Chandigarh, June 5:
Chandigarh PGI's Parasitology Department has found a very easy way to check the worms that reach the brain. Now neurocysticercosis, a disease caused by brain worms, can also be diagnosed by blood and urine test of the patient, while at present the help of MRI and CT scan has to be taken for its investigation. Yashvi Mehta, a PhD student in the Department of Parasitology, has achieved this breakthrough after four years of research under the leadership of former Dean Academic Dr. RK Sehgal.
Yashvi told that when the eggs of this worm reach the brain, the patient starts having seizures. In such a situation, the help of MRI and CT scan has to be taken to assess the condition of the patient. Both these procedures are very expensive and one has to wait for the reports. While loop mediated isothermal amplification technique i.e. loop method can test the DNA of parasite in the blood and urine of the patient in just one hour and this test costs just Rs 200. Yashvi said that in the last four years in the OPD of PGI, 140 patients suffering from this merge were included in this research, out of which 80 percent of its reports were found to be correct.