Health is vital for ethical, artistic, material and spiritual development of man. It is very certain that of all the gains, the gains of health are the highest and the best. Traveling abroad for treatment has been an age-old practice. In ancient Greece, pilgrims and patients came from all over the Mediterranean to the sanctuary of the healing god, Asklepios, at Epidaurus. There were spiritual values attached to traveling for getting cured in ancient times that only a few of the privileged lot could afford. With the passage of time and the ease of traveling, people have started traveling offshore in search of faster, cheaper and safer surgical procedures.



Relatively new to the oriental part of the globe, medical tourism has been an age old phenomena in the West and has been supported by highly-developed indigenous health care systems and constant improvements in technology. By upgrading the technology, gaining greater familiarity with latest medical protocols and improving the image in terms of quality and cost, the health-care industry in countries like India and Thailand are attracting a global clientele to emerge as a top medical-tourism destinations.



In a country as diverse as India, the health care industry has capitalized on its rich cultural resource and glorious past. In sharp contrast to the generally impoverished economical background, there are private health care centers that offer sophisticated medical services, comparable to and at times even better than those offered by developed countries. A recent market study forecasts a growth from US$ 18.7 billion to around US$ 45 billion - equivalent to 8.5 per cent of GDP by 2012. India has emerged as the leading country promoting medical tourism.



India's health care industry along with its IT and tourism sector has helped it move into the economic renaissance. It is poised to become a major driver of economic growth as first-world patients, driven out of their own systems by high costs and crowded conditions, look for cheaper places for medical care. The Government of India provides Tourist Visa of short duration and a special Medical Tourism Visa (M) of longer duration (up to 1 year) for persons. Patients are also provided Visa (MX) for their accompanying spouse coming to India for Medical Treatment. New terms such as such as health tourism, health care outsourcing and medical back office support have gained good popularity in the nation.



Medical tourism in India is a business that has been estimated to be worth $2 billion by 2012. What has been termed as "International Patient Care" is already gaining pace in the nation. Private health care units are constantly improvising their health infrastructure and attracting a regular stream of international patients by appending alluring benefits to their package. This seems quite reasonable given the rising costs of treatment in western countries along with increasing demands of an ageing population. Costs of advanced surgeries in India are 10-15 times lower than anywhere in the world that attracts patients from abroad to avail a host of arrangements at an easily affordable rate. A typical package includes air travel, local transportation, translation services, air-conditioned five-star accommodation for the patient and also for accompanying spouse or relative in many cases, together with their personalized choice of global cuisine.



From less than 10,000 patients visiting India for medical treatment five years ago, the market of medical tourism in India has taken a great leap in recent years. It is now worth US$ 333 million, with about 100,000 foreign patients coming in every year. India is well positioned to tap the top end of the global healthcare industry because of the facilities and services it offers and by leveraging the brand equity of Indian healthcare professionals across the globe. "A global healthcare destination" is what even the government is planning to brand the nation and is making economic policies in that direction.

About the Author

Christine is an expert Internet market professional with years of experience in various industries such as: Business, Finance, Real Estate, Web-Design, Health & Medicine and many more.
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Not all carbohydrates behave the same in our bodies. We have been told for years to avoid simple carbs like honey and white bread and eat complex carbohydrates that our body doesn�t digest and turn to glucose as quickly. However determining whether a food containing carbohydrates is absorbed and raises our blood sugar quickly or slowly is not at all intuitive. Scientists have done a lot of rigorous testing over the past several years and have found that white bread and baked potatoes raise our blood sugar level much faster than honey, jams and chocolate bars. These scientists developed a numerical index called the Glycemic Index or GI to compare the ability of different carbohydrate containing foods to raise the body�s blood sugar levels � or in other words the speed of conversion to glucose. GI values are determined by feeding human subjects who have fasted overnight a fixed amount of the food and then measuring their blood glucose levels at fixed intervals of time. Pure glucose is set at 100 and then other foods are compared to this profile. Testing is time consuming and the tests have to be averaged for a number of individuals. However these studies have yielded some surprising results such as the fact that the starches in rice, bread, potatoes and many types of cereals were absorbed and raised blood sugars very quickly but the sugars in fruit, candy, chocolate and ice cream did not result in prolonged rises in blood sugars. In other words many of the starchy foods had a much higher Glycemic Index than many of the sugary foods. Needless to say these results seem counter intuitive and have caused a lot of controversy in the food industry. The rate of absorption is very dependant on how the carbs are bound up with the food fiber and the particle size. For example less gelatinized products like al dente spaghetti and oatmeal have lower GI values and stone ground flours have lower GI values than finely ground flours. The fibrous coat surrounding beans and seeds stop enzymes from getting at the starchy carbs inside and will slow the digestion of grainy breads, legumes and barley. The acidity of foods also slows down digestion and vinegar, lemon juice, pickles and sourdough bread will result in lower GI meal values.

The Glycemic Index is important not only to diabetics but also to non-diabetics because we need to know what foods will keep our blood sugars on an even keel and not raise them too high and then have them plummet down again causing hunger. The slow digestion of low GI foods and the gradual rise and fall in blood-glucose response helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels and increase their sensitivity to insulin. Low GI foods will help healthy people delay hunger pangs and promote weight loss in overweight individuals. In addition low GI carbohydrates can reduce blood cholesterol levels and also reduce our risk of heart disease. High blood glucose spikes can result in oxidative stress leading to the formation of plaque that can cause atherosclerosis and even blood clots. So keeping our blood sugar levels fairly level and low seems like what we should be trying to achieve through healthy eating. How do we go about achieving this?
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