Author: rjoshimgims

Fever is a common symptom of an illness. It is a perception of warmth, often coupled with a mix of feeling cold, shaking and an urge to cover oneself with a blanket. As fever leaves our body, sweat takes over, leaving us drenched and weak. Doctors started giving fever a number only in later half… Continue reading Thermometer: Need to give fever a number on a scale

Gender based violence (GBV) is a broader term, which actually implies “violence against women.” Its definition (as per UN declaration, 1993) is broad, and it refers to “…any violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary… Continue reading Gender based violence exists, but is quite often ignored

India, like many other countries in the world is a patriarchal society. This traditional system prefers a male child, who is believed to carry forward the family name. This deeply rooted preference often puts girl-child at a disadvantage. Coupled with patriarchy, child marriages (that led to lower education levels in girls, and expectation to raise… Continue reading Girl Child and movement for its rights in India

Prostaglandins are a substances, that are produced by many cells in our body. While they mostly have a local action, a list of tasks they perform is long and complex. They alert us by causing pain and fever, whenever our organs encounter injurious signals. Prostaglandins also help to pause a bleed, form a clot, and… Continue reading Prostaglandins: Substances with too much on their plate

We usually visualize nurses to be in a white attire, but more recently the colors are often blue, green or mauve. On the other hand Khaki (a brownish yellow color) belongs to military, police or law enforcing forces. So indeed, Nurses in Khaki are serving military personnel. It is indeed an irony that nursing profession… Continue reading Nurses in Khaki, and how it all began

None of the 30 trillion cells that make up the human body, can be seen with a naked eye. Most of these tiny cells, have an even tinier energy producing “organelles”. These are our “mitochondria”. Cells that forms the heart muscle, have about 8000 of these in each cell, while cells in our other muscles… Continue reading Mighty but tiny energy houses in our cells -mitochondria

Iodine While salt is ancient, Iodine is relatively recent. It was 1811, and Europe was perpetually in a war. Gun-powder was in a short supply, and a French Chemist Bernard Courtois was experimenting, on how to make more of it. In the process, he poured acid over sea-weed. A cloud of violet fumes erupted, which… Continue reading Iodine, salt and smiling sun: A forgotten story

Many doctors may have come across a Monthly Medical Journal “The Antiseptic“. This Journal – A monthly publication of medicine and Surgery, was established in the year 1904, in Madras (now Chennai). This Journal was started by Dr U Rama Rau and Dr TM Nair. Both of them were medical doctors, as well as active… Continue reading Dr TM Nair: A doctor politician in Madras Presidency

Mirror reflects. It is so honest, that we frequently invoke a mirror for a reality check. In ancient times, mirrors were an item of luxury, made up from polished metals. Mercury coated glass mirrors were developed in quite a secrecy in 16th century Central Europe. They became more cheap and popular only in 19th century,… Continue reading Mirror, mirror on the wall… light it bends, to show it all.

We all aspire to be healthy, yet with each passing day we navigate through its risks. Most of these risks are unseen, hidden in details, and they often impact us in a very subtle manner. It is almost like an eerie pale silhouette, which lives far away from public view, distant and forgotten. In 2001… Continue reading Silhouettes of risk and their impact on our healthy lives