assisted conception treatment in Norway

Medical tourism is gaining international significance as more and more patients prefer their treatments abroad. In the developed countries the cost of the treatment and the surgery are far higher than those in the developing countries. So getting medical treatment abroad is economical for the patients without any compromise in the quality of treatment.

The surging rate of patients travelling abroad in US for specialised treatment and surgery is a typical example for this. Last year over 50,000 US citizens travelled abroad for the purpose of treatment. They went to India for spinal fusion at the cost of $5,500 as against $62,000 in the US or they went to Thailand for heart bypass surgery at the cost of $11,000 as against $130,000 in the US.

This rapid increase in the patients travelling abroad is not a matter of surprise for the Americans. As the population in America is growing older and the health care cost is also on its rise making the treatments costly for them. More people are looking for a cheaper way to solve their health related issues, which ranges from cosmetic surgery, heart surgery, hip replacement surgery, liver transplant and weight loss surgery.

There are several reputed global health tourism companies that offer niche medical tourism packages as according to the requirement, time and budget of the patients. The website like www.globehealthtours.com will provide the patients with holistic information about the kind of ailments, treatments, best available hospitals and it also take care of the travel and accommodation needs of the patients. With a team of medical experts working behind this, it allows the potential patients to get free from the hassles of planning the vacation like treatment packages that cater to the best of their needs.

This trend of medical based tourism is on a boom not only in US but also in UK and all other developed countries where the treatment cost is far higher. The quality hospitals and expert medical practitioners’ availability in the third world countries converts them as the top priority destination for medical treatments and surgeries.

In an earnest attempt to facilitate the patients to gain access of the quality treatment facilities the available all across the EU countries, the EU Cross-border Healthcare Directive is planning to lift the restrictions on passengers who wish to travel to other EU countries for their treatment purpose and they are also privileged to reclaim the cost of treatment from the NHS excluding travel and accommodation costs along with any extra cost if the charge exceeds the NHS cost.

While commenting on this Keith Pollard of Treatment Abroad said: “The new decision will revolutionise the healthcare sector in the country and throughout the rest of Europe. The directive will extend the patients choice to high level. The new announcement will boost the traffic of our website, www.treatmentabroad.com, not only the patients from Britain but also from other EU countries who are in search for looking for comprehensive, reliable and practical information about treatment options and facilities within EU member countries.”

www.treatmentabroad.com is a holistic website that deals health tourism. It makes them equipped to take informed decisions while choosing destinations, facilities and doctors for their treatment. The information provided in the Travel Abroad includes the healthcare services, doctor’s accreditation, treatment costs, and travel and accommodation facilities. Availability of a comprehensive free Guide to Medical Tourism is an added attraction of this site.

The futuristic directive from the European Union on cross border healthcare will boost the growth of medical tourism in the UK.

Slimming surgery could be more effective in saving the lives of the morbidly obese than other slimming methods, new research suggests.

A study in British medical journal The Lancet suggests that bariatric surgery, such as stomach stapling and gastric banding, is more effective than non-surgical method in treating those with chronic weight problems.

It notes that in the last five years alone, surgery to treat obesity has increased more than five-fold in developed countries, as doctors battle against increasing waistlines.

The paper, by Michael Korenkov and Stefan Sauerland, of the Department of Abdominal Surgery at the University of Mainz in Germany, states that surgery is appropriate for adult patients with a body-mass index (BMI) of 40kg/m2 - the standard measure for morbid obesity.

Surgery to treat obesity can take a number of forms including gastric bypasses, adjustable gastric bands and stomach stapling.

The authors of the Lancet paper note that recent studies showed that surgery reduced long-term mortality in the morbidly obese compared with conservative methods.

In two papers on the issue, the decrease in mortality rates when using surgery were found to be 29% and 40%.

The new study also suggested that surgery may aid the psychological benefits of weight loss.

The authors of the report conclude: “There is good evidence to show that bariatric surgery is more effective than non-surgical approaches in the therapy of morbid obesity.

“However, no single operation is ideal for every morbidly obese patient, and all operations also entail some disadvantages.”

For some patients with high BMIs, surgery presents specific dangers which might be alleviated by prefacing surgery with other treatment options such as Ayurveda which also offers ayurvedic treatment options for obesity and weight loss .