How I Managed My Chronic Gum Disease and Tooth Pain!

When you approach old age, your body systems begin to deteriorate and you begin to get ailments of various kinds.

I am no exception. I am fast nearing to the accepted age when every one would formally or informally designate you as a senior citizen- a clever nomenclature to designate people who are branded for obscurity in some short period of time ahead.

Let me admit this. I am comfortable with that condition as I understand the destiny that is certain for all who have born as humans in this world.

Perhaps the politicians of all nations would be the only exception. They are the only kind in the world who are not comfortable with the thought of thinking about their sunset years. They are not comfortable to make way to those who march forward behind them.

That is the problem with those who have made much wealth and money too. The few decades of less than a century are not enough for them. They are willing to spend any amount of money to any hospitals and medicos just for keeping them alive and to escape the dread of death.

The fear of old age debility , pain and  death by such people give enough opportunity for medical and pharmaceutical business to flourish in leaps and bounds.

So a celebrity is not hesitant to spend billions for transplanting or transfusions of body parts and fluids from the incapacitated bodies of the less privileged and accept it as their own. Perhaps the same living body of the underprivileged might have been a repulsive thing for the celebrity on all previous occasions!

Then there are the medical researchers and the medical scientists and the celebrity medical doctors of modern age who do not forgo any opportunity to make cash by trading human flesh and blood, though they may glorify it in the name of advanced medical science.

Then there are the bio-medical engineers and the pharmaceutical bio technologists who keep discovering, patenting and selling all kinds of substances and equipment under the umbrella of unscrupulous businessmen and business women who have sold out  their human nature and humanity for greed.

They join hands with the paid media to terrorize the common people and draw them to them encouraging them to spend money for all medical panacea even at the cost of all their savings of life just as the fearful celebrities do for saving their lives.

When celebrities and the powerful ones do all these, that is the order of the day. The inferior lots do not have enough brains to think. They are followers always!

Some time ago, a friend quoted a philosopher who said like this: Money begets money; work begets work.

Perhaps the philosopher had observed the world around him. He had observed that those fellows who keep making money keep on making money. He had also observed that some people are always busy with work as either they keep on getting some work always or they cannot get out of their work even for some time to relax. They are in the look out for some work to keep them busy always! These two kinds of people end up their whole life either making money or doing some work whether important in life or otherwise!

In a similar way some others are perennial patients. For them disease begets disease. The medical doctors call them as having hypochondriasis. That simply means that they are always worried about some ailment affecting and troubling them and they would not get any comfort unless they visit the doctor or the hospital every day! A good majority of modern men and women are affected by this medical anxiety syndrome that they form a good market for the unscrupulous medical business fraternity. The latter may some times do all such things that the former are kept under the same condition as long as they can!

The internet search engines provide enough material for all hypochondria men and women fully engaged. The medical advice sites they finally land would enhance their fears and anxieties several fold, instead of giving them any reassuring confidence.

For example their minor headache could be due to a tumor in the brain which also cannot be over ruled unless it is thoroughly examined under a total head computer aided tomography (CAT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MMI) scan, the modern medical diagnostic equipment invented by some medical research companies in the past decade. These machines cost millions and unless they are fully engaged without lose of even a minute, those who had invested those millions could not possibly recover their investments and make profits.

I am not against research or advancements in the field of medicine or medical technology. But so long as there exist unscrupulous and greedy persons among us, all good could turn out to do more harm than good. And that applies not only to this field, but in all fields of human endeavors.

You may be wondering why all this sermons that is not relevant to the title of this blog. After all who has the time to listen to sermons in these age of fast food and fast culture? Come to the point, buddy! You might say.

Do you have some thing to discuss about the world cup? You may ask. No, I have nothing to say. But I pity all those who become prey to the big money makers who know how to trap the millions like you to get glued to the big event just as the short lived moths who live for a few minutes before they flock to the bright lights for a short lived enjoyment of their life time! Are you moths of that kind?

Okay, I do not want to test your short temper any more.

As old age progressed I got a severe tooth ache and a swelling around the affected molar tooth of my upper jaw. I was affected by a similar problem for my canine teeth of either side on my lower jaw a decade ago. I visited my dentist who was pretty renowned of our locality at that time.

He examined it thoroughly and got them x-rayed and declared them as not salvageable. The solution is to pull them out. I had not other choice but to agree as the pain was severe and unbearable. So in a weeks time both my teeth got to the grave before me.

The doctor suggested that I should make up my lost teeth with artificial ceramic teeth that the modern technology has invented. The technology had advanced to such levels that he could fit them in such a way that they look better than the original if I was prepared to foot the high bill. More than the money, what I wanted to know was about the procedure.

He told that the permanent fixture of the teeth would be made by making a so called bridge to fix the artificial tooth. For making the bridge, he had to chisel, chip and drill my existing teeth and the jaw bone to some extent under local anesthesia. And it might take a few sittings for a couple of days. To make the existing teeth cause no pains later, he also had to remove the pain transmitting nerves which are embedded deep inside the teeth, a dental surgery procedure the dentist call as the root canal treatment.

Would it cause pain? Nothing much, but sometimes, a little bit. He re-assured me. I had my own doubts. As I am a fearful person, especially when it comes to things like this, I was not ready to swallow it fully.

So I talked to some others who underwent the procedure bravely. What I gained from is that the root canal treatment is much more painful than the actual pain of the decayed tooth. Of course, I have not experienced it. But why should I? Old age is going to create problems of this sort and I am not going to be an young person any more by getting those sparkling artificial teeth fitted in my mouth! More over the two teeth loss had not caused much problem to me including my facial appearance.

So I decided not to fit those artificial teeth to make me young.

A decade later, my upper jaw molar teeth became affected as was the situation earlier. It began with pain, numbness of the whole teeth and swelling of the jaw. The pain began to increase. I went to the doctor who as usual gave the final verdict of pulling the affected tooth as the solution and fitting new artificial one later.

This time I decided not to go as per the dentist for the time being. I decided to tolerate the pain by alleviating it by house hold techniques including some self medication with common pain killers. The teeth almost became lose from its root and began to move to and fro when I chewed food causing much discomfort. But I thought I should be patient for some time.

My logic was simple common sense. The pain is due to infected sensory nerves that connect to the teeth. In the root canal treatment the dentists artificially desensitize these nerves and drill them out to retain the affected bone structure of the teeth intact. Later the nerveless tooth start behaving as an artificial tooth with no means to transmit sensory pain signals to the brain.

If that were so, what would happen if I allow my decaying nerves to decay fully? Give it some time to complete that process naturally taking due precautions that the bacterial decaying process does not go out of hand to create other complications in and around . It would be a natural root canal process! 

I thought of giving my logic a try.

The decay has to proceed. So I should not kill the decay causing bacteria from the inside. So a big no for using any antibiotic drugs.

But the decay should not affect other teeth and the exterior gums. Bacteria should not make my teeth and gums their harvest field. 

By this time swelling and bubbling in the affected gum area and tolerable pain have been a persistent affair. And I kept it going like that for at least two years periodically trying some bactericidal mouth wash when problems aggravated.

Then suddenly an idea came in to my mind. Why not use ordinary table salt as my tooth paste? Salt is the best known bactericide. In no time I put that thought in to practice. At first it caused some discomfort when the salt entered the depths of the bacterial infected regions hidden between the tooth and the gum.

To my surprise, in a couple of days the year long problem vanished and my my tooth got fixed on its foundation firmly. The pain and the gum swelling have gone for ever. I have finally succeeded in getting my old decayed molar teeth and the affected gums salvaged. And the great remedy was nothing but simple table salt!

Now I brush my teeth using my tooth paste covered with a layer of table salt twice daily. It is now nearing an year and the problem has not returned.

Of course it does not mean that my old teeth would not give me trouble in the future. After all, my body and its parts are aging and would no more exist after its designated life time on this earth.

Yet it has proved one thing. Modern medicine and its opinions may not be true always. Because human knowledge about his own body design is no where near the Supreme knowledge of its original Creator.

So, better accept that supreme fact and act according to the wisdom that also provided along with. 

That is what my mind tells me.

And I try to follow that feeble instruction as far as possible.

Unni and the Boys of Aranmula Got Saved by the Vampire Bats (Story)

[The moral of this story is to highlight the importance of dental and gum care, something much neglected by the Indian public]

Unni is studying in an English Medium Public School near Aranmula, the sleepy Panchayat which has been known in the world for four relatively unconnected things. First it was the place where the famous metallic mirror known as 'Aranmula Kannadi' or Aranmula Mirror was made by a few traditional artisans using some metal mixing and polishing techniques known only to them. In the days when the Travancore King ruled this place and when Kerala was not a name in any maps, the mirror was only talked about in the locality as a peculiar magical one that could be possessed only by a few fortunate ones connected to the King.

But thanks to the prominence of tourist influx to the 'God's Own Country' the mirror and the artisans that made it were pulled out of their secret hiding places of Aranmula and was made no more a guarded secret. At least  now, the folks near Aranmula could also possess a small metal mirror if they so desired !

Unni's place is also the dwelling place of a powerful Hindu Deity who is the presiding deity of the centuries old Partha Saradhi temple, where Lord Krishna is revealed as the Charioteer of the epic Pandava Prince Arjuna. During the harvest festival season of Onam, the Aranmula folks conduct the famous snake boat races in the river Pampa that meander through Aranmula. 

Aranmula has also become a boiling political hotspot in recent times when a rich local business man with his wealth sources in the United States began to work for fulfilling his life's ambition of having a private international airport in Aranmula. He had quietly acquired a long unused patch of wet land together with some other paddy fields that the owners have long desired to sell out due to their disinclination to continue with the traditional farming vocations. But to his utter dismay the shrewd and clever politicians of modern Kerala got succeeded in making the people divided over this airport that it may not become a reality in his life time !

Unni, though a Malayali boy, is no more comfortable with his mother tongue Malayalam. He can speak it but can hardly read it comfortably, thanks to the development that took place in democratic India during the time of his parents. His parents studied in schools nearby which were existing even before India became independent. They learnt everything through their own mother tongue Malayalam and could even learn the English language comfortably that they could get their present highly paid jobs earning foreign exchange just as their many contemporaries most of whom worked either in the Gulf or in the US making them in an enviable position as compared to some of their unfortunate country cousins who worked in their native country getting much lower pays in rupees. 

The foreign money that Unni's parents and many of his friends' parents earned changed the style of Aranmula and the adjoining places considerably. Now most of them have palatial houses with almost all modern gadgets and facilities, unlike the times of their parents and grandparents. The Malayalam medium schools are all in the verge of closure as only few unfortunate boys and girls studied there. Those of Unni's stature have all moved in to the so called English Medium Public Schools run by rich individuals in the name of some fictitious societies. Here they studied everything in English and the schools followed a syllabus that is prescribed by some national level education boards. 

To tell the truth, Unni did not understand much what was taught in English at his school, just as his friends. They talked in Malayalam but mugged up the questions and answers in broken English to score the marks. At least they were all fortunate that no one actually bothered to find out how much they understood through their school education.

Yet in some ways they were just as their parents. Whenever they got time, they loitered in the fields and the river banks to share their small adventures, stories, fantasies and the like. 

It was on one such time that Unni heard the story of the Vampire bats, the flying creatures that sucked the blood of animals and people while they slept. Though it was one of their friends who introduced the subject to their group from the little information he got from the NatGeo Channel, their fantasies and imaginations bloomed on Vampire bats and vampires for quite some time.

Unni sometime imagined that he is a vampire. He had horror dreams of vampire bats drinking his blood during the night. 

One day he showed his friends the way vampires sucked by showing the  action. Suddenly he felt the peculiar salty taste in his mouth.

Just at that time his friends shouted: " See ! there's blood in his mouth !" 

Almost instantly, he spitted out. Indeed it was blood. Blood in his mouth. From where it is coming? He was scared. His friends too felt too awkward. 

Just then one of them got an idea. He too imitated the sucking act of Unni. Yes, blood was coming out from his mouth too.

The boys tried it one by one. Except one, all the five of the boys could spit out blood by self sucking their teeth and gums.

The boy who did not succeed had sparkling white teeth who often smiled confidently.

He stepped in to explain the blood phenomena that now caused much worries to his friends.

He knew better about his teeth and its upkeep than his friends. He told them that the blood that they could get in their mouth was coming from their bleeding gums and it is a kind of disease that would not happen if they take some simple steps on a regular basis.

The beauty, strength and life of their teeth depended on the health of their gums that supported the teeth.

He knew all this because his mother was very careful to teach him about the importance of cleaning his teeth and the use of proper tooth pastes and tooth brushes.

Unni and his other friends too had all these things at home. But unfortunately, no one took that care to tell them.

At home the elders have been very casual. Teeth were the last thing that got their attention to take care of.

Unni who felt like a vampire of Aranmula, now felt uneasy. His friends too were in a similar mindset.

While returning home, Unni decided not to hide this from the elders at home.

He just did not want to have his teeth painful and distorted during his prime life.

Vampire bats anyway helped him to detect a hidden disease from going unnoticed !

Perhaps his friends too would be thinking the way he thought ! Good, they were not going to let their teeth and gums decay any more !

[Please also take some time to come back and read my previous  blogs and blogs on other topics as well. You can reach to those by clicking the links in this page. I would be happy if you take some time to express your views using the comments facility down below. Please  use the same comment facility to interact with me for any doubts or clarifications that you might have. Here is the page link which gives the   list of all my blogs  where you can open all my blog titles.]  

Would It Be Possible To Introduce A Practical and Workable Health Insurance System In India ?

Health and Mediclaim Insurance have come up in India in the recent years when the government of India opened up these businesses for private participation. Many so-called business leaders and professionals in the banking and related sectors joined hands to reap the big money and jumped into it by setting up so-many health insurance companies.

For getting the government licences and clearances they all collaborated with existing foreign companies who have been doing such businesses for the past many years in other parts of the globe.

They all thought of making money for them, but no one perhaps thought of giving some reasonable benefits to the poor Indian citizens on whose money they would be thriving.

They adopted the US system of health insurance (that too diluting it in the Indian way) instead of adopting the best system that are available in other countries like Canada, Australia, UK, etc.

Insurance in India is all about cheating. Whether it is life, general or health, the fundamental driving principle is cheating and making money by cheating.

Because Indians are all cheaters. That is what an insurance employee told me. That is how they are taught !

I remember reading a famous novel by a foreign author where the insurance business there was briefly described. The companies there go by trusting their patrons, though they well knew that there are a few cheaters here and there. But they would never make a trouble for a genuine customer, just because there are some fraud customers here and there.

But Indian way of business is quite different. In India, every one distrusts the other. The government and its servants are in the forefront who have the least respect and trust for the people !

There could be a larger percentage of citizens also who might do some cheating if they are provided with an opportunity to cheat.

But none of these are excuses for doing a business in the best possible manner, beneficial for the individual.

Let us now come to the basic principles of insurance.

Let us talk about health insurance or medical insurance. No one in his right mind would never like to get ill and spend his time in hospitals. But the possibility of such an event in any ones life at any time cannot be over ruled. If it happens a good fortune of money would be extracted by the hospitals for treatment. So, it is a good idea if there is some one who can provide the person a relief from his unexpected out of budget expenditure that comes quite unexpectedly some time in life. And health insurer comes to play in this scenario by making a win-win situation for both the insurance company and the individual who opt for such a facility.

If the insurance companies spend huge sums on advertisements it means that they are not for extending any real benefits to  the people, but to make profits for them from the ignorance and helplessness of the individual. If service is the main motto of the insurance company, they need not spend huge sums on advertisements. Neither they should spend large sums in establishing their head offices in posh buildings in the metro cities. Every act of theirs should be in such a way that they spend money judiciously considering that it is the money of the not so affluent citizens of the country.

Look at the scores of health insurance companies of India who ventured into this business. All of them are located with their offices in the metros. Why can't they think other than the metros ? Why can't they move out to the state capitals and the tier-2 cities where the establishment costs are much lower ? Just because some of their top executives whom they had hired happen to be from the metros, they want their offices in the metros even if that costs a good lot of money. When their establishment costs are very high, it is quite natural that they take years to turn around and be of any good to the people in the real sense.

Governments are also to be blamed for this kind of a situation in India. They are responsible for unequal development of the country. If they are responsible, they would consider giving incentives to companies to set up their offices in smaller cities ! But regrettably, they are not  or simply they do not think of such things !

Insurance business works on the laws of probability and statistics. But if such data are not reliable, every thing go wrong. Indian companies are yet to learn how to use the power of the internet to do business properly. They should also learn how to trust people, instead of moving with pre-conceived bias against the people.

None of the health or medical insurance companies have options for paying the premiums on small monthly instalments. All have annual payment options only. This, it seems is because of their distrust in the people. They have construed that Indian public are cheaters. That simply means that they think that the person who signs with them for the health insurance will not pay the instalments after availing the insured amounts from the insurance company ! Is it true for all Indians ? Had they had proper market surveys and data, they would have found that it is not correct. In reality, health insurance is something which is only in the agenda of well to do middle class or upper class Indians with a regular income. Such people are the least probable entities who think of cheating any one ! Of course, there could be a minuscule percentage of people who might default payments due to various reasons.

But such defaults are part of any business. Not any thing specific to the insurance business alone ! A good insurer would know how to safe guard and cover such problems.

Now let me explain some more details of this business with some examples from my own view points. Let me admit that this is pure common sense and not based on any high end business analysis by the so-called experts.

Let me explain my own requirements as regard to medical insurance. I am a salaried person. My employer provide me some health care facilities. But they have certain rules and limitations that I am not very comfortable with.

For day to day expenses in medicines and medical check ups, I don't feel going after a medical insurance company for reimbursements. That is simply ridiculous and not befitting my status ! I don't like spending time and efforts in paper works for some small amounts ! For such amounts of say, not exceeding Rs.2000/- per month, I don't mind paying from my pocket.

But that is not going to be the case if due to some misfortune I or some one in my family is admitted in hospital and I have to spend some money which is near or more than my monthly income to the hospital. That is exactly where the medical insurer has some relevance for me. For offsetting such an eventuality, I don't mind spending an insurance amount of say Rs.500/- per month per person in my family on a regular basis for covering a yearly hospitalization expense at actuals not exceeding Rs.100,000/- per person.

Now let us see, how this translate for the insurance provider. Suppose there are 1000 people like me who are willing to pay an average Rs.2000/- per month to the health insurance company for each of their  families with an average of 4 persons. That means the company gets Rs.2 million in a month as insurance premium. In an year, the amount becomes Rs.24 million.

Now assume that 5 % of the total persons are hospitalized in that period, each incurring an average actual hospitalization expenditure of Rs.75,000/- on the average. The insurance company has to bear that expense. How much it would be ? It is 4x1000x5%x75000= Rs.15 Million. Please note that in actual practice, this much hospitalization expense actually does not happen if the company take some minimum care while enrolling the people initially. So, the company is left with a clear margin of Rs.9 Million during the same period.

What would be the potential for the company in India where there are more than 34 Million income tax payers? Assuming that 5 % of this people are covered by the company in the above said manner instead of the 1000 people ? That is a clear profit potential of Rs.1530 Million per year.

Now comes the expenses of the company. It all depends on how many people it wants to employ and how many offices it wants to set up and at what costs. Suppose the company spends 50% of the cash margin for people and infrastructure. Out of this let us say 50 % is for salaries and 50 % is towards other costs such as building rentals, software costs, electricity, etc. The company can well employ more than 1500 employees with an average annual cost to the company of Rs.400,000/- It is all up to them how less they can manage. Similar, for the office costs too.

Now, dear reader, you should have understood the profit potential in this insurance field. That is exactly the reason why the government wants to keep their control over this hugely profit making business. In fact government also wants a cut !

When every body wants a cut and the motive is profit making, the only sufferer is the individual.

And that is exactly what is happening in India.

Had the peoples' representatives and their bureaucratic advisers think of the welfare of the people, just as in the case of welfare nations like Canada, things would have been much different. [I would advise those interested to read more about it in this wikipedia article . It would be interesting to know about health care system of the US also to understand the difference.]

What I wanted to point out is only this:

Health insurance business is a highly profitable one even in India. If it is done with a bit responsibly and a bit commitment to the people, in a manner simple and practical, there is no need for luring people to it by big spending in advertisements, etc. People of India are not fools, they can very well understand what is good for them. The business can be done beneficial to both sides with more benefits passed on to the people.

Neither there is no need for these companies to work out so many so-called insurance products for fooling the people with much in fine prints. All this can be done online with minimal efforts, if they want to do it.

But for that, these companies need clear thinking minds at their top. People with clear thinking, but who think of the people more than how to make profits for the company.

Then they will not need all those people who are required for managing their ad campaigns and other things which drains their coffers. After all that money belongs to the people.

These companies also should think of moving out of the metros. They should also limit their top corporate pay packs at reasonable levels.

If such things do not happen, these health insurance companies of India are not going to survive longer !

Just as what happened to the public sector insurance companies who started health insurance in the past and went out of business due to their unfriendly business practices, the many insurance companies with foreign co-names are going to shut shops.

Let us hope that would not happen !

[Please also take some time to come back and read my previous  blogs and blogs on other topics as well. You can reach to those by clicking the links in this page. I would be happy if you take some time to express your views using the comments facility down below. Please  use the same comment facility to interact with me for any doubts or clarifications that you might have. Here is the page link which gives the   list of all my blogs  where you can open all my blog titles.]

Nursing Profession: Neutral Opinion from a Non Medico !

While watching the TV news today morning, a news clipping about the pathetic plight of the well qualified young nursing professionals both males and females in my home state, Kerala, got my attention.

I am not in anyway connected with this profession, though the story of Florence Nightingale, the lady who made this profession a honorable one in the world, was one that went deep into my heart when I was a small boy.

My home state Kerala is presently the leading state of India in literacy and health care. It achieved that position due to the pioneering works of foreign Christian Missionaries from Germany, Belgium and other European countries ever after Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to the Malabar Coast of India from Europe. The direction and the light of literacy that they gave to the traditional Christians of the state made a surge in overall reformation in all walks of life in this small coastal state, a conglomerate of a few small princely Hindu states of unique traditions.

Nursing as a profession began from humble beginnings in the world as a necessary outcome of the industrial revolution in Europe followed by the many wars the Europeans fought among themselves.

In the formative years this was a profession which the general public viewed with suspicion and general contempt. Though for all those who were sick and suffering, the nurses were nothing less than angels in human form.

But all through out the world, even in this modern times, nursing profession is a profession which the public view with mixed reaction. In some places, they are respected and paid well. In most other cases, they are paid meagerly, exploited and treated like bonded slaves!

In the developed western countries and in most of the cash rich Persian gulf countries where health care is a serious concern of the governments and the public, the nurses are generally treated well and with respect.

Due to the high standards set by some rich countries in health care, there has been a rising demand for qualified nursing professionals in those countries. This has resulted in providing good opportunities and incomes for thousands of nurses from countries like India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Though their home countries do not provide respectable positions and remunerations, the prospects of high income and respect in some of the rich countries have created a beeline of people desiring to chose nursing as their career. In India, the Keralites have been in the forefront in this.

The high demand for qualified nursing professionals with high earning potentials in countries like Ireland and some other Europeans countries in the recent years followed by the changed education policies of the Indian government resulted in mushrooming of hundreds of nursing colleges in India offering degree courses in nursing.

All of a sudden nursing profession became the hottest and the most sought after profession in India. The opportunistic business men with the blessings of the ruling class quickly registered societies and trusts to establish Nursing Colleges which charged very high fees hitherto never heard of for such a study. No one ever complained about such an enormous and unjustified hike in the fees for nursing education which was not commensurate with the cost of providing the education but was merely on the basis of willingness of the aspirants to pay, dreaming on the chances of high earning that some of them might get in some foreign countries! The fee as it stands today for completing a 4-year nursing degree course in any of the newly established private nursing colleges amounts to nearly half a million rupees, a sum that a fresh graduate nurse would likely earn perhaps in five years of employment in any private hospital in India.

In short, the foreign earning potential for some, resulted in the establishment of a well patronaged exploitation system in India, comprising of influential people. A never to before heard of professional body called the Nursing Council of India also became a very influential and powerful body capable of determining the fate of thousands of young women and men of India. This professional body assumed such importance and prominence in recent years than many professional bodies that existed for decades earlier! Such a professional body with importance in the general sense is very good for the members of the profession, but apparently for outsiders like me, it appeared not working for that, but on the contrary.

The Armed Forces is one organization, perhaps out of compulsions from its European legacy, which provides respectable positions and career opportunities to trained nurses in their cadres. The military has a separate wing called the Nursing Corps where the nurses are inducted as commissioned officers with career opportunities for rising to respectably high ranks just as their counter parts in other professional areas.

The word nurse is with a feminine connotation. But this profession of late, is not reserved for ladies alone, though in the past it was some thing like that. The advancements in the medical profession in the recent years have necessitated induction of gentlemen also to this field. Such professionals who entered this female dominated profession are now called male-nurses!

I found these two words, nurses and male-nurses, an absurdity not befitting to the modern civilization and culture for many reasons. Regrettably I found no one from any walks of life, either from the intelligentsia or from the community of medicos or even from the nurses themselves ever raising such an issue.

Being a person from the non-medical field but with high regards to those in this profession, I feel that it is high time we think of discarding this nomenclature for this profession.

Why not think about some other titles instead ? Let me suggest some titles .  Medical Care Executives, Medical Care Stewards, Hospital Stewards, Medical Service Assistants, etc are a few of my suggestions. I strongly feel that it is high time that we abandon the words Nurse and Nursing and some of its verbatim Indian translations like 'Paricharika'  that are so thoughtlessly used in our society.

The qualified and exploited young professionals belonging to this field in the state which pioneered this profession in India have recently ventured into initiating  a rightful agitation protesting against their continuing exploitation.

The most uncivilized and suppressive acts resorted by some of the otherwise reputed private hospital managements who cared little for their genuine grievances with the governmental authorities resorting to an equally irresponsible attitude caused the agitation coming to the media attention. Though the media coverage is not so wide, it is definitely drawing the attention of the public, not only in India but also in other countries.

No doubt, this agitation is the outcome of the poor state of affairs in the medical care field in India. It is high time that the authorities take note of it and act, not to suppress but to bring about honor and respect to those people who took up this noble profession.