Jacob

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

For me, this is a pivotal moment in my science communication career, from India perspective.

Probably the first time, a major national media invited me to write an fact-based piece on a completely rubbish alternative medicine system that enjoys government protection - Homeopathy.

Please make this your must read of the day. I dissect every common nonsensical claim from the homeopathy community and bury age-old myths associated with this 200-plus year old obsolete pre-science artefact that still enjoys an undeserving place in Indian healthcare and which also destroys many young careers.

Well done and thank you Indian Express and Ms. Rinku Ghosh, the lead on health, for this! I really welcome this change! No one should be afraid of reporting facts about health misinformation even if it is government supported or promoted. This is the people's right.

Full read:
Homeopathy survives for reasons that have little to do with effective healthcare.
https://t.co/mHHVjFgvWg

[Rahul Gandhi @RahulGandhi]

NEET। CBSE। SSC। और आज CUET।

चार परीक्षाएँ। एक करोड़ बच्चे। एक भी ईमानदारी से नहीं हो पाई।

दावे "विश्वगुरु" के, मगर देश में एक परीक्षा नहीं करवा सकते - मोदी जी ने पूरी शिक्षा व्यवस्था तबाह कर दी है।

जिस पीढ़ी का भविष्य आप बर्बाद कर रहे हैं - वही पीढ़ी आपका हिसाब करेगी।

[Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1]

#CockroachJantaParty

[Cockroach Janta Party @CJP_for_India]

Narendra Modi ji is very angry.

The government has increased petrol and diesel prices by a full 8 rupees in just 11 days.

Modi ji has called this evidence of the government's failure to run the government.

Modi ji has demanded that the Prime Minister roll back the increased petrol and diesel prices.

Will Modi's words be heard?

Video:24 May 2012 का है।
कॉकरोच जनता पार्टी 🪳 cockroach janta party

[Jacob @jacobcv]

@theliverdoc Doctor, are you doing a book session in Bangalore?

[Jacob @jacobcv]

@IndiaToday @theliverdoc @Sonal_MK Doctor, are you doing a book tour in Bengaluru?

[Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1]

Here is a SC judge that makes you want to have faith in our judicial system

[Cockrock is Back @helloGr0k]

धर्मेंद्र प्रधान का इस्तीफ़ा होना चाहिए रीट्वीट अगर सहमत है .
#dharmendre #neet

[Cockroach News @CockroachNewsX]

यदि आप Cockroach janta party समर्थक हैं, ट्विटर पर नए हैं और आपके 1000 या उससे कम Followers हैं। फिर मुझे फॉलो करें और इस मैसेज को रीट्वीट करें । आइए एक साथ आएं और Cockroach janta party को मजबूत बनाएं।

▪️ जिसको फॉलो BACK अभी तक नहीं मिला , COMMENT करे और जिसको मिल गया वे RT करे

[Jacob @jacobcv]

https://t.co/wCqLZG0ZCK

On Decision Making

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Recently a young woman from Kochi, Kerala lost her life due to work exhaustion. Ms. Anna was 26 years old. She had recently joined Ernst and Young India, Pune office.
https://t.co/n0PufkwF4U

Ernst and Young (EY) is what people call, one of the Big4 - The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC.

Ultimately it does not matter if you are working for the big four or not. What matters is that you are dispensable. Anna's family lost their daughter. EY India lost an employee. They will find another one. Anna's family won't ever, and cant, find another daughter.

Do not get married to your work. Life is precious. Moments with family are precious. If you are inside a toxic work culture, within an environment that nurtures toxic positivity, then fight hard to make it better for you. It is not easy for everyone to just quit and move to a better workplace. Only certain privileged can afford to jump jobs. It is not easy to make a jump and find a job easy in India.

If the work is going to ruin your mental health and exhaust you physically, so much that it will drive you to your ruin, talk to people, find help, get help and systematically plan a change. Overworking does not guarantee success.

In 2021, on Diwali night, work culture toxic positivity resulted in my near death experience when my car crashed into a trailer truck parked on around the road shoulder. IUp until that moment, I believed that a good doctor was one who saw many patients and who always took the calls no matter what. I was wrong. I was taking call from the ICU and giving instructions to get a patient better instead of focusing on the road. My family would have lost me that night. But I survived, thanks to the seat belt. I stopped working weekends. I made it a 5 day week for myself. My Department did not suffer because of this. I still see patients the same, but the quality of my work improved. Sleep got better. Family involvement got better.

Sleep is the most underrated part of life. It is also the most hit inside a toxic work culture. You wont realize this, because encouraging people to sacrifice sleep and nurture the work environment is normalized in many organizations including the medical profession.

For Mathrubhumi news media, me and other experts speak about toxic work culture, toxic positivity and adverse health events.

Just take care of yourself. You were born alone, you are going to leave alone. You are your best friend when it comes to health.

[It is in local language, Malayalam, so apologies for the absence of well translated version, Google Translate for webpage will have to be used for those interested]

https://t.co/d1DRJpEp6R

[Jacob @jacobcv]

@ShashiTharoor Totally agree. Companies have solutions to this by planning things better and putting more staff. They avoid these two options thinking just of short term profits and benefits... Only a government regulation can put an end to this.

[Surya @Surya95A]

On Aug 22, around 7:30pm, 4 cars were hit on the busy Indira Nagar Main 100ft road near Global Desi store & Westside. Thieves broke windows of all 4 cars, snatched 3 bags with laptops and valuables. I'm one of the victims.

CCTV footage shows it all. One guy uses a special device to silently break windows (cops say this is common). Another dude distracts the security guard. They grab bags and dash off - all in plain sight on a crowded street!

This is not the first time. Apparently, similar thefts have happened in this same lane before. Bengaluru streets are feeling less safe by the day.

@blrcitypolice need your swift action! Please investigate and take action to stop these thieves before they strike again.

Everyone, stay alert! Don't leave valuables visible in your car. Please repost to amplify and raise awareness. Stay safe, Bengaluru!

@blrcitytraffic @CPBlr @peakbengaluru @timesofindia @htTweets @ndtv @tv9kannada @BangaloreMirror @NammaBengaluroo @Newskarnataka

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

https://t.co/fLfVdJqsLi

[Jacob @jacobcv]

@theliverdoc Excellent to read, and great to read the diagnosis. Reminded me of Dr. House episodes! Keep writing. It is always refreshing to read about or see systematic diagnosis and treatment

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

"Celebrities can’t shed responsibility by saying they’re only recommending what worked for them when they’re fully aware of the dangers of celebrity culture and fanbases."

"In the past, Dr Philips has called out other stars too like Virat Kohli for saying that non-vegetarian food was causing acidity and leading to “calcium leaking from his bones”. Not only did Dr Philips debunk Kohli’s assertion, but he also called him and Prabhu “science and health illiterate”. Rightfully so, in my opinion."

A timely write up for @ThePrintIndia by Akanksha Mishra.

Please read here:
https://t.co/FaNQqvP4QK

[Jacob @jacobcv]

Check out my latest article: And the winner is .......not you https://t.co/crDZysPPXW via @LinkedIn

[Jacob @jacobcv]

@sondhi_aditya So very crisply put !! Yes !!

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Today, few neighbors of my patient, a 33 year old man, came into my outpatient department to convey the message that he had died by suicide.

On the way to Kasargod town by train, he jumped on to the tracks from the moving train and was smashed to death.

He was sufferring from alcohol use disorder and barely survived a severe episode of severe alcohol-related hepatitis 4 months back. It took me and my department a whole lot of shouldering burdens to get him out of the ICU and discharge him home.

He went through a de-addiction protocol and was off alcohol for two months. But on that train, he was partly inebriated.

He left behind his wife, aged 29 and a cherub of a daughter, aged 3. People love to believe that there is an afterlife and the spirits of the deceased linger on out of love. These are consolation borne out of grief and loss. The young child's father died. The young wife's husband is no more. There is no afterlife. When some one dies, it is same as it was before birth. Nothingness. They become memories for the living to grow around and move on. And nothing more.

Value lies in living a life. Not in living to death.

Covid had destroyed his travel and photography business. He could never recover losses. It was as if, he decided he wanted to die, as he could hardly provide for his family and became dependent on his elderly parents. To die and to quit - alcohol use reinforces that decision very easily. Even if the best doctors work on it, the simplest of answers for the patient always lie at the bottom of a bottle - because temporarily, it takes you elsewhere, away from all worries and paints an inaccurate picture that eveything was going to be ok.

When people think about alcohol use, they always think about the liver. But there is more than meets the eye with alcohol use and the one I dread, because consequences are unpredicable, is alcohol's influence on the brain. It is terrifyingly close.

Alcohol use (sometimes even one drink a day)
➡️Can reduce brain volume and accelerate brain shrinkage
➡️Can reduce "gray matter," leading to brain degeneration
➡️Can make it difficult for consumers to make new memories
➡️Slows down how your brain processes information, making it harder to work out what you are really feeling and possible consequences of your actions
➡️Alcohol targets and feeds negative feelings inside your head - regardless of your mood
➡️Increases anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric disorders higher compared to non-drinkers
➡️Can increase risk of social anxiety disorder and panic disorder
➡️Alters sleep physiology, reduces rapid-eye movement stage of sleep, induces periodic limb movements during sleep and worsens sleep quality

You can never know what alcohol can really do to you - small or large. You can never be too sure either. Because if alcohol is your friend, trust me, you dont need any enemies.

I lost my patient. A family lost their son, husband and father. What can you do about it? Directly, nothing. But there is something we all can do. None of us can stop people from drinking or enjoying their drinks. We are all adults and the most intelligent ones take the right decision on alcohol use. To abstain from it.

But the other lesser intelligent ones, can still help. At least, STOP normalizing alcohol on social media - on Instagram, on Twitter (X), on Facebook, and on your Reels and Shorts. There is no style in it. There is no love in it. When you feel putting up photos of your alcohol escapades, try to deviate and put up another picture - of your dog, your flowers, your garden or a nice book collection or something that is useful for others. Do not give undeserving credit to this socially accepted poison.Take honor in not doing so, because this way, you can contribute towards your fellow humans well being.

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

1/26
Which beverage is best for your liver?
a. Coffee
b. Tea
c. Green tea
d. Green juice detox
e. Green coffee

The answer of course in good old coffee, because...
...here is a thread on it

Spoiler alert: Its not just good for the liver
There is so much more.