Vital Signs

SHOW #5

Medical Tourism

MEDICAL TOURISM: A GROWING INDUSTRY IN OUR INTERCONNECTED WORLD

Vital Signs hits the road this month, with Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosting our show from India. The world's second most populous country has its share of medical and health challenges, with high levels of poverty and malnutrition. But the combination of low prices and high-quality procedures are transforming India into one of the top medical tourism destinations in the world. Westerners are heading overseas to India for more than just cosmetic procedures; they're boarding planes for heart bypasses and fertility treatments with professional doctors at a fraction of the prices back home. Max Hospital caters to the various ethnicities, with room service for patients and their families from Asian, Arabic, Chinese, and American food menus. Each patient is assigned a consultant available to them 24-hours a day to help with anything and everything - from medical concerns to where their spouse can grab dinner and a tour of the city. Dr. Sanjay Gupta meets patients from all ends of the globe who've traveled to New Delhi for the medical tourism treatment.

ANCIENT AYURVEDICS

Practiced in India for at least 5,000 years, ayurveda is a health philosophy of natural healing, considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science. Born in the Himalayas, it was in Kerala, India's most southern state, that ayurveda developed and evolved. Millions of Indians travel there each year to indulge in the holistic treatments. We show you the practice of this traditional medicine native to India.

DOC TALK: TURMERIC ON THE BRAIN

Turmeric, a culinary spice which spans cultures, is a major ingredient in Indian curries. Evidence is accumulating that this brightly-colored relative of ginger is a promising disease-preventive agent; one of the most comprehensive summaries of turmeric studies to date concludes that the spice appears to outperform many pharmaceuticals in its effects against chronic, debilitating diseases, including Alzheimer's. The elderly population of India has one of the lowest rates of dementia in the world, and researchers believe their diet heavy in turmeric is responsible.

HEART DISEASE GENE

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world. A gene mutation which almost guarantees the development of heart disease is most common among people in India. By 2010, India will account for some 60 percent of worldwide heart disease cases, according to a new study by an international team of scientists. Dr. Sanjay Gupta puts his health to the test by having his blood drawn to see if he is positive for the gene. We also meet parents living with the gene mutation who say they are fearful of passing it on to their children.