HEALTH

Encephalocele patient awaits good Samaritan
Our Correspondent

Machhiwara, November 27
Amritpal Singh (4), who has been suffering from encephalocele (protrusion of brain tissue through a congential fissure in the skull) since his birth needs a good Samaritan in his life. As luck would have it, Amritpal lost his father Sukhdev Singh on July 25, 2000, in a road accident. In one of the kutcha houses of the local Indira Colony, Amritpal lays bed-ridden. He badly needs a kind-hearted person or a social organisation which can arrange Rs. 45,000-50,000 for his treatment.

Amritpal's helpless mother, Mrs Daljeet Kaur's has even approached the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, but all in vain. She was told that the Red Cross Society did not help people who went to private hospitals for their treatment. She was asked to visit some government hospital if she wanted to avail herself of the Red Cross Society's assistance. She visited the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, where no neurosurgeon was available who could cure her son.

Some neighbours of hers contributed some money and took Amritpal to Sutlej Hospital, Ludhiana, in September 2002 where his disease was diagnosed as encephalocele by Dr. T.N. Shadangi, a renowned neurosurgeon. Since then his mother has been running from pillar to post to get the much-needed financial help for the operation of her only son.

Will some Messiah come forward for help?” she says. She further adds that she has sold all her gold ornaments. Councillor Kiranjeet Kaur, former councillor Saroop Singh, councillor Mangat Rai, Arjan Dass, president, Gurdwara, Indira Colony, Darshan Lal and Shiv Ram have appealed to all social organisations of the town to rise to the occasion and come forward to save the life of Amritpal. Those who want to help Amritpal can contact at phone No. 01628-252095.

Cosmetics play havoc, says study
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 27
A study conducted by the Department of Dermatology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, for two and a half years on the topic “Adverse reactions to Cosmetics” has shown interesting findings and has exposed how the increasing use of low-quality cosmetics in all age groups is playing havoc with the skin not only women but also men, who are becoming more beauty conscious.

The study has been conducted by Dr Sarvjit Kaur, an MD from DMCH, under the guidance of Dr Alka Dogra, Consultant and Head of the Department of Dermatology, on patients who visited the skin OPD of the DMCH for treatment of various skin diseases caused by the use of low-quality cosmetics.

Dr Dogra, while giving the details, said the study was conducted on the patients between the age group of 11 years to 56 years. An allergic ingredient in cosmetics was detected with the help of patch testing. It was found that the major culprit in most of the cases were hair dyes followed by lipsticks, soaps, shaving creams, face creams, nail preparation, hair oils and eye make-ups.

The study said,”People using hair dyes should be very careful in selecting hair dyes and if they react to the basic ingredient they can always change to a better brand. Use of medicated shampoos and soaps should not be continued for years without the dermatologist’s prescription, otherwise it can do a lot of harm. Phenols adhesive at the back of bindi can cause white patch at the place of application”.

“Hair dyes cause redness, itching in the scalp, swelling in eyes, fall of hair and at times the allergy spread on face and body. Lipsticks cause blackness of lips, fissures, cracking with sunlight allergy. Creams cause pimples. Shaving creams cause itching and pimples on face. Hair oils cause sun sensitivity mainly due to mustard oil”.

Dr Dogra said it was an interesting finding that nail polish did not develop any reaction on nails but near eyelids. A disappointing fact which came to light was that most of the people did not pay any attention towards mild to moderate reactions to cosmetics. They believed in self medication, which was wrong.

Dr Dogra suggested that a legislation should be framed to keep a check on the quality of cosmetics. “Many European countries have framed cosmetic regulations that forbid the marketing of cosmetics without proper labelling of the ingredients, batch number, date of manufacturing and expiry, precautions to be taken, etc and the company responsible for the market introduction of the product must make it sure that the product is not harmful when used under normal conditions”, said the study.

It also suggested that the manufacturers must also take opinion of a dermatologist. Since, rules about cosmetics are made according to the cosmetic regulations rather than drug regulations, government control was still very limited and more public-administered research in the field of adverse reactions to cosmetics was desirable”, says the study.

Punjab pip Karnataka in Postal Hockey meet
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, November 27
On the second day of the 17th All-India Postal Hockey Tournament being played here at the Astro-turf ground of Punjab Agricultural University, last year’s runners-up Punjab overcame stiff resistance from Karnataka, whom they pipped 1-0 in a thrilling encounter. After the first barren half, Nirmal Singh of the Punjab circle scored the all-important goal just before the long whistle.

Earlier in the day, the reigning champions, Madhya Pradesh circle beat Tamil Nadu 5-1 to begin their title hunt in a grand style. Sirajual Haq of the Madhya Pradesh circle scored two goals, followed by one goal each by S. Fajal Ali, R K Yadav and Tariq.

In another tie, Uttar Pradesh circle beat Orissa circle by 4-3. This was Orissa’s second loss and they were out of the title race. For Uttar Pradesh circle, P. Rajesh Verma scored the first goal in the 27th minute of game Rafi Ahmed scored the second goal in 29th minute and the other two goals were scored by Hari Shankar in the 50th and 58th minutes, respectively. For the Orissa circle, the first goal was scored by A. Ekka in the first minute of the game who scored two goals for his team. In the 64th minute of the match, A.S. Logan scored the third goal.

Boxing championship
Our Sports Reporter

Khanna, November 27
The Punjab State Sub-Junior Boxing Championship will be held from November 28 to 30 at AS College for Boys here by the District Amateur Boxing Association. This was stated by Mr Iqbal Singh, the president of the association. 

ADMINISTRATION

Excise raid on jewellery shop
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 27
Senior officials of the Excise and Taxation Department, led by the Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mr Kishen Kumar, raided some business establishments here today. While no details were available, it was learnt that the officials seized some important documents relating to the business transactions of these business houses.

It was around 1 pm that about 20 vehicles surrounded Ahuja Electronics at Mata Rani Chowk here. About 50 officials besides, Mr Krishen Kumar, descended on the shop. Other shopkeepers in the area immediately downed the shutters of their shops.

The excise officials stayed there for about an hour and checked the business premises thoroughly. Eyewitnesses said the officials took away the account books and some other documents related to business. Other shopkeepers downed their shutters in panic and protest.

After that the excise officials went to Nikka Mal Jewellers on the posh Mall Road. Here also they conducted intensive search of the premises and checked the account books and other bills thoroughly. They reportedly seized some important documents from the jewellers.

Opposing the raids, Mr Sunil Mehra and Mr Mohinder Aggarwal, leaders of the Pradesh Beopar Mandal, criticised the way the officials raided the business premises. They maintained that the department was over-reacting.