𝗥𝗮𝗱

Software Engineer

[𝗥𝗮𝗱 @RadhixRaj]

Happy International Childfree day #InternationalChildfreeDay #childfree

[Amnesty International @amnesty]

Tear gas and batons. Suspended metro services and mobile internet. Reported unnecessary and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. Demonstrators in India were marching towards parliament to demand the resignation of a Union education minister following alleged examination paper leaks that affected millions of students. The Delhi Police responded with violent crackdowns.

Indian authorities must ensure that all allegations of unlawful conduct against these Cockroach Party-led protests are promptly, independently, and impartially investigated.

[Human Rights Watch @hrw]

📍India

Police in New Delhi used tear gas, batons, and internet shutdowns against largely peaceful student-led protests on July 20 🧵⤵️
https://t.co/cKRKQ8gR2T

[Top Science @isciverse]

🎯The Brain and Science of Emotions (This post is a Thread)

1. The chemistry of emotions

Our ancient brains evolved the perfect way to keep us safe by controlling the chemicals in our mind to moderate our behaviour.

[Curiosity @MAstronomers]

If you ever get lost in the Milky Way galaxy, this is your map to get back to EARTH.

📸 @budassiuniverse

[Glenn F. Henriksen @henriksen]

When men refer to themselves as "alpha males", I hear that in the context of software, where alpha versions are unstable, missing important features, filled with flaws, and not fit for the public.

[allen institute @AllenInstitute]

New insights into Alzheimer’s Disease 🧠🔍

In a study with @UWMedicine and @KPWaResearch, researchers have identified some of the first neurons lost in the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease and potential future pathways to #EndAlz. 🧵

#studyBRAIN

[mark belan | science illustrator + info designer @markabelan]

The Biomass of Life 🐧🐸🐯🐹🐼🐍🐞🦂🐙🐬🐘🦙🐊🦀

#biomass #biodiversity #infographic #science #life #animals #biology #zoology #data #dataviz #dataart #datavisualization #dataillustration #illustration

[God @TheTweetOfGod]

There are two kinds of people, and one of them is going to get them both killed.

[MIT CSAIL @MIT_CSAIL]

#otd in 1991 the Linux kernel was publicly released by Helsinki grad student Linus Torvalds: https://t.co/rPrtrwwd1W

[Christie Wilcox @NerdyChristie]

In a fly's brain, there are some 140,000 neurons that connect via 54.5 million synapses. Researchers have now mapped *all of them*. That and more of the best in @ScienceMagazine and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: https://t.co/rKjd8p8e3s
Vid: Tyler Sloan/FlyWire

[Variety @Variety]

Zachary Levi Endorses Donald Trump After Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Suspends Campaign: 'We Are Going to Take Back This Country' and 'Make It Great Again' https://t.co/3o421y4LfT

[𝗥𝗮𝗱 @RadhixRaj]

Damn you, Russia.

[IStories Media @istories_eng]

Russian authorities say banning childfree will help boost birth rates. But in reality it is more of an activity imitation at a time when there is little money for demographic policy.

Looking deeply into why Russia Is fighting against childfree people 🔽
https://t.co/zr5yeg0Okx

[Amy Lasky, MD @AmyLaskyMD]

Gonna say- if you’re a woman over 21 and KNOW you want to be CHILDFREE forever and other obgyns have denied you sterilization- come to me and I’ll do your tubal ligation.
It’s your body, your reproductive decisions. I’m happy to be your surgeon though.

[Home Office @ukhomeoffice]

📢 Protection zones around abortion clinics to be in force throughout the country to protect women from intimidation and harassment.

From 31 October, attempts to influence the decisions of abortion service users or employees within a 150m radius of a clinic will become illegal.

[ESPN India @ESPNIndia]

A year of protest against the federation chief.
Slept on pavements for 40 days.
Was beaten, dragged by the police.
Nearly immersed all her medals in the Ganga.
Underwent knee surgery.
Sealed her Olympic spot after an unforgiving qualification process.
Became the 1st Indian woman wrestler to qualify for three successive Olympics.

And now, she's beaten the unbeatable defending champ, won two more bouts to become the first Indian woman to reach a wrestling Olympic final.

Words fail to appreciate what Vinesh Phogat has just done.

https://t.co/ItdNkkWO1w | #Paris2024

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

1/8 Ok, so after the actress Nayantara indirectly "abused" me and silently deleted her post on hibiscus tea benefits, her "celebrity nutritionist" Ms. Munmum Ganeriwal, whom I called a "quack" has responded strongly against me...proving that she is indeed a "quack.
A 🧵

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

This is cinema actress Nayantara who has more than twice the following of the other actress Samantha miselading her 8.7 million followers on a supplement called hibiscus tea.

If she had stopped at hibiscus tea is kind of tasty, that would have been ok. But no, they have to go ahead and blow their health-illiteracy trumpet and also claim that hibiscus tea is helpful in diabetes, high blood pressure, acne, antibacterial and protects against the flu.

Well, none of the above claims have been proven.

It also seems like the post was an advertisement for her "celebrity nutritionist" who has a masters in science degree in diet and nutrition who describes herself [https://t.co/r1v6tJsvPZ] as "the only gut microbiome specialist in the world who combines traditional Indian foods, ancient Indian yogic practices and Ayurveda principles with gut microbiota study to understand and fight obesity and other diseases,"
- which literally translates to "absolute BS," bordering on "quackery."

I know this, because I have expertise in modulation of gut microbiome and my department at the Liver Institute where I work, is the only one in the world that caters to stool transplant and microbiome modulation for patients with severe alcohol-related liver diseases.
More on that here: https://t.co/U3AUFp3i82

Coming to the point, be very careful about having hibiscus tea on a daily basis.

Firstly, to clarify, Hibiscus tea is made from Hibiscus Sabdariffa or Roselle.
https://t.co/L0rZpmugBm
Do not confuse it with Hibiscus Macranthus [https://t.co/dZObRnmc1q] which is a herb claimed to promote male fertility and increase testosterone, which has been shown in at least one rat study; overall, understudied.

The influenza does not clear this aspect.

So Roselle (Hibiscus tea) supposedly has anti-diabetic and blood pressure lowering effects as per the post claim.

First, the blood pressure lowering effects: A 2021 meta-analysis conducted by the Cochrane hypertension group concluded that currently the evidence is insufficient to establish if roselle, when compared to placebo, is effective in managing or lowering blood pressure in people with hypertension.
https://t.co/Jt6kfasmib - so that claim from "Dr." Nayantara is false.

Second, anti-diabetic properties: Studies are low grade (D) and analysis of presumably well-designed studies show that it has no blood glucose lowering effect. Most of the positive studies were in animals other than humans and hence "benefits" skewed. https://t.co/Zxhx9RnObT - so that claim too, is inaccurate.

There are no studies to prove that hibiscus tea prevents acne or is antibacterial or prevents seasonal infections in humans. Evidence, or it did not happen. To claim otherwise, is delusional and disservice to public health.

One concern that does exist is damage to testes in males, which occurs fairly reliably at 200mg/kg or above in animals (= 2.2g dried flowers in 68kg human) but has not been investigated in humans. Roselle appears to be anti-fertility in men, inducing abnormal sperm morphology. In females, there was a series of studies suggesting Roselle could cause abnormal (higher) birth weights in offspring with a delay of pubertal onset; for the most part these are attributed to the appetite suppressing effect causing maternal malnutrition: https://t.co/uI60ewyQPT

So men and women in reproductive age groups, PLEASE DO NOT consume hibiscus tea on a regular basis as there is insufficient evidence on its safety. Better to be safe than sorry.

And lastly, "Vaidya" Nayantara quotes "Ayurveda" as the guiding principle to these claims. She also talks about "cooling" effect of the "food." Well, Ayurveda is pseudoscientific garbage and "hot and cold" foods principle is an absurd and unscientific theory on diet and nutrition put forth by Ayurvedic practitioners which @krishashok and me have debunked long before here: https://t.co/WZ7ALDHbxh

As always, please follow real doctors advise for bettering your health. Take care. Hope not rude (because the fan base is much larger 🥲)

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

I have been fighting medical/health misinformation for the longest time and it just does not seem to end. I have come to understand that the only way to fight medical misinformation is to consistently speak about it and make examples of people who mislead and misinform.

Many people messaged me directly asking me to be "kind" towards Ms. Samantha after I called her out for her public endangering misinformation on nebulization of hydrogen peroxide for respiratory viral infections. She doubled down by citing these two "doctors" who she thought were "credible" sources and shared their opinions/views without a fact-check, with her millions of followers. Some people even lashed at me, asking me to debate her "doctors" rather than pull down Samantha herself.
More on that here: https://t.co/oNvmlJXLgJ

I am a clinical doctor. Compassionate, ethical, empathetic care is ingrained in me from the moment I stepped into medical school. These virtues only grow with clinical practice and people who know me, know how I am to people, patients and their family. I do not have to showcase "kindness" or "answer to" strangers on the internet while communicating facts. Being vocal and brutally straightforward with facts is the only way medical misinformation can be handled in certain situations, especially when the person who peddles the misinformation has been brainwashed into believing in irrationality.

I have been practicing medicine independently for almost a decade and I deal with the sickest group, the most chronic group, the most brutally afflicted group of patients in clinical medicine - liver failure patients. And I know how "doctors" like the ones showcased below, the source of Ms. Samantha's medical information will queue up to devour a chronic disease patient/family's vulnerability, ignorance, confusion and mental health state. They are not doctors. They are business men. They are the worst that can happen to medical practice. I do not have to debate such people.

[A]
Dr. Mitra Basu Chillar may have been a doctor and has the required registrations/certifications to show he is one, but at present, he is not. His clinic runs dubious, dangerous and non-recommended practices under the garb of wellness that are a waste of money, time and person.
For example their ozone therapy: In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against using ozone therapy. This is because there is not enough evidence to conclude that it is effective or safe for medical use. https://t.co/tnvwPWtOwr

Their IV cocktail therapy for improving tolerance to alcohol use and post use hangover, exhaustion and skin supplementation are all fraudulent practices that can have serious adverse events with multiple clinical societies advising people to stay away from such businesses. Any "doctor" who provides "treatment for pre-alcohol and post alcohol use" is NOT A DOCTOR in my strong opinion. Dr. Chillar's clinic has actually named this therapy "Happy Hours" (https://t.co/jq8eIoS2Nt). This is a disgrace to medical profession and professionals. He should just quit.

And IV vitamin therapies that they sell at Dr. Chillar's clinic are a complete scam: https://t.co/e4MDtYTJXq and https://t.co/QdPMsHfVtr

Their low dose ketamine therapy in clinic setting is not recommended and typically clinics like Dr.Chillar's are for-profit enterprises. This therapy must be provided under proper expert care and for severe resistant depression. Dr. Chillar's clinic does not seem to have such experts on board and this potentially endangers people: https://t.co/mC69pB01V7

Similarly, Dr. Chillar's ultraviolent blood radiation therapy is also an utter nonsense, medically wasteful and expensive procedure which The American Cancer Society calls "one of many types of ineffective treatment fraudulently sold by alternative cancer treatment clinics" (like Dr. Chillar's).

None of their treatments are effective or beneficial or border any close to being "preventative medicine" and is a huge scam, loss of money and in extreme cases, loss of life. I do not have the space here to debunk all of it, but you may check with credible sources on these promoted at their website: https://t.co/MoCGEIza2y and someone must shut this shit show of a clinic down for public health endagerment.

[B]
Now Dr. Jockers. The other "doctor" Samantha cited. The less said about this fraud, the better. Jockers is not a doctor. He is a naturopath. Naturopaths are a menance to society, a danger to patients, and a public health malignancy. And rightly so, Samantha's Dr. Jockers has been warned multiple times by the US FDA, the US FTA and many other health regulatory bodies for selling and promoting public health endangering products and services. Basically, he is plain simple fraud.
👉https://t.co/bFJzoy56dY
https://t.co/fJ91hzJveU
👉https://t.co/Ihejs7VlC3

I understand and empathize with Samantha's health condition and I wish her the very best. I apologize if she felt uneasy or bad the way the message was conveyed. That was unintentional. My aim was her to leave behind medical misinformation peddling "doctors" who are using her vulnerability, and catering to her anecdotal experiences, for their gain. I sincerely suggest that patients with chronic illnesses, please continue with evidence-based medical practices to remain inside a safety net and sanctuary.

Science-based medicine is for everyone's benefit. You can come up with any conspiracy theories on medical science and the industry, but the truth is - it is what got us here. From vaccines to antibiotics to life saving interventions - both surgical and minimally invasive, scientific discoveries that change for the better; and the practitioners who use them to cater to you, are always your strongest allies in health and disease. Unlike these two below.

Take care, stay safe, and stand up for science.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

The classical response from Ayurveda practitioners or Ayurveda sympathizers (and other alternative medicine practitioners) when debating the role of alternative medicine in healthcare is to "go and study Ayurveda or read Ayurveda" to understand it better. This is a logical fallacy, a kind of escapism. Dr. Kanojia here, has not read the Ayurvedic texts, which is why, he keeps fielding for Ayurveda.

India has a 5 year teaching course for students for Bachelors in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery called BAMS.

I have the complete syllabus collection of all curriculum approved text books of Ayurveda in my home library. I spent almost two years reading every single book taught in BAMS syllabus.

Classical Ayurvedic teaching material is rich in misogyny, nauseatingly magical thinking, extreme levels of animal cruelty and meat eating, primitive observations, primal herbal and interventional therapies and principles of practice based on obsolete humoral and elemental theories of disease formation and diagnosis.

For example:

For treatment of large tumors, honey was applied over the growth, flies are allowed to lay eggs on the tumor and the maggots are allowed to eat the tumor from within. The residual tumor is then burned off.

For women in obstructive labor, the hips, buttocks are beaten, the lady is made to inhale smoke from burned snake skin and feathers are used for tickling.

For the treatment of tuberculosis (there was no germ theory at the time, but descriptions of emaciation in tuberculosis was observed) the patient is fed herbs and made to drink alcohol (alcohol is in fact one of the risk factors for tuberculosis as we know now) and cure is achieved by massages from "beautiful ladies."

For treatment of seizures in children, demons were considered the cause (they still teach this in the BAMS curriculum) and such demonic possessions were slayed using prayers and chants.

For treatment of diabetes (there was no knowledge of actual diabetes, it was called Premeha and there were different types of Premeha based on diet/ activity, semen quality and based on "doshas". Ayurvedic texts describe some of the causes of "diabetes" to eating meat and drinking milk. There are nearly 20 types of diabetes described in Ayurveda - which of course, is nonsense.

For treatment of sexual disorders, testicles of various types of animals were boiled with herbs and the formulation applied or drank to increase sexual prowess and to "have sex with a 1000 women."

The bottom line is, if you actually read/study the Ayurvedic texts, you'll realize how completely absurd & pseudoscientific the whole system is and you'll never vouch for it again. I am sharing some excerpts from BAMS textbooks in the subsequent post.

Do not send your children to study BAMS and of course, do not read these texts. I did, so that you dont have to. It will take you to a dark place.

[Oxtail Pricing Specialist @simsimmaaz]

Nah but telling a woman you won't perform a medical procedure she specifically asked for not for safety reasons but because you think a man might want to use her body later to have a child is actually wild when you sit back and think about it.