The bearded women in those yesteryear circuses   never failed to  evoke the interest of curious onlookers. Had these women been around today they, possibly, would have lived different lives.

Unwanted hair in men and women has always been considered a nuisance; in some cases they are nothing less than  a nightmare. It was expected of people with unwanted hair growth  to resort to all possible ways such as waxing, tweezing and shaving to combat the  frizz onslaught.

In India, the use of turmeric for cosmetic purposes is common among  women although men are not encouraged to do so. The reason cited is that turmeric, when used on the face, and other body parts, keeps the skin smooth and controls hair growth .

But all the above methods are not permanent solutions to ‘hairy’ problems. That is  the main reason why laser hair removal is considered as a blessing by many.

Growth of a single hair is characterized by cycles of   growth, dormancy and shedding . The laser hair removal treatment has been known to be the most effective when carried out during the growth cycle. Due to  varied cycles of  hair growth a schedule will have to be designed to suit the patient, for optimal results. It is also necessary to avoid getting tanned  before the procedure.

The procedure begins by shaving and cleaning the body area that needs to be treated, followed by the application of an anesthetic cream. After this, pulsed laser beams are directed  to the target area and these are absorbed by the pigments in the hair follicles. The light from the laser is converted to heat, which damages the follicle and its ability for hair growth.

This treatment can be used to remove hair permanently, from any body part such as the face, neck, underarms, shoulders, groin or legs. It is tested and proven and is, therefore, safe and effective. The procedure may be uncomfortable but is not painful.

In advanced clinics, FDA approved equipments are used for the procedure.

The duration of the procedure depends on the area to be covered and may extend from a few minutes to an hour. Four to six laser sessions, at monthly intervals, are necessary for the effect of the procedure to be permanent.

Initially some skin reactions, such as redness, or swelling, may be visible but that would soon disappear and the person can soon revive normal activities .The procedure must be carried out by trained  experts,  in certified clinics, in order to minimize blisters, burns, scarring  or any other unwarranted skin reaction.

The cost of the method depends on the body geography of the concerned individual, the kind of laser used, the intensity of hair growth and the time taken for the procedure. It is, by and large, affordable.

Now if you have been craving for that perfect -looking bikini line you know how to go about it, don’t you?

Written by:
Dr. Reeja Tharu

World over people are drooling over ‘size zero’ damsels.  Much has been written about their diet fads and their exercise regimes and how they go about making thousands swoon! While they swirl and twirl in their attempt to fascinate the public, and make tons of money in the process, there has been a group of people who have been feeling increasingly alienated—of course I am talking about the chronically obese!

This group find themselves bearing the brunt of public ridicule and often realize with angst  that they are not welcome everywhere. Many become victims of self pity and low self esteem, withdraw into a shell and interact only with those who are  sympathetic towards them.
 Such a situation prompted a horizontally- challenged woman in the US  to start a fat club where obese individuals can assemble and interact without having to worry what the world thinks of them. It is a venue intended for plus -sized party animals who can flirt without fat being a cause of concern.

Let us remember one thing—this is not a group of geniuses, writers or political strategists assembling to exchange  ideas. This is a human assemblage that has resulted from discrimination that, probably, manifests as stares, uncalled- for comments and careless gestures. Instead of trying to motivate them to loose  weight for their own health’s sake, the community’s discriminatory mindset has alienated these large -sized individuals and has prompted them to form smaller islands within the community.

The ‘size zero’ ads with their ‘thin- is- in’ themes really does not help! These ads can be depressing for those who are chronically battling obesity and  can prompt them to go on a feeding binge!

Since eternity skin color, tone and race have been the basis of discrimination; physical and mental handicap have been other reasons. Now ‘obesity’ is the dirty word and a reason  to alienate fellow humans.  Tomorrow those with black eyes and black hair may be considered freaks and candidates to be sidelined. And the list will grow.

The  best thing that we can possibly do is to motivate  an obese individual in his battle with the bulge and guide him to lead a healthier life. It is time we recognize the discriminatory streak in us and work towards eliminating intolerance towards fellow humans!

Dr. Reeja Tharu

Actress Suzanne Somers made a recent statement that chemotherapy killed Patrick Swayze.

It must be remembered that the ‘Ghost’ actor died recently after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

As a cancer survivor herself, Somers  felt entitled to make a statement on a subject that was close to her. “They took a beautiful man and put toxins in his body,” she said. The actress felt that instead of chemotherapy Swayze could have been put on a special diet to fight cancer by boosting his immune system.

Perhaps she was right…perhaps!

Researchers at Johns Hopkins recommend  alternative ways (besides chemotherapy) to counter cancer.

According to them, cancer cells are ubiquitously present in everyone but they are constantly kept in check by an ever – vigilant surveillance  system (read  immune system).A compromise in this surveillance leads to the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.
This compromise could be a result of multiple nutritional deficiencies which can be overcome by resorting to a suitable diet that includes supplements.

It is a well known fact that chemo- and radio therapy snuffs out healthy cells in the various tissues of the body. These treatments also cause a build up of toxins  which impairs the immune system resulting in the person succumbing to infections and several other complications.

Therefore, it appears ( for obvious reasons ) that the best way to contain  cancer cells is  to starve them by abstaining from foods that promote their  growth .

Sugar is a great favorite of cancer cells; most of the sugar substitutes too are harmful as they contain aspartame.

Cancer cells flourish in an acidic environment. Therefore keeping meat- based food to the minimum helps to control the growth of  malignant cells.

Milk is reported to produce mucus especially within the GI tract –cancer cells are reported to thrive on mucus.It would therefore be a good idea to substitute milk products with that of soy products including soy milk.

Vegetable juice is excellent for replenishing the damaged healthy cells. A diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts and whole grains  help to maintain an alkaline environment which is necessary to check cancer.

Of course, Patrick Swayze  smoked  3 packs a day. It would help to refrain from abusing the body by smoking or drinking  excessively. Also, never abstain from regular exercising.

No promise is made but, when  all these factors are followed it would be easier to fight the harbingers of cancer, a disease that seems to have  gripped all of mankind by the tail!

Dr.Reeja Tharu

Related links

1. Pancreatic cancer
2. Patrick swayze
3. Super Foods
   

There are over a million alcohol- related deaths each year, world wide. A considerable number of these deaths occur among the young, including students.

Cochrane Systematic Review came with the following interesting observation — providing students with personalized feedback regarding their penchant for drinking, and how their behavior compares to social norms, might help to reduce alcohol misuse.

Substantial social science research has revealed  that students are inclined to verestimate the quantity of alcohol that their peers consume. This overestimation has an impact on their behaviors and contributes to the escalating numbers of alcohol-related deaths among them.

According to the 22 trials conducted by  Cochrane research, providing personalized  feedback about students’ drinking  behaviors (and that of their peers’) using the internet or individual face- to- face  counseling sessions may help to address these misconceptions  and to minimize alcohol – related problems!

Group counseling and mailed feedback did not produce the necessary impact.

Lead researcher Maria Teresa Moreira, from the School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University, UK says “We can’t make direct comparisons between the different interventions, but ,based on a small number of studies, web-based interventions would certainly seem to be a cost-effective option for reducing alcohol misuse.”

“We know that social norms have a powerful impact on thought and behaviour, so changing people’s perceptions about what is normal can really help. Most of the effects lasted for a few months, but some lasted over a year, particularly for the web-based feedback,”  Moreira added.

So the next time your teen binges on alcohol, feed him back his drinking behavior and don’t forget to use the net!

Dr.Reeja Tharu

Related links

1. Alcohol abuse

2. Natural Remedy – Alcoholism

Creativity springs from near-desperation it is said. Ransacking the imagination in a near-desperate situation does throw up an inimitable Mickey Mouse every once in a while. But imagine the marriage ceremony of a couple of frogs solemnized by a huge group of people, who then reverently looked heavenwards for rain! That is precisely what the villagers in Padapalli, a drought-hit village in the southern state of TamilNadu did to invoke the rain gods.

Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and TamilNadu are among the many states that have performed “froggy” weddings since the beginning of the year as a desperate resort to ward off the looming threat of drought and a season of failed food and cash crops. Villages in India abound in superstitious beliefs that rush to the forefront during a crisis. Getting a nude virgin to run around the village when it is pitch dark and getting a couple of donkeys or asses “married” are some weird customs raked from the hoary past by desperate villagers waiting for rain.

Encouraged by a report in the local newspaper of a downpour in Udipi, Karnataka (another south Indian state) after a marriage ceremony of frogs was performed, enthusiastic villagers in Padapalli, Tamil Nadu, decided to follow suit.

On an auspicious hour last Friday evening, the people caught a male and a female frog from the village well, placed them in a brass pot in the village temple, garlanded them and married them off amidst the chanting of mantras, drum beat and bursting of fire crackers. The frogs were then fed with banana and milk—a ritual feeding of the bride and the bridegroom soon after many Indian marriages. About 2000 people from neighboring villages joined in the fanfare.

Will the froggy couple live together happily ever after? Nobody knows. And did it rain in Padapalli after the froggy wedding? Well, there was a drizzle on Tuesday, said the villagers defensively. They are certainly praying for more!!

Thilaka Ravi

It may be a boon where the population is exploding but… the distant toll of humanity’s  death bell can also be heard!

Apparently man has been paying , and will continue to pay, a heavy ransom for his tryst with technology and for his penchant for modern living.

Cell phones Stunt Sperm Count

“Mobile phones are sperm suckers”,  screamed  headlines in the United Kingdom a few years ago, striking panic  into the hearts of nearly  72 per cent of mobile-touting men keen on starting  a family.

Scientists  from Hungary’s  University of Szeged have proved that  mobile phones could reduce sperm count by a third, thanks entirely to the radiation these phones  emit.

Some scientists believe that there is much ado about nothing and that more studies need to be carried out to endorse the Hungarian study. Nevertheless the verdict is out. Beware of thy mobile!

Daddy Cool

There is some bad news for young dads- to- be who spend long hours behind  wheels. Italian researchers claim that driving for prolonged periods is detrimental to the life and quality of  sperms—a fact confirmed by research on  taxi drivers and other men with driving jobs.

Sperms even find body heat harmful — which is why they are stored in  testicular pouches (outside the body) that provide a cooler ‘ambience’. Driving long hours increases testicular temperature, which hampers sperm survival. This damage can be minimized by taking intermittent  breaks.

The above fact also means no steam baths and Jacuzzi when the wife is ovulating. Also remember to wear clothes that allow your ‘two little boys’ to breathe!

Baby Dreams go up in Smoke

Smoking tobacco in any form — be it the ubiquitous cigarette or the more destructive ‘pot’— has a negative impact on sperm production. This is due to the  damaging effect of tobacco on the sperm DNA.

Starting family-Waisted effort

Obese men too have far little chance of fathering children when compared to men of average weight –this  is because  localized fat is capable of generating heat that is potent enough to harm  sperms.

A waist that measures 40 inches warrants weight reduction in order to start a family.

Stress and Sperms

Stress has long been known to have a negative impact on sperm count. So melt the stress if you are really keen to increase your chances to make babies.

Others

Those men who are exposed to solvents such as decorators, painters, dry cleaners and builders run the risk of low  sperm count .Using gloves and wearing a mask is known to help.

Sexually transmitted diseases also affects male fertility negatively. Practice safe sex…always!

All these efforts and sacrifices may be worth their while when you see your baby smiling toothlessly at you.
What then are you waiting for?

Dr. Reeja Tharu

RELATED LINKS

1. Genetics of  male infertility
2. Journey of male sperm- animation
3. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) – animation

Dr. Pauline W. Chen in her recent article on “patient centered care” (published in The New York Times) has debated the viability of a new medical model which centers on “shared decision making” between doctor and patient.

This, she believes, if made mandatory in all areas of care, will give
greater magnitude to patient preference, thereby (occasionally) putting evidence-based care on the back burner.

This novel system seems set to gain popularity even as an increasing number of stories have been reported from patients who feel doctors take them for granted.

The value of their individual experiences is diminished by doctors who are pressed for time and who are forced to make snap decisions that may, at times, be questionable.

Dr. Chen has pointed out that ” the system around clinicians makes it impossible to customize care the way it needs to be. We don’t have the standard of services or processes that are comfortable for the patients. We have built a technocratic castle, and when people come into it, they are intimidated.”

Any step taken in the direction of the new model would seem extremely challenging. At present, it is still very difficult for patients with chronic illnesses or rare diseases to find physicians who would genuinely consider their opinions and who would be
supportive of their needs.

Though initially you might be bogged down by the prospects of holding your own against a physician, the process might eventually help to generate optimum care.

Here are some suggestions on ‘How to handle a Difficult Doctor’ as suggested by the WEGO Health Dystonia Community:

* Try to approach the problem with the goal of minimizing friction, instead of attempting to prove who is right and who is wrong. The doctor’s office appointment can be reset with this goal in mind.

* Before an appointment, list out the questions that you need to ask the doctor. Acting professionally is paramount to get the doctor to value your opinion.

* Listening to what the doctor has to say is vital. It is also important to note the tone of his voice. Being defensive does not mean that the doctor is sidelining your suggestions; instead it may merely mean that he is frustrated by results. So weigh out the situation and act /talk accordingly.

* Be assertive and not confrontational while dealing with the problem. While expressing your opinion your words should be assertive and firm but the tone of your voice should not convey anger or annoyance.

* Sometimes it may be imperative to have an intervention with the difficult doctor. In this case a social worker or behavioral health specialist may be consulted on how best to approach the problem without making the doctor go on the defensive. It may be well for the patient to remember that, more often than not, a compromise may be unavoidable.

Related Links

Should Docs Wear a White Coat?

Scientists don’t know yet what causes dreams, but we do know something about the state of dreaming.

Immediately after we go to sleep, our brains enter a stage called ’slow wave’ sleep. The brain waves (electrical activity in the scalp) slow down distinctly from the awake stage,  the muscles are completely relaxed, and the heart beat, blood pressure, and body temperature reduce. If someone is woken up at this stage, they don’t remember dreams.

Then the brain waves change: as we enter what is known as ‘rapid eye movement’ (REM) sleep, the brain waves are indistinguishable from when we are awake. This is when we dream.

When we dream, our heart rate and blood pressure may rise, and the eyes move behind the eyelids (hence the term REM sleep). The rest of the muscles, though, are in a state of paralysis (except for those that control the basic body processes). This is what prevents us from acting out our dreams.

Normally,  slow-wave sleep alternates with REM sleep. Over one night of sleep for the normal adult, the REM sleep stages become gradually longer till the person awakens. Babies, though, spend much of their sleep in slow-wave sleep.

When the switch between slow-wave sleep and REM sleep does not work properly, it can cause a lot of trouble. In people who walk or talk in their sleep the mechanism that causes low muscle tone during REM sleep doesn’t seem to switch on. On the other hand, in people with narcolepsy,  the muscles may suddenly lose tone (like during REM sleep) when the person is awake. The person will not be able to move – a state called cataplexy. People with narcolepsy also switch between the waking and sleeping states suddenly (they may have a sleep attack in the middle of a cooking or driving, for example) as well as between slow-wave and REM sleep.

Why? Scientists suspect that a mixture of genetics and environmental factors cause narcolepsy. But like so many things connected with sleep, we don’t understand much about what is the trigger.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more about dreaming and sleep:

1. Sleepiness calculator

2. A brain scanner that can reconstruct dreams?

3. Dreams affect our judgement and behavior

4. Why sleep deprivation affects some people more than others

Poverty and mental illnesses often go together. Depending on the studies you follow, poor people are between two to nine times as likely as wealthy people to suffer from mental illness, whether depression, schizophrenia, or substance abuse.

So does poverty cause mental illness? Most researchers today acknowledge that an intersection of social, environmental, psychological, and genetic causes lead to mental disorders, though research into causes and cures have tended to focus disproportionately on genetics and drugs in recent years.

But public health experts acknowledge that the conditions of poverty – poorer medical care, fewer resources, higher levels of mortality and substance abuse – seem to themselves lead to mental disorders. Poorer people also recover at lower rates from mental illness and they are more often admitted to institutions, less likely to have jobs, and are more alone and stigmatized.

But there is one surprise: mentally ill people from developing countries are more likely to recover than those from developed countries, with double the rates of remission. This goes against experience in every other medical field, where fewer hospitals and less availability of drugs, for example, produce worse outcomes in public health.

Why? We don’t really know. The WHO in its World Mental Health Report of 2001 speculated that the greater familial support, lesser stigma, and the fact that it is easier to go back to earning your livelihood in developing countries, for example with domestic or other kinds of physical labor, help mentally ill people in countries like India do better than mentally ill people in wealthier countries.

Which is something that reinforces what I believe in: where mental illnesses and disorders are concerned, drugs alone are simply not enough. You also need to provide shelter, food – and sympathy and respect for the person who is suffering.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more about it:

1. Poverty and health

2. Financial crises affect the mental health of children

3. War makes Afghan children more vulnerable to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

4.  Global recession can cause rise in mental health problems

5. Poverty forces couple into depression and suicide

The bladder shows one example of the mind-body connection: many children lose bladder control when they are afraid, or in periods of stress like when a new brother or sister is born.

Perfectly healthy adults, with no previous incontinence problems, have been known to urinate when in extreme fear. There is also a connection between incontinence and depression – depressed women are more likely to be incontinent, and incontinent women are more likely to be depressed, though the causal link is not clear.

We don’t know yet how this happens: the walls of the bladder are normally relaxed and the sphincter (the ring-shaped muscle leading out of the bladder which dilates to allow urine to flow out) closed in the ‘fight or flight’ response to stress or fear. In extreme cases, though, it seems the digestive system in effect ’shuts down’, and a person will have an urge to urinate, or feel as if he has an attack of diarrhea.

The mind-body connection works the opposite way too. So if you suffer from incontinence, some mental training can help. A study by the Loyola University Health System, reported in the April issue of the Journal of Urology, showed that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and meditation helped ten patients (mean age: 62) reduce their episodes of incontinence to almost one-fourth of what it was before the therapy.

So should those who suffer from incontinence choose meditation and CBT over the many other surgical treatments, exercises, and drugs available for urinary incontinence? Is it a sign of mental strength? Not necessarily – some people try CBT and meditation and if they are not successful look for other options.  Others find surgery and drugs have not helped so much, and try out meditation and CBT as their final desparate resort.

It’s a cliche, but it’s true: combining positive mental imaging, CBT, bladder retraining (learning how to predict and control urination, for example, through keeping a bladder diary), pelvic-floor exercises, and if necessary drugs and surgery, will help you most.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more about it:

1. Urinary incontinence calculator for women

2. For women with incontinence: keeping a bladder diary

3. Stress incontinence

4. Scientists try to identify mechanism of mind-body connection

Everyone has some risk for mental illness, like everyone has some risk getting a disease. Today, scientists believe that mental illness is at least partly genetic but there are strong social and environmental triggers. So the risk may be higher for one person and lower for another.

Things that increase risk of mental illness:

• Physical factors: having older parents increases the risk of Down Syndrome (old mother) and autism and schizophrenia (older father).
• Some infections like syphilis and meningitis can cause dementia, as do other diseases like pellagra (vitamin B3 deficiency) and head injuries.
• Alcoholism and substance abuse.
• Family history of psychotic illness.
• Breakdown and conflict in the family or at work.
• Emotional trauma, being a victim of violence.
• Poverty.

Things that protect from mental illness:

• Strong family ties or ties with other people in religious or social contexts.
• Parents who are functioning well in the family and at work, who are loving and supportive.
• At least one person to connect with and who is dependably around.
• Good relationship with peers and other adults outside the family.
• Personal resilience and emotional skills.
• Religious faith.
• Economic security.
• Good physical health.
• Success at school and work.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more about mental illnesses:

1. About mental health on Medindia

2. Understanding mental illnesses through gene-environment interactions

3. Twenty million Indians have serious mental disorders

4.  Support groups for mental illnesses and addiction

Today (July 1) is Doctor’s Day in India, and, in the din of malpractice, side effects, and conflicts of interest, we often forget what a service many nameless doctors do. Look at these statistics:

The baby born today will live to be 66 years on average. In 1900, he could live to be 30.

In the beginning of the  last century, 10% of babies died before they were one year old. Today, the figure is 0.7%.

In the beginning of the twentieth century,  ten mothers died for every 1000 babies born. Today, the figure is just 1% of that, <0.1 death per 1000 births.

Almost one person in three was infected with smallpox in 1900, and of those infected one in three would die. Today, smallpox is eradicated. Many other infectious diseases like polio and  guinea-worm disease are much less common than they used to be. Seventy percent of people infected with cholera would die because of fluid loss due to diarrhea in the nineteenth century. Today, with oral rehydration therapy, less than 3% die.

Let’s give credit where credit is due.  A lot of this is due to modern medicine and its practitioners, and public health measures spearheaded by them.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more:

1. Health facts

2. Top ten facts about senior health

3. AIDS statistics

4. Understanding epidemics using statistics

I just finished reading Sylvia Nasar’s biography of John Nash: the brilliant mathematician who did his best work in his twenties, was schizophrenic from his thirties to his fifties, and then spontaneously recovered in his sixties and went on to win the Nobel Prize.

Nasar says three things helped Nash recover – his own persistence in trying to get better, the support of his wife and friends, and the natural body changes that come with aging. He had not been taking any medicine, or in fact any kind of treatment, for his condition for the twenty years prior to his recovery.

The support of his wife and friends and no drugs: now that is something that is difficult for a lot of us to accept, and it goes against political correctness. In the film version  Nash’s character claims that newest generation of antipsychotic medicines ‘don’t cure (him), but they help.’ The real John Nash, when asked if this was true, denied it, and attributed the ‘quote’ to artistic license.

Many ‘advocacy groups’ for mental illnesses praised the film, but Nash’s real experience (as opposed to the film) goes against their current official stand on psychopharmacology – that drugs are necessary to cure mental illnesses. It seems to confirm what anti-establishment psychiatrists like Peter Breggin have said: recovery from mental illness needs a ‘healing presence’ – one element of which is love and acceptance – rather than a prescription of medicines.

Nash himself has said he was lucky he refused to take his medicines and could get away with it. Taking antipsychotic medicines over years leads to a kind of mental fog, and causes tardive dyskinesia – distressing abnormal movements and tics – that would have made his gentle reentry into normal life impossible.

Of course, love alone is not enough. You need knowledge, skills, and resources. Medicine alone is not enough either, and it can actually be harmful.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more about mental illness and recovery:

1. The need to reduce the stigma of mental illness

2. Men avoid seeking help for mental illnesses

3. Twenty million Indians have mental disorders

4. Understanding mental illness through gene-environment interactions

The placebo effect is all about the power of the mind, and some doctors use it very often. Because when we expect to get better with medicines we often will, some doctors prescribe vitamins, tonics, and sometimes antibiotics and sedatives, not because we really need the medicine itself, but because the feeling that we are taking a powerful drug for our symptoms will often cure us. (Antibiotic resistance is not all the fault of patients!)

It works the other way too: if you expect something to harm or hurt you, it probably will. Oncologists have written about people who die suddenly after finding out they have cancer, much sooner than the cancer itself could kill them and sooner than the doctor expected. In certain cultures, knowing that a witchdoctor has put a spell on a person can kill that person.

It can even work on other people: children who have teachers or parents  who believe they will do well often do well (in examinations, in jobs, in life); children whose parents think they are incapable often do badly.

The power of the mind, and the mind-body connection, is still mysterious. This is in spite of our advanced understanding of the brain, and the flourishing field of bio-psychiatry which connects our feelings, behaviors, and even beliefs to chemical processes in the brain.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more about the mind:

1. What is sixth sense?

2. Understanding memory

3. Positive thinking helps prevent depression

4. Positive thinking can leave you with a hole in your pocket

In the 1950s, cardiologist Leonard Cobb wanted to study the effectiveness of mammary arterial ligation (tying two arteries to increase blood flow to the heart), a procedure then commonly used to treat chest pain. Cobb performed the surgery for some patients; for others he just made a cut in the chest and bandaged them up again, though patients believed they had had the surgery.

The two groups healed at the same rate, and 90% of both groups said the procedure helped them.

This is the placebo effect: if you expect a drug, or surgery, or therapy to make you feel better, it probably will. The placebo effect is not imaginary: the improvements people feel are very real, though the effects are due to the power of the mind rather than the therapeutic effects of the treatment.

Today, it is routine practice in clinical trials to test how well any treatment works compared to a placebo. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) fails in this. Much of their ‘effectiveness’ is due to the placebo effect. That is why scientifically-trained doctors, who look to clinical trials for proof of effectiveness, routinely dismiss alternative medicines, even though people swear it works.

But, as Cobb’s experiment showed, even conventional medicine often works due to the placebo effect. CAM practitioners can also claim you should not mind how it works so long as it does.

But this does not really satisfy: if you know what you are receiving is a placebo, it will not work for you. And some medical treatments are really much more effective than placebos. Till we find a scientific cure for everything, quacks (and doctors) will continue to use placebos and get results too.

But most quacks will get less results than most doctors. Don’t you hate the uncertainty? But that is how science works. And the placebo effect still cannot cure AIDS or set a broken bone.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Some more on placebos:

1. The power of the placebo

2. Is homeopathy better than a placebo?

3. Thrill-seekers are more sensitive to the placebo effect

4. Acupuncture fertility treatment is no better than a placebo

Sometimes it is, but not always. And sometimes,  we simply don’t know.
Some kinds of alternative medicine have been proven effective in controlled studies. Acupuncture helps relive pain. Yoga, art therapy and aromatherapy are good for stress. Ginger can reduce nausea, and turmeric fights infections. Others, like therapeutic touch, seem to be harmless.

Some seem to be harmful, and for others the evidence is mixed or simply hard to find. Colon cleansing as a detoxification and weight loss procedure can cause dehydration. Ayurvedic medicines sometimes heal, but they can contain harmful heavy metals, and because the manufacturing is not standardized, the amount of the effective substance can vary from batch to batch of the same medicine. So they are not always safe, and they may have side effects too (in fact, anything when taken in excess has ’side effects’, or harms the body, even water).

Many alternative medicines are not proven. This is important to remember if you are thinking of taking alternative or complementary treatment for something serious like cancer or AIDS. There are conventional treatments that have been proven to cure or improve the prognosis for these illnesses, even though they make you feel worse in the short term.

On the other hand, if you go for alternative treatments, you may not have to deal with going bald or severe nausea, but you are choosing to trust the unknown. No alternative/complementary treatment has been proven to cure serious diseases, and if you reject conventional treatment altogether you may be seriously risking your health.  Some people use alternative medicines as an adjunct to conventional treatment, but it is best to be open about this with your doctor because herbal medicines change the way other medicines work.

You need to investigate alternative medicines, just as you investigate conventional medicines. Nothing is totally safe.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read some more about alternative and conventional medicine:

1. About alternative and complementary medicines

2. Alternative medicine health news

3.  Debate on complementary medicine misleads patients

4. Is homeopathy a sham?

Boys who live with single mothers are more likely to become violent and go to jail. But boys with single fathers, especially those who don’t marry but care for their children, do as well as children from intact families.

This was the conclusion of a 14-year study by Cynthia Harper and Sara McLanahan of the University of Princeton in 1998, who tracked more than 6000 teenaged boys into their thirties.

It is the presence of the biological dad which gives children an edge. When he is around, boys and girls are more likely to do well in school and grow up well adjusted individuals – and stay out of jail. Girls living with biological fathers are less likely to become teenage mothers.

According to Harper and McLanahan, stepfathers don’t make much difference. In fact, children who live with a mother and stepfather fare slightly worse than children of single mothers. This holds true even when other variables like economic status, education, and the age of the mother when giving birth are controlled. It also does not make a difference whether their father pays the child support or does not pay.

The important thing is that dad – the biological dad – should be around.

Ten years on, when almost 40% of the children in the United States are born to single mothers, this is something we need to remember: children need their dads.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read more on fathers here:

1. Absence of father hastens puberty for girls

2. Allowing fathers visitation rights is good for children

3. Guppy fish with the same father tend to stick together

The American Medical Association (AMA) voted recently on an epic resolution…
  recommending that hospitals ban doctors from wearing their  iconic white  coats!

Their contention, based on evidence, is that these coats carry disease- causing bacteria !

It is common sight  to see doctors in their white coats eating in  crowded  hospital canteens and then doing their rounds wearing the very coat! Therefore the AMA has a point there!

The coats were worn in the earlier times to differentiate between the quacks and the ‘scientific healers’  who symbolized hope and life! Justifiably so!

But little do the general public understand that the  ‘now-waiting-to-be-condemned’  garment is actually a lab coat — a symbol that was associated with grinding back- breaking research (some even in  the precincts of deoxygenated, dingy laboratories) and has ethically  little to do with these ‘ healers’ who take their family for  swiss holidays –courtesy pharma money!

Today even  the  ‘fledglings’  in the medical  trade, whose credibility would crumble under proper scrutiny,  take great pride in flaunting the white coat .

As to the original question  ‘should docs wear white coats?’
They definitely should not !
For the business like, ‘money first’ attitude,  in the majority, a business suit is recommended !
 
For the morbidity and the mortality associated with the medical  trade,  a  black coat would do well !

Dr.Reeja Tharu

Will that heavily-advertised ‘brain food’ help your child become smarter? Will all those DHA-fortified baby cereals and milks with ‘brain activators’ really help your daughter or son get better marks?

OK – I am no expert either on nutrition or brain development. But common sense counts still, and I remind you there is no substitute for a good diet and good teaching and studying. These will help your child, DHA or no DHA.

Two reasons for this:

1) It’s difficult for lay people like us to make sense of all the health-related news we get from the media. DHA may be good for your brain, but will DHA pills and DHA-fortified foods make you smarter? None of the manufacturers and marketers will tell you, but the pills and supplements are not proven yet, and we really don’t know yet what effect for good or bad they will have.

To take an example, while the body’s own testosterone boosts sperm production, fertility doctors only recently found that synthetic testosterone can make men infertile. Synthetic testosterone is still taken by athletes and body builders for more energy, and by men who want better erections, who don’t understand its risks.

2) I don’t trust advertisements! In India, advertisers are still rarely held accountable for the things they say. Advertisers and marketers know that if they say something is good for your brain, parents will spend a lot of money on it. Read a book on advertising. Know how you are manipulated.

Having a good balanced diet with enough exercise and enough rest, and studying well, will help your child do well in examinations and in life. If you want her to get more DHA, give her more fish or foods containing flax oil or seeds, but always as part of a balanced diet.

Susan Vinodh Pandian

Read some more about brain development:

1. Depriving a child of affection can affect brain development

2. Marijuana use disrupts brain development in teens

3. Using methamphetamine when you are pregnant can affect your baby’s brain

4. Brain development is compromised in premature babies

Are they connected? Anne Taylor Fleming, in Motherhood Deferred, speaks with some bitterness of her youth, which she spent enthralled with the women’s movement. She achieved everything her feminist gurus said women should – succeeding in a man’s world, becoming a successful writer and journalist.

 Then the longing for a baby struck when Fleming was in her 40s, and after spending a fortune on every infertility treatment in the book, Fleming had to accept that she would never have children. Maybe she would not have had children even if she had tried in her twenties, but she would not know now.

I am afraid a lot of women in my generation may make the same mistake. Not that the woman’s movement was itself a mistake, or that we are better off looking after the children and home (we are definitely not) than going off to work. But when we have to choose between career and babies, the choice should be the babies, especially in your twenties.

The best time to have a baby physically is the twenties. After that the risk of not being able to conceive, or have a baby with problems, becomes steadily higher as you grow older. Of course, a lot of women in their thirties and forties will give birth without problems to healthy babies, but the risk is higher.

If you have your children in your twenties, you can go back to work once they are in school. Even earlier, if you have a good support system for your children in place. That leaves a lot of time for building your career.

Know more about women’s infertility:

1. Change your lifestyle, change  your infertility

2.  Weight loss surgery improves fertility

3. Infertility in women linked to passive smoking

4. ‘Kiss’ therapy for infertility

I read on an internet site that one in six couples in India is infertile. I don’t know how reliable this figure is, but worldwide, doctors agree – infertility is increasing, quite apart from all those national population control programs and  the declining populations of developing countries.

Many conditions of modern life can make you infertility – exposure to pollutants when you were in the womb, or food additives, or MSG, or obesity, or diabetes, among many other things. For men in the software field, working with laptops placed on their laps or taking certain drugs may kill sperm, or make them less motile – which means they may not be able to ’swim’ through the vagina to reach the egg.

For women, postponing marriage and childbearing are often bad choices. Women bear children most easily in the late teens or early twenties, and their babies tend to be healthier than babies of older mums. If you put your career ahead of your baby, you may find it very difficult to have a baby when you finally feel ready for motherhood.

I know many couples struggling to conceive. It’s one of those things that you never think will happen to you. But many of us will have to face it, and even if we have a child already conceiving a second time may be difficult. Many of us will spend years going through expensive and unpleasant fertility treatments before conceiving, or opting for adoption (incidentally, these couples are often very happy), or chosing to live with childlessness.

Medindia has more on  infertility:

1. How much do you know about it? A quiz on infertility

2. Interview with Dr. Kamala Selvaraj – infertility treatment pioneer in India

3. Causes of male infertility

4. Chemicals in food and cleaning products put unborn boys at risk for infertility later in life.

1. It’s a gift of life

Your donated blood will be healthier and better quality than blood from paid donors or from relatives and friends (who may not be honest about their health history in the emergency situation of a loved one needing blood) . Donated blood saves lives – lives of people who need blood during major surgeries, people who have had accidents, children who have genetic blood diseases that cause anemia (thalassemia, for example), premature babies whose bone marrows sometimes are too immature to produce their own blood.

If you don’t donate blood these people will have to rely on family, friends, or paid donors. Even with today’s improved screening methods, this is simply not as good as having a reliable, safe stock of freely donated blood in the blood bank. They will always be at risk, however small, of receiving infected blood.

2.  You may need it some day

In this sense, you are just giving back early what you, or your family member or a dear friend, may need later. Many blood donors realize what a wonderful gift they have given only after they or someone they love need to receive a blood donation. And it’s not so uncommon either for family and friends of those who have received blood to become enthusiastic blood donors, because they want to express their gratitude to the unknown donor by passing on their gift.

I read a newspaper report about a Hindu man who was moved to tears when a Muslim came forward to donate blood for him and brushed off his attempts to thank him. (Unfortunately, I don’t remember any detail – which newspaper, which place, when. If any of you do, please tell me.)

3.  It’s safe and easy

Blood banks use disposable needles and syringes, so there is no chance of getting an infection. Most people who are healthy can donate blood – men up to five times a year and women two times, with a gap of two months between each time.  The procedure is not painful, and even if you feel a bit tired after it (very few people do)  you will recover within an hour or two, with some rest and juice and snacks. Some doctors say blood donation actually improves  your health by stimulating your bone marrow.

You will be able to go to work or to school the next day, and you will remember the experience as a rewarding one.

The only thing you should remember is to check that you are donating your blood to an reputed blood bank which follows all the safety procedures.

Susan

Read some more about blood donation on Medindia:

1. Slide animation on blood groups, blood typing, and blood donation.

2. Blood donation quiz – how much do you really know about blood donation?

3. Blood donation FAQs

4. Blood donation due date calculator

5. World Blood Donation Day (yesterday – 14 June!)

6. Interview with Dr. Srinivasan of Jeevan Blood Bank – saving lives

Not always. This was only one thing with which I disagreed  in Medindia’s special report on Dr. Rekha Ramachandran’s and her excellent work for children with Down syndrome.

Of course, special education integrated in a regular classroom is ideal, with one or two special children per class with maybe their own special education teacher nearby to help. It helps special children make friends and function in a ‘normal’ setting and it helps children without special needs to accept others who are different from them.

But speaking from my own experience with my son this is very difficult to find. In Chennai, except for Lady Andal School, there are no schools which provide inclusion with the support necessary to make inclusion work. So, unless the teacher or principal is exceptional, they will accept your child as an act of kindness but they will have no idea how to make him learn, and they will not even try.  He will not pick up much of reading, writing or arithmetic. And you are going to hear complaints everyday – he does not participate/read/write/ or he disrupts the class/fights/disobeys.

This was my experience, and the experience of many friends with special needs children. In Chennai, only in special schools do we see teachers with a positive attitude and the will to make all children, whatever their difficulties, learn. And our children are actually learning to read and write and count, which they never did when they studied in a regular classroom.

This is the reality in India, though in the US inclusion is mandatory and they have a much better support system.

It’s a difficult choice. But parents should check continually if their child is learning and benefitting especially when they choose to put a special needs child in a regular school. It’s not enough if he just learns to sit quietly and not disturb the class.

By the way, Temple Grandin, the animal behavior scientist and autism icon, went to a special school too – not when she was small, but when  she was a teenage. After being expelled from her ‘normal’ school for hitting a girl who taunted her, she attended a special school for children with behavior problems. It was an excellent school, and she credits the science teacher there with putting her on the path that later made her famous.

Read some more on treatment and teaching for children with special needs

1. Genetic research may open way for treatment for Down syndrome in the womb (latest news!)

2.  A portable communication system for autistic children

3.  Why do children with Down syndrome have less cancer?

4. Deaf children invent their own sign language to communicate

Vacationing in these cities is dangerous for your mental health! Okay, it’s not funny if it happens to you. But you might find these these disorders I came up with in an internet search interesting:

Paris syndrome: When tourists in Paris are develop psychiatric symptoms (especailly delusions), apparently as a result of being overwhelmed by their culture shock as they face the reality of Paris after idealizing the city. Japanese tourists are especially vulnerable.

Jerusalem syndrome: When visitors to Jerusalem become delusional or obsessed with, usually, religious themes. Sometimes sufferers deliver long rather confused sermons in holy places, pleading with people to return to simple living.

Florence syndrome: When someone faced with magnifient works of art or with great natural beauty is overwhelmed and becomes faint, confused, and even delusional. A psychiatrist who treated many foreigners in the city’s mental hospitals first described the syndrome, and said it happened when the person identified too closely with the art.

Read some more about mental illnesses:

1. Twenty million mentally ill Indians, most of them suffering in secret

2. Almost half of Australians are mentally ill at some point in life

3. Iraqis with mental illness don’t seek treatment because of stigma

4. Many Bangladeshis are mentally ill

Actor David Carradine died of ‘autoerotic asphyxia’ – a medical way of saying he was trying to stimulate himself sexually (‘autoerotic’) by depriving his brain of oxygen (‘asphyxia’), when something went terribly wrong, and the asphyxia ended up killing him. The 71-year old actor was found in a Thai hotel with ropes around his neck and his genitals.

It’s not a pretty way to die. Most people who practice ‘autoerotic asphyxiation’ (fortunately, very few) are, like Carradine, discovered only when they die. Often, they will be naked and have smothering/strangulating gear around their neck and pornographic material around. Their family, in shock, will usually clean up before the police or medics come to the scene, and the dealth may be recorded as a suicide.

Oxygen deprivation is supposed to create a hightened orgasm, and those who practice ‘autoerotic asphyxia’ generally rig contraptions to kick in after they are asphyxiated to prevent them from strangling or smothering to death. But it is a risky practice and things go wrong – often.

I find it scary that now many people will be googling ‘autoerotic asphyxia’ and may even stumble on results that give you instructions on how to try it out.

Parents, beware.

One more reason to never let your child surf the internet alone.

Read more:

1. Game to teach children internet safety

2. How to manage your internet-savvy child

3. Women who date men they meet on the internet are likely to be assaulted

4. Internet service providers block websites promoting child porn

There are lots more funny diseases, a la cello scrotum. Though if you suffer from some of these it’s probably not funny to you. These are some more diseases I came up with after researching the internet:

Cellist’s chest, fiddler’s neck, flautist’s chin, harpist’s fingers, jogger’s nipple, tennis elbow, typist’s wrist, radium jaw, painter’s colic, miner’s lung, nintendo thumb (also called nintendonitis, maple syrup urine disease, parrot fever, and the jumping frenchmen disease.

But the best has to be this: the shrinking penis syndrome, also called the penis panic, or very formally the genital retraction syndrome. This is apparently a psychological syndrome specific to certain cultures, when a man, or many men, come to believe their penis is shrinking because someone is putting a spell on them.

Read some more medical funnies here!

1. Medical jokes

2. The kinds of humor

Yes, it happens. Sometimes the doctor gets it wrong and sometimes it’s just a figment of his imagination.

Here are two ‘diseases’ – one served up as a practical joke and another in all seriousness by a psychiatrist out to discover new mental illnesses

1. Cello scrotum

This condition was first ‘noted’ by Elaine Murphy, a medical student, in 1974 in a letter to the British Medical Journal. Murphy said the cello scrotum was an inflammation caused by constant chafing of the scrotum during long hours practicing the cello.

In spite of the fact that there were no pictures and very few details (it was a nine-line letter), and in fact there is no contact between the cello and scrotum, the disease quickly caught the imagination. Soon there was the cellist’s chest, guitarist’s nipple, and flautist’s chin. Though some doctors were skeptical, the disease lingered on officially, and only after Dr. Murphy confessed it was a prank did the BMJ produce a formal correction earlier this year (that is 34 years on).

2.  Drapetomania

Dr. Samuel Cartwright, in pre-Civil War United States, said this mental disorder of slaves caused them to want to flee servitude and was connected with “dysaethesia aethiopica”, another disorder which made them avoid work. He said these disorders often had the physical symptom of insensitive skin (insensitive to beatings, apparently).

Cartwright was a good doctor, actually, and did some good work in understanding yellow fever and cholera. Unfortunately for him, he is remembered only for drapetomania, and he is fodder for the anti-psychiatry establishment.

Read some more about humor in medicine:

1. Doctor jokes

2.  Funny definitions

3.  Funny quotes

4. The eight ways to make people laugh

Many people swear by herbal supplements, and there is this idea that these supplements have no side effects. Often they are useful, but you need to be careful:

For one, anything if taken in excess can harm your body. In other words, it’s poisonous. Even ayurvedic and ‘herbal’ medicine and supplements. They are not standardised the way ‘western’ medicine is, and every batch of a medicine may contain different amounts of the effective substance. They also tend to contain heavy metals. So you should not overdose on herbal supplements, thinking it cannot harm you.

Two, if you have a serious illness – AIDS, hepatitis, cancer, kidney disease – your best bet is still  regular medicine. Many people in India distrust public hospitals and find private treatment too expensive, and so go to alternative medicine doctors, and some people really believe herbal treatment can cure them. But ‘western’ medicine is still the best we have for these diseases and many other problems (fractures, transplants, ).

You can use herbal treatment alongside regular treatment, but you should never forego regular treatment, especially for a serious disease.

Read more about herbal medicine here:

1. Information about herbal medicine

2. Herbal beauty oils

3. Herbal menopause remedy debunked

4. Herbal medicine factory closes after its drug  causes death

Here’s another simple thing you can do to be healthier: get the sleep you need. Tell that to your mother the next time she complains you are sleeping too much.

There’s a lot of research confirming the dangers of being sleep deprived. People not getting enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, depressed, and have diabetes. Children with disturbed sleep have attention-deficit disorder-like symptoms and more behavior problems. You are more likely to catch colds, and more likely to have accidents when you haven’t slept enough – a number of airplane accidents have been connected to sleep-deprived pilots.

Even staying up late studying before your exam might not be a good idea. One of my friends went out shopping the whole day and studied the entire night before a test- only to realize the next morning she had studied the previous year’s syllabus. Even if you don’t do anything so egregious, you will have more trouble concentrating and lower reading comprehension and more risk of blanking out than if you had slept well.

In case you want to take this too far – it’s not good to sleep too much either. This has been linked to depression too, and to a shorter life span.

But an adult should get at least 6 hours of sleep a night.

Not getting enough sleep? Take this online test to diagnose sleep disorders

Epworth sleepiness scale

Read about sleep problems here:

1. Sleep disorders

2. Sleep disorders in elderly people

3. People with sleep apnea should not drive after poor sleep

4. Sleepwalking

Here are three common ways germs spread. You should worry about them and not about pills and injections (in these days of the swine flu)!

1.    Through our HANDS.

The hands are in the center of the network of contamination – infected food/water/things/people/animals to hands to eyes/nose/mouth. Keeping your hands clean can save you a lot of trouble!

Incidentally, the doctor who discovered the power of hand washing deserves more credit than he gets: Dr. Semmelweis of Vienna brought down the death rate among women giving birth in his teaching hospital from about 20% to less than 2% by forcing medical students to wash their hands before visiting the women. The student doctors used to come straight from dissecting cadavers to treat these women – without washing their hands.

2.    Through the air

Like you can see from this picture, if you don’t cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, you spread a whole lot of germs! Using a tissue rather than a handkerchief also cuts down infections. Staying at home when you are sick cuts down infection too.

3.    Through infected food and water

Water from water-purifying devices like Aquaguard are the cleanest – more reliable than bottled or canned water. Use purified water to wash your food and clean your vessels and don’t eat food that may contain unclean water or have been washed in unclean water (mostly chutneys and salads).

Read more about how infections spread here:

1.    There are more germs in the kitchen than in the loo!
2.    Back-to-school brings germs
3.    Antibiotic-resistant germs
4.    TB spreads through breathing in the TB germs