Sanjay Dutt and Uttarakhand Disaster

It is a real opportunity for people like Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt to come forward and take a lead in helping people in Uttarakhand. Such charities always make an impact.

I did see Sanjay Dutt’s concern when he mentioned that he would not like to spend money on holding his film’s premier abroad and instead organize a charity event in Mumbai and use the funds collected for flood victim.

If I would have been Sanjay, I would have asked the Court to put me on parole for 3-6 months to serve the Uttarakhand area to build it back to normal. It reminds me of the film Dushman where the protagonist played by Rajesh Khanna was asked to serve the village and the families, which had suffered because of him and help them come out of crisis. In that case, it was the court who took the decision of parole.

Sanjay Dutt who has money, public support and celebrity status can plead to the court for parole for a community cause.

Similarly, Salman Khan who is also facing criminal charges and is likely to end up in jail should show to the society that he has changed and he is now working for the welfare of the society.

What we saw in Sanjay Dutt’s case was that he could not muster full public support in his favor when he was awarded the sentence. His contribution to the society as it appeared was only via his roles in the movies Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna  Bhai. In both cases, public perception was that he was an actor and acting was his job. 

SRK and surrogacy

The month-long wait for details of actor Shah Rukh Khan's third baby, born with the help of a surrogate mother, is over. BMC officials have received a birth report with details that a baby boy was born on May 27 to parents listed as Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Shah Rukh Khan at Masrani Hospital for Women in Andheri. The child was born at 34 weeks of pregnancy and weighed 1.5kg at birth.

About surrogacy

Medical science allows motherhood to be divided into three categories

1.       Genetic mother

2.       Gestational mother

3.       Social mother

These "mothers" may be represented by as many as three different individuals.

A “gestational” surrogate is a woman who agrees to carry a pregnancy for another woman (intended mother). The intended mother provides the egg and the intended father provides the sperm; rarely, egg donors or sperm donors are involved. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is used to create an embryo, which is transferred into the uterus of the gestational surrogate. The gestational surrogate has no genetic connection to the embryo.

A “traditional” surrogate typically has a genetic connection to the embryo. The surrogate's own egg is fertilized by intrauterine insemination (IUI) of sperm from the intended father (or a sperm donor). Therefore, the surrogate has a genetic, as well as a gestational, connection to the embryo.

The role of surrogates is usually limited to carrying the pregnancy and delivery of the infant; it does not extend to the raising of the child (social mother). 

However, gestational and traditional surrogates may be family members, and thus may maintain familial contact with the child.

Indications for use of gestational surrogate include: absence of a functional uterus, medical conditions potentially associated with pregnancy-related mortality or serious morbidity, and poor obstetrical history. 

The physical and emotional health of potential gestational surrogates should be evaluated. 

An expert team of healthcare providers, counselors, and attorneys is involved in drafting an agreement between the gestational surrogate and the intended parents for the protection of both parties 

The live birth rate of gestational surrogates is as high or higher than that in age matched controls undergoing routine IVF. 

Surrogate pregnancy does not appear to negatively impact parenting or child development.

ICMR guidelines

1.         The ART Clinic must not be a party to any commercial element in donor programmes or in gestational surrogacy.

2.          No ART procedure shall be done without the spouse’s consent.

3.          Sex selection at any stage i.e. both before and after fertilization or abortion of embryos of any particular sex should not be permitted except to avoid the risk of transmission of a genetic abnormality assessed through genetic testing of biological parents or through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

4.          Use of sperm donated by a relative or a known friend of either the wife or the husband should not be permitted. It will be the responsibility of the ART clinic to obtain sperm from appropriate    banks.

5.          The committee has recommended accepting semen only from Semen Bank and not from the individual. Hence it has also been recommended that Semen Bank should be an independent organization, if set up by an ART clinic it must operate as a separate identity.

6.          No relative or a person known to the couple may act as surrogate. 

7.          Surrogacy by assisted conception should normally be considered only for patients for whom it would be physically or medically impossible/undesirable to carry a baby to term.

8.          The genetic (Biological) parents must adopt a child born through surrogacy.

9.          After a specific consent, the embryos may be stored for five years and stored embryos may be used either for other couple or for research after taking the consent of the couple to whom the embryos belongs.

10.         The sale or transfer of human embryos or any part thereof, or of gametes in any form and in way that is directly or indirectly to any party outside the country must be prohibited.

11.         Human cloning for delivering replicas must be banned.

12.         Stem cell cloning and research on embryos (less than 15 days old) needs to be encouraged.

13.         A child born through ART should be presumed to be the legitimate child to the couple, born within wedlock and all the attendant rights of parentage, support and inheritance.

14.         Though there is no legal bar on an unmarried or single woman going  for AID (Artificial insemination with donor), however it is  universally recommended that AID should be performed only on  married woman and that, too, with the written consent of her  husband.

Drinking coffee prevents Parkinson’s disease

Nicotine present in the tobacco has been used for its medicinal value for quite some time for diseases like Parkinson’s disease and ulcerative colitis. A study from University of Miami School of Medicine, USA, now has shown that people from families prone to Parkinson’s disease are less likely to develop the disease if they drink coffee on a regular basis.

Both coffee and nicotine have a link with dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical that decreases in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

It is possible that people who are going to have Parkinson's disease have lower levels of dopamine. Those with low levels of dopamine may be more likely to enjoy caffeine. 

Parkinson's disease is caused when brain cells that produce dopamine die. The disease is progressive, affecting about one percent of people older than 65.

Symptoms start out with shaking and can progress to paralysis. There is no cure, although a number of drugs can make symptoms better for a time. 

First aid for poisonous bites and stings

People often panic if they have been bitten or stung. You should tell the patient that many snakes, spiders, insects and sea creatures are harmless and that even the bites and stings of dangerous animals often do not cause poisoning.

Keep the patient calm and still. Moving the bitten or stung limb speeds up the spread of venom to the rest of the body. Fear and excitement also make the patient worse. The patient should be told not to use the limb and to keep it still and below the level of the heart. The limb may swell after a while, so take off the patient’s rings, watch, bracelets, anklets and shoes as soon as possible. A splint and a sling may help to keep the limb still.

Avoid doing the following:

• Do not cut into the wound or cut it out.
• Do not suck venom out of the wound.
• Do not use a tourniquet or tight bandage.
• Do not put chemicals or medicines on the wound or inject them into the wound (for e.g., potassium permanganate crystals).
• Do not put ice packs on the wound.
• Do not use proprietary snake bite kits.
• The patient should lie on one side in the recovery position so that the airway is clear, in case or vomiting or fainting.
• Do not give the patient anything by mouth – no food, alcohol, medicines or drinks. However, if it is likely to be a long time before the patient gets medical care, give the patient water to drink to stop dehydration.
• Try to identify the animal, but do not try to catch it or keep it if this will put you, the patient or others at risk. If the animal is dead take it to hospital with the patient, but handle it very carefully, because even dead animals can sometimes inject venom.
• As soon as possible, take the patient to a hospital, medical dispensary, or clinic where medical care can be given. The patient should not walk but should keep as still as possible. If there is no ambulance or car, carry the patient on a stretcher or trestle, or on the crossbar of a bicycle.
• Antivenom should only be given in a hospital or medical Centre where resuscitation can be given, because the patient may have an allergic reaction. If available, antivenom should be used if there is evidence of severe poisoning. It should not be used when there are no signs of poisoning.

Suraj Pancholi rightly got bail in the Jiah Khan suicide case

If an impulsive suicidal ideation has an element of obsession then it requires an early diagnosis to prevent suicide and not blame the person on whom the victim is obsessive.

Obsession is a disease and needs to be treated. Suicidal thoughts at some point occur in as many as 50% of the patients with impulsive compulsive obsession. Suicide attempts are reported in 25% of individuals with OCD. Presence of co-morbid depressive disorders increases the risk of suicidal attempts.

It appeared from the media reports that Jiah was suffering from both - underlying depression with OCD.

Obsessions are defined as recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges, or images that are experienced at some time during the disturbances as intrusive and inappropriate and with marked anxiety or distress. Compulsions are defined as repeated behavior or mental act of the person drawn to perform in response to the obsession or according to rule that must be applied rigidly.

While giving the bail, Justice Sadhna said – “No doubt that it was an unfortunate incident that the young girl has committed suicide, she (Jiah) must have been impulsive and he (Suraj) cannot be solely responsible for it”.

 Justice Sadhna said that “unless there is that element of intention or motive (mens rea), a person cannot be responsible for the act. The very fact that she had suicidal tendency and earlier also had attempted suicide, she obviously was a patient of underlying depression.”

If Suraj was responsible, then equally responsible were the doctors who treated her in the first incidence for suicidal attempt; family members who knew about the suicidal attempts as well as the society who helped her in coming out of depression and not disclosing it to her parents.

The Anuradha Saha case taken a turn

The Kolkata High Court has ordered 17 Kolkata doctors including Former West Bengal Medical Council members to stand trial for criminal conspiracy in 1988 Anuradha Saha Medical Negligence Case. Former President Dr. Ashok Chowdhury, West Bengal Medical Council will also be facing the trial. One of the three Kolkata doctors accused of medical negligence is Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee who is Chief Advisor of Health for Mamba Banerjee Government. As per the allegation, the council members conspired to shield the crime, as reported in IBN live.

Comments:

Every council is quasi-judicial body and should give a judgment which is not only true but also looks to be true. Once you are sitting on the post of a judge as a council member, your  job is to give an honest judgment.

I am not taking sides as the matter is still sub-judice but this case is an eye opener for all the council members in the country that they are a public servant who can be booked under Prevention of Corruption Act and also under IPC.

Under Delhi Medical Council Act, all the enquiries under this section are judicial proceedings within the meanings of section 193, 219 and 228 of Indian Penal Code.

Section 219 of the Indian Penal Code 1860 talks about Public servant in judicial proceeding corruptly making report, etc., contrary to law: Whoever, being a public servant, corruptly or maliciously makes or pronounces in any stage of a judicial proceeding, any report, order, verdict, or decision which he knows to be contrary to law, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.

The current legal case who will win only the time will tell but at least the council members will be in mental agony till the case is decided. 

Heart risks detected by age 7 in overweight kids

 Children at risk of future obesity should be examined for body mass index (BMI) rebound.

BMI rebound is the age at which body mass index (BMI) reaches its lowest point before increasing through later childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

An earlier BMI rebound age is associated with adverse risk factors for heart disease as measured at age 7: higher BMI, higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures, higher serum insulin and leptin levels, higher left ventricular mass and left atrial size.

Early BMI rebound age for children is lower than 4.4 years for boys and 4.2 years for girls. The normal values are 4.4 to 6.6 years for boys and 4.2 to 5.7 years for girls.

All children who start gaining weight between 3-4 years should be classified as a high risk for future diabetes and heart disease.