Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Decoration - Tradition or a Foolishness??


People think that just because they gave birth to a baby, it is their possession, and they can do with it whatever they want. They may be driven by the prevailing mythical practices/ their own obsessions, but the sufferer is their baby. Or does it also affect the entire society??

When a baby is born, beginning from the first minute itself, they start destroying its life.
1. Honey / sugar water to celebrate its opening innings. Honey is a reservoir for botulinum toxin. The child will get fever, diarrhea - usually resolve on its own, but sometimes may become fatal.
2. Kissing the newborn. Well, you may be having an overwhelming urge to prove your surrounding people that you love babies. And you may feel you might not achieve it unless you lift the baby / kiss it. You are now satisfied. But, the baby is going through hell every time you spray your oral bacteriae and viruses into its cheeks, mouth and nose. The combination in saliva is considered as a worst mixture of pathogens in the world(truth, not an exaggeration).
3. Sweeping the your mouth with baby's fingers is another disgusting and potentially infectious habit. Get yourself a lollipop and leave the baby alone.
4. Applying Kajal under eyes, in the forehead and cheeks to ward off the devil which has no other work, but to eat babies 24*7. It is not only an irritant, but potentially carcinogenic. Also it creates a habit of decoration of the body, which the child may not be able to overcome in its future.
5. Lipsticks and makeups. You scold your 3 yr girl for using way more make up than you are. But how did the child caught hold of the make up kit? Remember beauty is not in painting the face.
6. Some people say decorating is their culture. To break your myth, its not. The piercings, tattoos, types of bindis were used by primitive humans as a means of identification of their tribes within a country. Eg. some tribe has a tattoo of bamboo tree in their back, they get to know the fellow member by looking at the tattoo. Similarly ear studs, nose studs were means of identification.There is no meaning in following the same in this era. Because it does not serve its purpose, but just a waste of your money and time. 
7. Araignaan ( a long string in silver/gold/thread tied around the hip)- it is still celebrated as a ceremony for the baby in many community. Why do we do it? Don’t know the reason, but have lot of financial benefits by forcing the maternal uncle to provide gold/money for it.
The actual use in olden days was there were trees and farms all over the place, so there was a threat by poisonous snakes and other creatures. In case of any bite ,the string was used to tie the limb to prevent spread of poison(tourniquet). And the second use is since most of people were farmers, the string is used as a support for tying their kovanams(undergarments) when working in the field.
Both of these practices are non existent nowadays and hence no reason to use an araignan, unless we go on to participate the “man vs wild”.
One indirect use it monitoring the growth by checking the tightening or loosening of the thread.But it only a qualitative assessment without any guidance values.Instead you can check your weight quantitatively for 1Rs.
8. “Thayath”- a small tube of copper/silver/bronze filled with grains/ashes/divine scripts tied in arms/around neck / along with araignaans. People previously considered it wards off evil spells/black magic. When these were considered laughing materials after the advent of science, they tried to rationalize that these thayaths /dollars are scientifically beneficial by changing the effects of earths’ magnetic field or ionizing radiations in the atmosphere.
This may be a great thinking, but proven to be not having any effect on human systems. So sorry to break the myth.
People try to rationalize all their mythical belief,and falsely give some explanations and claiming that "scientists proved these beliefs". In a way the parents actually do all these believing that they protect the baby. But in reality, they do not.
 Any of these practices will not help your child to cure appendicitis(side sickness- which was thought tobe the will of god and hence should never be interfered)
9. Applying hot rods/ hot coins over hands & feet to repel the bad spells that caused the jaundice. But u are not treating the child, but creating a septic abscess which will probably kill the baby. When the baby dies, they simply say "The spell was too powerful to be broken by the hot rods. Should have done a sacrifice of an animal/ first born male child of a family in the village". Though Human sacrificing has been reduced in city areas, the practice of creating a third degree burns is still prevailing.
These are just tip of icebergs of irrational practices prevailing in India(and many other countries). You can call yourselves as cultured, developed ,civilized,evolved etc, but think once again. Are u really civilized???
Before waiting for the dawn of some seventh sense to best your life, just use your sixth sense. The world will be better.

Lasik LASER procedure - complete cure for myopia?



Lasik LASER involves LASER induced ablation of layers of cornea to reduce the corneal curvature and hence light rays fall onto the retina- corrects only one type of problem in myopia.

Myopia( nearsightedness- ability to see near vision clearly and diminished far vision) is due to light rays focusing in front of  the retina. so traditionally we used a convex o-concave lens spectacles to diffract the light rays more, so they get focused onto the retina exactly..

causes :
1. length of eyeball more and growing more (genetic cause)
2. more curved cornea
3. cataract(old age )

Lasik corrects only the second cause. And also, it is not an accurate correction, because 0.5 D error can occur. So still might need to use the specs for accurate correction.

The eyeballs of a normal person elongates very slowly until death.And most myopics who opt for (commercial targets) lasik have rapid lengthening of the eyeball. So if u did a lasik at 19 years age, and your eyeball is growing, then you still have high chance of becoming myopic again..

People who are badly at risk of retinal damage due to myopia, causing blindness are pathological myopics (increasing myopia progressively to very high range >-7 and going on)...but lasik hardly helps these people...

And most of all, it is only a decade old procedure, and its long term side effects are not known. A research might say after 5 yrs from now that lasik causes permanent damage to cornea and corneal scarring(permanent damage needing corneal transplant/eye replacement).we do not know. And there is always a possibility of retinal burns which is irreversible blindness(even eye transplant cannot give u a vision). That is why no ophthalmologist do it for themselves.

In short: Lasik is purely a cosmetic procedure, that will benefit few % of myopics at a huge expense,both economically and visually...and the decision is yours...

Commercial hospitals like Vasan, Agarwal, are now run by HRs, who have no idea about medicine, run them like a trade center. They appoint a pro, just to mind wash the patients for lasik, FFA scans etc...Don't fall prey. If you have concerns about approaching whom for legitimate advice, just visit a govt hospital doctor; He will provide an unbiased consultation.

Should you plug the Hole ?



   People often take over counter drug Lomotil when they get loose stools. It acts like a cork stopper in a water hose.Patients get their leaky back hole sealed in minutes.It is very effective that every layman knows this tablet and gets the privilege of becoming a doctor of his own and prescribe himself from the medical shops. But why do the doctors who have studied medicine never prescribe this simple drug??????

Infection of the food passageways cause diarrhea/dysentery. It is because of toxins released from the bacteria/virus/parasites which harm the intestines, which tend to be leaky and produce loose stools. Just like a dust particle in eyes causing secretion of more tears, an allergen inside nose producing running nose, every secretory structure inside the body tend to secrete more when they are injured, either as a way of protection or due to direct destructive action of the toxins/ the organism itself.
No one takes tablets/drops to control tears but will try to take out the offending agent which is the dust particle. Similarly, when there are loose stools, we have to treat the cause, not just plug the hole.

Lomotil will not kill the microbes, it just stops the secretion. But the microbes continue to multiply, and at one stage produce severe infection, necrosis, and death of the intestinal wall, entry of microbes into the blood which will eventually become life threatening.

So what should we do:
1.Consult a doctor - He knows what drug to give.
2.Take plenty of Oral Rehydration Solution(Electral) until the stool becomes solid. People tend to think that drinking fluid will worsen diarrhea, but diarrhea will stop only if we maintain the osmosis inside the intestinal lumen which will be achieved only by plenty of ORS. Don't drink glucose solution, it will just worsen being an osmotic agent.
3.Antibiotics to control the infection and kill the microbes - removes the root cause
4.Bland liquid diet - No spicy and solid foods (Do not whip a tired horse to run more ).

Ultimate concept: when there is dirty water flows out of the tap in your kitchen sink, go and clean up your water tank, do not block the sink drainage; if u block the drainage, waste water will overflow into the house and the entire house becomes dirty.are

Chicken pox is not because of "Divine Possession"



chicken pox is not a disease spread by eating chickens...
chicken pox is not a divine possession by " maari aatha "...

chicken pox is a viral infection, extremely contagious needing anti-viral drug treatment...normally for viral fever we don't give anti-virals...because thy r self-limiting if there is good immunity...but if immunity is less or if the virus can cause lethal damage during the infection or later in life by remaining dormant antiviral treatment is must...eg: swine flu, HIV-aids...

chickenpox is caused by varicella zoster virus, which belongs to herpes virus family..they remain inside the body and can cause infections years after..or they can affect liver to produce cirrhosis, which in rare cases might lead to liver cancer....and being extremely contagious, it is a serious communicable disease...

all patients with chickenpox must be isolated and treated with drugs(tab.acyclovir 800mg five times a day x 14 days).

it is spread mainly by droplet(sneezing, cough) infection, and by personal contact with skin wounds....skin wounds are highly infectious...patient must be isolated until all skin wounds have become dry and the thick honey-like layer has fallen off....usually 14-21 days....

Isolating the patient is only for the protection of other uninfected people, not that some demon curse will fall upon if seen by others...

so whenever u get chicken pox, do not hesitate to consult a doctor:u might avoid a possible contributor to liver cancer.

Harmful Habits

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The human body is a miraculous auto-regulating factory. It has inbuilt systems to clean, feed, protect and destroy unnecessary things without needing us actually doing anything voluntarily.
This post gives an idea about mucous membranes. Non-medical people or even those in the medical field other than doctors,(even very experienced staff nurse)don’t know its purpose.
This is not a lecture, but an insight to understand a very basic but important concept.
Any structure, to remain as a structure, it needs covering. The ultimate 2 important coverings in the human body are:
1. Skin
2. Mucous lining(mucosa).
The Skin provides the external covering, mucosa forms the internal lining. Imagine a pressure cooker. The outer plastic covering is skin. The inner Teflon coating is the mucosa. Just as a Teflon coating protects the contact areas of a vessel, the mucosa protect the exposed areas of the body.
Mucosa is similar to the skin but is very delicate. The Skin is very tough. We have skin in areas where we get friction. we have mucosas in places where we don’t have much friction but still exposed to external environment.
Just like skin produces sweat, sebum(an oily secretion usually comes out mixed with sweat, responsible for body odor), a mucosa secretes mucus. For skin, we can wash as we bath, because it is accessible.Mucus is essentially a watery liquid meant to wash the body lining, where we actually don’t have accessibility to wash. Imagine it to the small pipes in the temple entry, which streams out water and washes our feet. Since the body cavity is of various direction, mucus may not reach every place and also sometimes stagnates in a place because of pits. To prevent it, the body has inbuilt brushes(CILIA) which wipe away the mucus towards the exit point. These brushes are very delicate and will be destroyed even if we just rub it with our fingers. That’s why it is placed in the inaccessible areas.
1 . Ear canal mucosa- normally secretes wax, which prevents dirt in the air from depositing onto the tympanic membrane. So this dirt is mixed with wax and expelled out normally by CILIA. Normal chewing movements cause the daily accumulated wax to come out without us being aware of it.
It doesn’t want manhandling because trying to clean the ear with buds /any sort of instruments, actually destroy these brushes. So wax accumulates. The worse thing is wherever a mucosa is manhandled, it gets replaced with altered skin. When it gets sloughed it is not able to clear by itself, so accumulates repeatedly, causing the wax to harden. Chronic manhandling causes this altered skin to become cancer.
DONOT CLEAN YOUR EAR WITH BUDS.
2. Nose has the same mechanism, but most adults don’t rape the nasal mucosa and so it doesn’t need much mention here.
3. GIT: it means food passage. From inner, pink half of the lips to anus. We do not rub mucosa in mouth much. Though while brushing friction occurs, mucosa in the mouth is considerably tougher than ear/nose mucosa so it doesn’t get much damage unless using corrosives like betel leaves/tobacco(all forms – pan, gutkha, hans, cigarette smoke.) so only these people get cancer in the mouth.
4. Airway: it includes from the nose, windpipe(trachea), lungs.
Millions of infant deaths per year can be prevented by not doing a simple thing- blowing child's nose to vacuum clean it, showing the baby to sambrani (incense) smoke after bathing it.
5. Eyes: the eyes are very sensitive and any damage is permanent. Putting oil in eyes before going to sleep as an attempt of “cleaning “ your eyes and “improves vision”- don’t do it unless u have an extra pair of eyes ordered from eBay.

All mucosa in the body normally produces mucus. But the production rate is equal to clearance rate, so we don’t feel their presence. Whenever there is increased production/decreased clearance, we feel an increase in secretions like running nose, sputum after coughing.

Increased production occurs when there is more need to clean the mucosa- increased dust /bacteria/viruses depositing in nose/airway. It can be avoided by avoiding pollution or by treating the infection.(-eg.benadryl cough syrup-decreases secretion; but in addition, we have to remove the stimulus-bacteria/virus by using antibiotics).

Decreased clearance occurs when:
1. The mucus is very thick so that the brushes are not able to sweep them.
2.The brushes are destroyed by using buds/irritants like smoke, alcohol.
       
If the problem is because of increased thickness, we can use mucus thinners(Benadryl expectorant), which breaks the mucus and makes it easy for the brush to sweep away. And drinking lot of water to keep the mucosa moist and mucus watery. But if the problem is because of the destruction of ciliary brushes, there is no way in the world to bring it back/ make new ones. Once the mucosa is converted to an altered skin(metaplasia), it is irreversible and might in due course lead to cancer. The only thing we can do is prevent the destruction of remaining mucosa.

Potential insults to the mucosa:
1. Earbuds
2. Tobacco (both food passage and airway)
3. SMOKE (agarbathis, sambrani smoke to "cure " newborn's infection).
3. Alcohol(predominantly food passage)
4. Kajal, eye liners, putting oil in eyes
5. Rare( shaving ear canal /nose hairs)
All these things are simple kinder garden science, but our lack of awareness made it a wonderland. only those who saw it knows, others think it’s a bluffing.
Ultimate objective: DONOT DESTROY YOUR MUCOSA. U MIGHT HAVE THE PLEASURE WHILE DOING IT, BUT IT LL KILL THE MUCOSA, AND ULTIMATELY YOU. THE PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE SO NO MATTER HOW MIGHTY YOU ARE U CANNOT ESCAPE FROM THE CONSEQUENCES.

IS THERE A LIFE AFTER DEATH???



Today while I was reading about organ donation, I could not resist remembering a lady in her late 60s came to the OPD to get an attestation from my H.O.D some 4 months back. It was for her body donation after her death.

The decision was voluntary!! Though she was having heart disease of about moderate severity, she was not going to die any time sooner. But she was firm in her thought that she doesn't want her body to get wasted in the dust because of some religious or social beliefs. She wanted her body to be useful to the medical students for their learning in the medical college.

Her son also had consented this and legally documented not to impose any objection after death. Not only that, her son who was only 32, also made legal documentation for the donation of his body to the medical curriculum. His wife also did the same.

But she was not fully aware of organ donation. I explained her about organ donation as living donor and as a cadaver. I encouraged her to donate her eyes and other potentially transferable organs so that not only her body be used for education, but also someone will be living their life with the help of her organs. She had been motivated for the whole body donation by Dr.Mallikesan, Medical superintendent of SRMC medical college. I called him to check whether it is possible to enroll for organ donation after once registered for whole body donation. He told it is possible and she can help by doing both. She was so happy that she can save lives and also help in medical education.

I also want to mention that my personal motivation on whole body donation was from actor Kamal Hassan. He has legally registered for body donation, which I read in the news while I was in high school. There are a lot of arguments that he is doing this for publicity. But what matters is the ultimate outcome. 
Only the people who argue are those who won't donate or have fear of the fact that they cannot tolerate even thinking about their body been ripped in pieces. Some people think " I would love to donate my body, but I fear my religion says if I am not burnt my soul will not attain peace, I will not reach the god or god will punish me if I do so against what had been told till now in my religion".

 Just think for yourself. 
DO YOU BELIEVE THE ALL-LOVING, TRUE SPIRITED GOD OF YOURS WILL PUNISH YOU OR HATE YOU FOR HELPING TO SAVE OTHER’S LIVES???

And in reality, YOU WILL NOT FEEL ANY PAIN, WHILE WE ARE CUTTING YOUR BODY BECAUSE YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD.
In fact, you will be only a dead body to even those who loves you and are willing to give their life to save you if possible. But the medical students will respect you. You won’t be treated like a doll, but you will remain a lifelong inspiration to them, a motivation for them to strive hard, so that what they have learned from you will be used for saving someone like you.

I wanted to post this on the day she visited, but don’t know why I did not. Nevertheless, this post is to spread awareness on whole body donation and organ donation after death.

IS THERE A LIFE AFTER DEATH???? 

YES, THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH. BUT ONLY IF YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE ONE.

(P.S: In my family, me and my mother are also registered for Organ donation. We will complete the paper works for body donation soon.)


for details, visit:
www.mode.org.in/


SAY MMMMMMMM..................



Just humming might not get u to airtel super singer....but it will clean up your sinuses.

Just close your nose and mouth and try to make the sound  Mmmmm...

This causes all the expiratory air to rush forcefully into sinuses. All the respiratory passages get air flow during inspiration(breathing in), except nasal sinuses. The sinuses get air circulation only during expiration (breathing out).

But during an infection, or in patients with sinus problems, its 
opening is blocked. So there can be no air circulation. Whatever force you may breathe in, will not open the blocked sinus gate, because its orientation is such that it will open only during expiration.
So even if your doctor says you have a sinus infection and it is incurable, still u can get the world's best cure rate by doing just Mmmmm…

And if u combine this with steam inhalation at least when you have a cold, you can avoid getting the infection spreading to your sinuses if u previously not had it and can considerably reduce the duration and severity of sinusitis, once the infection has occurred.

So the golden words for upper respiratory cleanliness are:

1. Mouth/throat gargling
2. Humming
3. Steam inhalation
4. Breathing exercises(pranayama or whatever name you might give it)-concept is breathing in slowly and deeply, holding for some time, and breathing out passively.