Author: noorali

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Interesting Medical Stories

Medical science has many interesting stories. To day, let me share with you three stories which were published recently.

Which twin is the father?

Answer to this question is expected to come from Mr. Justice Paul Jolin of the Quebec superior court. It involves a Montreal man claiming paternity of his former girlfriend’s five-year-old child.

The woman has acknowledged that she had an affair with the man. But she was also having sex with his twin brother at the time of conception – a tripartite relationship!

So, who is the father? Can DNA answer the question?

Identical twins have similar DNA. That means it may be impossible to determine who the father is. The judge has ordered the man seeking paternity to undergo DNA test to see if his claim has some relevance. If there is some relevance then the brothers may have to undergo DNA testing to see if they are identical twins.

The court does not cover the cost of DNA testing. And it looks like there is no legal precedent for this unusual court case. A Montreal lab charges $645 for legal paternity testing. It also charges $195 to establish if siblings are identical or fraternal twins, says a report in the Globe and Mail.

Well, King Solomon, where are you?

India finds creative uses of condoms.

A report in the Medical Post says that condoms earmarked for an AIDS prevention program in India are being snapped up by businesses to build roads, waterproof roofs and to polish gold-embroidered garments.

India’s auditor general says that only one-quarter of the condoms in India are being used for birth control and protection against sexual diseases. India manufactures 1.5 billion condoms annually.

The report says that contractors add condoms to concrete and tar to make roads. The latex in the condoms helps make the roads smooth and resistant to cracks.

Roofers spread an underlayer of condoms that melt and form a seal. India’s military has covered gun and tank barrels with condoms as protection against dust.

Weavers use lubricated condoms to maintain their looms and to polish the gold in sari material. People in rural areas also use them as portable water containers while in the field.

History of condoms is interesting. An internet site says that early condoms were made of linen or pig or sheep’s gut, tied at the end with ribbon. After sex, they were rinsed out and reused!

In England, condoms are known as ‘French Letters’. In Italy, they used to be called ‘English Overcoats’

Well, now you know, there is more to condoms than sex!

Thought for the week:

Raquel Welch, the sexy 62-year-old actress says her secret of youthful beauty is -exercise, diet and attitude. She says, “If you are feeling great, you look better.” Well then let us all keep smiling!

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

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Trans-fats

Dear Dr. B: What are trans-fats? Why all the fuss about them?

Before we discuss trans-fats we need to understand something about fat and fatty acids.

Fat is an important component of our diet. It is made up of two main groups of fatty acids – saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids are further subdivided into mono and poly-unsaturated fatty acids.

Experts say that our diet should contain less than 30 percent of fat. But who on earth would be able to calculate what percentage of fat he or she eats in a day? I have never been able to figure out how much fat is in my diet.

What I try to remember is that anything I eat that is oily, greasy or fatty immediately gets converted into fat and goes to my storage areas in my waist and butts. Eating fat hardens my arteries and raises my cholesterol level. And eating fat makes me fat. So, no surprises there!

Some fatty acids are good for us. But we should know which ones to eat so we can make the right choice. We should avoid foods containing saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids. They are not good for our arteries and heart. We should eat food containing unsaturated fatty acids (both mono and poly) and Omega-3 fatty acids.

Red meat, poultry, most dairy products (butter, cream, cheese, and full-fat milk), coconut oil, palm and palm kernel oil contains saturated fatty acids. But some of the stuff listed here tastes so good that it is hard to not to eat this! But we have to be careful. We should minimize saturated fat in our diet.

The dreaded trans-fats are artificially produced. They have the properties of saturated fats. They are also known as hydrogenated fats. Hydrogenation is a process where by liquid oils are made more solid i.e. unsaturated fat is processed to become more saturated which helps to increase the shelf life of processed foods.

Trans-fats are found in bakery products (crackers, cookies, and cakes), fried foods (chips, french fries), other commercial snack foods, and margarine made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or shortening.

Now, who can resist the temptation of freshly baked cookies and cakes? I guess we have to if we want to stay healthy. Trans-fat is very popular with food manufacturers. They increase the shelf life of their products, and often improves the texture of the food as well. That improves sales and profit margin!

When it comes to trans-fats and saturated fatty acids, the best thing is to eat leaner meats and low-fat dairy products. And avoid commercial foods that contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or shortening. Read the labels when you buy cookies, crackers, microwaved popcorn, vegetable shortening and some margarine.

Unsaturated fatty acids help reduce blood cholesterol and Omega-3 reduces the risk of heart disease. Olive, canola and peanut oils, sesame, soy, corn, sunflower oils, non-hydrogenated margarines and nuts and seeds are good. And eat lots of fish – two to three times a week for Omega-3 fatty acids.

Well, I am getting hungry. I wonder if my favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookie from Tim Horton’s has trans-fats. Well, do I really want to know?

Thought for the week:

“There is one way to be born, but a million and one ways to die.”

-Newsweek.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

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Walking and My Grandma

Walking is a wonderful exercise. My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. Now she is 97 years old and we don’t know where the hell she is!

Okay, don’t worry, that is not true. We know where she is. She is somewhere in heaven. Probably looking down and smiling at me and at my silly little joke. And the joke is from one of many e-mails I receive where some jokes are really funny and some are really stupid – I guess stupidity is meant to be funny.

Come to think of it, my grandma did like walking. Quite often there was no choice. We lived in small towns of Musoma and Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. And the best mode of transportation was our legs or bikes. We did not own a car. We walked or biked everywhere.

As a young boy, I remember holding my grandma’s hand helping her walk through the dark alleys and the roads of those small towns. There was no electricity. We used flash light or kerosene lanterns.

Every evening, my grandma would go to a prayer hall to pray and meditate. In fact, we would all go as a family – every single day! And one of us was put in charge of her safety. Those were the days of big extended families where we all looked after each other. There was nothing like nursing homes, group homes or assisted living. We took care of our own.

My grandma was in her 90s when she died. She had a severe case of asthma but she died of old age.

Medicine Hat reminds me of Musoma and Mwanza except it is bigger. But it is small enough to have everything within walking distance. But how many of us walk to work or go shopping?

Of course there are exceptions. Everybody is not lazy like me. There are lots of people who walk or bike to work and go grocery shopping. And there are many people for whom using a vehicle is important – for health and safety reasons.

Walking is not always easy. Changing weather and flu season is a hindrance to establish consistent walking habit. We are so seasonal in everything we do in a year that our brains are frozen in that mentality. And icy roads and side walks are dangerous.

But we do have many good days in Medicine Hat. The majority of the people (including me!) should be able to walk to most of the places. But the problem is we are always in a hurry to get to our destination and then rush back home. We never seem to stop and ask – why am I rushing? Why cannot I take my time and enjoy the walk?

You can walk leisurely 30 minutes a day for general health benefits. You can walk briskly to improve cardiovascular fitness by walking 30 minutes a day five days a week. If you are trying to lose weight then you need to walk briskly for 45 to 60 minutes a day five days a week. And make your dinner slimmer!

So, be like my grandma……… walk, walk, walk and be healthy and happy – you may even go to heaven!

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Thought for the week:

“The longer the explanation, the shorter the attention span.”

– From Images and Reflections by Dennis van Westerborg, a local artist and writer.

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!

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The Act of Kindess

So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855-1919


The door bell rings. Its Saturday 8 a.m. It’s a Thanksgiving weekend. A gentleman stands at the door and hands over an item which we had lost recently. He finds it and wants to make sure we get it before the holiday weekend.

This gentleman, we shall call him Sean, was leaving town for the long weekend. But his thoughts and concerns were with our family. He wanted the item delivered to our house personally. We were very impressed and touched by Sean’s total selfless gesture.

Today, we want to express our gratitude to Sean for his kindness, thoughtfulness, and his generosity in stopping by at our house. He made our Thanksgiving weekend very special – it had a real meaning to it. I am sure Sean felt the same way.

This act of kindness also brought in me a sense of guilt and made me examine my own acts gone by. Have I been kind enough to make a difference in somebody’s life? Is there somebody out there who feels I have been unfair or unkind? In my own heart, is there a gap between perception and reality on what kindness means?

Nobody is perfect. So I must be guilty of some unkindness. We all have our share of mistakes, misjudgments and acts of stupidity. But in the end the question is – do we really care about others to make a difference in their lives?

Sir Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) said, “Men are cruel, but man is kind.” We just have to look at the world around us. On one hand there is death and destruction and on the other hand there is kindness and generosity. It is hard to believe men can be so cruel and still be so kind.

As a physician, the obligation of being kind is even more important. Canadian Medical Association’s Code of Ethics says that physician’s ethic of service is characterized by the values of:

-compassion,
-beneficence (quality of being kind, charitable, or beneficial),
-nonmaleficence (do no harm),
-respect for persons and
-justice.

Each day and during a physician’s lifetime of practice, he will see many patients and do numerous tests and procedures. By the law of averages, somebody is going to have complications and somebody is going to by unhappy. Somebody is going to feel that a physician is uncaring and unkind. It is impossible to satisfy everybody.

Does that mean we give up on being kind? No. An act of kindness does not always end in a win-win situation. But majority of the time it should and it does. Sean’s act of kindness is one example. And that is very encouraging. Just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs!

Thank you, Sean! Keep up the good work.

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Thought for the week:

“An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband.” – Booth Tarkington (1869-1964).

Start reading the preview of my book A Doctor's Journey for free on Amazon. Available on Kindle for $2.99!