A few patients interviewed by this correspondent said they were satisfied with the leech therapy. Though J&K experiences subzero temperatures during winter that lead to accumulation of harmful toxins in the body, but many people on Navroz visit the hospitals to get their bodies detoxified by leech therapy. We are getting patients even from other parts of the country,” said Dr Muhammad Ismael, the in-charge of a Unani hospital.The Kashmiris believe this would heal them of pain, cure nervous system abnormalities, dental problems, skin diseases, infections, arthritis, chronic headaches and sinusitis. The leech therapy is witnessing a revival of sorts in other parts of the world even in the West also for it is a simple and inexpensive means of preventing complications. On Fridays and other special occasions like Milad-un-Nabi (Prophet Muhammad’s birth anniversary) and Meraj al-Aalam (the anniversary of his ascension to the Heaven), patients make a beeline to Srinagar’s lakeside Hazratbal shrine where leeches are applied to their bodies. However, dermatologist Dr Imran Majid warned that use of leech therapy could lead to serious side effects on a patient. If the same leech is used on more than one patient, it can lead to serious diseases due to blood mixing,” he said. The leeches are then allowed to extract blood, for 20 to 45 minutes at a time, from the person undergoing treatment. The leeches are known to treat various ailments in ancient Egypt! This is how it is, a medicinal leech, which has three jaws with tiny rows of teeth, pierces a person’s skin with their teeth and inserts anticoagulants through their saliva.Though leeches are mostly used in plastic surgery and other microsurgery in many parts of the world, but in the Valley “leech therapy has proved effective on patients as leeches secrete peptides and proteins that work to prevent blood clots. One Farooq Ahmed Najar said, “I was suffering from acute skin disorder.

Do pay them a visit. (Photo: H. Naqash)Sirnagar: Despite the leaps made by science and technology in recent years, people in Jammu & Kashmir still believe that leeches are the best remedy to heal various diseases. The leeches are then killed and the patient is charged Rs 100 or even less per leech. Under the leech therapy, three to four leeches are placed on the body of a patient for half an hour for bloodletting. It is a legitimate treatment that can help heal skin grafts and restore blood circulation,” he added.” In view of the increasing number of patients relying on leech therapy, the government-run Unani hospitals apart from several private medical facilities and Unani and Panchkarma hospitals are using leeches on patients across the Valley.”Many people consider leech therapy an alternative to pharmacological treatments. Interestingly, a banner put up at the reception hall of a hospital reads, “Leeches are wonder-doctors.U.THE ASIAN AGE. This equates to a relatively small amount of blood, up to 15 millilitres per leech.

The allopathic doctors discourage people from applying leech therapy on the plea that little research has been done on the subject.“The results are encouraging.end-ofTags: science and technology, skin diseases, leech therapyLocation: China Nitrogen making machine India, Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar. “You have to be careful.A makeshift leech therapy clinic at Srinagar’s lakeside Hazratbal shrine.“For centuries the people have used leeches to cure everything from headaches to gangrene. I visited two dermatologists and was under their treatment for eight months, but it was only after I went for leech therapy that the infection could be cured within three weeks. When you apply a leech on a patient the secretions or anticoagulants keep the blood flowing on wounds thus helping in the healing process”, said Dr Muhammad Yusuf, a Unani practitioner. People throng to makeshift clinics of leech practitioners besides the three Unani hospitals in the Valley for leech therapy, in the belief that the therapy would be much more effective on Navroz, the first month of the Iranian solar calendar.Navroz, which marks the beginning of spring, is another special occasion when leech therapy sessions are held all over the Valley. | YUSUF JAMEEL Published: Aug 5, 2017, 6:54 am IST Updated: Aug 5, 2017, 6:58 am IST Under the leech therapy, three to four leeches are placed on the body of a patient for half an hour for bloodletting

Doctors had conducted several surgeries but the elderly woman succumbed to her injuries, hospital sources said. Her younger son, who lives in the same house, had gone to his in-law39;s place and the woman was sitting in the balcony past midnight when the accused along with four others caught hold of her from the back, the police officer said.According to police, the alleged incident of gangrape had taken place on July 4 when the woman was alone at her residence at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. They had thrown her outside her house into the bushes assuming her to be dead," said a senior police officer quoting the woman39;s statement to the police.

The woman used to run a roadside food stall near Sandeshkhali police station, her elder son, who lives elsewhere, said, adding she had returned home at around 10 pm. Doctors had a tough time in conducting operations.She died in a state-run hospital in Kolkata on Monday, the police said.

She suffered too much pain and finally succumbed late on Monday night," a senior doctor of the hospital said. Her private parts were brutally damaged by the broken bottle stuck inside. (Photo: File/Representational)Kolkata: A 62-year-old woman has lost her fight for life, about a month after she was allegedly raped by five persons, who inserted an iron rod and a broken bottle in her private parts, and the prime accused has been arrested, the police said on Tuesday. A case was registered in the matter on July 5 and the prime accused, who was named by the victim, was arrested on July 6 and sent to judicial custody, the police said.They then tied and raped her before the heinous torture, he said, adding the woman39;s body was handed over to her family members on Tuesday evening.

If laxity is observed on part of the police in nabbing the culprits, we will take up a suo motu case in this regard.The alleged incident of gangrape had taken place on July 4 when the woman was alone at her residence at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of the state, they said.end-ofTags: gangrape, sexual assualt, accused arrestedLocation: India, West Bengal, Calcutta [Kolkata]. "Her injuries were grave."State Women Commission Chairperson Leena Ganguly said the panel would file a suo motu case if the victim39;s family lodge a complaint of police negligence in conducting probe into the incident.West Bengal Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Anuj Sharma said, "Police are looking into the case very seriously.PTI Published: Aug 2, 2017, 9:10 am IST Updated: Aug China Cookie Depositing Machine Factory 2, 2017, 9:10 am IST The miscreants had inserted an iron rod and a broken bottle into her private parts to kill her after the gangrape, police said."The miscreants had inserted an iron rod and a broken bottle into her private parts to kill her after the gangrape. We will have to look into the role of the police. We are yet to get any complaint from the family members," Ganguly said. Strict action will be taken against those who are guilty