There was a lot of media hype about 07-07-07- One of my friends started addressing me as James Bond 007- just because I was going to be part of history on 07-07-07. I decided to find out what the day will have in store for me pro-actively. I surfed the web on 6th night & decided to ask a Tarot Reader about what does she see for me on 07-07-07? She promptly sent me my own Sara Freder's clairvoyance horoscope for my birthday-
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU" It's useless to hide it to you longer Gautam, This new year which started for you will be for you an exceptionnal year of luck in everything, a year of happiness, love and money, a year where all your most crazy dreams could now really happen. I even see for you next month a very important gain of money of several thousand dollars, and I also see coming the happiness that you thought was lost. Thinking about your particular case Gautam, I'm telling in myself that the life has really been too unfair with you until now and I'm also telling in myself that it might be the time to change all of this especially because it is an important transitional period of your life.
So that's for you the beginning of a new cycle and the coming of new chances in your life
I have the intimate certainty.
It's really the first time of my life that I see that in a so clear and so precise way.
According to this clairvoyance you should have luck in everything, and more especially in the most important domain for you as: family, relations, love, money."
She wanted 15 dollars to tell me more, but I decided naa... let me first check out the first day 07-07-07 and see what changes today for me.
Long ago, before early people had a way of marking time, little attention was paid to a person's birthday. Even though everyone knew that people grew older, they had no way of correctly keeping track of time. It wasn't until the early people learned more about how time passed that they kept note about time changes and developed a calendar and began to celebrate special events such as birthdays. When birthdays were first starting to be celebrated, they were only held in honor of prominent men in a country. Unlike times of today, "common" people (like me for example) rarely celebrated their birthdays during the early days. Today, young and old alike all around the world celebrate birthdays. Many countries have different customs from ours for celebrating birthdays but at the same time there are a lot that celebrate their birthdays in quite similar ways as we do. Some of the countries that are very similar to India include Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Srilanka, and Laos and here there is usually a small “puja” or visit to the temple and/or distribution of food at monasteries or orphanages.
Aside from the different customs around the world, the reasons why we celebrate birthdays and the different symbols we use are very much the same to everyone. The reason why we have birthday parties goes back to when people believed that good and evil spirits appeared when a child was born and influenced that child for life. These people also believed that it was dangerous for a person to have a change in his or her life. This led people to believe that birthdays were filled with danger since each year marked a change in a person's life. These beliefs brought about the custom of having birthday parties. They believed that surrounding the birthday person with friends, family and good wishes would scare the evil spirits away. It was an especially good influence if the well-wishers presented gifts along with their wishes. There would also be greater protection from the evil spirits if the gifts and wishes were presented early in the day. Credit is given to the Germans
for starting celebrations of children's birthdays (kinderfeste). The custom of putting candles on birthday cake started in Germany about 200 years ago. Germans were known to be excellent candle makers. One day they began to make little tiny candles and started the tradition of putting the candles on the cake. It was also decided by these candle makers that it meant good luck if you could blow out all the candles on your cake in one blow.
About 100 years ago, Mildred Hill and Patty Hill of America wrote the song, "Happy Birthday to You". This song was a huge hit all over the world. It is used in many different countries with a few modifications.
Have you every received a card for your birthday? The custom of making birthday cards started in England about 100 years ago. Now people everywhere make birthday cards and send them to friends and family to wish them a happy birthday.
For one who has admittedly never been good at math, I continue to be fascinated with the connotation of numbers and the significance they have in the world around us. Aside from numbers being the very foundation of science, all of us non-rocket scientists use numbers on a daily basis to comprehend the time, the date, the calories we consume, the paycheck we depend on, the votes we need, the spam mail we get, the number of children suffering from malnutrition or obesity, etc. Without numbers our world as we know it would be reduced to nothingness.
This constant preoccupation with numbers has led me to believe that no other number seems to have a stronger presence in our lives than the number seven and not just because I was born on the 7th of July. Those superstitious types who freaked out last year when the calendar read 06/06/06 will have something to smile about on the 7th day of the 7th month, 2007. Believing the triple appearance of the number 7 will bring luck, many people are planning important events for this first Saturday in July. Brides and grooms, especially, looking for a little extra dose of marital fortune, are flocking to the altar in droves on 07/07/07, according to wedding watchers.
The number seven is considered lucky due to its frequent and favorable appearance in the Bible, say historians.
"As the number of the days of God's first week, of the levels of heaven...of the numbers of angels and trumpets, etc., the number came in the last few centuries BC to represent divine perfection," said David Frankfurter, professor of religious studies and history at the University of New Hampshire. "Something organized seven-fold meant that it corresponded to God's own arrangement."
Lucky numbers also vary from culture to culture, proving, skeptics say, that coincidental connections between an event and the influence of a number can always be found if you're looking hard enough, no matter what the digit. Chinese culture, for example, associates "degrees" of luck according to how a number is pronounced. Eight, whose Chinese name rhymes with the words for prosperity and wealth, is considered particularly auspicious. The Beijing Olympics, as a result, will open next year at 8 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2008.
Oh, and many Chinese consider 7 a very unlucky number associated with death. Don’t tell the brides.
The Sanskrit word 'sapta' refers to number seven. The Indian Music has 'sapta swaras', means seven octats (sa re ga ma pa dha ni), which are basics of music, using which hundreds of Ragas are composed. The Month 'September' is evolved from the word 'septa' meaning seven. September was earlier seventh month before July and August were added to the calendar. Also the subsequent months names are derived from Sanskrit names 'Ashta' and 'Nava' meaning eight and nine which are now called October and November. Celestial group of seven stars are named as 'Sapta Rishi' based on the seven great saints.
Almost all occurrences of the number seven represent perfection and completeness. It is the most dominant number in religion, literature, music, nature and one of the most unusual numbers in math. The list is endless, but here are the most familiar and most important examples. In nature, the most significant presence of seven is in the colors of the rainbow or the refraction of a beam of white light through a prism which generates a spectrum of seven colors. Although it can be argued that these colors are actually thousands of different shades gradually merging into one another, our eyes naturally sort them into these seven groups:
-- Red
-- Orange
-- Yellow
-- Green
-- Blue
-- Indigo
-- Violet
The seven day week is used internationally, and it is said that each day is named after the seven visible planets and luminaries and moving objects in the sky:
-- Monday (Moon)
-- Tuesday (Mercury)
-- Wednesday (Venus)
-- Thursday (Mars)
-- Friday (Jupiter)
-- Saturday (Saturn)
-- Sunday (Sun)
In Hebrew, seven is shevah, meaning "to be full or satisfied, have enough of", and it is believed that on the seventh day God rested from the work of Creation. Hence the word (Shavath), to cease, desist, rest, and Shabbath, Sabbath, or day of rest. This root runs through various languages; e.g., Sanskrit, (saptah); Zend- Avesta., (hapta); Greek, (hepta); Persian, (haft); Latin, (septem). All these preserve the "t," which in the Semitic and Teutonic languages is dropped out; e.g. Gothic,(sibun); Germ., (sieben); Eng., (seven).
In Judaism, we also have the Seven universal rules of Noah (Talmud Sanh.56a):
-- Prohibition of idolatry
-- Prohibition of blasphemy
-- Prohibition of murder
-- Prohibition of theft
-- Prohibition of illicit relations
-- Prohibition of eating live meat
-- Prohibition of failing to establish courts of justice
Among religions, Christianity is riddled with the number seven. The Bible is full of references to the number seven, as in the Seven Parables of Matthew 13.In the Book of Revelation, there are seven churches, seven spirits, seven stars, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven personages, and seven dooms. There are Seven generations from David to Jesus. The beast that rises out of the sea to destroy the world mentioned in Revelations also has seven heads, and its number is 666, which is the sum of the squares of the first 7 primes:
666 = 22 + 32 + 52 + 72 + 112 + 132 + 172
But most importantly in Christianity there are the seven deadly sins:
-- Vanity
-- Envy
-- Gluttony
-- Lust
-- Wrath
-- Covetousness
-- Sloth
There are Seven Devas of the Hindu pantheon, and the Seven Chakras of Tantric Hinduism are:
-- Crown Chakra Sehasara, located at top of head
-- Brow Chakra Anja, located in center of forehead above eyes
-- Throat Chakra Visshuda , located at base of throat
-- Heart Chakra Anahatha ,located at heart center of chest
-- Solar Plexis Chakra Manipura ,located between the sternum bone and the belly
-- Sacral Chakra, Svadistana,Located at sex organs or near belly button
-- Root Chakra, Muladhara, Kundalini ,located at the tailbone base of spine
In Zoroastrianism , there are the Seven Amschaspands:
-- Ordibehesht
-- Khordad
-- Amordad
-- Shahrivar
-- Bahman
-- Espandasmad
-- Ahooramazda
In Islam, muslim pilgrims on "Haj" or their pilgrimage trip to Mecca, arrive by the seventh day of "Zuu- ul Hijja" (by Islamic celestial calendar), do the "Tavaf" and circle the "Kabeh" seven times , and do the "Saay" or run between the hills of "Safa" and "Marva" for seven times.
Rome, it is said, was built on seven hills, and The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were:
--The Great Pyramid of Giza
-- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
-- The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
-- The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
-- The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
-- The Colossus of Rhodes
-- The Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Seven Continents are:
-- Africa
-- Antarctica
-- Asia
-- Australia
-- Europe
-- North America
-- South America
The Seven Seas are:
-- North Atlantic
-- South Atlantic
-- North Pacific
-- South Pacific
-- Indian
-- Antarctic
-- Arctic
Seven is probably the most important number in Greek Literature and mythology:
-- Seven Labors of Hercules
-- Seven daughters of Atlas in the Pleiades
-- Seven gates of Thebes
-- Seven sons and seven daughters of Niobe
-- Seven strings of the lyre of Zeus
-- Seven spheres
You can keep going on and on , for example an old wives' tale says that if you break a mirror you will have seven years of bad luck, or how to avoid the Seven year itch in Marriage, or why first graders are sent off to start school when they are seven years old. The examples are numerous and too many to list in one place. Hopefully these few examples won't keep you awake at night and make you lose your required seven hours of sleep.
The results of the first-ever online global vote were announced at the Official New7Wonders Declaration Ceremony tonight in Lisbon, Portugal.
Well, for me, I had a usual day at the clinic...I had a "havan" in the morning and reached the clinic 30 minutes late. My associate was not feeling up to it and decided to take the day off- I finished the patients by 1pm and came home. Had my first afternoon nap in 7 days. Wifes away for a fellowship. Provided for the kids and took my dad out for a wonderful dinner at the Masala Bay. Came back. Blogged & planning to complete my book chapter for the upcoming monograph - "Embryo Transfer". Psst... no divine intervention as yet for me on 07-07-07. Maybe I will have to pay the online Tarot lady her USD 15 to have my shower of good luck this year. Amen.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Transethnic Surrogacy- The Saga continues at Rotunda
This is just to put on record a rare distinction that is unique to the ART community (Specialists in the field of Assisted Reproduction) in india. We successfully achieved the first documented case of gestational surrogacy in May 2006 where the genetic parents were of Chinese origin and the surrogate is a native Indian woman. I have put this on my Blog so it can be documented that the team that had the distinction of helping out this couple was led my me; albeit in a hospital that I am no longer associated with. I was a little disheartened when I recently (March 2007) got hold of a copy of the hospitals annual day magazine & did not find my own name in the title credits for this "hospital achievement". For the bloggers who visit here, the procedure can be explained thus. Mr & Mrs Xiuan Wu(name changed) came to us through the internet with a history
of five failed IVF/ICSI attempts in Singapore. Mrs. Wu had a history of tuberculous endometritis which was treated prior to all her IVF attempts and this cause was attributed to all her failed attempts. Her last treating specialist in Singapore had suggested resorting to gestational surrogacy (hiring a womb in layman's language). This couple relocated to Hyderabad as the husband took up a software contract in that city. The couple contacted almost all the major IVF services in India and selected us to be capable of taking up the challenge of surrogacy after a consultation at our Center for Human Reproduction.
This was a real challenge for our team and we planned an IVF cycle where we transferred half the cultured embryos into Mrs Wu's uterus and the other half into the Surrogates uterus which was primed with hormonal replacement therapy. Needless to say, both the patient's and surrogates menstrual cycles were synchronized using hormonal therapy. The Surrogate conceived and had an uneventful pregnancy. The intended parents were updated regards the growing pregnancy on a fortnightly basis with reports & ultrasound plates. The surrogate mother delivered a healthy baby boy weighing 3.2kg on 19.05.06 at 3:30am. The intended parents went back home with their bundle of joy.
Following this case in May 2006, we have already delivered 8 more surrogate babies & have 7 ongoing pregnancies. The intended parents are from our own country as well as across the globe including the UK, Denmark, Spain, Dubai & Israel. We have learnt a lot from our experiences with Intended Parents & the gestational surrogate mothers. We have had good, bad & ugly experiences with some of the Intended Parents. This led us to help the gestational surrogates introduce a type of partial medical coverage for emergency medical situations in the course of their pregnancy when they sign the contract with the intended parents. We are trying our best to get complete insurance for the gestational surrogates. More on this when we make more progress.
of five failed IVF/ICSI attempts in Singapore. Mrs. Wu had a history of tuberculous endometritis which was treated prior to all her IVF attempts and this cause was attributed to all her failed attempts. Her last treating specialist in Singapore had suggested resorting to gestational surrogacy (hiring a womb in layman's language). This couple relocated to Hyderabad as the husband took up a software contract in that city. The couple contacted almost all the major IVF services in India and selected us to be capable of taking up the challenge of surrogacy after a consultation at our Center for Human Reproduction.
This was a real challenge for our team and we planned an IVF cycle where we transferred half the cultured embryos into Mrs Wu's uterus and the other half into the Surrogates uterus which was primed with hormonal replacement therapy. Needless to say, both the patient's and surrogates menstrual cycles were synchronized using hormonal therapy. The Surrogate conceived and had an uneventful pregnancy. The intended parents were updated regards the growing pregnancy on a fortnightly basis with reports & ultrasound plates. The surrogate mother delivered a healthy baby boy weighing 3.2kg on 19.05.06 at 3:30am. The intended parents went back home with their bundle of joy.
Following this case in May 2006, we have already delivered 8 more surrogate babies & have 7 ongoing pregnancies. The intended parents are from our own country as well as across the globe including the UK, Denmark, Spain, Dubai & Israel. We have learnt a lot from our experiences with Intended Parents & the gestational surrogate mothers. We have had good, bad & ugly experiences with some of the Intended Parents. This led us to help the gestational surrogates introduce a type of partial medical coverage for emergency medical situations in the course of their pregnancy when they sign the contract with the intended parents. We are trying our best to get complete insurance for the gestational surrogates. More on this when we make more progress.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The Best Chain Letter Ever
My Powerbook screamed: "You've got Mail!". This was at an unearthly hour in the wee hours of morning.
My teenage daughter had sent me an Email marked "Highest priority". Here is a reproduction of that e-mail:
On 7/2/07, Akanksha Allahbadia <6175189555000972164@mail.orkut.com> wrote:
"IIT Bombay student Anupam Biswas 5th Year Mechanical Engg is suffering from Colukabki (caused due to excessive nabad and depression) a diseasevery rarely found (3 in a billion). His condition is very pathetic and the treatment is very expensive, obviously his parents are not able to afford his treatment. Orkut has agreed to pay 1 paisa after each time this message is forward. So please pass to all ur friends. please i request you to pass it to as many people as u can and lets try to save someone's life. I request please do not ignore this. It will take < 1 min from ur life to help saving someone's life."
I tore my hair out in frustration and searched for one of the nicest and funniest anti chain-letter emails i had received a few years ago. Heres how it goes:
A Mail from a frustrated victim of spams and forwards
• I wanted to thank all my friends and family who have forwarded chain letters to me in 2006 & 2007.
Because of your kindness:
• I stopped drinking Coca Cola after I found out that it's good for removing toilet stains.
• I stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with AIDS.
• I smell like a wet dog since I stopped using deodorants because they cause cancer.
• I don't leave my car in the parking lot or any other place and sometimes I even have to walk about 7 blocks for fear that
someone will drug me with a perfume sample and try to rob me.
• I also stopped answering the phone for fear that they may ask me to dial a stupid number and the I get a phone bill
from hell with calls to Uganda, Singapore and Tokyo.
• I also stopped drinking anything out of a can for fear that I will get sick from the rat feces and urine.
• When I go to parties, I don't look at any girl no matter how hot she is, for fear that she will take me to a hotel, drug me
then take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.
• I also donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. A sick girl that was about to die in the hospital about 7,000
times. (Funny that girl, she's been 7 since 1993...)
• I went bankrupt from bounced checks that I made expecting the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL were supposed to
send me when I participated in their special e-mail program would arrive soon.
• My free Nokia phone never arrived and neither did the free passes for a paid vacation to Disneyland.
• Still open to help some from Bulgaria who wants to use my account to transfer his uncle’s property of some hundred
millions $.
• made some Hundred wishes before forwarding those Ganesh Vandanas , Tirupathi Balaji Pics etc.. now most of those
'wishes' are already married:( to someone else)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you do not send this e-mail to at least 1246 people in the next 10 seconds, a bird will crap on your head today at 5:30pm.
I now look forward to my teenage son's "highest priority" e-chain-mail:)
My teenage daughter had sent me an Email marked "Highest priority". Here is a reproduction of that e-mail:
On 7/2/07, Akanksha Allahbadia <6175189555000972164@mail.orkut.com> wrote:
"IIT Bombay student Anupam Biswas 5th Year Mechanical Engg is suffering from Colukabki (caused due to excessive nabad and depression) a diseasevery rarely found (3 in a billion). His condition is very pathetic and the treatment is very expensive, obviously his parents are not able to afford his treatment. Orkut has agreed to pay 1 paisa after each time this message is forward. So please pass to all ur friends. please i request you to pass it to as many people as u can and lets try to save someone's life. I request please do not ignore this. It will take < 1 min from ur life to help saving someone's life."
I tore my hair out in frustration and searched for one of the nicest and funniest anti chain-letter emails i had received a few years ago. Heres how it goes:
A Mail from a frustrated victim of spams and forwards
• I wanted to thank all my friends and family who have forwarded chain letters to me in 2006 & 2007.
Because of your kindness:
• I stopped drinking Coca Cola after I found out that it's good for removing toilet stains.
• I stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with AIDS.
• I smell like a wet dog since I stopped using deodorants because they cause cancer.
• I don't leave my car in the parking lot or any other place and sometimes I even have to walk about 7 blocks for fear that
someone will drug me with a perfume sample and try to rob me.
• I also stopped answering the phone for fear that they may ask me to dial a stupid number and the I get a phone bill
from hell with calls to Uganda, Singapore and Tokyo.
• I also stopped drinking anything out of a can for fear that I will get sick from the rat feces and urine.
• When I go to parties, I don't look at any girl no matter how hot she is, for fear that she will take me to a hotel, drug me
then take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.
• I also donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. A sick girl that was about to die in the hospital about 7,000
times. (Funny that girl, she's been 7 since 1993...)
• I went bankrupt from bounced checks that I made expecting the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL were supposed to
send me when I participated in their special e-mail program would arrive soon.
• My free Nokia phone never arrived and neither did the free passes for a paid vacation to Disneyland.
• Still open to help some from Bulgaria who wants to use my account to transfer his uncle’s property of some hundred
millions $.
• made some Hundred wishes before forwarding those Ganesh Vandanas , Tirupathi Balaji Pics etc.. now most of those
'wishes' are already married:( to someone else)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you do not send this e-mail to at least 1246 people in the next 10 seconds, a bird will crap on your head today at 5:30pm.
I now look forward to my teenage son's "highest priority" e-chain-mail:)
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Ten E-commandments
1. Big companies don't do business via chain letters. Bill Gates is not giving you $1000, and Disney is not giving you a free vacation. There is no baby food company issuing class-action checks. You can relax; there is no need to pass it on "just in case it's true". Furthermore, just because someone said in their message, four generations back, that "we checked it out and it's legit", does not actually make it true.
2. There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it happened to their cousin. If you are hellbent on believing the kidney-theft ring stories, please see: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa062997.htm And I quote: "The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their stories. None have." That's "none" as in "zero". Not even your friend's cousin.
3. Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even if they do, we all have it. And even if you don't, you can get a copy at: http://www.bl.net/forwards/cookie.html Then, if you make the recipe, decide the cookies are that awesome, feel free to pass the recipe on.
4. We all know all 500 ways to drive your roommates crazy, irritate co-workers and creep out people on an elevator. We also know exactly how many engineers, college students, Usenet posters and people from each and every world ethnicity it takes to change a lightbulb
5. Even if the latest NASA rocket disaster(s) DID contain plutonium that went to particulate over the eastern seaboard, do you REALLY think this information would reach the public via an AOL chain-letter?
6. There is no "Good Times" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with virii. Try: http://www.symantec.com . And even then, don't forward it. We don't care.
7. If your CC: list is regularly longer than the actual content of your message, you're probably going to Hell.
8. If you're using Outlook, IE, or Netscape to write email, turn off the "HTML encoding." Those of us on Unix shells can't read it, and don't care enough to save the attachment and then view it with a web browser, since you're probably forwarding us a copy of the Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe anyway.
9. If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a friend, at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 months. It sure wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the ">" that begin each line. Besides, if it has gone around that many times - I've probably already seen it.
10. Craig Shergold in England is not dying of cancer or anything else at this time and would like everyone to stop sending him their business cards. He apparently is also no longer a "little boy" either. Hes the streaker at Wimbledon last week:)
For those of you who are sick to death of getting emails that tell you to forward to at least 22 friends in the next 15 minutes so that wonderful things and miracles will happen if you do and there will be consequences if you don't, then you will enjoy this.
Cut & paste this into your browser window-
http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf
It has sound. Open your speakers wide. Have a good laugh:)
2. There is no kidney theft ring in New Orleans. No one is waking up in a bathtub full of ice, even if a friend of a friend swears it happened to their cousin. If you are hellbent on believing the kidney-theft ring stories, please see: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa062997.htm And I quote: "The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for actual victims of organ thieves to come forward and tell their stories. None have." That's "none" as in "zero". Not even your friend's cousin.
3. Neiman Marcus doesn't really sell a $200 cookie recipe. And even if they do, we all have it. And even if you don't, you can get a copy at: http://www.bl.net/forwards/cookie.html Then, if you make the recipe, decide the cookies are that awesome, feel free to pass the recipe on.
4. We all know all 500 ways to drive your roommates crazy, irritate co-workers and creep out people on an elevator. We also know exactly how many engineers, college students, Usenet posters and people from each and every world ethnicity it takes to change a lightbulb
5. Even if the latest NASA rocket disaster(s) DID contain plutonium that went to particulate over the eastern seaboard, do you REALLY think this information would reach the public via an AOL chain-letter?
6. There is no "Good Times" virus. In fact, you should never, ever, ever forward any email containing any virus warning unless you first confirm it at an actual site of an actual company that actually deals with virii. Try: http://www.symantec.com . And even then, don't forward it. We don't care.
7. If your CC: list is regularly longer than the actual content of your message, you're probably going to Hell.
8. If you're using Outlook, IE, or Netscape to write email, turn off the "HTML encoding." Those of us on Unix shells can't read it, and don't care enough to save the attachment and then view it with a web browser, since you're probably forwarding us a copy of the Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe anyway.
9. If you still absolutely MUST forward that 10th-generation message from a friend, at least have the decency to trim the eight miles of headers showing everyone else who's received it over the last 6 months. It sure wouldn't hurt to get rid of all the ">" that begin each line. Besides, if it has gone around that many times - I've probably already seen it.
10. Craig Shergold in England is not dying of cancer or anything else at this time and would like everyone to stop sending him their business cards. He apparently is also no longer a "little boy" either. Hes the streaker at Wimbledon last week:)
For those of you who are sick to death of getting emails that tell you to forward to at least 22 friends in the next 15 minutes so that wonderful things and miracles will happen if you do and there will be consequences if you don't, then you will enjoy this.
Cut & paste this into your browser window-
http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf
It has sound. Open your speakers wide. Have a good laugh:)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Allah-badia: Profiling at American Airports
Let me not write about any scientific pursuits today. I was reminiscing my recent visit to the Big Apple (NY) for the Annual NY Art Expo. As with every visit after 9/11, the immigration at all US airports waits for me with arms wide open. The moment I present my passport-their screens come alive with highlighted color profiling in part of my sur-name "Allah". This to a specialist who has visited the USA over 15 times and trained in Chicago & has been presenting scientific material at their annual meetings for over a decade. Next is a ten minute mindless & pointless Question-Answer session (Mind you I visit Israel annually & their interrogation at their airports and all airports where you board a flight to Tel Aviv is long and sustained but intelligent & thorough!) followed by an SOS body search in a separate area at times after my rights are announced to me.
I wonder, that being a non-Muslim I get the whole strip-show- search at all airports in the USA, what about the Muslims? I fully endorse & agree that the US of A need to be extra vigilant about their internal security matters, more so with repeated fanatic attacks like the Glasgow bombings, but they need to learn a lot from their Israeli brethren. Not a fly can get through their airports. My initial visits to Israel had sustained interrogation lasting for upto 20 minutes, but now they have me on their security systems & I pass through in 60 seconds! The Americans need a better database so that genuine visitors to their wonderful country don't get harassed & dread passing through their airports.
A friend e-mailed me this hilarious take on Muslim Humor in the USA through the eyes of a Middle-Eastern character called Omid. You must watch this video with your speakers wide open & look out for the fantastic Persian Humor in the popular American television series Whoopi!
http://www.omidnoagenda.com/video/clip_4.html
If any of you have some more videos on similar humor, please blog on the links!
I wonder, that being a non-Muslim I get the whole strip-show- search at all airports in the USA, what about the Muslims? I fully endorse & agree that the US of A need to be extra vigilant about their internal security matters, more so with repeated fanatic attacks like the Glasgow bombings, but they need to learn a lot from their Israeli brethren. Not a fly can get through their airports. My initial visits to Israel had sustained interrogation lasting for upto 20 minutes, but now they have me on their security systems & I pass through in 60 seconds! The Americans need a better database so that genuine visitors to their wonderful country don't get harassed & dread passing through their airports.
A friend e-mailed me this hilarious take on Muslim Humor in the USA through the eyes of a Middle-Eastern character called Omid. You must watch this video with your speakers wide open & look out for the fantastic Persian Humor in the popular American television series Whoopi!
http://www.omidnoagenda.com/video/clip_4.html
If any of you have some more videos on similar humor, please blog on the links!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Ayurveda, Eggs, Molars & Joints: The Indian Medical Tourism Story
Medical Tourism is a concept where a patient travels to another country for medical treatment in order to save costs, or get treatment faster or even to avail of better medical facilities. Most patients from countries like USA and UK travel to developing countries such as India for treatment because India offers some of the cheapest pricing options of treatment, offers a good holiday, there are no waiting lists or queues to stand in, the doctors are comparable to anyone in the world and finally, language does not pose a problem as most people speak English. In ancient Greece, pilgrims and patients came from all over the Mediterranean to the sanctuary of the healing god, Asklepios, at Epidaurus. In Roman Britain, patients took the waters at a shrine at Bath, a practice that continued for 2,000 years. From the 18th century wealthy Europeans traveled to spas from Germany to the Nile. In the 21st century, relatively low-cost jet travel has taken the industry beyond the wealthy and desperate.
The Indian medical tourism is a developing concept whereby people from the world over visit India for their medical and relaxation needs. Most common treatments are heart surgery, knee transplant, cosmetic surgery, Donor Egg IVF/Surrogacy and dental care. The reason India is a favorable destination is because of it's infrastructure and technology in which it is at par with those in USA, UK and Europe. India has some of the best hospitals and treatment centers in the world with the best facilities. Since it is also one of the most favorable tourist destinations in the world, medication combined with tourism has come into effect, from which the concept of Medical Tourism is derived. As health care costs skyrocket, patients in the developed world are looking overseas for medical treatment. India is capitalizing on its low costs and highly trained doctors to appeal to these "medical tourists." Even with airfare, the cost of going to India for surgery can be markedly cheaper, and the quality of services is often better than that found in the United States and UK. Indeed, many patients are pleased at the prospect of combining their tummy tucks with a trip to the Taj Mahal. Price advantage is, of course, a major selling point. The slogan, thus is, “First World treatment’ at Third World prices”. The cost differential across the board is huge: only a tenth and sometimes even a sixteenth of the cost in the West. Open-heart surgery could cost up to $70,000 in Britain and up to $150,000 in the US; in India’s best hospitals it could cost between $3,000 and $10,000. Knee surgery (on both knees) costs 350,000 rupees ($7,700) in India; in Britain this costs £10,000 ($16,950), more than twice as much. IVF treatments in Western countries cost three to four times as much as in India.
Some estimates say that foreigners account for 10 to 12 per cent of all patients in top Mumbai hospitals despite roadblocks like poor aviation connectivity, poor road infrastructure and absence of uniform quality standards. Analysts say that as many as 150,000 medical tourists came to India last year. The reasons patients travel for treatment vary. Many medical tourists from the United States are seeking treatment at a quarter or sometimes even a 10th of the cost at home. From Canada, it is often people who are frustrated by long waiting times. From Great Britain, the patient can't wait for treatment by the National Health Service but also can't afford to see a physician in private practice. For others, becoming a medical tourist is a chance to combine a tropical vacation with elective or plastic surgery. And more patients are coming from poorer countries such as Bangladesh where treatment may not be available. Countries that actively promote medical tourism include Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia and Thailand. Belgium, Poland and Singapore are now entering the field. South Africa specializes in medical safaris-visit the country for a safari, with a stopover for plastic surgery, a nose job and a chance to see lions and elephants.
India is considered the leading country promoting medical tourism-and now it is moving into a new area of "medical outsourcing," where subcontractors provide services to the overburdened medical care systems in western countries. India's National Health Policy declares that treatment of foreign patients is legally an "export" and deemed "eligible for all fiscal incentives extended to export earnings." Government and private sector studies in India estimate that medical tourism could bring between $1 billion and $2 billion US into the country by 2012. The reports estimate that medical tourism to India is growing by 30 per cent a year. And I believe that gynecologists will just watch this opportunity rush past unless we intervene & interact with the government.
The Indian medical tourism is a developing concept whereby people from the world over visit India for their medical and relaxation needs. Most common treatments are heart surgery, knee transplant, cosmetic surgery, Donor Egg IVF/Surrogacy and dental care. The reason India is a favorable destination is because of it's infrastructure and technology in which it is at par with those in USA, UK and Europe. India has some of the best hospitals and treatment centers in the world with the best facilities. Since it is also one of the most favorable tourist destinations in the world, medication combined with tourism has come into effect, from which the concept of Medical Tourism is derived. As health care costs skyrocket, patients in the developed world are looking overseas for medical treatment. India is capitalizing on its low costs and highly trained doctors to appeal to these "medical tourists." Even with airfare, the cost of going to India for surgery can be markedly cheaper, and the quality of services is often better than that found in the United States and UK. Indeed, many patients are pleased at the prospect of combining their tummy tucks with a trip to the Taj Mahal. Price advantage is, of course, a major selling point. The slogan, thus is, “First World treatment’ at Third World prices”. The cost differential across the board is huge: only a tenth and sometimes even a sixteenth of the cost in the West. Open-heart surgery could cost up to $70,000 in Britain and up to $150,000 in the US; in India’s best hospitals it could cost between $3,000 and $10,000. Knee surgery (on both knees) costs 350,000 rupees ($7,700) in India; in Britain this costs £10,000 ($16,950), more than twice as much. IVF treatments in Western countries cost three to four times as much as in India.
Some estimates say that foreigners account for 10 to 12 per cent of all patients in top Mumbai hospitals despite roadblocks like poor aviation connectivity, poor road infrastructure and absence of uniform quality standards. Analysts say that as many as 150,000 medical tourists came to India last year. The reasons patients travel for treatment vary. Many medical tourists from the United States are seeking treatment at a quarter or sometimes even a 10th of the cost at home. From Canada, it is often people who are frustrated by long waiting times. From Great Britain, the patient can't wait for treatment by the National Health Service but also can't afford to see a physician in private practice. For others, becoming a medical tourist is a chance to combine a tropical vacation with elective or plastic surgery. And more patients are coming from poorer countries such as Bangladesh where treatment may not be available. Countries that actively promote medical tourism include Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia and Thailand. Belgium, Poland and Singapore are now entering the field. South Africa specializes in medical safaris-visit the country for a safari, with a stopover for plastic surgery, a nose job and a chance to see lions and elephants.
India is considered the leading country promoting medical tourism-and now it is moving into a new area of "medical outsourcing," where subcontractors provide services to the overburdened medical care systems in western countries. India's National Health Policy declares that treatment of foreign patients is legally an "export" and deemed "eligible for all fiscal incentives extended to export earnings." Government and private sector studies in India estimate that medical tourism could bring between $1 billion and $2 billion US into the country by 2012. The reports estimate that medical tourism to India is growing by 30 per cent a year. And I believe that gynecologists will just watch this opportunity rush past unless we intervene & interact with the government.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
The Elixir of Life?
Pregnant women in UK were warned in June 2006 not to use companies that offer to store stem cells from their babies' umbilical cords as the companies' claims of providing the ultimate insurance against future disease are "extremely speculative". The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) has issued an updated version of its Scientific Opinion Paper on Umbilical Cord Blood Banking. The report finds that there is little evidence to recommend the practice whereby private companies collect and store umbilical cord blood for up to twenty years - at a charge of up to £1500 - for possible future use. The National Health Service (NHS) currently collects cord blood from selected centers in the UK, where women are approached during the maternity period and offered the opportunity to donate. Essentially, their stance remains unchanged from the one taken in their previous opinion paper published in 2001. The RCOG stands firm in its decision not to support commercial storage where no history of medical illness exists, but continues to back both public donation to banks such as the NHS Cord Blood Bank for non-directed use and directed donations for at-risk families.
Stem cells from umbilical cord blood (UCB) have been used since the first successful transplant in 1988 on Matthew Farrow, a five-year-old boy who suffered from Fanconi's Anemia. Medical experts carried out the procedure at a hospital in Paris using the stem cells harvested from the cord blood of his newborn sister, Alison. This was to become the first of over 6,000 UCB transplants worldwide, treating disorders such as thalassemia, immunodeficiency, inherited metabolic diseases, aplastic anemia and acute leukemia. Today, Matthew remains durably grafted and living proof that UCB has enormous future potential.
Cord blood advocates are keen to point out the benefits of using UCB for transplant purposes as an alternative to the traditional method of bone marrow. Unlike its bone marrow counterpart, UCB stem cells need not be an exact match and are less likely to be rejected by the recipient. Cord blood is a readily available resource, collected at the moment of delivery without pain or relative risk to mother and baby. Furthermore, stem cells collected from this routinely discarded waste product fail to raise the same moral, social and religious objections associated with the procurement of stem cells from aborted fetuses and embryos created via assisted reproductive technology. So, what reasons are being given for ignoring a resource with such great potential?
Within the public sector, the logistics of collection from multiple hospitals and subsequent cost implications involved in collection and storage are obvious reasons given against routine collection, which would inevitably draw heavily on an already cash-starved public health services model. With regard to the private sector, many legal and ethical issues are raised. In spite of its potential, the RCOG purport that there remains insufficient evidence to recommend UCB collection in low-risk families. Expectant families are targeted by the use of emotive advertising literature in maternity clinics and the Internet. Critics of commercial banking argue that the costs of this service, which fall in the region of £1,200 for a 15-20 year storage term, are out of proportion in terms of the odds associated with their potential future use, currently estimated at between 1 in 20,000 and 1 in 2,700 for personal use.
Furthermore, personal banking may not be deemed necessary for certain conditions as alternative resources may be available from UK and international public cord blood banks and bone marrow registries. Critics also argue that personally banked UCB may contain disorders already present in the patient at birth, but as yet undetected, and the low number of cells within a unit means they may only be used at present for transplants in children and young adults. Concerns over storage conditions and longevity of the cells are also raised.
Although opinion remains divided over the need for parents to privately bank their baby's cord blood, those on either side of the debate agree on one thing - stem cells are the future - and, in particular, UCB stem cells show great promise.
Cord blood stem cells have been useful in the treatment of cancers such as leukemia. The NHS public bank collects 1700 to 2000 samples each year, which may be accessed by those in need. Cord blood storage is also offered to families affected by specific genetic disorders that may be treatable with a transplant, for example Fanconi anemia. Critics say that private companies play on parent’s fears, with the offer of future speculative treatments for many conditions not currently treatable with cord blood. Some promote their service to parents through leaflets provided in GP clinics and antenatal clinics.
Professor Peter Braude, head of the Department of Women's Health at King's College London and chair of the RCOG expert group commented, 'The likelihood of use is extremely small and some of the uses are extremely speculative'. Professor Braude went on to say that, 'Most people are unaware there is an NHS cord blood bank and most transplants are done with bone marrow'.
The major use for cord blood stem cells has been in the treatment of cancers such as leukemia in children. But some companies claim the stem cells may also be used in the future to treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease.
MARKETING PHRASES
'Unimaginable possibilities'
'A once in a lifetime opportunity'
'Like freezing a spare immune system'
Slogans used in promotional material by companies offering cord blood storage
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said there was "insufficient evidence" to recommend the practice for families at low risk of passing on blood diseases such as leukemia or genetic disorders. Those who believed they were obtaining "the elixir of life" for their child should realize that claims that stem cells can produce future cures for Alzheimer's, diabetes, and ovarian cancer are "in the realm of speculation".
"The ability to use it for diabetes or Parkinson's is like insuring against aircraft crashes," said Peter Braude, chairman of the college's scientific advisory committee. The warning came as the college issued fresh guidelines for obstetricians and midwives concerned about how to deal with an escalating interest in the storage of umbilical cord stem cells. The demand for private cord blood banks - such as the UK Cord Blood Bank, Smart Cells and Future Health - has grown in the past year with about 11,000 British couples reported to have paid around £1,500 to store the blood for 20 years. The footballer Thierry Henry and the dancer Darcey Bussell are among the celebrities who have paid for the service. The college said collecting stem cells for families at risk of genetic disorders, or from women donating altruistically, was acceptable but that this should be done through the NHS.
We have a similar advertising avalanche in India promising “The Elixir Of Life” that seems to have targeted family physicians and obstetricians. How about the Indian College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists or the Media taking a stand with an Indian Opinion Paper?
Stem cells from umbilical cord blood (UCB) have been used since the first successful transplant in 1988 on Matthew Farrow, a five-year-old boy who suffered from Fanconi's Anemia. Medical experts carried out the procedure at a hospital in Paris using the stem cells harvested from the cord blood of his newborn sister, Alison. This was to become the first of over 6,000 UCB transplants worldwide, treating disorders such as thalassemia, immunodeficiency, inherited metabolic diseases, aplastic anemia and acute leukemia. Today, Matthew remains durably grafted and living proof that UCB has enormous future potential.
Cord blood advocates are keen to point out the benefits of using UCB for transplant purposes as an alternative to the traditional method of bone marrow. Unlike its bone marrow counterpart, UCB stem cells need not be an exact match and are less likely to be rejected by the recipient. Cord blood is a readily available resource, collected at the moment of delivery without pain or relative risk to mother and baby. Furthermore, stem cells collected from this routinely discarded waste product fail to raise the same moral, social and religious objections associated with the procurement of stem cells from aborted fetuses and embryos created via assisted reproductive technology. So, what reasons are being given for ignoring a resource with such great potential?
Within the public sector, the logistics of collection from multiple hospitals and subsequent cost implications involved in collection and storage are obvious reasons given against routine collection, which would inevitably draw heavily on an already cash-starved public health services model. With regard to the private sector, many legal and ethical issues are raised. In spite of its potential, the RCOG purport that there remains insufficient evidence to recommend UCB collection in low-risk families. Expectant families are targeted by the use of emotive advertising literature in maternity clinics and the Internet. Critics of commercial banking argue that the costs of this service, which fall in the region of £1,200 for a 15-20 year storage term, are out of proportion in terms of the odds associated with their potential future use, currently estimated at between 1 in 20,000 and 1 in 2,700 for personal use.
Furthermore, personal banking may not be deemed necessary for certain conditions as alternative resources may be available from UK and international public cord blood banks and bone marrow registries. Critics also argue that personally banked UCB may contain disorders already present in the patient at birth, but as yet undetected, and the low number of cells within a unit means they may only be used at present for transplants in children and young adults. Concerns over storage conditions and longevity of the cells are also raised.
Although opinion remains divided over the need for parents to privately bank their baby's cord blood, those on either side of the debate agree on one thing - stem cells are the future - and, in particular, UCB stem cells show great promise.
Cord blood stem cells have been useful in the treatment of cancers such as leukemia. The NHS public bank collects 1700 to 2000 samples each year, which may be accessed by those in need. Cord blood storage is also offered to families affected by specific genetic disorders that may be treatable with a transplant, for example Fanconi anemia. Critics say that private companies play on parent’s fears, with the offer of future speculative treatments for many conditions not currently treatable with cord blood. Some promote their service to parents through leaflets provided in GP clinics and antenatal clinics.
Professor Peter Braude, head of the Department of Women's Health at King's College London and chair of the RCOG expert group commented, 'The likelihood of use is extremely small and some of the uses are extremely speculative'. Professor Braude went on to say that, 'Most people are unaware there is an NHS cord blood bank and most transplants are done with bone marrow'.
The major use for cord blood stem cells has been in the treatment of cancers such as leukemia in children. But some companies claim the stem cells may also be used in the future to treat conditions such as Parkinson's disease.
MARKETING PHRASES
'Unimaginable possibilities'
'A once in a lifetime opportunity'
'Like freezing a spare immune system'
Slogans used in promotional material by companies offering cord blood storage
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said there was "insufficient evidence" to recommend the practice for families at low risk of passing on blood diseases such as leukemia or genetic disorders. Those who believed they were obtaining "the elixir of life" for their child should realize that claims that stem cells can produce future cures for Alzheimer's, diabetes, and ovarian cancer are "in the realm of speculation".
"The ability to use it for diabetes or Parkinson's is like insuring against aircraft crashes," said Peter Braude, chairman of the college's scientific advisory committee. The warning came as the college issued fresh guidelines for obstetricians and midwives concerned about how to deal with an escalating interest in the storage of umbilical cord stem cells. The demand for private cord blood banks - such as the UK Cord Blood Bank, Smart Cells and Future Health - has grown in the past year with about 11,000 British couples reported to have paid around £1,500 to store the blood for 20 years. The footballer Thierry Henry and the dancer Darcey Bussell are among the celebrities who have paid for the service. The college said collecting stem cells for families at risk of genetic disorders, or from women donating altruistically, was acceptable but that this should be done through the NHS.
We have a similar advertising avalanche in India promising “The Elixir Of Life” that seems to have targeted family physicians and obstetricians. How about the Indian College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists or the Media taking a stand with an Indian Opinion Paper?
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