Health | Kashmir POST

Internet may alter brain functions: Study

June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 Editor

The Internet can alter specific brain regions and affect our attention capacity, memory processes and social interaction, a study has found. The research, published in the journal World Psychiatry, showed that the Internet can produce both acute and sustained alterations in specific areas of cognition. The researchers, including those from Oxford University in the UK and Harvard University in the US investigated leading hypotheses on how the Internet may alter cognitive processes. It further examined the extent to which these hypotheses were supported by recent findings from psychological, psychiatric and…

How conflict and stigma are creating mental health crisis in Kashmir

May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 Editor

The embattled district of Shopian in the south of Kashmir is at breaking point. An unknown gunman has shot and injured a local politician in the village of Chitragam. He is the third politician shot this week in Shopian district alone. Earlier that day, streets across the region were filled with thousands of protesters demanding the death penalty for the man who raped a three-year-old girl. And the past week has also seen the return of shelling between Indian and Pakistani forces in Kashmir, with civilians reportedly injured. Such violence…

At SKIMS, five lives lost in a month to ‘Transfusion Reaction’

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 Editor

In a shocking revelation, five patients have died of blood transfusion reaction at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura while the sixth one is battling for life in the intensive care unit (ICU). A senior doctor at SKIMS told The Kashmir Post that five patients have died due to blood transfusion in the past one month suspecting use of substandard equipment in the blood bank and during transfusion process.“Two patients died in a surgical intensive care unit, one in gastroenterology, on in general surgery and the fifth one in…

Deadly XDR tuberculosis spreads tentacles in state

December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 Editor

Detection of 12 patients with extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has increased the worries of health officials in the state. It may pose a challenge to the target for the complete eradication of the disease by 2025. Officials associated with the control programme at the Directorate of Health Services said the number could be on the higher side as they had been able to identify a new strain in patients who visited hospitals for routine respiratory ailments. XDR is rare and much deadlier than multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis bacteria. Both…

8 in Sopore, 4 in Ponch illegal health clinics sealed

August 17, 2018 Editor

The health department on Thursday sealed eight clinics in Sopore after the later failed to furnish “requisite documents”. An official said a departmental team headed by chief medical officer Baramulla, Bashir Ahmad Chalkoo and block medical officer Sopore Dr Muhammad Sami raided several health facilities and sealed eight clinics in Sopore town on their failure to furnish requisite documents. The official said the sealed clinical establishments were unregistered and were being run by untrained persons. The health department team was accompanied by the police and the officials of drug controller…

To get fit & lean eight exercises recommended by experts for weight loss

July 23, 2018 Editor

There are times when you read so many articles on exercises and fitness that you forget the basics that are key to getting in shape. We tell you eight basic exercises which will not only get you in shape, but will also help you lose weight. Along with this, they have other additional benefits too. And the best part is that they can all be done at home without any equipment. Burpees The burpee is a full body strength training exercise and the ultimate example of functional fitness. Burpees are…

Caught between the limited resources, Kashmiri’s are forces to eat dog food

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018 Editor

Punjabi poultry farmers have used politics to retain Kashmir as their main market to sell used layers and parents’ chicks’ that otherwise is dog food. We report the costs that consumers pay for making the cheap and sub-standard poultry as part of their food chain Caught between the limited resources and his family’s love for the meat, Rafiq Ahmad, a man in mid-forties, turned jubilant when one of biryani-selling kiosk owners in Lal Chowk informed him that he can get a kilogram of dressed chicken for Rs 840. The mere…

Valley doctors mitigate Nipah Virus fear

May 29, 2018 Editor

Doctors and health authorities Monday said there was no immediate threat of the deadly Nipah Virus (NiV) in Kashmir, but advised people to take precautions. The virology division of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) has issued an awareness leaflet for medics and masses about NiV following deaths caused by the virus in the south Indian state of Kerala. Prof Dalip K Kakru, who heads SKIMS virology division, dismissed the possibility of NiV infected tourists reaching Kashmir. “There are minimal chances of a person infected with the virus travelling for…

Nipah mystery deepens as lab report rules out bats as prime cause of infection

May 26, 2018 Editor

The mystery over the source of the deadly Nipah (NiV) virus infection that has claimed 12 lives in north Kerala deepened after the blood and serum samples of 21 bats tested at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal returned negative results for the virus. Kerala’s first NIV outbreak has killed 12 people and infected 20. Health officials will now examine the travel history of Mohamed Sabith, 26, who was the first to die in the Moosa family that lost four members to the virus. He returned…