The South Asian health section of our blog is a place where we share information about South Asian health, prevention and wellness to help South Asians improve their health and reduce their risk of disease. You can also visit PAMF’s South Asian Health website for a wide range of South Asian health articles, videos, FAQs and more. We invite you to join us on our social networking sites at Facebook and Twitter to connect and learn more about health in the community.
For Ron Sinha, M.D., an internal medicine doctor at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Redwood City Center, a good physician-patient relationship is in many ways like a good marriage — where there is open communication, honesty and mutual trust between both parties. For him, personalized care means treating the patient as a person, not just their illness. “What is really rewarding to me is when you make that connection to the patient and you motivate them to make a change that’s really important to them,” says Dr. Sinha.
Co-leader of PAMF’s South Asian Wellness Task Force, Dr. Sinha takes care to learn about a patient’s cultural and ethnic background, and family history, before recommending lifestyle changes. “Each patient has a unique culture, a unique background or family history,” he says. “I have to make sure I give them advice that will fall within the context of their life.”
In this video, Dr. Sinha shares his thoughts on personalized care.
Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a measure of weight proportionate to height, is a standard used around the world to figure out when someone is overweight or obese. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that are more likely to develop with excessive amounts body fat.
Sugar is the building block of carbohydrates. Since rice and grains are a rich source of carbohydrates, they are also a rich source of sugar.
White rice and breads are staple foods in the traditional South Asian diet, and eating uncontrolled portions often contributes to weight gain and associated health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, that affect South Asians.
Eating healthier varieties of carbohydrates can help reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes by lowering cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar and blood clots. To make a traditional South Asian diet healthier, follow these tips: [Read more...]
Did you know that South Asians are more susceptible to heart attack, stroke and diabetes? Compared to other ethnicities, South Asians are at a heightened risk to develop these chronic illnesses up to a decade earlier. Consider these facts:
The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that most of the world’s heart patients will be South Asians in the next few years.
One-third of diabetics worldwide are Indian.
50 percent of heart attacks in South Asians occur before the age of 55.
Nearly one half of Indians have Metabolic Syndrome, a precursor to diabetes and heart disease.
In a perfect world, people wouldn’t want to exert power or control over one another. Unfortunately, the reality is that power dynamics exist in every aspect of our lives. These power structures are based on gender, ethnicity, class, age, immigration status, and many other factors.
Because these power structures pervade our society, some people feel as if they cannot have as much control over their own lives as they wish. For example, in a patriarchal society, women may not feel as if they can independently make all of the life decisions that they want. This gender-based dynamic is made even more complex when a woman’s immigration status, educational background, income level and marital status are added to the mix.
Welcome! This blog is designed as a forum for engaging patients, their families and the community in conversations about health care, and to help promote health education and wellness with articles and tips from our doctors and staff from different departments. We welcome your comments and insight, however, please remember that this blog does not address specific patient medical issues or provide personalized medical advice. If you have a specific medical question, please contact your doctor directly.Thank you for visiting our blog.
Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a measure of weight proportionate to height, is a standard used around the world to figure out when someone is overweight or obese. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that are more likely to develop with excessive amounts body fat.
Did you know that South Asians are more susceptible to heart attack, stroke and diabetes? Compared to other ethnicities, South Asians are at a heightened risk to develop these chronic illnesses up to a decade earlier. Consider these facts:
