May 2020 – Dr Ramakanta's Ideas

Henrietta Lacks, The woman who never died.

In January 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a 30-year-old mother of 5, from Baltimore, was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.There was no treatment available then. She died in October at the age of 31. Before her death, samples of her cancerous cells were taken. Of course, she was never asked. But the word ‘informedContinue reading “Henrietta Lacks, The woman who never died.”

Public Health will never be the same again.

On a sultry afternoon of 31st August, 1854 a British Anesthesiologist took a piece of paper and mapped all the 616 cholera deaths of Soho, London. It all tied up to a single pump by the side of the Broad Street. Emboldened by his contact mapping, Dr John Snow himself removed the pump handle. FromContinue reading “Public Health will never be the same again.”

The Twin Epidemics

Coronavirus & Mental health. Have you ever felt lonely ? Have you gone through that depression after a temporary debacle? Death of a relative or a loss in your business. WHO estimates that the incidence of Depression is 7.6%. That means, In any WhatsApp group of 240, at the least 18 of us are depressedContinue reading “The Twin Epidemics”

Another flu, another vaccine.

Epidemics are always terrible. And Flu epidemics are the worst. There have been Seven Pandemics of Cholera in this world taking more than 20 million lives, yet none of them can match the terror of a plague. On February 4 1976, a young soldier named David Lewis died of a new form of flu. TheContinue reading “Another flu, another vaccine.”