Value added course on Lifestyle Disorders and their Prevention concludes at PU

Chandigarh, August 25, 2022: The Department of Biochemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh organised a UGC oriented Value-Added Course from August 22 to 25, 2022. Theme for the course was “Lifestyle Disorders and their Prevention”.  The four-day course was attended by students from the department to widen the horizons of the theme. The course was enrolled and attended by 57 students with all the fervour. Delegations from all over the country enriched the programme by their valuable talks.

Dr Sanjay Bhadada, Professor, Deptt. Of Endocrinology, PGIMER, Chandigarh delivered his talk on “Non-communicable Disease, a rising menace” on the first day. He provided a flavour of how the menace is rising with HbA1c statistician data from Association of Diabetes in Tricity (ADITI), NGO launched by PGIMER, Chandigarh. The data highlighted rising obesity amongst children. The door-to-door survey showcased the increased cases of pre-diabetes. Talk evoked the young minds with many queries to understand how to modify their lifestyle at initial stages to prevent from the menace. Followed by Dr Bhadada, Prof. Archana Bhatnagar, Faculty, Deptt. Of Biochemistry, Panjab university delivered talks on “Mitigating Disease Burden by Harnessing the Power of Immune Fitness”.

Day 2 was opened by the talks from faculty of Department of BiochemistryProf. Rajat Sandhir on “Lifestyle Modifications, Key to Tackle Neurological Disorders” and shared how the healthy life with good diet, sound sleep and yoga can help in preventing and delaying neurological conditions. Dr Nirmal Prabhakar shared her thoughts on “Biosensors and Diagnostic Techniques” suggesting new ways to diagnose the disease.

Day 3 was started by the wise talks of Dr Shweta Khandelwal, Head Nutrition Research at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Delhi. Dr Khandelwal joined the programme digitally and delivered the enriching talk on “Nutrition and Lifestyle Diseases”. She gave her personal mantra to the students about 9 to 1 rule of life and suggested going back to the roots is the healthy way ahead. Rainbow diet was suggested by Dr Khandelwal to avoid to prevent the lifestyle disorders. Dr Deepti Sareen explained students the “Biochemistry of Exercise” and how exercise positively impacts the biochemistry of human body.

Prof. S.K. Jindal, Medical Director of Jindal Clinics, Chandigarh started the last day of course with his valuable talks on “Inflammation – The Mother Mechanism of Disease”. He highlighted the constituents and Objectives of having a healthy lifestyle. He suggested inflammation as an essential part of healing process highlighting the physiological changes in the human body during and post inflammation. Post the talks of Dr Jindal, Prof. A.S. Naura lightened the students minds with his thoughts on “Understanding the Lungs Disorders” and shared the ways to tackle them by following a healthy lifestyle.

Everyday sessions were followed by lab visits of the students to give them a flavour of the ongoing research in the departments to help them choose the genera of their future academic course. The course had full 30 hours of contact as suggested in UGC norms to equip the students with necessary skills in order to increase employability quotient and further to succeed in life.