Prasad Adekar (प्रसाद आडेकर)

Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics | Astronomer | Educator | From Mumbai (The City Of Dreams)

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

I have some major news for you.

In a nutshell:
The researchers misled the public by using mathematically impossible data to artificially inflate the effectiveness of a papaya leaf extract. In their published study, the authors divided patients into different analysis groups, specifically defining a smaller group of patients as a strict subset of a larger group. However, the authors reported a higher number of recovered patients in the smaller group than in the larger one, which is a glaring arithmetic impossibility. This manipulated mathematical error was only applied to the placebo group, effectively shrinking the placebo's success rate so the papaya treatment would look successful by comparison. When the data is looked at honestly - including all randomized patients without artificially excluding anyone - the extract showed absolutely no benefit at any point during the trial.

Furthermore, the researchers changed their own methodical rules after the fact, to hide the treatment's overall failure. The trial was officially registered beforehand to measure patient recovery by Day 7 of the study. Because the papaya extract failed to show any significant benefit by that pre-planned deadline, the authors completely shifted the goalposts, falsely presenting Day 4 as their primary focus in the final publication just to highlight their manipulated data.

On top of these changing rules, the researchers broke their own eligibility guidelines by including nearly 40% of patients who did not even meet the correct cancer stage requirements to be in the study. Ultimately, the study's positive conclusions are entirely unsupported and dangerous, potentially tricking vulnerable patients into using an unproven extract instead of reliable medical care.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

A Government awarded (Padmasri) herbalist quack is "challenging me" because I exposed her "herbal cures" scam.

Here is her video link (also below): https://t.co/XAbkJub87A and here is mine exposing her: https://t.co/49BEeaHzWr

I am ready to sit at a table right across her on National TV for a LIVE debate (not online, but in person) and expose her quackery. If any media wants to do it, they can and I will comply and travel to any city. But it will be just me and her. No moderator. Just the broadcast and camera crew and the public watching us LIVE.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

With all the forced pseudoscience projects with questionable outcomes emerging from Indian Institutes of Technology across India, degrading decades of scientific credibility, mostly from political and religio-cultural agenda from the BJP and the Ministry of Ayush, this is a timely piece. Never before seen kind of "secret war" for those who really love this nation. Science community in India needs to be stronger than ever and come together to fight this spreading blight and growing rot. The hapless public deserve our candles in the dark.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Good morning. This is urgent, for public information.

The second paper on cow research funded using India's public money under the SUTRA-PIC (Scientific Utilization through Research Augmentation - Prime Products from Indigenous Cows program) has undergone exhaustive post-publication peer review.

The paper was published in Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology last year. The authors are from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) BHU-Varanasi and Birla Institute of Technology (BITS)-Pilani.
This is the paper: https://t.co/InN4H9safh

This study was done in Uttar Pradesh and the total amount of public money given was INR 31,04,162. The authors studied cow urine of different breeds and found "special" components in the cow urine that they claim will have major use applications in healthcare, technology and engineering.

They are wrong. The paper is a third-rate publication with poorly performed and grossly misinterpreted and falsified results of basic analytical chemistry. An official email for Expression of Concern and investigation into scientific integrity has been mailed to: @SpringerNature Ethics Team and Journal Editors-in-Chief (personal email) - Matthew P. DeLisa PhD
at Cornell University, Ye Ni PhD at Jiangnan University and Benedict Okeke PhD at Auburn University.

Here is the lay summary of the paper's forensic analysis:

Lab contamination has been (un)intentionally ignored by authors. The researchers mistook common lab contaminants, like plastic chemicals and solvents, for natural cow urine compounds. They failed to run basic control tests to catch these obvious errors.

Impossible chemicals claimed to be found in cow urine by authors. The paper claims to have found impossible synthetic chemicals in the urine, such as a banned pesticide, human prescription drugs, and toxic metals. This shows the authors blindly trusted computer software without checking if the results even made biological sense.

Fake health claims made by the authors. The authors boast about the amazing health benefits of over twenty different chemicals, claiming they fight cancer and bacteria. However, none of these specific chemicals were actually found anywhere in their own data or in the urine of various cows they tested.

Contradictory results are all over the place. The written text of the paper directly contradicts its own data tables. The researchers claim to have found certain groups of chemicals, like steroids, that are completely missing from their actual results.

Terrible referencing throughout the paper. The study's citations are completely mismatched, scrambled, and duplicated. They even cite unrelated plant studies and reviews on toxic chemicals to support their claims about the "benefits" of cow urine.

Zero statistics and flawed setup degrade the conclusions. The study lacks basic statistical analysis, sometimes testing as few as one cow per breed. They also failed to separate the cow's breed from its age, diet, or location, making their "breed-specific" conclusions totally invalid.

Misleading graphs are plastered all over. The graphs that are supposed to show specific, individual chemicals actually show messy mixtures of dozens of different compounds. These graphs look suspiciously identical to each other, raising serious concerns about image manipulation.

Thanks to the Government for destroying the scientific fabric and the rational temperament of its science instituitions. We wont forget.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

I have been spending most of my non-clinical hours looking at the Modi government's public funded published studies on Cow-based product research that are published in pre-clinical journals [thank you to everyone who sent me those full papers].

I am truly dissapointed to notice that most of these publications have been poorly peer-reviewed. I do not know how they got through such journals of repute.

Various papers from 2025 and 2026 from BITS Pilani, IIT Dhanbad, IIT Varanasi and IIT Roorke have clear evidence of fabrication, data falsification, data misinterpretations and duplications.

The IIT Roorke cow-urine paper is now under active investigation (see pic below).

I believe more will follow, once official notifications of concerns are sent to each journal's integrity office.

This is public (tax) money spent on fraud and deception to uphold a whole pseudoscience industry in India. Shameful.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

For the kind attention of the public please!

All through the night, I performed a post publication peer review of this IIT Roorke paper that claimed that it identified chemical components in cow urine that could highly efectively kill Chikungunya virus in lab conditions.
https://t.co/dFJ6x2eIqQ

There are serious concerns in the paper that mandate post publication Editorial Review from the Journal and Publication Integrity Office, and need for validation of findings... that could mandate a retraction as per COPE Guidelines. A document with all concerns explained has been emailed to:

🟡Professor (Dr) Thomas F. Hofmann
Editor-in-Chief
ACS Agricultural Science & Technology
🟡Copy to: Publication Integrity Office
ACS Publications, American Chemical Society
🟡Copy to: Professor (Dr) Laura McConnell
Deputy Editor, ACS Agricultural Science & Technology
🟡Copy to:William King, The Managing Editor American Chemical Society

A lay summary of major concerns are provided below:

🔴Possible areas of data fabrication, manipulation, and internal contradictions in the study claiming antiviral activity of cow urine distillate (CUD).
🔴Identical efficacy values reported for different experimental conditions, suggesting possible data duplication or carryover.
🔴Methodological flaws, including testing at cytotoxic concentrations, invalidating antiviral claims.
🔴Manipulation of synergy thresholds, using non-standard cut-offs to falsely claim synergism.
🔴Inconsistent and contradictory GC–MS datasets, with discrepancies in metabolite identification and absent compounds.
🔴Identification of synthetic pharmaceuticals, such as medroxyprogesterone, as natural metabolites, indicating contamination or misreporting.
🔴Implausible detection of prostaglandin A1, which is unstable and unlikely to survive high-temperature distillation.
🔴Lack of direct evidence linking identified metabolites to antiviral effects, with concentrations in CUD unverified.
🔴Cytotoxicity confounding viral inhibition results, with host cell death possibly causing false positives.
🔴Weak in silico and biochemical data, with docking scores and enzyme inhibition results unreliable.
🔴Structural inaccuracies in molecular docking, such as improbable hydrogen bonds.
🔴Statistical and analytical misrepresentations, including inappropriate synergy thresholds and wide variability without proper significance testing.
🔴Undeclared conflicts of interest, as funding sources and author affiliations favor traditional and cow-derived products.
🔴Numerous inconsistencies across figures and tables, including contradictory retention times and unlabelled peaks, undermining data credibility.

Requesting for action from the Journal
@ACSPublications @AmerChemSociety @ACSReactions

➡️Initiate an editorial review under ACS and COPE guidelines.
➡️Obtain raw data: plaque counts, cell viability, GC–MS spectra, and metabolite quantification.Verify compound identifications and concentrations with independent analysis.
➡️Reassess the validity of the claimed antiviral mechanism based on verified data.
➡️Reevaluate synergy analyses using standard criteria.
➡️Consider issuing an Expression of Concern pending investigation.
➡️If unresolved, proceed with retraction to protect scientific integrity and public health.

[PunsterX @PunsterX]

Vedant Srivastava - 17 yrs old
Took to social media and exposed discrepancies in CBSE's OSM marking system.

Nisarga Adhikary- 19 yrs old
Hacked CBSE website and informed them (and us) that it is vulnerable and can be hacked.

Sarthak Sidhant- 17 yrs old
Exposed how CBSE bent rules to award the OSM tender to COEMPT.

These 3 kids need to be lauded. They have given us a glimmer of hope. They have shown us, not all is lost.

We still have a future to salvage.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Dear friends, here is the full interview/podcast I had with India Today for Doctor vs. Internet.
https://t.co/YhoIXw6B0b
Please watch and let me know your thoughts. This had nothing to do with my recent debut book release and discussion, but was more of a surprise hot seat and roasting session. It was taken in good spirits and the outcome is there for all to see. This is ballistic, #mustwatch.
Hope we all learn some good take-aways from this.

In this episode we cover:
✅ Is Ayurveda scientific? The truth about the ₹3,992 crore Ayush ministry budget
✅ Fatty liver disease — causes, grades, reversal, and what your ultrasound actually means
✅ Alcohol and liver damage — why WHO says there is NO safe level
✅ Vitamin D, Omega-3, Biotin, Ashwagandha — take it or trash it?
✅ Protein powders — which ones are safe and which cause liver failure
✅ GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic/Semaglutide) and liver disease
✅ Poop transplant (FMT) — the groundbreaking treatment saving dying patients
✅ Why Huberman and wellness influencers are dangerous
✅ Doctor mental health, burnout, and the hidden cost of practising medicine in India
✅ How to keep your liver healthy for the next 20 years
And why Liver Doc refuses to debate Fittr Jitendra Chouksey and Dr. Pal.

[Divya Mittal @divyamittal_IAS]

IIT Delhi to IIM Bangalore to IAS. I got the best education my country had to offer. It taught me how to crack tough exams and manage big responsibilities. But it never taught me how to quiet my own mind or handle loneliness. We spend many years learning how to achieve, but not a single day learning how to be happy.
My thoughts on what is missing in school education.

Emotional Regulation:
We memorized the periodic table, but no one explained the chemistry of a broken heart. School demanded we stay quiet, confusing silence with peace. Now, we don't know how to host our own storms without drowning in them. We feel lost because we were taught to suppress, not to process.

Deep Communication:
We were taught to write perfect essays, but not how to say "I’m hurting" or "No." While there is a strong emphasis on communication, we are not taught the vocabulary of the adult life. There is no course on how to stand our ground in face of bullying by a boss or how to protect our work boundaries by saying 'No'

Critical Thinking:
In school, the person with the most answers won. In life, the person with the most questions survives. This is the reason many adults can repeat opinions confidently without ever questioning where those opinions came from. We are told everything as the gospel truth. So we end up just following blindly

Financial Literacy:
We spent years learning maths and solving for x, but never learned how to keep ourselves from falling in a debt trap. Money isn't just about math; it’s about the dignity of choice. We do not learn how to use debt effectively without it controlling our freedom. How impulsive spending compounds over time, or how money affects stress, relationships, and mental peace. Financial literacy is missing because education often focuses on earning money someday, not managing it wisely once it arrives.

Self-Discipline
School is a world of bells and schedules. Someone else always tells you what to do and when. But adulthood is a world of total silence. We feel stuck because we were never taught how to push ourselves without a teacher watching. Discipline is simply the habit of keeping promises to yourself. This is a habit many of us are lacking

Handling Loneliness
In school, you are always shrouded by people. You never realize how loud the silence of adulthood can be until you’re in it. We feel lonely because we weren't taught how to be our own best friends. Peace is learning that being alone doesn't mean being lonely. It is a sacred space, not a sign of being unwanted.

Reading People
School is a time of innocence where friendships are often given to you. But as we go along, not everyone retains that purity. We feel cheated because we weren't taught to see the hidden intentions or the masks people wear. Reading people is the quiet wisdom of seeing the truth behind the words.

Mental Health Maintenance
We have gym class for our bodies, but nothing for our souls. We are taught to push through exhaustion to finish a project, which is exactly how we end up in burnout. Honoring your nervous system is the only way to make sure the light inside you doesn't go out. We should know when we are dealing with a stressor and unable to handle it anymore. We should know when to reach out for help if we feel that we are drowning in that distress

Knowing Yourself
We spend years trying to be the "best" student, only to realize we don't know who we are without a gold medal. We are left inadequate because we studied every subject except our own souls. The ultimate education is discovering what truly matters to you before the world tells you what to want.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

🚨 BREAKING:

German researchers treated 15 severe lupus patients with CAR-T therapy.
All 15 went into complete remission.
Many stopped ALL medication.

Now a larger trial just confirmed it — across 3 autoimmune diseases.

This might be the biggest shift in autoimmune medicine in decades. 🧵

[Dr.Sivaranjini @dr_sivaranjani]

I am reiterating that milk mixes are not recommended. If you have anyway decided to go for a milk mix, do not get misled by marketing tactics about them increasing the height of your children. Do not get misled by claims they do not have sugar, when they have actually added jaggery, honey, dates sugar etc. Glycemic index of jaggery and refined sugar are similar. Honey's glycemic index is lesser than that of jaggery/refined sugar, and date sugar's glycemic index is less than that of honey. Do not get carried away if the milk mixes have Maltodextrins (with glycemic index more than that of glucose also), but claim to be sugar free. UNFORTUNATELY, FSSAI DOESN'T RECOGNIZE MALTODEXTRINS AS SUGAR. THIS REGULATORY LOOP HOLE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. THE IDEA IS TO ENSURE THE INFANTS, TODDLERS, AND CHILDREN DO NOT DEVELOP CRAVING/PREFERENCE FOR SWEET FOODS. SO, SWEETENING INFANT CEREAL WITH DATE SUGAR TOO IS NOT RECOMMENDED. UNFORTUNATELY, FSSAI DOESN'T RECOGNIZE DATE SUGAR AS SUGAR. THIS REGULATORY LOOP HOLE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED TOO. At the same time, do not overload your children with high protein milk mixes too. You can very well plan the protein by giving balanced diet to your children. The protein requirement is around 1 to 1.5 grams per kg body weight per day for children. A little more is fine, but do not overload.
Upto 2 years of age, no added sugar is recommended. Giving a date as a fresh fruit is ok, but sweetening the food with date sugar is not ok. After 2nd birthday also, moderate the consumption of sugar/sugar equivalents such that child doesn't end up craving for sweet foods all the time. The upper limit of sugar+sugar equivalents is 5 to 6 tea spoons per day, but try to keep it lower, and avoid flavoured milk atleast till 5 to 6 years of age. Occasional indulgence is perfectly fine, but the child craving for sweets everyday is not good for the child. Work towards this goal without the child developing a negative association with food.

Why this obsession for monk fruit sweeteners and stevia for children? Enough studies are not there in the first place. Only high- purity stevial glycosides and Natural Monk fruit are generally recognized as safe by FDA. Many of the commercially available monk fruit sweeteners add bulking agents including erythritol, which can cause digestive disturbances, and heart attack and stroke at high doses. Stevia can affect the gut microbiome and can cause digestive disturbances.
The overall craving for sweets increases, and people tend to gravitate towards sweet and processed foods than whole foods.
So, why are we even considering these alternatives for children?!?!?!?!
Neither American Academy of Paediatrics nor Indian Academy of Paediatrics has talked about it so far, but parents have started giving these to the children. There are not enough studies please! Treat the children like children, and not like miniature adults! Do not extrapolate what you are doing for your weight management to children please!

#stevia #monkfruit #milkmixes #slurrpfarm #dexogrow

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

This post on traditional medicine from our honorable PM has 19K likes.

As an Indian citizen, I am going to go ahead and say a few things that may not be appetizing. Apologies for the long post.

19K likes and 1000s of comments "appreciating" this absolutely useless post which means nothing shows the abyssmal science literacy of Indian populace online.

I am not blaming this Govt only, and all Govts are to blame for keeping pseudoscience alive and a "career option" for young minds in India - but I will clearly saw that Govt is the one who really kickstarted this brain rot.

These so-called "Summits" , "Deep Discussions" and "Bilateral Meetings" on herbal/traditional medicine, and Ayush are as important as toiler paper is, for the dining table.

This whole "eye-wash" is just to keep the emotions among public alive on AYUSH (especially Ayurveda). Since the 10+ years this Govt has been in powder, there has been ZERO clinically beneficial output in Traditional Medicine that has changed medicine.

It has always been these "Summits" or "MoUs - Memorandum of Understanding" with "Institutes of National Reputes" - like AIIMS , PGI Chandigarh, IITs or JIPMER and NIMHANS. These MoUs have also resulted in ZERO clinically relvant outcomes in medicine and research from India by AYUSH sector.

In fact these MoUs have actually resulted in complete destruction of institutes of repute.

In 2017, it was reported that scientists at AIIMS, Delhi, received government funding to research the medicinal value of Panchgaavya - a mixture including cow urine and feces. However, a faculty member, responding to viral claims, stated that AIIMS's Animal Ethics Committee would not permit such experiments.

Similarly, this Govt promoted research into cow derivatives through the "Scientific Validation and Research on Panchgavya" (SVAROP) program, which has received proposals from institutions like IIT Delhi - as if this was what IITs where made to do. It is pathetic.

NIMHANS, the best neurosciences institute in the country was hijacked by traditional medicine (AYUSH) and is now offering public/ patients "integrated healthcare" which includes a bunch of pseudoscience packages.

JIPMER, once a shining post-graduate medical institute is now offering "integrated course" - where students can learn both modern medicine AND Ayurveda together and ruin their lives as well as their patients.

Just like these wasted programs, this "Summit" will also cater to the post-truth era that has taken over Indian healthcare and research - where feelings and emotions are more important than science, research and discovery.

To give you an idea of how things must be, The Kerala State Govt. recently developed the Centre of Excellence in Microbiome (https://t.co/mXiO9DaGpw) that will study population-level microbiota and help improve our understanding of non-communicable diseases and develop precision microbial therapies. The State Govt is also developing a dedicated ₹643.88-crore organ transplant institute in Kozhikode (https://t.co/kzYj1jfRJV).

These are the "Summits" and "Meetings" that matter, not this worthless Traditional Medicine circus you always put out. And wHO is doing this because India funds them and they are partly a political organization, not a pure scientific one. The brain rot people who keep appreciating you in the comments do not even realize this fact.

Look at India's organ transplant status when it comes to patient level - there is not a single valuable national or core organ transplant center in the central government institute. All these AIIMS, PGIs - and not a single proper core transplant program.

Dont you think the Indian public deserve better than these tradition and culture based eye-washing and white-washing of pseudoscience? Or maybe the current majority among the public deserves this circus and nonsese only and others are forced to ride shotgun.

Food for thought.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Gentle reminder.

These are pseudoscientific businesses:

Ayurveda
Homeopathy
Siddha
Naturopathy
Unani
Functional Medicine
Chiropractic

If you are opting for any of these, remember that you are promoting a business. Not healthcare.

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

Through the development of metal–organic frameworks, 2025 chemistry laureates Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi have provided chemists with new opportunities for solving some of the challenges we face.

Following the laureates’ groundbreaking discoveries, researchers have created numerous different and functional metal–organic frameworks (MOF). So far, in most cases, the materials have only been used on a small scale. To harness the benefits of MOF materials for humanity, many companies are now investing in their mass production and commercialisation. Some have succeeded. For example, the electronics industry can now use MOF materials to contain some of the toxic gases required to produce semiconductors. Another MOF can instead break down harmful gases, including some that can be used as chemical weapons. Numerous companies are also testing materials that can capture carbon dioxide from factories and power stations, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Some researchers believe that metal–organic frameworks have such huge potential that they will be the material of the twenty-first century.

On 8 December, our three 2025 chemistry laureates will be sharing more about their research into MOFs in their Nobel Prize lectures. Tune into our live stream at https://t.co/m577HIID0a to find out more.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Steps.

10k steps is a myth.

Here is what matters.

Minimal “benefit” zone: ~4,000 steps/day is already better than very low activity. If someone is very sedentary (<2,000 steps), even small increases matter.

Realistic healthy target: ~8,000 steps/day maximum low risk of dying (from all causes) and reduced disease-risk benefit.

~8,000-10,000+ steps/day may give additional benefit (especially for healthy people), but with diminishing returns. So cap at 8k when it comes to healthy steps. You can go higher, but the benefits have a ceiling effect.

For liver-specific health: Aiming for ~8,000 steps/day or above is ideal.
But even jumping from low to ~5,000 can confer meaningful reductions in risk of fatty liver or progression.

[Dhruv Rathee @dhruv_rathee]

I know this is a joke but it’s already happening..

When PM2.5 = 80 µg/m³

India’s CPCB classifies it as Moderate air quality. In European Union, same air is classified as Hazardous

[Dr.Sivaranjini @dr_sivaranjani]

Yes doc! I am so sad that even at this point, pushing the 180 crore stock into the children is more important than the health and lives of children! It's a shame!

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Make this your must read for the day. We need to celebrate doctors like her.

This is the story of Dr. Sivaranjani Santosh, a paediatrician from Hyderabad, who fought for 8 years against sugar-rich drinks falsely marketed as ORS.

Her persistence led to FSSAI’s landmark order, protecting children and patients from misleading claims.

“These drinks had 10x the sugar WHO recommends, worsening diarrhoea and complications in millions of kids,” she explains.

Her 8-year battle changed the game for public health and children across India.

What is sad is that it took 8 years for the government and regulator to understand that these so-called ORS drinks were harmful to children. We need to have quicker public health reforms.

[IUCAA Scipop @IUCAAScipop]

K-12 Astronomy Education Conference- Thailand(1-4 September 2025)
Astronomy Workshop &amp; Poster Presentation
Venue: National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT)
Participants: 60 Educators
By Mr. Prasad Adekar

@EduMinOfIndia
@ugc_india
@asipoec
@astro4edu_India

[Akshat Shrivastava @Akshat_World]

Indian Private Banks posting bad results is a sign of struggling economy.

Banks reflect a subset of what's happening.
Poor results stem from :-

- Slowdown in borrowing
- Bad asset quality emerges because of riskier lending
- Banks do well, when economy does well.

India is witnessing de-industrialization.

Our manufacturing sector is not growing, despite all the fake marketing.

Service sector is not creating enough jobs.
And, net FDIs are hitting all time recent lows.

The only way to change this is to push for lower taxes across the board. At the same time relaxation should be given to small businesses. The compliance burden has to come down.

India has some outrageous taxation system.
And, this is making us deeply uncompetitive.
This needs to change fast.