When the Words “You Need Surgery” Change Everything
World Mental Health Day | October 10 You go to the doctor expecting answers. Perhaps it started with breathlessness, chest discomfort, fatigue, or an abnormal test. You expected medication, some lifestyle changes, maybe another consultation. Instead, you hear: “ You need surgery.” For a moment, you may not know what to say. The doctor continues […]
When your time isn’t up !!!
May 20, 1999. Northern Norway. Anna Bågenholm was 29 years old, a young trainee doctor pursuing radiology, was spending a day skiing with friends. She was e regular skier. The crisp Arctic air, the pristine snow, the thrill of speed— all the reasons why she loved to ski. She started her descent down the hill, […]
The Disease With No Face: Diagnosing Erdheim-Chester, One of Medicine’s Great Diagnostic Puzzles
What could possibly connect persistent pain in the long bones of both legs, excessive thirst, tissue appearing around the kidneys, fluid around the heart and an unusual layer of tissue encasing the aorta? At first, very little. One symptom may take a patient to an orthopaedic surgeon. Another to an endocrinologist. A kidney abnormality may […]
The Undiagnosed Millions: Why Diabetes May Put the Heart at Risk Before You Know You Have It
Diabetes is often imagined as a disease that announces itself. Excessive thirst. Frequent urination. Unexplained weight loss. Fatigue. A blood test that finally crosses the diagnostic threshold. Type 2 diabetes does not always behave that way. Blood glucose can remain elevated for years without producing symptoms dramatic enough to bring someone to a doctor. During […]
The Thin-Fat Indian Phenotype: Why Slim Doesn’t Always Mean Heart-Healthy
There is a reassuring sentence often heard around weight and health: “But I am not overweight.” The weighing scale may support it. The clothes still fit. The body mass index, or BMI, may even fall within what is generally considered a normal range. Yet the blood tests may tell a different story: rising glucose, high […]
From Rare Disease to New Hope: How Gene Editing Changed KJ’s Future
An infant KJ was born with an ultra-rare genetic disorder – CPS1 (carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 ) deficiency, that affects one in every 1.3 million births and carries a mortality rate of about 50% in early infancy. CPS1 is the first enzyme in the urea cycle,thus its deficiency interferes with the Urea cycle and so […]
Beyond Blood Sugar: What Diabetes Is Quietly Doing to Your Heart, Kidneys and Eyes
A person living with diabetes may walk into a consultation feeling reassured. The fasting sugars look better. The HbA1c is trending downwards On paper, diabetes looks under control. However a doctor looking at the same report is often thinking about a different set of questions. What is the blood pressure? What are the cholesterol levels? […]
