“India needs a comprehensive approach to healthcare and there is an immediate need to implement holistic policies. We have to take a cue from the US where a sizeable budget is allocated exclusively for the healthcare of the citizens.” This is what Dr. Umesh Srikantha, renowned neurosurgeon and Consultant Head of Spine Services at Aster CMI Hospital, Hebbal, Bengaluru has to say of India’s healthcare system. In an exclusive tete-etete with Karnataka Today’s Denzil Rithesh, Dr. Umesh disseminates his knowledge on spine health in the perspective of a layman apart from emphasizing on the need to conduct awareness camps on the all-pervasive spine related issues.
One of the handful of spine surgeons in India with an expertise in the latest MISS, he expressed a lot of concern on the ignorance and negligence that Indians have with regard to spine issues. An MBBS from Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli and M.Ch (Neurosurgery) from National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Dr Umesh has a Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (FMISS) from South Korea. His areas of special interest are Minimally Invasive Spine surgery, Endoscopic Spine surgery, Complex Spine Surgery, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and Neuro-oncology.
How common is Spinal surgery among patients that visit you regularly? And what is the frequency of patients with back pain visiting the hospital?
Spinal problems are one of the most ubiquitous ailments though often ignored. Apart from common cold backache is most common cause for absence from work.
An average of 10 patients’ visit me in a day with various indications of spine related aches and pains. 75% of adults have at least one episode of disabling back pain.
Most of the time spine problems are degenerative in nature, i.e., they occur due to wear and tear which is a liability associated with aging and 5 percent because of arthritis. Even trauma, neoplastic growth or a nerve compression can lead to spine problems.
Back pain can hamper normal functioning of an individual and can lead to depression – Have you seen any relationship in your practice?
Yes, there is definitely a relationship and it can be directly proportional in a lot of cases. Depression can occur in chronic cases of backache but not in acute cases. However, such cases reported are less in India.
This story is from the February 2017 edition of Karnataka Today.
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This story is from the February 2017 edition of Karnataka Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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