Rationable

Fighting misinformation with #science and #skepticism through reason and rationality. #FactCheck your world. NOT a Dr.

[Shivraj Parshad @ShivrajParshad]

Kawariyas are terrorising our colony @DelhiPolice they’re racing through Vasant Vihar with glass shattering music and lights. Please help @VVWA_VV

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Never a better day.

[Rationable @berationable]

@athrvakhrbde @shasnthegame What exactly is this game?

[Rationable @berationable]

So. When is the next #DuneMovie ? Bring on #DuneMessiah people! Let’s do this @DenisVfilms … please?

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Blood letting is a pseudoscientific therapy practiced in Ayurveda (Indian Traditional Medicine) and Unani (Greco/Persio-Arabic Traditional Medicine) practices. It is ineffective and dangerous. It works on the principle of "good blood - bad blood" which is a centuries-old obsolete theory. In Ayurveda or Unani, this is also done by placing leeches to suck out bad blood. I still do not understand how the leech knows what bad or good blood is to preferentially suck it out. This is a crazy dangerous pseudoscientific practice which is also part of Ayurvedic "detox" Panchakarma therapy. Please dont waste your money, time and health on these.

[Rationable @berationable]

So I have ADHD and it's created havoc in my life. But after my diagnosis, I've discovered so much more about myself and have actually learned to appreciate myself so much more. Here's my story. #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealth #adhd

https://t.co/i5tmgE4rHF

[Rationable @berationable]

Should we devalue religion in India? Do we even need to? #atheist #atheism #religion
https://t.co/NFfk8QQd8Y

[Rationable @berationable]

"Atheism is just another religion" we hear believers say. But is it true? Obviously not! But here's why. https://t.co/7swYTU0N1U

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

This is "ear detox," also known as "ear candling." It's gaining momentum as a "detox procedure" in India. Please don't subject yourself to this nonsense. It's dangerous and it does not help remove "toxins" from within the head through the ear.
https://t.co/OnBSmTxMab

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Tell me you have not taken Biology as a subject in school anytime, without telling me you have not taken Biology as a subject in school anytime.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Dr. Pal gets it wrong again and in the process, disparages mothers who opt for C-section instead of normal vaginal delivery

I am a gut microbiome clinical researcher.
https://t.co/sDs0dwkLzG
And it is my duty to correct health misinformation especially if it falls in my domain

Claims:
1. Vaginal delivery improves gut bacteria in babies rather than C-section delivery
2. Babies born through normal vaginal delivery have better future health (as in less obese) than those born through C-section

Does that mean moms opting for C-section are to be demonized for their kids poor health in the future?

Absolutely not.

This is misinformation.

Response:
1. Two new findings:
(a) Older studies mention that babies born through vaginal delivery have different bacterial profile when born through C-section. That is the microbiomes of C-section babies look a lot different from those of babies born vaginally. But the impact of this on future health of babies remain unclear - meaning there is no signficant impact on babies health in this context. But new studies have shown that whether born naturally or via Cesarean section, babies receive essential microbes from their mothers. So dont worry about the type of delivery.
"While cesarean-born babies do receive less of their mother's gut microbiome during birth, they make up for this by drinking their mother's microbes in breastmilk."
https://t.co/4rxddTdV6l
The study found that about 80 per cent of C-section-born babies had hospital-acquired bacteria in their guts when they were born, compared with 50 per cent of vaginally born babies. But by the time the babies were weaned at the age of around 6 to 9 months, these differences had largely disappeared. And all the babies were healthy, so the researchers can’t tell if there are any implications for health.
https://t.co/plm1hywdSF

(b) But hear this out - New research suggests that exposure to the vaginal microbiome during birth may not influence babies' gut microbiome as has long been assumed. A new study conducted by a team of Canadian scientists has revealed that the composition of the mother's vaginal bacteria has no significant influence on the bacteria composition found in infant stool during early life.
https://t.co/btbEAbZIFv
"It does not appear that exposure to maternal vaginal microbiota at the time of vaginal birth establishes the infant stool microbiome", - Dr. Deborah Money, Professor of Obstetrics, University of British Colombia
https://t.co/PYY93UVsaH

2. There is ABSOLUTELY NO link between C-section deliveries causing obesity later on in life. This has been debunked by well-designed studies recently. And there is no proof that the changes associated with gut bacteria due to C-section vs vaginal delivery promotes obesity in kids in the future. Absolutely none.
https://t.co/dmY0fByn2Q and https://t.co/S0DLMrCb9r and https://t.co/OC6Af5q0gU

A woman wants C-section vs normal vaginal delivery? It is her choice. And then there are medical reasons to opt for C-section too. C-sections is all fine. So my dear ladies, please dont get gas lighted into feeling sorry for yourself. You take care.

[Rationable @berationable]

@theliverdoc I’ll drink to that! 🤣 no, wait, I’ll wank to that! Yup. That’s better. On a similar note, I feel governments should legalise porn and prostitution. There are a whole host of benefits for those working in those industries and their patrons too.

[Rationable @berationable]

This is so heartbreaking to hear, and another reminder that #womensday is every single day, because they are so powerful, so caring and so altruistic. But most importantly, they are human and they are equal. It sounds almost ridiculous to say that, but everyone needs to hear it and understand its deepest implications.

Men are NOT better/more valuable than #women.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

I echo these findings whole-heartedly.

As a liver transplant physician, I have always seen these wretched disparities and they are sometimes haunting:

1. The women, including young daughters, never hesitate to donate liver to their father, husband, son, brother. They become the "alpha" when put under extreme stress, especially in the context of healthcare. I have seen men whimper and buckle down when faced with stress due to healthcare challenges.

2. The fierce empathy that women have for ailing males in the family is inexpressible, cannot be described. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for males. My own patient's daughter is proof of it. She was 17 and not of organ donation age, but went to a Court of Law and got permission to donate as a minor even when there were enough "cousin males" who could donate. See here: https://t.co/GvHmUe375p and I have discussed this real life story in my post here (do not miss it): https://t.co/JALVBsn68Z

3. Just yesterday I met a family of four - father, mother and two sons above the age of 25. The father clearly needs a liver transplant, but the sons are not forthcoming. It is also because the father does not want the sons to donate and "risk their lives," BUT would without a second thought, accept the wife's or a daughter's [if he had one] liver if given the option.

I once had a young man, a son who was the perfect liver donor for his father, but was not willing to donate because he felt he "would be scarred" for life and he had not even started his professional college. Then there was another "hero" of a guy, who wanted his girlfriend's permission to donate a part of his liver to his mother - own mother, not step mother.

The issue runs so deep and women are still considered "commodities" in many families.

The number of women who still willing to donate part of their liver to husbands who beat them black and blue when drunk and when they end up on the transplant list with liver failure still surprise me.

I even had an alcohol-related liver failure patient who got his life back after his wife, who used to be domestically abused, donated part of her liver. Two years after the transplant, he got back to drinking alcohol and started beating his wife up again. I feel powerless when I face such rogue patients.

Not just about being an altruistic donor, the issue goes further deep. In the United States, clinicians found that men were getting transplanted more, and women lesser, when they both has similar "clinical" liver disease severity and found that the sex-disparity was due to the transplant score calculator - called MELD that they used. Allocation MELD score was associated with a 53.0% increase in the disparity between men and women, such that women had 14.4% greater risk of wait list death than men!

So to bridge this gap in sex disparity and to equalize women to men when it comes to receiving a donor liver on time, the MELD.3 was made. See here: https://t.co/77CDmOSsPO

We have a lot to do. Especially when it comes to celebrating, protecting, nurturing, empathizing and caring for our women, especially in healthcare.
And all women in general.

[Rationable @berationable]

@ThinkingPowers @bluehost I’ve been using squarespace. It’s expensive but very good and stable.

[Rationable @berationable]

@PaleBlueTweet @BeingSalmanKhan Definite nominee for the Darwin Awards. But no winners unfortunately.

[Pale Blue Thoughts @PaleBlueTweet]

The @theliverdoc recognised for his brilliant and unflinching dedicated efforts. Kudos to him and his resolve to fight pseudoscientific medicine ! More power to you Doc !

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

This Friday, 10th November, 2023

On the 8th Ayurveda Day at 8pm Indian Time on X (Twitter) Spaces
https://t.co/OiQBPdBJOH

What Vaidyas Don't Tell You

Let us discuss both sides of the coin
Hosted by @unitrisept

It's an open house featuring @theliverdoc, @ScienceIsDope_, @berationable and @arifhussaintm

People who believe that their ancestors did more science than they ever studied in college, those who believe that anecdotal personal experiences are more powerful than evidence, Ayurveda practitioners who have cured many diseases that "Allopathy" could not cure, and those who love embracing dogmas more than medical science in healthcare are most welcome.

[Thinking Is Power @ThinkingPowers]

Did I say yet how awesome CSICon was? I did? Here it comes again...

@center4inquiry @BillNye @RichardDawkins @NBTiller @StephenHupp @atrecekking @SkepticZone @RichardWiseman @BrianDunning @skeptoid

https://t.co/Y4sHWR8NER

[The Desi Science Page @desisciencepage]

The greatest mathematician that ever lived 🇮🇳

(by @ScienceIsDope_)

https://t.co/bldxVeKjyI

#Ramanujan

[Rationable @berationable]

Wordle 846 4/6 😁

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