Making not so ‘Shy’ health decisions

About 18 years ago when P&G launched Whisper with Wings through a TV Ad, there was an awkward moment in our house. My mother was angry, I was embarrassed and my younger brother (around 11 years old) was supremely alert and curious. Now with two daughters of my own and a doctor husband, we don’t even react to such ads (or even more outrageous ones). My daughter, aged 5, has happily assumed that the sanitary napkin is a diaper for mummies. She also sees older people buying adult diapers with bladder control issues at our local pharmacy and has assumed this is generally the way of life.

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Is Indian Healthcare ready for Big Data and Analytics?

 

In the ancient times India had family healers that were called upon to combat disease and improve the standards of care. These medicine men of the old not only had knowledge of fields like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani but also had knowledge of family history that used to help in their diagnosis. After the coming of the British though traditional medicine got supplanted by modern allopathic treatment the role of the family physician continued. So family history and your own medical history was known to these physicians. In a sense we had an efficient system for Big Data and Analytics though it was not system driven. But healthcare till then was the privilege of a few and not easily available to all.

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Nutrition First: How an App Seeks to Make People Aware of Their Food Habits

How often do you check the cover of packaged food items for their nutritional value? Most people usually toss it in the shopping cart without thinking twice about what they are about to consume.

Given that Indian food is generally high on carbs and there is increasing preference for fatty junk foods, the nutritional value of a meal is not only diluted but the required daily nutrient intake too suffers leading to various lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and hypertension.

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