Page 23 - Cover_Final-eng

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Q
Preventive
screening is the wave of the
future. True or false?
A
“Prevention is better
than the cure is an old adage
especially applicable to today’s
times in the area of health and
wellness. By the time a person
manifests a disease, it is usually too
late to reverse pathologic changes
– classic examples being diabetes
and hypertension. Today we have
the tools so as to diagnose these
diseases much before they manifest
so as to enable an individual to
make the necessary preventive
changes in diet and lifestyle.”
Q
What is the key
point/premise behind
preventive screenings?
A
“The key point/premise
behind preventive screening is, as
the name suggests – preventing
the occurrence of a disease much
before it manifests. Detect disease
early, do appropriate lifestyle
changes required and prevent
manifestation of the disease.”
Q
What are the
top 3 most cutting edge
screenings available you
feel will also be the wave of
the future?
A
“There are many newer
screening modalities available
at the Center for Advanced
Biomedical Research and
Innovation (CABRI). In terms
of child health, we are looking
at screening the newborn for
inborn errors of metabolism. This
is a cutting edge test which is
done on a liquid chromatography
mass spectrometry (LCMS)
to screen almost 55 different
disorders done on a spot of
blood collected on a filter paper
card. This test is probably vital
in preventing diseases of the
newborn, on taking appropriate
measures to ensure that the
newborn does not manifest
certain inborn diseases.
“The second, probably the
important test which we
carry out is in the area of
womens’ health. This test
prevents the biggest killer of
women which is Cervical
Cancer. Cervical cancer is
caused by HPV. We have a
test which is liquid based
cytology. Liquid based
cytology when combined
with HPV testing i.e., testing
for human pappiloma virus
may be very effective in early
detection and the cure of
Cervical Cancer.”
“In terms of men’s health,
probably the biggest morbidity
today in adult males is caused
by Diabetes and Cardio Vascular
disease. We have a state of the
art test which helps prevent
cardio vascular disease which
is called lipid sub profiling.
Everybody does cholesterol and
lipid profiles, but at CABRI we
are actually able to look at LDL
and HDL sub profiles and predict
based on the sub profile of the
LDL and HDL, the possibility
that an individual can develop
cardiac disease.”
“We have also many new
tests today, especially in the
field of allergy research and
diagnosis such as the Loss
of Hetrozygosity in Autism
using a microarray which
looks at 2.5 million gene
SNPs at one go, rare metal
analysis and the like.”
Q
What are the
most positive benefits you
have witnessed yourself in
patients who have been
vigilant about preventive
screenings?
A
“The most positive
benefits which I’ve seen
predominantly are in diabetes.
Diabetes is ubiquitous now –
almost 2 out of 5 adults walking
on a road are either pre-diabetic
or diabetic. We have noticed
that by using HbA1C test which
is NGSP level 1 compliant
we are able to give a highly
accurate reading for HBA1C.
From that we estimate a value
called estimated average glucose
(EaG). This EaG is a very good
predictor of diabetes, its control.
By monitoring the HBA1C and
the concurrent EaG you are
able to look at the estimated
average glucose over the last 3
months. With lifestyle changes
one can push the HBA1C and
estimated average glucose to
normal levels and this probably
is the most effective intervention
today to prevent emergence
of complications of
diabetes.”
H
21
Oct/Nov 2014