Health Adda

Dr Binayak Sen’s tryst with this country’s government and its laws has dropped the hot question on our plate, “How far should doctors go to help their patients?” For those of you who may not be aware, Dr Binayak Sen is no ordinary rabble-rowsing doctor. He is a specialist in Pediatrics and Public Health and has taught at the Jawahrlal Nehru University in Delhi. His indoctrination probably started with his joining the famous Christian Medical College, Vellore, one of the few institutions that still inculcate human values and spirit of social service in its students.  His research on “Marasmus and Malnutrition in children” further initiated in him a deep involvement in inter-related issues of hunger, poverty, malnutrition and the wasted lives of poor childen.  Dr Sen, who has dedicated his life serving the poor and marginalized tribals of Chhatisgarh, soon realized that poverty and starvation were the root causes of malnutrition in rural Indian children and that expensive protei...

The recent indefinite fast undertaken by 73 year old Anna Hazare to protest against corruption has also triggered discussion on the impact of fasting on health. How the body responds to prolonged denial of food depends on several factors such as the person’s weight, age, duration and whether water is permitted. Glucose is the body's primary fuel source and is essential for the brain’s functioning. When denied glucose for more than 4–8 hours, the body turns to the liver for glycogen, a storage form of glucose, to be used for fuel. At this point, the body also uses small amounts of protein to supplement this fuel. This fuel will last for up to 12 hours before the body needs to turn to glycogen stored in muscles, lasting for a few more days. If glucose is still denied at this point, muscle wasting is prevented by temporarily switching to fat as the fuel source, meaning fat is converted into  ketones . Ketones, while not sugars, can be used by the brain as a fuel source as long as glu...

The English gentlemen’s sober game of cricket has metamorphosed, as we saw in the recent world cup, into one of high excitement and intense passion. In its new avatar it has proved more effective than any other movement in uniting a billion people in as diverse a country as India, since the freedom struggle. We saw Indians unite together and pray to different gods in diverse ways for the common cause of our national achievement and pride and Sachin and Dhoni emerge the strongest role models for our kids. Cricket’s impact on our society and health has indeed been huge. Although it is not our official national game, it is more popular in every nook and corner of the country than any other. Being a team game, it generates camarederie, shared goals and sportsmanship. It is useful in team building exrcises as was demonstrated in Aamir Khan’s movie “Lagaan” a few years ago. History tells us that the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in south-east Engl...