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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Going back to the dark ages ...Denying science the new trend

                                                      Is cigarette smoking especially heavy smoking  a great way to lead a long healthy life ?  Is eating fatty foods everyday in enormous quantities guaranteed to give a great healthy heart that works till 100  ?   Please answer these questions before  you proceed ...

Now another question .. Do all smokers die young  in their  prime when  they have  a family and kids in college  often of cancer or heart attack ? Do all gluttons  die  early  say in their  40 s or 50 s of heart disease  ....

Any educated person  irrespective of whether they are a lawyer ,engineer or an accountant  know that heavy smoking  and gluttonous eating " increase  "  your chance of an early grave  .  But  its equally  known that all smokers dont  die  young  .  Just like most rash drivers die not  from motor vehicle accident  many  factors  also  play  in who will die of smoking  and gluttonous eating  . So  should we recommend "eat and be merry ", "smoke and be merry"  .

    From the  days  of  bubonic plague when  millions died  a  horrible death due  to lack of knowledge and no good treatment ,    science has progressed  to such an extent  that we know much about many diseases curing  many ,preventing many  . Polio, small pox , some cancers  ,  list goes on , But still there are many  more discoveries  to be made,   as compared to a  car ,  human body  is  not designed  nor  the design print given to humans .  Over many centuries many scientists have  used the scientific method including statistics to  study diseases , their causes and their cures .  Just because we do not  know hundred percent of some diseases doesnt make the 60 percent we know  useless .  Thats neither  logical  or rather  is a  disrespect to  scientists who toiled hard like Madam Curie who dicovered Radium and died in the process   . 

If  one of your relatives  these days says he is going to give  massage therapy  for acute appendicitis  you will in all probability shout at  him  .  Why  then is  it  that  we  smile and encourage  seemingly "educated "  people  who  tell  other people eat what they want  the body  will take care ? Is it because we want  to eat  gluttonously and dont be guilty about  it  ?     It  is true that human body is remarkable and in rare cases even certain cancers can disappear  by itself  .And some people who eat gluttonously  live till 100 .   But  does  that  mean  that  cancer shouldnt be treated  ?  My  point is thanks to the internet and google.com  people have now the opportunity  to  learn about  science of the human body  and its treatments  .  If  you  google  you will  see  that  many  research focussed  on rats which were overfed with fatty foods who died early and research  to prolong life  focus on low calorie diet  .  Coming back to the cigarette smoking  with 4000  or more chemicals many of which are known cancer producers  and many studies showing it increases  risk of cancer by  upto 10 times  and heart  disease  significantly  .  Though all cigarette smokers dont  die early  at least  my maternal uncle  though survived  even a brain surgery  and eating  a  low calorie diet  died one early morning  suddenly  of heart attack  . He was  52   .   He used to  smoke a cigarette every 10 minutes from the day  i knew him  . 

. I  never  try  to  teach  an engineer    the  microchip  to be replaced  or the wire  to  be  connected  . I am  not an expert at  that  .  I never  teach a lawyer whether section 302 or 420 should be applied in case of murder . While i am an expert in the clinical  science with some idea of its application in engineering  .  Isnt  it  then justifiable to blog about  it  when some "educated " people make random comments about  a science  which  they know little about  nor  are they keen in learning  . 
Or  is  it that im hypersensitive about  "freedom of expression  in any matter "  which  is  the  boon (or bane )  of our  democratic country  ... 

P. S  :  I sincerely  hope  that people do some research  at least  on the books or internet  (good quality  medical sites  )  before  giving  health advice to people including  recommended eating etc  .  Maybe  we can prevent some premature deaths due to wrong but  " pleasing  advice " .especially  since  obesity is becoming a major health problem these days  ...Please comment  .

3 comments:

  1. My friend in gulf just got an angioplasty for heart attack yesterday evening ... he was only 37 . Let us exercise , eat but healthily and pray for the good odds (genetics ) . And stop smiling when ignorant advice is given ...

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  2. interesting... did something happen to bring about this blog?

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  3. of course ... all blogs are in reaction to my observations :) let people read about medical science and then comment especially "educated" kerala people. I am soon writing a blog on "educated " kerala where they pass comments or protest without at least going through basic facts ...

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