Look into "me too" brands. Brand names often rule drug prices. For instance, the antibiotic ofloxacin marketed under the brand name Tarivid, is priced at Rs.53.14 per 400mg tablet; as Oflin it costs Rs.14. But as Floxur, it costs just Rs.9.60 per tablet! Ask chemists for less expensive alternatives. "But buying the cheapest," warns Dr Satbir Singh of New Delhi's Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, "may not always be safe, since quality can vary." So, consult your doctor too.Avoid unnecessary multis. "If your doctor prescribes vitamin B-complex, don't buy multivitamin capsules as many patients do," advises Dr Yatish Agarwal of New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. Plain B-complex pills are cheap, while multivitamins cost much more. Components other than the B vitamins loaded in multivitamin capsules are required only in special cases and may be useless for you.
Asthmatic? Get the economy pack. Asthma patients who use inhalers should know that Cipla now markets Asthalin inhalers in a pack that gives 200 puffs for Rs.77. There's also a 400-puff economy pack for Rs.96, which could save you about Rs.425 a year assuming you average eight puffs a day.
Find out about freebies. Pharmaceuticals regularly give away large amounts of drugs as "physician's samples," to doctors -- all meant to be distributed free among patients. So before going to the medical store, ask your doctor if part of the prescription can be had for free. » Continue reading
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Your blood pressure read at a clinic provides a somewhat blurry snapshot of this temperamental measure. Worse, many people get white-coat hypertension -- their pressure jumps in a doctor's office! For a clearer picture, you need to take a series of readings -- a must for people with hypertension and those at risk of developing it.
fits around your wrist and inflates with the push of a button. It makes tracking your blood pressure as easy as telling time. (People with severe circulation problems should check with a doctor first.) The monitor also stores readings so your doctor can look for patterns. It can be used anywhere without a white coat in sight.
Exercise -- and you are better person. That's what university students thought when they rated characteristics of people they believed worked out. In a recent study, the students read profiles of fictional subjects described as "average looking." Some were supposedly exercisers and some non-exercisers -- but in other ways identical. Exercisers got higher rating for strength, health and attractiveness as well as for confidence, self-control, independence and hard work.
By the time Debbie Clark took Adam, her autistic three year-old son, to a music therapist, he could barely speak. At the music-therapy clinic at California State University in Northridge, USA, therapists encouraged the autistic child to express himself by playing instruments and beating out rhythms on drums. They put conversations to song in order to get Adam talking.
Visiting a friend or relative in the hospital? Here is a list of gifts a patient will love you for.
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