IVF linked to high Blood Pressure during pregnancy

A team of US researchers based at Boston University have found that women who have IVF treatment are more likely to have high blood pressure during pregnancy than women who conceive naturally. The study, published last week in the journal Fertility and Sterility, links IVF treatment to two conditions - gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia - both of which are characterised by high blood pressure during pregnancy, affecting the mother and unborn baby.
Pre-eclampsia, also characterised by protein in the urine, accounts for about 15 per cent of premature births. The babies are not only premature but also often 'small for dates' because of growth problems, according to the publication.The researchers, lead by Dr Allen Mitchell, director of Boston University's Sloane Epidemiology Centre, interviewed over 5,000 recent mothers about any unusual symptoms during pregnancy, including gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia, and whether or not they underwent any IVF treatment. In women who had undergone IVF treatment, they found that the risk of gestational hypertension was 90 per cent higher, and the risk of pre-eclampsia more than twice as high. However, after taking into account for other factors linked to these conditions, such as number of previous pregnancies, weight and having multiple births, these risks dropped to just 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
The researchers concluded that the increased risk of gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia in women who underwent IVF treatment was mostly explained by the fact that such fertility treatment increases the chances of multiple births.

Marzipan Babies

Marzipan is an Almond paste: a sweet paste made of ground almonds and sugar, often with egg whites or yolks, used as a layer in cakes or molded into ornamental shapes.You might appreciate these. Truly amazing and I thought you'd be as fascinated with these as I. These are made with marzipan....really unbelievable! While some of the faces may look "crafted" rather than "real", every detail is amazing, and the babies look amazingly real!

Chettiars allergic to Anesthesia

It might sound bizarre, but anesthetists in hospitals in Coimbatore solicit caste details of patients before administering anesthesia. The precaution is taken because the patients belonging to the Arya Vaisya Chettiar clan, popularly known as Kommutti Chettiars, are believed to be fatally allergic to some anesthetics. Arya Vaisya Chettiar, one of the 24 sects of the Chettiar community, are extremely allergic to the muscle relaxant or the paralyzing anesthetic agent, Suxamethonium popularly known as Scoline, say anesthetics here.

“The enzyme, pseudo choline esterase, present in the human body, helps patients regain consciousness after administration of anesthesia. This may be completely absent or present in reduced concentration in blood of people belonging to this particular community. An atypical form of this enzyme is also sometimes present in such patients and so they are unable to regain consciousness within the stipulated time,” says Dr. B.S. Dhanashekaran, an anesthesiologist in the city. Sometimes, the patient does not awaken even after five to six hours afterwards when Scoline is administered and in certain cases they die, he says.

“The genetic predisposition of the community does not permit intake of this drug,” he explains. It has been found that some Aryan sub-sects in various parts of the world are also similarly allergic, says Dr.Balavenkatasubramainan, a city-based anesthesiologist who belongs to the same community. As the reaction visible is same in the case of Aryans and the Arya Vaisya Chettiar clan, several Indian researchers believe that there is a clear link between the two.

“This seems to be more of a racial defect and both the mother and father can pass on this defect to the progeny,” says anesthesiologist. The CAS Guidelines to the practice of Anesthesia say that for others who are not allergic to it. Suxamethonium produces rapid, complete, and predictable paralysis and recovery is spontaneous. It is administered in severe liver disease and patients with burn injuries.

Please spread this message far and wide & inform all your Chettiar friends to inform their anesthetists about this enzyme deficiency before any surgery.

Amir Khusraw Dehlavi

اَگر فِردؤس بر رُو-ائے زمین اَست،
ہمین اَست-او ہمین اَست-او ہمین اَست۔

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.

If there is paradise on face of the earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this (Hindustan)

These are the immortal words of Amir Khusro. Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn al-Dīn Khusrow (Persian: ابوالحسن یمین‌الدین خسرو, Devanagari: अबुल हसन यमीनुददीन ख़ुसरो) (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amir Khusraw Dehlavi or Amir Khusraw Balkhi (in Persian: اميرخسرو دهلوى , امیر خسرو بلخی) is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amir Khusro (or Khusrau) was a notable poet and musician. He has been termed as the "father of qawwali" (the devotional music of the Sufis). He is also credited with enriching the Hindustani classical music by introducing Persian and Arabic elements in it, and was the originator of the tarana style of music. The classical music tradition in both India and Pakistan traces its roots to the 13th-century poet and musician Amir Khosrow, who composed the earliest ragas, the traditional rhythmic form. The invention of the Indian Tabla is usually attributed to Amir Khusro.
Amir Khusro, a Hindustani Turk was born of a Turkish father, Saif ad-Dīn Mahmoud, who was one of the chiefs of the Lachin tribe of the Karakhitais of Kush and a Rajput (Rawal) mother, in India.
Khusro was a prolific classical poet associated with the royal courts of more than seven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. He is popular in much of North India and Pakistan, because of many playful riddles, songs and legends attributed to him. Through his enormous literary output and the legendary folk personality, Khusro represents one of the first (recorded) Indian personages with a true multi-cultural or pluralistic identity.
He wrote in both Persian and Hindustani. He also spoke Turkish, Arabic and Sanskrit. His poetry is still sung today at Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan and India. Amir Khusro was the author of a Khamsa which emulated that of the earlier Persian-language poet Nizami Ganjavi.
The present generation seems to be losing our rich heritage & culture to the M-TV onslaught & my teenage children would have heard of Aerosmith but never Amir Khusro. Maybe, it is our education system, which does not even inculcate the basics of our rich cultural heritage even as part of an extra-curricular course. Even if we talk about the generation who are in their 30s-40s today would probably never have heard of Amir Khusro.
I hope and pray that some die-hard Indian heritage conservationists such as me will create some awareness about our poetry & music which was there & flourished mch before the West even existed. Let me end my blogging today by putting down an immortal Hindvi pem by Amir Khusro. This is one of the most romantic poems ever written anywhere in the history of this universe:

छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
प्रेम भटी का मदवा पिलाइके
मतवाली कर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
गोरी गोरी बईयाँ, हरी हरी चूड़ियाँ
बईयाँ पकड़ धर लीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
बल बल जाऊं मैं तोरे रंग रजवा
अपनी सी रंग दीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
खुसरो निजाम के बल बल जाए
मोहे सुहागन कीन्ही रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके
छाप तिलक सब छीनी रे मोसे नैना मिलाइके

Chhāp tilak sab chīnī re mose nainā milāike
Bāt atham keh dīnī re mose nainā milāike
Prem bhaṭī kā madvā pilāike
Matvālī kar līnhī re mose nainā milāike
Gorī gorī baīyān, harī harī chuṛiyān
baīyān pakaṛ dhar līnhī re mose nainā milāike
Bal bal jāūn main tore rang rajvā
Apnī sī kar līnhī re mose nainā milāike
Khusro Nijām ke bal bal jaiye
Mohe Suhāgan kīnhī re mose nainā milāike
Bāt atham keh dīnī re mose nainā milāike

You've taken away my looks, my identity, by just a glance.
By making me drink the wine from the distillery of love
You've intoxicated me by just a glance;
My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles in them,
Have been held tightly by you with just a glance.
I give my life to you, Oh my cloth-dyer,
You've dyed me in yourself, by just a glance.
I give my whole life to you Oh, Nijam,
You've made me your bride, by just a glance.

The Auditor

At the end of the tax year, the Tax Office sent an inspector to audit the books of a synagogue. While he was checking the books he turned to the Rabbi and said: "I notice you buy a lot of candles. What do you do with the candle drippings?

"Good question", noted the Rabbi. "We save them up and send them back to the candle makers, and every now and then they send us a free box of candles."

"Oh", replied the auditor, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. But on he went, in his obnoxious way: "What about all these biscuit purchases? What do you do with the crumbs?"

"Ah, yes", replied the Rabbi, realising that the inspector was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. "We collect them and send them back to the manufacturers, and every now and then they send a free box of holy biscuits."

"I see!" replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi", he went on, "What do you do with all the leftover fore skins from the cir cumcisions you perform?

"Here, too, we do not waste", answered the Rabbi. "What we do is save up all the fore skins and send them to the Tax Office, and about once a year they send us a complete dick."

A Lawyer's Kindness

One afternoon, a wealthy lawyer was riding in the back of his limousine when he saw two men eating grass by the road-side. He ordered his driver to stop, and he got out to investigate.

"Why are you eating grass?" he asked one man. "We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied. "Oh, well, you can come with me to my house, instructed the lawyer. "But, sir, I have a wife and two children with me!" "Bring them along!" replied the lawyer. He turned to the other man and said: "You come with us, too." "But I have a wife and six children," the second man answered. "Bring them as well" replied the lawyer.

They all climbed into the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine. Once underway, one of the poor fellows says: "Sir you are too kind. Thank you for taking all of us with you."

The lawyer replied: "Glad to do it. You'll love my place; the grass is almost a foot tall."

Hexaplet After The Twins