Patiala peg killing Punjabis
Charu Chhibber
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 19
Patiala peg is killing Punjabis with advanced alcoholic liver disease. As many as 300 patients of the advanced stage liver disease are being reported at the outpatient department of hepatology of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) every month. Nearly half of these are in immediate need of the life-saving liver transplant surgery.
“Alcoholic liver disease is the number one liver disease in Punjab,” said Dr RK Dhiman, additional professor, department of hepatology, PGI.
“Our OPD is full with patients from Punjab seeking treatment for liver damage and cirrhosis. Alcohol consumption remains the number one cause of liver cirrhosis and most of these patients are from Punjab.”
Dr Virendra Singh, additional professor, department of hepatology, said these patients of advanced alcoholic liver disease or cirrhosis will require a transplant in the long run.
Though the PGI administration does not have
“Alcoholism is such a nuisance that patients continue to drink despite knowing that there is a threat to their life. To have a liver transplant, one has to stay off liquor,” said Dr Virendra Singh. Alcoholism needs to be checked especially because it is fast becoming a national problem, Dr Singh added.
PGIMER, one of the most premier medical institutes of India, unfortunately has a shockingly low rate of the life-saving liver transplant surgery. Since 2011, when the programme was initiated, only 17 or 18 liver transplants have been done at PGI, the only public centre for liver transplant for patients from Punjab, Haryana, HP and J&K.
