Preparing for Surgery: A Practical Checklist
Most surgery postponements happen for avoidable reasons — a missing report, an unstopped blood thinner, an unfasted stomach. Here is how to arrive ready.
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Health Library
58 plain-language articles written and reviewed by the clinical departments at SIMS — so that what you read before a consultation matches what you will be told inside it. No jargon, no scare stories, and clear guidance on when a symptom cannot wait until morning.
Latest from our departments
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The three most recent guides, each reviewed by the department that treats the condition.
Patient Guide
Cancer AwarenessBreast Self-Examination: A Five-Minute Habit Worth Building
Breast cancer in India is diagnosed at a later stage and at a younger age than in the West. Knowing what your own breasts normally feel like is the earliest possible warning system.
Read articleBone & JointKnee Osteoarthritis: What Works Before You Consider Surgery
Knee pain in Indian adults often starts a decade earlier than in Western populations. Most patients can delay or avoid replacement — but not by resting the knee.
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Showing 55 more of 58 articles
Heart HealthHeart Attack Warning Signs That Are Easy to Miss
Not every heart attack announces itself with crushing chest pain. In women, diabetics and older adults it often arrives disguised as indigestion, fatigue or breathlessness — and that disguise costs lives.
Read articleWomen's HealthYour First Antenatal Visit: What Happens and What to Bring
The first antenatal appointment sets the pattern for the whole pregnancy. Knowing what will happen — and what information to bring — makes it far more useful.
Read articleSenior CareCaring for Ageing Parents: A Practical Medical Guide
Looking after elderly parents means managing multiple conditions, multiple doctors and multiple medicines — usually while living in a different city. Here is how to make it work.
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Emergency CareStroke: Recognising FAST and Why Every Minute Counts
Around 1.9 million brain cells die every minute during a stroke. Recognising three simple signs and calling 108 immediately is the difference between recovery and lifelong disability.
Read articleHeart HealthHigh Blood Pressure: Why 'I Feel Fine' Is the Most Dangerous Sentence
Hypertension damages the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes for years without producing a single symptom. By the time it causes a headache, the damage is usually already done.
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Mental HealthDepression Is a Medical Condition, Not a Weakness
Depression affects a large number of Indian adults, and most never seek treatment. It responds well to treatment — often better than many chronic physical conditions do.
Read articleNeurologyMigraine: Identifying Triggers and Preventing Attacks
Migraine is not just a bad headache — it is a neurological condition affecting one in seven people. Most sufferers treat attacks and never discuss prevention, which is where the real gains are.
Read articleDiabetes & EndocrinologyType 2 Diabetes: What the First Year After Diagnosis Should Look Like
A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is not a sentence — it is a starting point. What you do in the first twelve months determines much of what the next thirty years look like.
Read articlePatient GuideHospital Admission: What to Expect and What to Ask
Admission is stressful and administrative at exactly the moment you have least attention to spare. Knowing the sequence in advance makes it far easier.
Read articleChild HealthChildhood Vaccination Schedule: A Parent's Complete Guide
The national immunisation schedule protects against twelve serious diseases at no cost. Here is what is given when, what to expect afterwards, and what to do about missed doses.
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Women's HealthAnaemia in Pregnancy: Why Iron Tablets Are Not Optional
More than half of pregnant women in India are anaemic. It is the most treatable cause of low birth weight, premature delivery and postpartum haemorrhage — and the treatment costs almost nothing.
Read articlePatient GuideDischarge Day: The Ten Things to Check Before You Leave
Most readmissions within a month trace back to something not understood at discharge. Twenty minutes of questions at the ward prevent a return trip.
Read articleEmergency CareHow to Perform CPR: A Guide for Ordinary People
Cardiac arrest outside hospital is survivable — but survival roughly doubles when a bystander starts chest compressions. You do not need training or equipment, only the willingness to push hard and fast.
Read articleDigestive HealthAcidity and GERD: Beyond the Antacid Bottle
Reaching for an antacid several times a week is not a solution — it is a symptom. Persistent reflux damages the oesophagus and occasionally hides something more serious.
Read articleDiabetes & EndocrinologyDiabetic Foot Care: The Ten Minutes a Day That Prevent Amputation
Most diabetic amputations begin with a wound the patient never felt. A daily foot inspection is the single most cost-effective preventive habit in diabetes care.
Read articleCancer AwarenessTobacco and Oral Cancer: The Warning Signs Inside Your Mouth
India has among the highest rates of oral cancer in the world, driven by gutka, khaini and pan masala. It is one of the few cancers you can see developing in a mirror.
Read articleDiagnosticsUnderstanding Your Blood Test Report
A blood report with a few values marked high or low causes a great deal of unnecessary alarm. Here is what the common parameters actually mean.
Read articleChild HealthFever in Children: When to Worry and When to Wait
Fever is not the illness — it is the body fighting one. How the child looks and behaves tells you far more than the number on the thermometer.
Read articleEmergency CareWhen to Go to the Emergency Department and When to Wait for OPD
Emergency departments are for conditions that threaten life, limb or organ function. Knowing which is which saves you a long wait — and keeps the resuscitation bay free for those who need it.
Read articleKidney & UrologyKidney Stones: Prevention in a Hot Climate
Anantapur's summer produces a predictable surge in kidney stone admissions. Recurrence is common — and largely preventable with changes most people can sustain.
Read articlePatient GuideHealth Insurance in India: What Your Policy Does and Does Not Cover
Most claim disputes arise from three things patients did not know about their own policy. Reading these sections before you need them saves a great deal of difficulty later.
Read articlePreventive HealthHeat Stroke in Rayalaseema: Prevention During the Summer Months
Anantapur regularly crosses 42°C between March and June. Heat stroke is a medical emergency with a high death rate, and it is almost entirely preventable.
Read articleWomen's HealthPCOS: Understanding Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and What Helps
PCOS affects roughly one in five Indian women of reproductive age. It is not a disease of the ovaries alone — it is a metabolic condition, which is why the treatment often looks nothing like a gynaecological one.
Read articlePreventive HealthWhich Health Check Package Is Right for You
A health check is only valuable if it tests the right things for your age, sex and risk profile. Bigger packages are not automatically better ones.
Read articleBone & JointLow Back Pain: The 90% That Gets Better Without Surgery
Most back pain resolves within six weeks, and an MRI early in the course often causes more harm than good by finding changes that were never the problem.
Read articleEye & ENTCataract Surgery: When to Have It and What to Expect
Cataract is the leading cause of avoidable blindness in India, and the surgery is among the most successful operations in medicine. The advice to 'wait until it matures' belongs to a different era.
Read articlePatient GuideUnderstanding Your ICU Bill and What Each Charge Means
Intensive care bills are large and unfamiliar, and families often feel unable to question them. Understanding the structure lets you ask better questions and plan realistically.
Read articleCancer AwarenessCancer Warning Signs: Symptoms That Should Never Be Ignored
Cancer rarely announces itself dramatically. It usually begins as something small, persistent and easy to explain away — which is precisely why the rule is duration, not severity.
Read articleDigestive HealthFatty Liver Disease: The Diagnosis Everyone Ignores
Fatty liver is now found on roughly one in three routine ultrasounds. Most people are told it is 'nothing to worry about' — which is true only if something is done about it.
Read articleDiabetes & EndocrinologyThyroid Disorders: Symptoms That Get Blamed on Everything Else
Weight change, fatigue, hair fall, irregular periods and low mood are all attributed to stress and lifestyle. In a substantial number of people, a single blood test explains all of them.
Read articleMental HealthAnxiety, Panic Attacks and How to Manage Them
A panic attack feels exactly like a heart attack, which is why so many arrive in emergency departments. Both need to be taken seriously — and both are treatable.
Read articleChild HealthDiarrhoea in Children: ORS, Zinc and Preventing Dehydration
Diarrhoea kills children through dehydration, not through the infection itself. Oral rehydration solution is one of the great medical advances of the last century — and it costs a few rupees.
Read articleLifestyle & NutritionSleep and Health: Why Six Hours Is Not Enough
Chronic short sleep raises the risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depression. It is the health behaviour most consistently sacrificed and least often discussed.
Read articlePreventive HealthObesity in India: Why the Weighing Scale Is the Wrong Measure
South Asians accumulate fat around the abdomen and inside organs at weights that look entirely normal on a BMI chart. Waist circumference tells you far more about your risk than your weight does.
Read articleRespiratory HealthAsthma Inhalers: Correcting the Myths That Cause Attacks
Most asthma emergencies we treat happen in patients who own a preventer inhaler and do not use it. The belief that inhalers are habit-forming is the most damaging myth in respiratory medicine.
Read articleSkin & HairFungal Skin Infections: Why Yours Keeps Coming Back
Ringworm has become dramatically harder to treat in India, and the main reason sits on the counter of every medical shop: steroid-containing combination creams.
Read articleWomen's HealthCervical Cancer Is Preventable: Screening and the HPV Vaccine
India accounts for roughly a fifth of the world's cervical cancer deaths, from a cancer that a screening test can catch a decade before it becomes cancer — and a vaccine can prevent entirely.
Read articleDiagnosticsCT Scan, MRI or Ultrasound: Which Test and Why
Patients often ask for the 'best' scan. There is no best — each shows different things, and the right choice depends entirely on the question being asked.
Read articleKidney & UrologyChronic Kidney Disease: Catching It Before Dialysis
Kidney function can fall to a quarter of normal without producing a single symptom. Two inexpensive tests find it years earlier — and almost nobody asks for them.
Read articleHeart HealthCholesterol Explained: Which Number Actually Matters
A lipid profile has five or six lines, and most people read only the total. The number that predicts heart attacks best is usually further down the page.
Read articleLifestyle & NutritionEating Well on a South Indian Plate
You do not need to abandon rice, sambar and curd to eat healthily. Changing proportions, grains and cooking methods achieves far more than importing a foreign diet.
Read articleChild HealthIs My Child Growing Normally? Milestones and Warning Signs
Children develop at different rates, and most 'late' children are simply within the normal range. But some delays need attention early, when intervention works best.
Read articleMental HealthAlcohol Dependence: Why Stopping Suddenly Can Be Dangerous
Withdrawal after long-term heavy drinking can cause seizures and delirium tremens, which carries a real risk of death. Supervised withdrawal is safer and works considerably better.
Read articleWomen's HealthBreastfeeding: Solving the Problems That Make Mothers Give Up
Most mothers who stop breastfeeding early do so because of a fixable problem in the first two weeks. Almost all of them are solvable with the right help at the right time.
Read articleEye & ENTHearing Loss: Why Ignoring It Costs More Than Hearing
Untreated hearing loss is linked to accelerated cognitive decline, depression and social withdrawal. Most people wait several years before seeking help.
Read articleEmergency CareSnake Bite: What to Do and What Never to Do
India records more snake bite deaths than any other country, and a large share are preventable. Almost every traditional first-aid measure makes the outcome worse.
Read articleLifestyle & NutritionExercise When You Have Never Exercised Before
The recommendation is 150 minutes a week, but the useful advice is different: start far below what you think you should do, and make it impossible to skip.
Read articleGeneral MedicineDengue: Warning Signs, Platelet Myths and When Admission Is Needed
Most dengue is managed at home with fluids and paracetamol. The danger period is not when fever is highest — it is the day the fever settles.
Read articleBone & JointOsteoporosis: The Silent Bone Loss Behind Hip Fractures
A hip fracture after sixty carries a mortality comparable to some cancers. The bone loss that causes it is painless, detectable and treatable years in advance.
Read articleGeneral MedicineFever for More Than Three Days: What Tests Are Actually Needed
Most short fevers are viral and resolve without investigation. Beyond day three, a small and specific set of tests answers most questions — and antibiotics are usually not the answer.
Read articleNeurologyEpilepsy: Living Well and What to Do During a Seizure
Around 70% of people with epilepsy become seizure-free on medication. Most of the difficulty they face comes from stigma and misinformation rather than from the condition.
Read articleSkin & HairHair Fall: Separating the Treatable from the Inevitable
Losing up to a hundred hairs a day is normal. Knowing which patterns of loss are reversible saves both money and months spent on the wrong treatment.
Read articleRespiratory HealthTuberculosis: Recognising It Early and Completing Treatment
TB is curable and treated free of cost in India. The two things that turn a curable illness into a dangerous one are late diagnosis and stopping treatment early.
Read articleGeneral MedicineAntibiotic Resistance: Why Your Doctor Says No
India has among the highest rates of antibiotic resistance in the world. Every unnecessary course brings closer the day when a routine infection becomes untreatable.
Read articleHeart HealthChest Pain That Is Not Your Heart: The Other Causes
Every chest pain deserves an ECG, but many turn out to be muscular, digestive or anxiety-related. Understanding the patterns helps — without becoming a substitute for assessment.
Read articleConditions & Symptoms A–Z
Looking for a specific condition?
Our A–Z covers 60 conditions treated at SIMS, each with the symptoms to watch for, the point at which you should stop waiting, the tests usually advised and how the condition is treated here.
Symptom-first explanations
What the symptom usually means, written for a worried family rather than a medical exam.
Clear red flags
Every condition page states plainly when to call 108 instead of booking an appointment.
Tests you can expect
The investigations usually advised, so nothing at the counter comes as a surprise.
These articles are general education, not medical advice
Everything in the Health Library is written for a general reader and reviewed by a SIMS department, but it cannot account for your own history, medicines or test results. Use it to prepare for a consultation, not to replace one. For chest pain, stroke symptoms, breathing difficulty, serious injury, seizures or heavy bleeding, call 108 or come straight to the emergency department.
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Bring the article with you. Our appointment desk will route you to the department that reviewed it, and the consultant will tell you which parts apply to your case.