Achievement of Modern Medicine-Part I

May 20, 2009

We often experience a paradox relating to the extraordinary achievements of modern medicine. While it has equipped us with an immense efficiency to cope with physical pain and suffering, it also devalues our humanness, and generates utter helplessness, the pathos of being objectified. Big hospitals with their characteristic anonymity, and doctors with their super specialization and absolutely incomprehensible medical vocabulary, often make us feel that we are at the receiving end; we seem to have lost control over their own bodies. It is in this context that I wish to share an experience with everyone reading this post. A close friend of mine has fallen terribly ill, and we took him to a renowned surgeon in the city: Here is a super-specialist surgeon who has been awarded by the state and is known for his remarkable skill in the operation theater. But when we finally met him, there is absolute powerlessness. The surgeon did not look straight at the patient. He did not investigate him, nor did he enquire about her symptoms. He just saw the medical report which he had brought from Bihar, and instructed her with a carefully planned economy of words, “Get yourself admitted and the surgery will be done”. There was no communication, no sharing, no human engagement with the patient. I know that an experience of this kind cannot be generalized. See more about this in the next post

EFFECTS OF USING STEROIDS

May 15, 2009

We saw about the doping tests, how it was implemented in the previous post. Many Olympic medalists lose their medals, and of course, their recognition due to the usage of these banned steroids. In the 1990s, as improved doping tests made it harder to get away with such cheating, the results achieved by top-level athletes in some sports showed a notable decline. So far, it is unclear how long athletes have been taking THG (tetrahydrogestrinogine), or how widespread its abuse. The scandal regarding those athletes who used THG prompted USATF to announce a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on doping. It included plans to impose lifetime bans on athletes who had been caught using illegal substances. The side-effects of steroids range from liver and kidney cancer to infertility, baldness and even transmission of HIV (if the syringes used to inject the drug are shared). But there seems no limit to the lengths that some athletes are driven by their will to win. Even they tried “blood boosting” –re-infusing themselves with their own blood to boost the level of oxygen, a practice banned by the International Olympic Committee in 1986. Though a test for THG has been developed, there are worries that some athletes are taking human growth hormone. The race to keep up with the drug cheats looks like going on forever.

STEROIDS USED IN ATHLETICS

May 7, 2009

Athletes have been forbidden from using artificial stimulants since the 1920’s. Since 1970, they have had to give urine samples to show that they are not pumping up their muscles by injecting anabolic steroids – a class of synthetic drugs that promote tissue growth. But it appeared that runners and jumpers in several countries have been using a hitherto unknown steroid, tetrahydrogestrinogine (THG), which is believed to have been designed specifically to evade the doping tests conducted by the sporting authorities. America’s governing body for athletics, the USA Track and Field (USATF) confirmed reports that a few American athletes had tested positive for the drug. They also found that an increasing number of athletes have been found using these drugs. THG was unknown until a sports coach anonymously sent a syringe full of the substance to a testing laboratory. A new test to detect the presence of the substance in the body fluids was hurriedly developed. Then the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is setup after a drugs scandal at the 1998 Tour de France. It said that it had sent details of how to test for THG to all accredited dope-testing laboratories throughout the world. It is where the anti-doping laws gained wide importance to all the nations. See more about this in the next post.