Himmatrao Bawaskar Explained

Himmatrao Bawaskar
Honorific Suffix:Padma Shri
Birth Date:3 March 1951
Birth Place:Dehed village (now in Bhokardan, Jalna, Maharashtra), India
Education:MBBS, MD
Occupation:Physician
Known For:Scorpion sting envenomation research
Spouse:Dr. Pramodini Bawaskar
Children:2

Himmatrao Saluba Bawaskar is an Indian physician from Mahad, Maharashtra. He is known for his research on treatment for scorpion stings. Much of his work has been published in the British medical journal The Lancet. He has also conducted research in the fields of snake bites, cardiovascular diseases, and hypothyroidism.

In 2022, Bawaskar was awarded India's third highest civil award, the Padma Shri.[1]

Early life and education

Bawaskar was born to Saluba and Rakhmabai in Dehed village (now in Bhokardan, Jalna, Maharashtra) He completed his schooling in Buldhana and worked in the farms, restaurants, temples, bookshops, the brick kiln, and held odd jobs to support his education.

He completed his studies at Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur. At Nagpur, he faced class- and caste-based discrimination[2] and had to take a leave of absence for mental health reasons. He later completed an MD from the B. J. Medical College, Pune in 1981.[3]

Career

After his studies in Nagpur, Bawaskar was appointed in 1976 to a government-funded primary health centre in Birwadi, in Raigad district. Over the next 40 years of medical career, Bawaskar spent most of his time in the rural Konkan region of Maharashtra, at the foothills of Western ghats.

At Birwadi, he witnessed high fatality rates of 8–40% due to the stings of Hottentotta tamulus scorpions; children being majority of the victims.[4] The venom mainly affects the cardiovascular and pulmonary system, eventually leading to a pulmonary oedema, which may cause death. He compiled the findings and further tests were carried out at the Haffkine Institute in Mumbai. These latter stating these findings were published in The Lancet in 1978.[5] [6] [7]

Bawaskar tried existing methods of symptomatic treatments with atropine, beta-blockers, chlorpromazine, and aminophylline.[8] These methods however would not result in noticeable decrease in the death rates. Scorpion antivenom has little effect in clinical treatment but application of prazosin reduces the mortality rate to less than 4%.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

he had published over 70 research articles.[8] [17] and his work has led the fatalities due to scorpion sting to drop from a high of 44% to <1%.[18]

Other work

He has also conducted research in the fields of snake bite envenoming, cardiovascular diseases,[19] [20] hypothyroidism.[21]

In the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Bawaskar has researched on the chronic renal failure associated with heavy metals contamination of drinking water.[22]

He has written opinion pieces on ethics[23] [24] corruption in medicine,[25] [26] public healthcare,[27] violence against doctors,[28] and state of medical research[17] in India.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Padma Awards 2022 announced . pib.gov.in . . 31 January 2022 . 25 January 2022.
  2. News: Iyer . Malathy . 50 years after caste persecution, two renowned doctors speak out . 23 February 2022 . . September 9, 2019 . en.
  3. News: Sethu . Divya . Padma Shri: Dr Himmatrao Finds a Path-Breaking Cure for Scorpion Sting . 23 February 2022 . . 27 January 2022 . en.
  4. Bawaskar, H.S. . P.H. Bawaskar . 1998 . Indian red scorpion envenoming . Indian Journal of Pediatrics . 65 . 3 . 383–391 . 10.1016/0041-0101(95)00005-7 . 10771989.
  5. Gaitonde . B.B. . Jadhav . S.S. . Bavaskar . H.S. . Pulmonary edema after scorpion sting . . February 1978 . 311 . 8061 . 445–446 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(78)91238-2 . 75473 . 46687120 . 31 January 2022 . en . 0140-6736.
  6. Bawaskar, H.S. . 1977 . Scorpion sting and cardiovascular complications . Indian Heart Journal . 29 . 4 . 228. 562842 .
  7. Bawaskar . H. S. . Diagnostic cardiac premonitory signs and symptoms of red scorpion sting . . 6 March 1982 . 1 . 8271 . 552–554 . 10.1016/s0140-6736(82)92057-8 . 6120403 . 39513916 . 1 February 2022 . 0140-6736.
  8. Kale . Ajinkya A. . A Crusade Against Scorpion Sting: Life and Works of Dr. Himmatrao Bawaskar . Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care . January 2012 . 1 . 1 . 52–55 . 10.4103/2249-4863.94453 . 24479002 . 3893953 . 2249-4863 . free .
  9. Bawaskar . H. S. . Bawaskar . P. H. . Prazosin in management of cardiovascular manifestations of scorpion sting . . 1 March 1986 . 1 . 8479 . 510–511 . 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92979-x . 2869255 . 46144311 . 1 February 2022 . 0140-6736.
  10. Bawaskar . H.S. . Bawaskar . P.H. . Severe envenoming by the Indian red scorpion Mesobuthus tamulus: the use of prazosin therapy . . 1 September 1996 . 89 . 9 . 701–704 . 10.1093/qjmed/89.9.701 . 8917746 . 23 February 2022. free .
  11. Bawaskar . H. S. . Bawaskar . P. H. . Management of scorpion sting . . 1 August 1999 . 82 . 2 . 253–254 . 10.1136/hrt.82.2.253 . 10465613 . 1729131 . 23 February 2022 . en . 1355-6037.
  12. Bawaskar. Himmatrao Saluba. Bawaskar. Pramodini Himmatrao. 2008-03-08. Woke up paralysed—without injury or stroke. The Lancet. English. 371. 9615. 870. 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60385-2. 0140-6736. 18328933. 205950152.
  13. Bawaskar, H.S. . P.H. Bawaskar . 2008 . Scorpion sting: A study of clinical manifestations and treatment regimes . . 95 . 9 . 1337–1341 .
  14. Bawaskar, H.S. . P.H. Bawaskar . 2007 . Utility of scorpion anti-venin vs. prazosin in the management of severe Mesobuthus tamulus (Indian red scorpion) envenoming at rural settings . Journal of the Association of Physicians of India . 55 . 14–21. 17444339 . 14 April 2010.
  15. Bawaskar . H. S. . Bawaskar . P. H. . Efficacy and safety of scorpion antivenom plus prazosin compared with prazosin alone for venomous scorpion (Mesobuthus tamulus) sting: randomised open label clinical trial . . 5 January 2011 . 342 . 3 . 7136 . 10.1136/bmj.c7136. 21209062 . 3016167 .
  16. Mills . E. J. . Ford . N. . Research into scorpion stings . BMJ . 5 January 2011 . 342 . 3 . 7369 . 10.1136/bmj.c7369. 21209063 . 29659494 .
  17. Re: Nearly six in 10 medical colleges in India did not publish any research in past 10 years . 23 February 2022 . 23 February 2022 . en.
  18. News: Oak . Sanjay . मोकळे आकाश.. : वृश्चिक-मैत्र . 23 February 2022 . . 4 April 2021 . mr.
  19. Alirol . Emilie . Sharma . Sanjib Kumar . Bawaskar . Himmatrao Saluba . Kuch . Ulrich . Chappuis . François . Snake Bite in South Asia: A Review . . 26 January 2010 . 4 . 1 . e603 . 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000603 . 20126271 . 2811174 . 2336157 . en . 1935-2735 . free .
  20. Bawaskar . Himmatrao Saluba . Bawaskar . Pramodini Himmatrao . Snakebite envenoming . The Lancet . 12 January 2019 . 393 . 10167 . 131 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32745-4 . 30638580 . 58621342 . English . 0140-6736. free .
  21. Bawaskar . Himmatrao Saluba . Bawaskar . Pramodini Himmatrao . Thyroid gland: Victim of iodinated salt . . 2020 . 74 . 8 . e13523 . 10.1111/ijcp.13523 . 32365246 . 218504892 . en . 1742-1241. free .
  22. News: Deshp . Chaitanya . Born in Marathwada, brought up in Vidarbha, worked in Konkan, researcher for entire humanity . 31 January 2022 . . 28 January 2022 . en.
  23. News: Shelar . Jyoti . Should doctors go beyond advising patients? . 23 February 2022 . . 22 July 2019 . en-IN.
  24. Bawaskar . Himmatrao Saluba . Can doctors advise beyond the purely professional? . . 26 August 2019 . 4 . 3 . 209–210 . 10.20529/IJME.2019.035 . 31378716 . 199234866 . 23 February 2022 . en. free .
  25. News: Shelar . Jyoti . 'Promote grassroots research': Padma awardee Bawaskar to government . 23 February 2022 . . 28 January 2022 . en.
  26. Sachan. Dinsa. 2013-11-16. Tackling corruption in Indian medicine. The Lancet. English. 382. 9905. e23–e24. 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62364-8. 0140-6736. 24251325. 30701097.
  27. Bawaskar. Himmatrao Saluba. Bawaskar. Pramodini Himmatrao. 2011-05-07. Towards universal health coverage in India. The Lancet. English. 377. 9777. 1570–1571. 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60639-9. 0140-6736. 21550478. 19962431.
  28. Bawaskar . Himmatrao Saluba . Violence against doctors in India . The Lancet . 13 September 2014 . 384 . 9947 . 955–956 . English . 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61629-9. 25220972 . 37481810 . free .

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