Author: BCI

With satisfaction from the care provided to 176 newborns since the beginning of June and a thematic corner capturing moments from their professional life, the Neonatology Department of the Maternal and Child Health Clinic ‘Mama and I’ in Pleven celebrates November 17 – World Prematurity Day. Since the beginning of the week, the team has been welcoming colleagues and parents of babies in their care in purple – the colour of the cause of premature babies around the world.

“On November 17, we celebrate the littlest heroes, those tiniest and most struggling children. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the issue and encourage expressions of empathy for premature babies and their families. The neonatology department of ‘Mama and I’ has the highest – 3rd – level of competence, and here we take the first care of all newborn children. The equipment we work with allows us to provide adequate care for the newborn, including the extremely immature children weighing less than 1000 grams,” says Dr. Andrey Hristov, Head of Neonatology at ‘Mama and I’. He and his colleagues take care of the most severe cases of newborns around the clock, reaching the families in need and other paediatric clinics thanks to a specialized ambulance – a resuscitation vehicle with an intensive transport cuvee and respirator. “We also have the region’s most advanced and only specialized artificial pulmonary ventilation equipment for premature and preterm newborns with critically affected respiratory and cardiovascular function. In the Intensive Care Unit we admit all sick newborns requiring intensive care, ventilator monitoring and intensive treatment. The availability of a state-of-the-art cuvee, the “baby leo 500″, gives even the most immature patients a chance. And last but not least, the multidisciplinary teams working in the field of maternal and child healthcare and neonatal care at ‘Mama and I’,” says Dr. Hristov.

Every 10 seconds, two people get diabetes and one person dies from the disease. In Bulgaria, according to statistics, about 500,000 people suffer from diabetes, and 40 per cent of them do not know and are diagnosed too late. Regular self-monitoring is what reduces the complications of diabetes by 35%. That is why it is especially important to have preventive checkups with an endocrinologist, and for patients diagnosed with the disease – periodic checkups with a specialist – endocrinologist are imperative at least once every 6 months and even more often”, advises Dr. Silvia Ganeva, Head of the Endocrinology Department at ‘Heart and Brain’, Pleven. The high-tech hospital is celebrating World Diabetes Day, November 14, with a Diabetes School “How to live with diabetes mellitus”.

“For four weeks, diabetics and their loved ones had the opportunity to meet and talk with the hospital’s endocrinologists. The educational lectures and hands-on activities covered several main topics: ‘What is diabetes’, ‘How diabetes works, chronic complications’, ‘Diet or just healthy eating combined with an active lifestyle’ and ‘Modern treatment options for diabetes mellitus’. The aim is to be useful to people with the knowledge and experience we have, as well as with tips for a healthy lifestyle, prevention and early diagnosis of the disease,” says Dr Ganeva. She points out that there is a genetic predisposition to develop diabetes mellitus in many families, but the main risk factors are excess body weight, low physical activity, overnutrition and chronic stress. In the presence of first-degree relatives with diabetes mellitus, prevention, early diagnosis of the disease and timely treatment are very important to avoid the development of chronic complications. It is the chronic complications such as stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease and chronic thrombosis of the lower limb arteries that cause earlier and higher mortality among diabetic patients compared to other population groups.

“Today, health professionals, patient and community organizations are making a concerted effort in developing strategies for screening, prevention, early treatment and control of those with diabetes mellitus. The main goal is to improve the medical and social care of people suffering from this chronic disease and to reduce the societal costs of treating the clinically manifest complications”, said the Heart and Brain, Pleven.

Every year, the World Health Community marks 14 November as a day to fight diabetes, a chronic disease that occurs with elevated blood glucose levels. It has been identified as socially significant due to the high frequency with which it occurs. The day was first celebrated in 1991 under the auspices of the WHO, and in 2007, by a special resolution, 14 November was officially recognised by the United Nations. The choice of date is linked to the birthday of Frederick Bunting, who together with Charles Best made the epoch-making discovery in the treatment of diabetes mellitus – insulin.

A rheumatology consultation service, where modern diagnostics and treatment is carried out, is now available to patients in ‘Heart and Brain’ Pleven. The consultation is open every Tuesday and Wednesday from 09:00 to 12:00, the rheumatology clinic informed. Examinations and consultations are carried out by Dr Nikolov after an appointment.

More information about Dr. Martin Nikolov can be found here.