Allopathy-Ayurveda debate: Media’s Misplaced priorities

The doctors, nurses and healthcare system have been relentlessly hauled over the coals for last one year and further battered emotionally by the cruel adverse media insinuations and taunts. At the peak of pandemic, when the powerful media should be discussing the core issues to control pandemic; issues like oxygen supply, vaccination and improving the health infrastructure, it has found more interest in a futile Allopathic-Ayurveda debate. Even if someone wants to start this kind of discussion, media should have shown more wisdom not to make it a dominant issue. There are more important, urgent and pressing issues where media can play a vital role.

By many media narratives, an impression is being fostered that doctors have made a mess and forfeited their moral right to treat. Suggestions of ineptitude were gleefully aired, causing demoralization of the warriors, who were immersed in the pool of Covid patients, trying to save them.

Their role should be as facilitators to help doctors to save more lives. One hospital death of out of millions saved, is projected as failure of doctors. They are so distant from the ground reality. To control the health system, media has a tendency to pretend that shortcomings in the patient care can be rectified by punishing the doctors and nurses.

Hence by selective projection the blame for deficiencies of inept system, powerful industry, inadequate infrastructure and poor outcomes of serious diseases is shifted conveniently to doctors, who were unable to retaliate to the powerful media machinery.

Media people, who have never treated a patient in their lifetime, sway opinion and treatments of the millions just by game of projection and perception. The news items and the content are guided by idea of creating sensation in a quest to sell news, be it a selective negativity. Such negative and selective projections are causing discouragement and demonization of the medical profession. It is the biggest tragedy to the medical profession in present era.

Normal treatment of the sick patients is being projected as gruesome atrocity, inflicted by doctors. Media could have done better in helping to take off spectacles fogged with bias against doctors and recognizing them as real saviours, just as deserving of justice.

National Media could have helped, had they fueled the right and constructive discussions. The TV channels could have countered the pandemic with better imagination, sobriety, and exemplary performance rather than creating sensation by cynical and futile debates, which are absolutely inappropriate at this time.

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May 30, 2021 0

Facilitators turn administrators: Biggest tragedy to medical profession in present era

14 Doctors in rural Unnao resign alleging mental harassment and misbehaviour by administrative officers over COVID-19 work.

       Administrators, who have never treated a patient in their lifetimes, but control treatment of thousands of patients. The biggest tragedy to the medical profession in present era, causing discouragement and demoralization of medical profession.
         Their role should not have been more than facilitators, but they have become medical administrators. They are so distant from the ground reality. To control the health system, administrators have a tendency to pretend that shortcomings in the patient care can be rectified by punishing the doctors and nurses.
The vulnerability that is intrinsic to the doctors’ working makes them sitting ducks, an easy target for harassment and punishments and is exploited by everyone to their advantage. Administrators use this vulnerability to suppress them. It is used by media and   celebrities who projected themselves as Messiah for the cause of patients, and sell their news and shows by labeling the whole community of doctors as dystopian community based on just one stray incident.

The blame for deficiencies of inept system, powerful industry, inadequate infrastructure and poor outcomes of serious diseases is shifted conveniently to doctors, who were unable to retaliate to the powerful administrative machinery.

The demonstration of the cleft that separated doctors from the actual overpowering controlling medical industry and administrators is not given, in order to maintain the prejudice with its dangerous bias towards doctors, who are in forefront and are visible to public. Clearly separating the role of health workers and the hidden administrators would not only settle the matter, but is actually essential to project the reality. The correct perception of two fundamentally different components would reveal a real gulf and would help to address the core issues.

A wish to govern, regulate and punish the medical professional by administrators is not new. Hammurabi 4000 years back had initiated to write the cruel rules of the game, which possibly initiated a change in the global perception and regulatory system and formed the basis for cruel regulation in radical and unprecedented ways.

In a quest to control this difficult area, which encompasses life and death, deals with extremes of poverty and riches, mortality and morbidity, pain and relief, sadness and happiness, smiles and sorrows and uncountable emotions, intertwines with financial aspects and the amalgamation of intricacies of science with legal complexity, doctors are burdened with over-regulation and administrative pressures.

Consequently the doctors are the sufferers, as they feel enslaved and suffocated. But ultimately who would be the sufferer, does not need an Einstein brain to guess.

14 doctors resigned, alleging harassment and misbehaviour by administrative officials.

More than a dozen doctors posted in rural hospitals in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh collectively resigned, alleging harassment and misbehaviour by administrative officials.

The doctors, numbering 14, posted at community health centres and primary health centres submitted their resignation letters to the chief medical officer (CMO) of the district on Wednesday. Speaking to the media, one them said that while their teams would work on the field from noon to 4-5 p.m., isolating COVID-19 positive cases in their home, distributing medicine and carrying out sampling, the local SDM would summon them after that seeking a report of their work. The doctors would have to drive back several km to the tehsil from their place of work just to “prove that they are working,” said the doctor. “Despite continuously working, it has been made to appear like we are not working and that due to this, the COVID-19 situation is going out of control,” he said. The doctors also alleged that they were not provided sufficient drug supply from the government and often faced verbal harassment at the hands of the CMO and the CMS. If the field teams were unable to trace down patients because of submission of wrong phone numbers and addresses, they should not be held responsible for it, said the doctors.

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May 13, 2021 0

Financial complexity of MIDDLE-MAN in Medical Industry # Insurance pays 45 -80 % of Covid bills

Medical care intertwined with health business, further braided with changes in medical law presents a more complex problem rather than just treating a patient well. In present era, many kinds of organizations have positioned themselves between doctor and the patient.

This era belongs to a transitional phase, when gradual conversion of doctor-patient interaction to a business transaction is being controlled by industry’s middlemen . One such middle industry is Insurance industry. The medical industry, insurance, law industry and administrative machinery remain hidden in the background and enormously benefitted at the cost of doctors and nurses, who suffered at the front, as face of the veiled colossal medical business and remain the only visible components. Insurance industry is in a position to extract business from doctor as well as patients. One such example is published in Times of India, where insurance company has paid bills between 45-80%. Each one of the medical industrial component trying to have their pound of flesh, will not only push the cost of health care upwards, but would leave both the main stakeholders, doctors and patients feel dissatisfied.

Policy holders get only 45 -80 % of Covid bills TIMES OF INDIA

As the number of people hospitalised due to Covid rise, many find that they have to settle a big chunk of the bill out of their own pockets despite having health insurance. Policyholders are again caught in the crossfire between hospitals and insurers over the treatment of consumables like personal protection equipment (PPE) kits resulting in only 45% to 80% of hospital bills being recoverable by customers. For 81-year-old diabetic and hip fracture patient K Saraswathi, who was treated for Covid-19 for eight days got only Rs 56,500 reimbursed of the total Rs 1.18 lakh bill from third-party administrator Raksha. Among other things that were disallowed included Rs 17,600 for PPE claims. While insurers cite General Insurance Council (GIC) norms their argument may not hold water as IRDA has not approved any norms. “How can a hospital treat a patient without PPEs?” asked an official at the Insurance Ombudsman office which is snowed under with complaints for short-settlement. “We used to get a few cases last year, now we have 88 pending cases, 70% to 80% of which are short settlements,” the official said.

For some insurers, the exclusions amount to a third of hospital bills. Liberty General officials said around 35% of the bill does not fall under the ambit of insurance coverage. Its VP and national claims manager for accident & health, Amol Sawai said, “On the industry level, the average Covid claim severity is Rs 1,40,000, the settlement severity is about Rs 95,000 of the claimed amount. We have seen almost 20% of the total bill is attributed to PPE costs.” India’s largest health insurer Star Health settles nearly 80% to 90% of claims under cashless settlement within two hours of receiving claims. S Prakash, MD of Star Health said, “One doctor who takes a round in the same PPE kit, cannot charge for each of ten patients he visits. The controversy is not in the reimbursement for PPEs, but in the number of PPEs covered. One cannot claim for ten PPEs per day. For ICUs, we allow a higher number of PPE kits compared to the ward,” he said.

According to the GIC officials, the referral rate for PPE kits is Rs 1,200 per day for moderate sickness and Rs 2,000 per day for severe sickness.

“We also see a spike in claims made for CT scans per person. We allow maximum two CT scans per patient,” he added. Officials at the GI Council blamed the hospitals for this situation. “Why are no directions given to hospitals on billing?” asks a council official. He points out an instance where a Tamil Nadu hospital charged Rs 14,000 for medicines, Rs 55,000 for diagnostics and Rs 50,000 for PPE besides room rent. When the insurer raised a red flag, the bill was halved to Rs 1.5 lakh.

“Is it okay for hospitals to loot with such high bills, whose money are we paying? It is the public’s money. If the premium doubles next year, will anyone even think of medical insurance. If we raise our hands and give up covering medical insurance, can anyone force us to provide a cover,” the official asked. The short settlement by insurance companies is resulting in a rise in complaints at the office of Insurance Ombudsman in Chennai.

“Insurers are citing some GI Council norms for claims settlement. Whatever they are saying does not hold water as IRDA has not approved any norms. How can a hospital treat a patient without PPEs?,” an official at the Insurance Ombudsman office said. Hospitals on their part blame the westernization of healthcare where insurance companies call the shots. “How can an insurance company decide on medication? A Dolo works for some while a Combiflam works for another, both these have a price differential. Now to say I will pay Dolo charges for a Combiflam or vice versa is plain stupidity. We need someone who looks at the bill and the patient and not one size fits all,” a MD and head of infectious diseases in a private hospital said. “The need is a regulator who understands medicine,” he said.

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May 5, 2021 1

New book: ‘The Real Issues’ through ‘fictional narratives’

expensive medical education, medical college seat, choosing medical carrier

“AT THE HORIZON OF LIFE AND DEATH”

Find it on Amazon :

Description

This book comprises of stories that capture the pivotal moments in the treatment trajectory of the critical patients facing death. The times that force the doctor to confront the saddest moments, while battling a terrifying, unbeatable foe, the death monster alongside families’ fears, gloom, indecisiveness, dilemmas about future and saviour’s own predicaments intertwined with medico-legal intricacies and consequent complex emotional interactions.

The situations depict ‘the real issues’ through ‘fictional narratives’.

The stories reflect life of a doctor in the present era, amidst sick patients in an imposed legal milieu, a mystic journey, an arcane odyssey punctuated with pain and pleasure in the narrow and uncertain lanes at the horizon of life and death, carrying the burden of various vicissitudes like consumerism, legalities, unpredictable course of diseases, mistrust and blame for poor outcomes.

The narratives try to unmask the eternal latent vulnerability that is intrinsic in doctor’s work, which is exploited by media, law industry and even celebrities to sensationalize and sell their news and shows. The vulnerability turns more evil as the delineating cleft that separates doctors from the invisible overpowering medical industry is not shown, thus ensuring to sustain the prejudice with its dangerous bias towards health care workers.

One negative news story through a ‘portrayal effect’ generates unbridgeable gap in doctor -patient relationship, painful burden of mistrust loaded on doctors, that would heal only if millions of unfettered, unprejudiced, unbiased facts are clearly projected.

The book tries to highlight a seemingly illogical and contrary nature of the conflict; the doctors are finding themselves increasingly being engaged into. The dense mazes of consumerism, extensive communication, documentation, unrealistic expectations, negative media insinuations, legal complexities are demoralizing to doctors and certainly counterproductive for patients.

The futile discords emanate frequently, that are mundane in reality when compared to the actual disease and the real point of intention which is ‘The Treatment of the Patient’.

But is this what the patients actually need? Does the entanglement of doctors in such a maze help the patients in real sense?

The author felt morally compelled and attempted to find answers, embedded in a journey that was wondrous and inspirational, but with horrifying moments as well.

Has the decision to treat human fragility become a mistake in present era? No reward, if you win the match of life and death but sword hanging; if one were to lose?

Patient will need to decide someday, whether to be a consumer or just remain a patient.

Being a consumer may be an overall loss-making deal for the patient.

Disclaimer

The stories are fictional, but the depiction of the problems to the doctors, nurses and patients are real, based on day to day routine incidents. The episodes do not pertain to any single particular person, patient, doctor, nurse, hospital and organization. All the characters, names and dialogues in the book are figment of imagination of the author and similarity to any person, any situation or organization may be co-incidental.

The stories are not against any law, word of courts, profession, any government or any organizational set up or rules of any country. They depict the problems commonly faced by doctors in performing their duties hence are likely to affect the patient directly.

April 28, 2021 0

REEL HEROES VS REAL HEROES in PANDEMIC

There has been frequent attempts by REEL HEROES and celebrities, to projected themselves as Messiah for the cause of patients. By self-appointing themselves as custodian of health of masses, ‘the Reel heroes’ and celebrities gave true meaning to their work of ‘ACTING’ that otherwise is no more than a trifling entertainment.

An anecdotal episode of adverse event or poor prognosis was enough to be used as an illustration to portray whole medical professionals as dystopian community but what remained invisible to all was the fact that every day in hospitals, thousands of lives are salvaged back from the brink of death.

But the actual bargain was an attempt to project Reel heroes as Real heroes and vice versa.

Media and many celebrities have used fear in public mind to garner accolades and money for themselves, but at the same time created paranoia in minds of people against medical profession. And when masses worshiped them as their true well-wishers, they aired advertisements to sell tobacco, soft drinks, junk foods and other sweet poisons to public and children.

There is an eternal, latent vulnerability that intrinsic in the way doctors’ work and has potential to make them sitting ducks for harassment and punishments. It was easy to discern that vulnerability was being exploited and turned more evil, when braided with such insinuations by media and celebrities.

The negative projection to create a generalization in minds of people had been demotivating and demeaning to the entire health care workers. The selective projection had left behind a trail of hopelessness in the mind of people, shattering their trust and instigating against medical profession.

But the problem starts, when these false perceptions created merely by a projected glimmer takes the shimmer away from the real worthy. The real professionals and people who are worthy of glory become invisible behind the glittery mist, a haze, which is unreal and unhelpful in real life.

In present era, real contributions by people, who are saviours of human life and the real heroes, remain unappreciated. People are so besotted by their fame and money that they fail to appreciate the sacrifices made by real heroes. Filmy super hero just imitates a doctor, soldier, dacoit or a street hooligan and just pretends to be one on the screen.

But there are real life heroes that exist around us. Doctors awake at night saving lives every minute or soldier in freezing cold are worthy of more respect and are real heroes. And it is up to the society to look beyond the superficial and reel story, and focus on the real life actors. There has to be an true effort to make, respect and appreciate real heroes.

Even a junior doctor saves many lives in a day in emergencies as compared to the work of a superstar in films. A teacher, nurse or scientist have a contribution which is more fruitful to our generation. A society truly needs the real people, who work and act for them, more than just entertainment. It will need a total change in the attitude of people to deconstruct their perceptions, which are based on mere projections and are away from reality.

21 occupational risk to doctor and nurses

The naivety of masses to perceive the projected character as real one goes beyond a reasonable thought process and imagination.

At the best, a particular projected character (and not individual acting star) may be a role model. An actor or superstar, is simply doing his work of “acting” in the end. This work of acting may bring an entertainment of few hours at the most.

Point to ponder is that whether society needs people just acting like doctors, soldiers and not the actual and real ones, who saves lives.

Society needs to envisage the bigger real picture, and should not be mistaken for another projected story.

The perception of the projection will decide, what does the society actually need- or desire-or deserve , “Reel Heroes or Real Heroes”.

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April 27, 2021 2

Ayurvedic Surgery: who should be concerned?

A strange situation has cropped up after the claim of Ayurvedic doctors doing surgeries has got the CCIM approval. Serious doubts has been raised by Allopathic medical organizations about the consequent safety issues.

There would always be claims or counter claims about who should be allowed to do surgeries. But there has to be a neutral and competent authority to decide, rather than claiming the competence. After all it is question about safety issues of millions of people.

Who should really decide about it?

NABH has raised concerns about the issue.

Although it has limitations and can be applicable only to a fraction of hospitals, but still a larger network of hospitals or clinics are not covered by NABH.

In such situation, who should be worried about the safety? Strangely the stakeholders, who would be affected most are silent on the issue: the patients.

If patients have nothing to protest and they feel safe or do not anticipate any danger, why allopathic doctors should make a noise about it? They would be seen as a Jealous cat.

Use Ayush docs for clinical work and you could lose ACCREDITATION: NABH TO HOSPITALS

The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare providers (NABH) has warned allopathic hospitals accredited with it that they could face withdrawal of accreditation if they were found employing Ayush doctors for performing clinical duties in ICUs and other patient care areas in place of MBBS resident medical officers (RMOs) and emergency doctors. A “cautionary notice” the board issued on Thursday said, “This is a blatant violation of NABH standards for healthcare accreditation and very much against patient safety norms and compromise quality of modern medicine clinical care outcomes.” TOI had, in October, reported on the use of Ayush doctors in ICUs for night duty being a fairly common practice in many private hospitals, particularly in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Thursday’s notice stated that the NABH has taken a serious note of the matter and reiterated that deploying of Ayush doctors in allopathic hospitals for writing independent orders and clinical work without the supervision of allopathic doctors is not permitted. In case the allopathic hospitals are employing such doctors to work as clinical assistants, under applicable state laws, they should not be involved in direct patient care and should strictly follow job responsibilities as defined by hospital management, it added. Ayush doctors working in allopathic hospitals will not be considered by the NABH as RMOs during the process of assessment and for the purpose of grant of accreditation, stated the notice, adding that any violation may invite adverse decision by NABH, including withdrawal of accreditation. However, even as the NABH has been carrying out surprise inspections in hospitals in this matter, it is yet to have a definite list of states that allow Ayush doctors to be employed in allopathic hospitals to either prescribe a pre-defined set of allopathic medicines or to do clinical procedures after completing a bridge course. NABH officials clarified that the board’s legal team was in the process of determining the status of the law in different states.

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December 20, 2020 0

Challenges of Covid Vaccination-2021

If 2020 was consumed by Covid Virus , the next year 2021 will be for Covid vaccination.

All over the world, billions of people are going to get vaccine.

Corona vaccination is one of the most anticipated events in every country. in coming weeks, multiple vaccines are likely to get regulatory approval.

However, while making a good vaccine was the difficult part, earning trust of public in vaccine is going to be another one. Especially the hurried development at Pandemic speed and lack of awareness about safety issues will be areas of concern.

The adverse events, which are unexpected medial problems that occur with drug treatments, are unavoidable part of any treatment, including vaccine science.

The system need to be in place to identify the causal relationship between vaccine agent and the adverse event. The objective criteria have to be in place to identify and treat, as the population to be vaccinated is also very large.

The main hurdles equally challenging will be sourcing, distributing and giving the actual vaccination doses.

The preparation for mammoth exercise will also be a herculean task. It may take months to get ready to supply and build the chains and preparation for this need to begin now.

A systematic approach needs to be ready, so that the process of vaccination gets on smoothly and quickly, as soon as the doses are available. For example, the need for transport vehicles and the storage facilities for billions of doses at distant places will be one of challenges.

It will take mammoth number of healthcare workers, who will vaccinate people at different towns and cities.

This exercise, if not done in a well-planned manner, could result in chaos. The failure to set up a system will not only result in suboptimal vaccination but also non uniform supplies. Maintaining the cold chain will be crucial for effectiveness.

People should get it based on needs rather than black marketing or money power. The issues which look insignificant like the financial complexity among various stake holders or customer clearances need to be settled first, as they may become significant hurdles for smooth distribution.

Most important would be to safeguard citizen’s faith in vaccine and clinical trials. As for the future science to develop, would require people’s co-operation, faith and participation.

Government regulators and Vaccine makers need to recognize the utmost importance of the communication about the true results of trials and effective communication with the public. The misinformation and distrust should not undermine the good work of medical science and advancements.

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December 13, 2020

Authorities mum on Adverse Event at Covid Vaccine Trial

Safety data of Covid Vaccine- need disclosure

There are two important aspect of a successful vaccine,

1. Efficacy for the prevention

2. Safety

Given that the Covid vaccine is needed urgently and will be developed within a years’ time, some doubts about the safety aspect are natural. But safety can be assured, if the data about side effects is made public.

All the companies in a bid to rush their vaccine into the market, are eager to create an hype. But a caution need to be exercised against such hyping, especially when long term safety data is not available.

Even the sparse details of the severe side effect, that leak into the public domain, may be just tip of the iceberg, as far as long term safety data of a vaccine is concerned.

All the side effects, mild or severe, need to be made known and in public domain, rather than exposed later after the use.

More than a month and a half after an adverse event occurred in a clinical trial in India of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the regulator for vaccine trials, has not issued any statement on the occurrence. It also did not respond to queries about whether it has completed its investigation to determine if the trial participant’s illness was related to the vaccine. Serum Institute, which is partnering the pharma MNC and Oxford University for producing the vaccine in India, has also refused to comment. This is in sharp contrast to AstraZeneca and Oxford University going public when one of the trial participants in the vaccine trial in the UK fell ill and halting the trial till an independent safety monitoring board and UK’s regulatory authority gave safety clearance. Information about the occurrence of the serious adverse event (SAE) during the vaccine trial in India came from the family of the trial participant, which has sent the company and the regulators a legal notice. Serum Institute merely stated that it would issue an official statement next week. AstraZeneca had issued a statement within days of the trial participant in UK falling ill and halted the trials across the world in the UK, Brazil and South Africa. The trial was resumed within a week after the independent safety review committee and national regulators gave clearance. The Indian Council of Medical Research is a co-sponsor of the trial along with Serum Institute.

According to the ICMR, it is for the DCGI to take a call on whether or not to halt the trial. The DCGI heads the CDSCO.

The 40-year-old trial participant, a business consultant with an MBA from New Zealand who says he took part in the trial deeming it his duty to help such an important venture, was administered the vaccine at SRMC on October 1. Eleven days later, he woke up with a severe headache, and progressively lost his memory, showed behaviour changes, became disoriented and was unable to talk or recognise his family members, according to the legal notice. As soon as he fell ill he was admitted to the ICU in SRMC.

“Though the legal notice we have served talks of a compensation of Rs 5 crore, our focus is not on monetary compensation. It was sent just last week, more than a month after the occurrence when we saw that none of the authorities was making the adverse event public. They ought to have warned other participants so that they could watch out for similar symptoms. We want to know why the occurrence of the adverse event has been kept under wraps and why the trial was not halted like it was done in the UK. Is an Indian life of less value than that of an UK citizen?” asked a close family friend who has been helping the family cope with the illness.

WHO says more data needed on AstraZeneca dose

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November 29, 2020

Ayurvedic Surgery: 10 Technical Questions? About safety concerns

If there are certain doubts about the safety of the patient, the apprehension needs to be addressed.

The government has issued a notification which authorises post-graduate practitioners in specified streams of Ayurveda to be trained to perform surgical procedures such as excisions of benign tumours, amputation of gangrene, nasal and cataract surgeries.

The notification by the Central Council of Indian Medicine, a statutory body under the AYUSH Ministry to regulate the Indian systems of medicine, listed 39 general surgery procedures and around 19 procedures involving the eye, ear, nose and throat by amending the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations, 2016.

Any Surgery, how-so-ever simple it may look to the people sitting on fence, carries some risk and needs some kind of precautions and regulations to make it risk free. Therefore if there are certain doubts about the safety of the patient, the apprehension needs to be addressed. If the service of surgery by Ayurveda surgeon has to be availed by public, a certain confidence needs to be generated about the safety and quality assurance. Mere push by an enforced law will not lead to genesis of trust and confidence. So there needs to be technical analysis of some kind, whether it is a genuine original strategy or merely an imposed law.

If it was an accepted practice till now, there was no need for such notification. So apparently, if the need was felt to be said in a forceful manner, there has to be something unusual about the practice.

No doubt, ancient Ayurvedic text referred to surgical practices. But in present era of consumerism, patients need to know, how it was being practiced for last 200 to 300 years. What are the results and data about complications.

There are two main categories for the purpose of discussion.

A. Existence of a robust system

B. Individual competencies.

Firstly, there should be basic robust system that will generate Ayurvedic surgeons.

To start with, the CCIM need to satisfy on following questions. Following are the basic requirements of surgery.

1. What kind of Anaesthesia will be used in surgeries by Ayurveda surgeons? Who will be the anaesthesiologist?

2. What are post op pain killers be used in surgeries by Ayurveda surgeons?

3. What antibiotics will be used;. Allopathic or ayurvedic?

4. What are principles of pre-op evaluation?

5. How surgical techniques are different. Are they same used in allopathic surgery or different ones described in Ayurveda?

6. How the post op complications are being managed. Is it by using allopathic medications and investigations?

7. Data of surgeries done in last decade or two in all of Ayurvedic medical colleges, especially those done by Ayurvedic surgeons.

8. Who is teaching Ayurveda doctors about the surgeries? Are there ayurvedic teachers or being taught by allopathic surgeons?

9. Will the people in higher positions and government officials be availing such facilities or it is only for the poor people?

10. Will the patients be given enough information or an informed consent about such Ayurvedic surgeons before surgery?

More than a law, the whole exercise will require a trust building in public along with quality assurance and something unique to make such surgeries practically happen.

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November 25, 2020

Neanderthal gene makes Covid more severe

What is Neanderthal gene

Neanderthal-inherited genetic material is found in all non-African populations and was initially reported to comprise 1 to 4 percent of the genome. This fraction was later refined to 1.5 to 2.1 percent. It is estimated that 20 percent of Neanderthal DNA currently survives in modern humans.

Relation to severity of Covid

Response to Covid infection varies from person to person. Some have severe covid infection, need ventilator and some remain unaffected. There is interest in the individual factors which influence the outcome of Covid infection. One such factor is the genetic predisposition.

Covid-19 patients with a snippet of Neanderthal DNA that crossed into the human genome some 60,000 years ago run a higher risk of severe complications from the disease, researchers have reported.

People infected with the new coronavirus, for example, who carry the genetic coding bequeathed by our early human cousins are three times more likely to need mechanical ventilation, according to a study published Wednesday in Nature.

There are many reasons why some people with Covid-19 wind up in intensive care and others have only light symptoms, or none at all.

Advanced age, being a man, and pre-existing medical problems can all increase the odds of a serious outcome.

But genetic factors can also play a role, as the new findings makes clear.

“It is striking that the genetic heritage from Neanderthals has such tragic consequences during the current pandemic,” said co-author Svante Paabo, director of the department of genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Recent research by the Covid-19 Host Genetics Initiative revealed that a genetic variant in a particular region of chromosome 3 — one of 23 chromosomes in the human genome — is associated with more severe forms of the disease.

That same region was known to harbour genetic code of Neanderthal origins, so Paabo and co-author Hugo Zeberg, also from Max Planck, decided to look for a link with Covid-19.

Unevenly distributed

They found that a Neanderthal individual from southern Europe carried an almost identical genetic segment, which spans some 50,000 so-called base pairs, the primary building blocks of DNA.

Tellingly, two Neanderthals found in southern Siberia, along with a specimen from another early human species that also wandered Eurasia, the Denisovans, did not carry the telltale snippet.

Modern humans and Neanderthals could have inherited the gene fragment from a common ancestor some half-million years ago, but it is far more likely to have entered the homo sapiens gene pool through more recent interbreeding, the researchers concluded.

The potentially dangerous string of Neanderthal DNA is not evenly distributed today across the globe, the study showed.

Some 16 percent of Europeans carry it, and about half the population across South Asia, with the highest proportion — 63 percent — found in Bangladesh.

This could help explain why individuals of Bangladeshi descent living in Britain are twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as the general population, the authors speculate.

Indian express-Article

In East Asia and Africa the gene variant is virtually absent.

About two percent of DNA in non-Africans across the globe originate with Neanderthals, earlier studies have shown.

Denisovan remnants are also widespread but more sporadic, comprising less than one percent of the DNA among Asians and Native Americans, and about five percent of aboriginal Australians and the people of Papua New Guinea.

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