Polypharmacy (polypragmasia) is an umbrella term to describe the simultaneous use of multiple medicines by a patient for their conditions. The term polypharmacy is often defined as regularly taking five or more medicines but there is no standard definition and the term has also been used in the context of when a person is prescribed 2 or more medications at the same time. Polypharmacy may be the consequence of having multiple long-term conditions, also known as multimorbidity and is more common in people who are older. In some cases, an excessive number of medications at the same time is worrisome, especially for people who are older with many chronic health conditions, because this increases the risk of an adverse event in that population. In many cases, polypharmacy cannot be avoided, but 'appropriate polypharmacy' practices are encouraged to decrease the risk of adverse effects. Appropriate polypharmacy is defined as the practice of prescribing for a person who has multiple conditions or complex health needs by ensuring that medications prescribed are optimized and follow 'best evidence' practices.
Multimorbidity, also known as multiple long-term conditions (MLTC), means living with two or more chronic illnesses. For example, a person could have diabetes, heart disease and depression at the same time. Multimorbidity can have a significant impact on people's health and wellbeing. It also poses a complex challenge to healthcare systems which are traditionally focused on individual diseases. Multiple long-term conditions can affect people of any age, but they are more common in older age, affecting more than half of people over 65 years old.
Berhampur University is a Public teaching-cum-affiliating university in Brahmapur, Odisha, India.
Achyuta Samanta FRSC is an Indian educationist and philanthropist.
Arun Kumar Pati is an Indian physicist notable for his research in quantum information, quantum computation and Foundations of quantum mechanics. He has made pioneering contributions in the area of quantum information.
Kamalakanta Jena is a popular science writer in Odia.
Subrat Kumar Acharya is a gastroenterologist and liver transplant physician, a physician scientist, a prolific writer and a passionate teacher. Acharya is well known for his compassion and patient-centric approaches in treating complex diseases.
Pathani Samanta better known as Mahamahopadhyaya Chandrasekhara Singha Harichandana Mahapatra Samanta, was an Indian astronomer, mathematician and scholar who measured the distance from the Earth to the Sun with a bamboo pipe, and traditional instruments. He was born on 13 December 1835 in Purnimanta Pousha Krishna Ashtami, and died on 11 June 1904 in Purnimanta Adhika Jyeshtha Krishna Trayodashi.
Ramesh Chandra Parida is an Indian chemist, academic and writer. He was a professor of chemistry at the College of Basic Science and Humanities. He has authored over 90 Popular science books in Odia and English.
Prafulla Kumar Jena was an Indian metallurgist who served as director of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhubaneshwar. He previously held the TATA Chair for the Distinguished Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 1977.
Soumya Swaminathan Yadav is an Indian paediatrician and clinical scientist known for her research on tuberculosis and HIV. From 2019 to 2022, she served as the chief scientist at the World Health Organization under the leadership of Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Previously, from October 2017 to March 2019, she was the Deputy Director General of Programmes (DDP) at the World Health Organization.
Uma Charan Mohanty is an Indian meteorologist and an emeritus professor at the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar. He is the president of Odisha Bigyan Academy and is known for his researches on the Indian summer monsoon. Besides being an elected fellow of the Indian Geophysical Union, he is also an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 1993.
Sanghamitra Mohanty was an Indian computer scientist. She had a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in physics. She worked as a lecturer, reader and professor in computer science at Utkal University from 1986 to 2011. She was born in Cuttack, Odisha.
Odisha Bigyan Academy is a non-profit organisation in the Indian state of Odisha. It was established by professors and academics in science and technology to popularize scientific ideas and technological innovations among students and general public along with encouraging scientific research activities in the State under one umbrella. It encourages students to pursue science as a career and academics to excel in the field of science and engineering research.
Dr. Manmohan Parida, Sc ‘G’ assumed the charge of Director DRDE, Gwalior with effect from 1 October 2021. He obtained his graduation in Veterinary Science from Odisha Veterinary College as best graduate with three Gold Medals into his credit. He earned his master's degree in Veterinary Virology from prestigious Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar and further obtained his Doctorate Jiwaji University, Gwalior in Microbiology. He was also awarded with Monbusho Fellowship from Japanese Govt and pursued Post Doctoral Research Scientist at Institute of Tropical Medicine, WHO reference center for research on arboviruses, Nagasaki, Japan.
Kuntala Kumari Sabat (1901–1938) was an Odia poet during colonial India. She was one of the women poets who came into prominence from Odisha during India's freedom struggle. She was multifaceted personality. She was a physician, writer, poet, editor, leader of nationalist movement and social worker. She was honored with Utkala Bharati in 1925.
Professor Kulamani Parida, also known as K. M. Parida is an Indian chemical science professor and scientist best known for his work and research, mainly on material chemistry. He has won 16 state and national level scientific awards, and authored around 425 research articles, and seven book chapters. Parida has also 35 national scientific patents. Parida has also an outstanding google scholar citation index with citations of ~19279, h-index ~73, and i10-index ~335.
Ramesh Chandra Ray is an agriculture and food microbiologist, author, and editor. He is the former Principal Scientist (Microbiology), and Head of the Regional Centre at Indian Council of Agricultural Research ICAR - Central Tuber Crops Research Institute in Bhubaneswar, India.
Puspashree Pattnaik is an Indian educator, popular science author, activist and archivist. She is known for her contribution to the fields of science education, popular science, environmentalism, and archiving. Exploring Nature is one of her notable books. She co-founded nonprofit Srujanika that focuses on research and innovation in science, education, and development with an emphasis on the Odia language, along with her husband Nikhil Mohan Pattnaik. Pattnaik co-founded the children's educational initiative Integral Education Centre at Srujanika and co-edited the organization's magazine Bigyana Tarang. The Odisha Bigyan Academy awarded her the Pranakrushna Parija Popular Science Award for the book, Kahinki Bhai Kahinki in 1997.
