It is important to prevent, diagnose and treat, at the earliest, various serious disorders, especially the hidden diseases which are likely to go unnoticed in the beginning due to different reasons, and which may surface only on reaching an advanced stage. At such a stage, treatment can be difficult or prohibitive and may prove fatal even. Some such disorders are cancer, heart/lung disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, neurological/abdominal/thyroid gland disorders, diseases of the kidney, etc.
In this book, Dr Ajit S. Puri draws attention to important principles and guidelines relating to early diagnosis and prevention of common but fatal diseases, which afflict mankind and which diagnosed in infancy can help save the patient'slife.
One of the important diseases tackled in this book is cancer in which growths may develop in any part of the body. The exact cause of the disease is still unknown. The growth spreads locally before spreading to distant organs, either by blood or lymphatics. An early diagnosis is of paramount importance in the treatment of such malignant disorders. It is highly necessary to detect the early growth before it is too late, says the author. After giving the symptoms, the authors talks of the organs and lymph nodes affected by cancer and suggests measures for prevention.
Talking of the heart, Dr Puri talks of the silent killer?the CAD or coronary heart disease, which starts in early childhood. It continues to progress very gradually through the years, becoming significant later on in life, say at the age of 40, or even earlier. The reason is that no symptom of the disease occurs till more than 50-60 per cent surface area of the coronary arteries get involved. In this disease, the right and left coronary arteries supplying oxygenated blood to muscles walls or the branches may become sites for formation of a lesion or lesions of CAD.
Apart from CAD, the author discusses rheumatic heart disease and congenital heart disease, along with their diagnosis, symptoms and treatment.
Some other fatal diseases discussed in detail are diabetes and high blood pressure. The two types of diabetes?Type 1 occurs when the body'simmune system destroys insulin-producing cells (called the beta cells) that are present in the pancreas and Type 2, which occurs as a result of varied disorders that lead to variable degrees of insulin-resistance, decreased insulin secretion and increased glucose production. Type 1 occurs in the younger age group, say 30 years, while Type 2 manifests as age advances. A somewhat related disease, called high blood pressure is caused due to presence of high levels of uric acid in the blood, which causes coronary heart disease and high levels of blood cholesterol.
It is common to find books on the above-mentioned diseases but very few cover diseases of old age or geriatrics as the study is called. Old people suffer from more than all other age groups, since there is a general lack of health education/awareness regarding the various diseases and other related aspects of old age. With increasing cases of old couples being murdered, robbed and killed or left alone by their children, particularly in metro cities of India, this is a chapter which should be read by all who have aged persons at home. Dr Puri cautions old people against self-medicating as drug reactions/toxicity of drugs, along with other interactions, are common in the aged. Dosages of the drug taken by the aged people need careful monitoring. Here Dr Puri advises that the various challenges must be faced for the prosperity of the elder population which is fast increasing throughout the world and for which ?a multidimensional approach is essentially required.?
This is a book meant to be read by all who are suffering or are likely to suffer later on in life from some diseases which can impair bodily functions. An informative book on the whole.
(Sterling Paperbacks, A-59, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi-110 020.)
