Surgery as part of Ayurveda
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II and IV Social Justice & Ethical issues
Why in news?
On November 19, a government notification listed out specific surgical procedures that a postgraduate medical student of Ayurveda must be “practically trained to acquaint with, as well as to independently perform”. The notification has invited sharp criticism from the Indian Medical Association, which questioned the competence of Ayurveda practitioners to carry out these procedures, and called the notification an attempt at “mixopathy”.
Key details
- The IMA has planned nationwide protests on December 8 against this notification, and has threatened to withdraw all non-essential and non-Covid services on December 11.
- It is not that Ayurveda practitioners are not trained in surgeries, or do not perform them. In fact, they take pride in the fact that their methods and practices trace their origins to Sushruta, an ancient Indian sage and physician, whose comprehensive medical treatise Sushruta Samhita has, apart from descriptions of illnesses and cures, also detailed accounts of surgical procedures and instruments.
- There are two branches of surgery in Ayurveda — Shalya Tantra, which refers to general surgery, and Shalakya Tantra which pertains to surgeries related to the eyes, ears, nose, throat and teeth. All postgraduate students of Ayurveda have to study these courses, and some go on to specialise in these, and become Ayurveda surgeons.
- “The only thing that we do not do is super-speciality surgeries, like neurosurgery. For most other needs, there are surgical procedures in Ayurveda. It is not very different from allopathic medicine,” said P Hemantha Kumar, professor and head of the department of general surgery at the government-run National Institute of Ayurveda in Jaipur.
- The 2016 regulations allow postgraduate students to specialise in Shalya Tantra, Shalakya Tantra, and Prasuti evam Stree Roga (Obstetrics and Gynecology), the three disciplines involving major surgical interventions. Students of these three disciplines are granted MS (Master in Surgery in Ayurveda) degrees.
- Ayurveda practitioners say the latest notification just brings clarity to the skills that an Ayurveda practitioner possesses. The surgeries that have been mentioned in the notification are all that are already part of the Ayurveda course. But there is little awareness about these. A patient is usually not clear whether an Ayurvedic practitioner has the necessary skill to perform one of these operations. Now, they know exactly what an Ayurveda doctor is capable of. The skill sets have been defined. This will remove question marks on the ability of an Ayurveda practitioner,” Hemantha Kumar of the Jaipur-based National Institute of Ayurveda said.
- A statement from the IMA said it condemned the “predatory poaching on modern medicine and its surgical disciplines” by CCIM (Central Council of Indian Medicine, which functions under the Ministry of Ayush). “This is another step to legitimise mixopathy,” it said.
China turns on ‘artificial sun’
Paper:
Mains: G.S. III Science & Technology
Why in news?
State media of China reported on Friday that China successfully powered up it’s “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor for the first time, marking a great advance in the country’s nuclear power research capabilities.
Key details
- The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device, and scientists hope that the device can potentially unlock a powerful clean energy source.
- It is situated in Sichuan province.
- It is designed to replicate nuclear fusion process that occurs naturally in sun and stars to generate energy.
- Its purpose is to provide almost infinite clean energy through controlled nuclear fusion. So it is often dubbed as “artificial sun”.
- Fuel Used: It uses heavy and super-heavy isotopes — atomic variations — of hydrogen known as deuterium and tritium.
- Working: These isotopes are heated by powerful electric currents, that breaks electrons away from their atoms and forms charged plasma of hydrogen ions.
- Powerful magnets lining inner walls of this device contain plasma to tiny area to maximise chance fusing together these hydrogen ions.
- When these ions are fused together they produce large amount of energy, which can then be harnessed to run power plant and produce electricity same as seen in traditional nuclear fission reactors.
RBI holds rates, sees FY GDP contraction at 7.5%
Paper:
Mains: G.S. III Indian Economy
Why in news?
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India left benchmark interest rates unchanged and retained, an accommodative stance as it prioritised support for the economy over sticky inflation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key details
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- The MPC kept the RBI’s key lending rate , the repo rate, steady at 4%.
- The RBI also brightened it’s outlook for the economy, projecting that the GDP contraction would narrow to 7.5% for the financial year ending in March 2021, a full 2% points lower than 9.5% it had forecast in October.
- Citing the improvement in activity in the second quarter, it projected that GDP would return to growth of 0.1% in Q3, and expand 0.7% in Q4.
- The MPC said, there is considerable optimism on success in vaccine trials and consumers remain optimistic about the outlook, and business sentiment of manufacturing firms is gradually improving.
- Inflation still remains a concern for policymakers. Cost-push pressures continue to impinge on core inflation.
- Governor Shaktikanta Das projected retail inflation to average 6.8% in Q3, before moderating to 5.8% in Q4 and 5.2% to 4.6% in the first half of next fiscal year.
- Supply side bottlenecks had fuelled inflation and large margins were being charged to the consumer.
- Governor said that the MPC has decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary – at least during the current financial year and inti the next financial year – to revive growth on a durable basis and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring inflation to be remained in mandated limits.
From dolphins and whales, new insights on COVID-19
Paper:
Mains: G.S. III Environment and Ecology
Why in news?
In a review article published in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology on Thursday, ecologist and evolutionary biologist Terrie Williams of the University of California–Santa Cruz explores how the diving physiology of marine mammals can help us understand the effects of Covid-19. Williams has spent decades studying the physiology of marine mammals and their extraordinary ability to perform strenuous activities while holding their breath for long periods under water. Texas A&M University marine biologist Randall Davis has co-authored the paper with her.
Key details
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- When infected by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, people experience a drop in oxygen levels in their blood. This makes them vulnerable to damage in a large range of tissues.
- Compare this with marine mammals such as dolphins and whales, which spend their lifetime switching between environments of high and low oxygen levels, but tolerate both — because their bodies have adapted that way.
- Marine mammals have ways to protect themselves and allow their organs to keep functioning while holding their breath for hours at a time. But to be able do that, they have had to undergo a whole suite of biological adaptations.
- The fact that humans lack these adaptations makes it important for people to protect themselves from infection with this virus. “Damage to oxygen-deprived tissues happens fast and can be irreversible, which may account for the long-term effects we are beginning to see in people after coronavirus infections,” Williams said in a statement on her research.
- The heart and brain are especially sensitive to oxygen deprivation, and marine mammals have multiple mechanisms to protect these and other critical organs.
- Marine mammals have a capacity for carrying much more oxygen than humans.
- Some marine mammals contract their spleen during dives, which releases oxygen-rich blood cells into the circulation.
- To avoid blood clots resulting from such high concentrations of red blood cells, many marine mammal species lack a clotting mechanism found in other mammals.
- Marine mammals have greatly increased concentrations of oxygen-carrying proteins such as myoglobin in heart and skeletal muscles, and neuroglobin and cytoglobin in the brain.
- Numerous safety factors enable tissues in marine mammals to withstand low oxygen and the subsequent reperfusion of tissues with oxygenated blood. In humans, reperfusion after a heart attack or stroke often leads to additional tissue damage.
- According to Williams, the solutions that marine mammals have evolved provide a natural template for understanding the potential for damage to oxygen-deprived tissues in humans.
- Our heart and brain cells are meant to last a lifetime, and we cannot replace them once they are damaged,” she added. “Dolphins and whales have natural protections that humans lack, so we are highly vulnerable to hypoxia.”