PG Times

By JP Nadda   The National Mental Health Survey 2016 published by NIMHANS recently showed that 13.7% of Indians are likely to have a mental illness during their lifetime. The survey also highlighted the huge treatment gap for mental illness ranging from 28-83%. Treatment gap refers to the proportion of people who need treatment for a mental illness but do not get it. Stigma, discrimination and violation of rights are everyday occurrences for persons with mental illness and their families.Research has shown that mental illness is associated with poverty and we will not meet the sustainable development goals on good health and well-being (SDG 3) and ending poverty (SDG 1) unless we address the health and social needs of persons with mental illness and their families and ensure their inclusion in all development activities. The Mental Health Care Bill 2013, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha in August 2016, addresses some of these important issues. T...

The government is likely to place the bill that seeks to replace the Medical Council of India ( MCI ) with National Medical Commission (NMC) before Parliament in the ongoing Winter Session. "The proposed National Medical Commission Bill, 2016 has been finalised by the Aayog and it is likely to be placed before Parliament for passage in the current session," a source said. The bill has to be approved by the Cabinet after which it will be placed before Parliament, the source added. Earlier this year, a high-level committee headed by  Niti Aayog  Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya looked into the issue of poor regulation of  medical education  by MCI and proposed replacing MCI with NMC. Besides Panagariya, the panel included Prime Minister's Additional Principal Secretary  P K Mishra , Niti Aayog CEO  Amitabh Kant  and the Union Health Secretary. The committee was formed to suggest reforms in the Indian Medical Councils (IMC) Act, 1957. After...

Despite opposition from certain quarters, including Indian Medical Association (IMA), the high-powered committee headed by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya has moved forward with the plan to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with National Medical Commission. A bill to replace MCI is likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament. The final draft of the NMC, finalised by the Panagariya panel last week, retained the provision that a government appointed broad-based searchcum-selection committee will select medical education regulators, instead of them being nominated and elected as used to happen in MCI. The IMA has objected to the move, saying that in its eagerness to restructure the MCI to overhaul medical education, the panel is taking away its autonomy and democratic structure. The Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare had termed the draft NMC Bill a "huge disappointment", saying the policy directions given shows t...

Hundreds of doctors across the country are protesting against the proposed National Medical Commission Bill (NMC Bill), which seeks to dissolve the Medical Council of India (MCI), calling it “an undemocratic move.” One of the primary responsibilities of the MCI is to regulate medical education in the country. The NITI Aayog suggested the creation of NMC in August 2016. The proposed bill has suggested forming an NMC, which will be a policy-making body for medical education. Scrapping MCI might not be the right move in the long term, experts have said. The proposed NMC Bill 2016 suggests that the Central government will establish autonomous Boards for conducting undergraduate and postgraduate education, assessment and rating of medical institutions and registration of medical practitioners, among other things. According to Dr KK Aggarwal, national president elect, Indian Medical Association, “Scrapping MCI will cripple the functioning of the medical profession by making it comp...

Identify the organism on the basis of the morphology of egg shown below a. Ascaris b. Enterobius c. Echinococcus d. Trichuris  Ans: B. Enterobius (Ref: K.D Chatterjee 13th edition, p227) Egg of Enterobius vermicularis: • Colourless- non bile stained • Asymmetrical shaped- flattened on one side and convex on the other side: Plano-convex/ D-shaped • Surrounded by a transparent shell • Contains a coiled tadpole like larva • Floats in saturated solution of common salt Click Here to Read Book Review Click Here to Buy

The bacterial growth medium shown below belongs to  a. Enriched medium b. Enrichment medium c. Selective medium d. Indicator medium Ans: B. Enrichment medium (Ref: Ananthanarayan 9th edition, p28-33) Simple medium: nutrient agar and Mueller-Hinton agar Enriched medium: Blood agar, chocolate agar, egg and serum based medium  Enrichment medium: Selenite F and alkaline peptone water Differential medium: MacConkey agar and blood agar Selective medium: Lowenstein-Jensen medium, Thayer-Martin medium, Wilson and Blair medium Click Here to Read Book Review Click Here to Buy

Identify the test depicted in the picture below a. Sodium fluoride test b. Teichmann test c. Diatoms test d. None of the above Ans: C. Diatoms test. Circular, triangular, oval, rectangular, linear, crescentic or boat shaped with silica wall, chlorophyll and brown pigment Diatomin. Ref: KSN Reddy, Essentials of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 33rd ed, p 371. Click Here to Read Book Review Click Here to Buy

       Identify the finger print pattern given below a.       Whorl b.       Arch c.        Loop d.       Composite Ans: D. Composite type. Composite type has more than one fingerprint type in a finger. Ref: KSN Reddy, Essentials of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 33rd ed, p 85. Click Here to Read Book Review Click Here to Buy

   Mode of torture shown in the below pic is a.       Telefona b.       Falanga c.        Mugging d.       Garrotting Ans: B. Falanga . Canes or rods are used to beat on soles of foot, or rarely to palm of hips or hips. Ref: KSN Reddy, Essentials of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 33rd ed, p 298. Click Here to Read Book Review Click Here to Buy

Sergeant Rajkiran Shaw escorts VIPs almost every day. But on Thursday night he was guiding life. At 12.47am, when Shaw’s red gypsy was speeding down EM Bypass, his eyes kept shifting between his wrist watch and the rear-view mirror. He was in a hurry but not to transport a VIP but deliver life in the form of a kidney to a recipient at SSKM Hospital. "Every second was precious. The doctors were monitoring our movement. All the arrangements had been made and the patient was waiting for the kidney which I was responsible to deliver safely," said Shaw, 31 who did two sorties --- both in almost 13 minutes --- between Apollo Gleneagles and SSKM Hospital to deliver a kidney and liver. Shaw was not alone. From cops to drivers, from doctors to their support staff, several individuals came together on Thursday evening to retrieve, transport and transplant human organs to gift lives to three individuals and hope to their families. A team of doctors led by eminent ...

ART guidelines released by NACO (2013). ART now given <500 CD4 count under National AIDS Control Program (Source: NACO Website) Further Reading:  https://goo.gl/o3BWrq

The photograph shown below is as a result of disorder of a. Purine b. Pyrimidine c. Glycogen d. Fatty acid synthesis Answer : A) Purine Harper’s illustrated Biochemistry , 30th ed , page 354 GOUT IS A METABOLIC DISORDER OF PURINE CATABOLISM Various genetic defects in PRPP synthase present clinically as gout. Each defect—for example, an elevated V max, increased affinity for ribose 5-phosphate, or resistance to feedback inhibition—results in overproduction and over excretion of purine catabolites. When serum urate levels exceed the solubility limit, sodium urate crystalizes in soft tissues and joints and causes an inflammatory reaction, gouty arthritis. However, most cases of gout reflect abnormalities in renal handling of uric acid. While purine deficiency states are rare in human subjects, there are numerous genetic disorders of purine catabolism. Hyperuricemias may be differentiated based on whether patients excrete normal or excessive quantit...

Question The food item shown below is a rich source of  a. Vitamin C b. Vitamin A c. Vitamin D d. Vitamin K Answer : a) Vitamin C DM Vasudevan , Textbook of biochemistry for medical students , 7th ed ,  page 496 It is water soluble and is easily destroyed by heat, alkali and storage. In the process of cooking, 70% of vitamin C is lost.Most animals and plants can synthesize ascorbic acid from  glucose. Man, higher primates, guinea pigs and bats are the only species which cannot synthesize ascorbic acid (block in gulonolactone oxidase step). They lack the genes responsible for the synthesis of this enzyme.  Biochemical functions of vitamin C include reversible oxidation reduction , hydroxylation of proline and lysine , metabolism of Tryptophan , tyrosine , iron ,haemoglobin and folic acid , Steroid syntehesis , Phagocytosis and antioxidant property. Manifestations of Vitamin C Deficiency : Scurvy , Barlows Disease , Hemorrhag...

Question: Identify the scientists in the photo  a.       Watson and crick b.       Lewis and McNeal c.        Huger and Rutherford d.       Saulter and Williams Answer :  a) Watson and Crick Lehninger’s Principles of Biochemistry , 6 th ed , page 279& Harper’s Illustrated Biochemistry , 30 th ed. Page 361 The discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953 was a momentous event in science, an event that gave rise to entirely new disciplines and influenced the course of many established ones. Our present understanding of the storage and utilization of a cell’s genetic information is based on work made possible by this discovery, and an outline of how genetic information is processed by the cell is now a prerequisite for the discussion of any area of biochemistry. The central dogma in molecular biology postulated by Wat...