OPINION

Ask a person who would have died of an adverse drug reaction if not for steroids, what does S/he thinks of steroids. The answer would be, it is a boon.Ask a man whose wife, suffering from arthritis and on long term steroid medication, dies due to a perforated bleeding peptic ulcer: what does he thinks of steroids. The answer would be - a curse. Steroids or anabolic steroids have been in the news for all the wrong reasons, especially with sports people and doping scandals. Most drugs used in sports are anabolic steroids or their derivatives.Steroids are used in various…

News reports say Bengaluru mayor Sharadamma broke into tears when minister R Ashoka threatened to cut her funds allocation unless she apportioned the amount he wanted, to his loyalists. Sharadamma has refuted this, saying that she "did not cry". The point is not whether she did or didn't cry, but whether it is acceptable for a minister to dictate that the disbursement of funds should satisfy his loyalists, according to his whims rather than leaving it to the mayor's discretion. Minister R Ashoka has always had plenty to do with Bangalore's politics. Mayor Sharadamma Ramanjaneya seen here in the centre,…

I was at a baby store and in walked a pair of newly minted parents buying everything that the "helpful" store staff pointed to them. Socket covers? Door slammers? latches? Bring it on. Baby monitor? But of course. Do you even need to ask? Diaper pail? Umm...looks cool...ok we will think about that one. Pic: Reshmi Chakraborthy I had to restrain the urge to run and shake the lovely pair out of their baby buying stupor. Because that was me six and half years back, visiting stores armed with a list, courtesy baby books, baby websites and friends, all made,…

Doctors have a busy schedule, so if you proactively provide them with information about your health, rather than have them fish it out of you, so much the better. Here are some tips: Electronic medical record. Pic: Wikimedia commons Be specific about what brings you to doctor. Explain the symptoms, mention duration of symptoms, any precipitating factor that you think has brought it up, if chronic then for how long it has been persisting. A few examples...Pain in the abdomen: site of pain, whether acute or chronic, whether it shifts from where it started from, or radiates to another region,…

The street vendors at Gandhi Bazaar were evicted on January 23rd, and it has been more than a month since then. Many reasons were cited for the eviction. The BBMP authorities said there was a demand from the traffic police and members of the public to clear the footpath and the road to ensure smooth movement of pedestrians and vehicles, according to a newspaper report ((Deccan Chronicle, Jan 25). So, it was traffic congestion and inconvenience to public that seemingly triggered the eviction. When I spoke to some residents of Basavanagudi, they opined that the vendors were quite rude, unlike…

The high court ruling prohibiting commercial enterprises in areas designated as residential neighbourhoods, has very important implications for all of us, whether we are property owners, tenants, business people, or retired senior citizens. Where just one RWA (Residents Welfare Association) and 12 individuals of the city joined hands to go to court against the rampant commercialisation of residential areas in the metropolis, there should have been in fact, several thousand supporters and joint-petitioners, given the city's population of over 60 lakhs. File pic. Meera K Consider this example - 8-F main and 27th cross in Jayanagar's third block used to…

The recently concluded National Masters Athletic Championships held at Kanteerava stadium , in the last week of Febraury, served to highlight several challenges stunting the growth of sports in India as well as avenues for improvement of the state of sports in India and not just for Masters athletes. Particpants at the NMAC. Pic: Anju K P For one, there were very few people who knew about the event in the country, let alon ein Bangalore. The fact that a copy of the event schedule was not available till the first day of the meet didn't aid matters. The Masters…

The word ‘antibiotic‘ means a process by which life could be used to destroy life. It comes from the word antibiosis, a term coined in 1889 by Louis Pasteur's pupil Paul Vuillemin. Antibiotics are essentially chemicals secreted by bacteria, fungus and other microorganisms to inhibit the growth of other organisms. Antibiotics are panacea for all diseases.They are effective only against certain infections. I can recover faster from cold and cough with antibiotics.Most cold and cough are viral and antibiotics do not kill viruses.Antibiotics are relatively safe.People have died due to wrongly administered antibiotics.Mild infection: I can buy any antibiotic over…

There's been plenty of loss felt at the cutback on trees due to Bengaluru's rapid expansion. Equally, there has also been anger felt at the enthusiasm of city authorities to build all over the city and uproot trees, virtually at will, on questionable projects. Bengaluru's ‘Garden city' tag has thus been under a cloud for a while now, especially for new comers who only find a city jammed with traffic and dust-laden air. Citizens have tried to hit back. While the most evident form has been increasing protests and action at the High Courts, another movement has been quietly mushrooming.…

By writing this post, I am going to make loads of enemies! I did contemplate for a long time whether I should write this or not, and now I have made up my mind to say this publicly, so that I can move on and find a solution!At least five times a day, I have someone asking me - What happened to Lucia? When is it starting? Who is it starring? I feel like I am being stabbed whenever someone asks this question. The update is that Lucia is a completed script. It has come out beautifully and I don't…