The ice bucket for ALS has
challenged Obama and the Dalai Lama among many people. I am quite sure Lam Gyalwang Drukpa or
Dzongsar Khyentse are willing accept the challenge.
I wonder how people might
have had first known about ALS. May be through Stephen Hawking! Back in 2011
when I was a teacher in Yangchenphug, I told a class of 11 science students
about Hawking and his ALS. ALS has a prognostic life of only 3 years to
live.
But Hawking has lived out all
medical predictions and it is a miracle - miracle for the medical researchers
as well. Diagnosed with this condition in 1963 at the age of 21, he still lives
on. Through Hawking, the doctors have found a unique way to learn more about
the disease behaviour of ALS.
What
is ALS?
ALS is a kind of disease that
is grouped under motor neurone disease. Through many chemical mechanisms, the
motor nerves get damaged. People usually find their limbs become weak and floppy,
unable to move at ones’ will. Some may have difficulty in speaking and
swallowing. They may trip, stumble and have unsteady gait. The cause is thought
to involve genetic mutations and mRNAs.
Is it
good to know about ALS?
It is always fashionable to
know about stuff. It is a GK point.
Though a rare condition, it
is significant to the people affected by it. The US data estimates 2-3 ALS per
100,000 persons. The maths is straight forward; Bhutan should be having 14-21
ALS patients in our population. This is wrong! Medicine is not maths and that’s
why computers can never fully replace
doctors.
Consider the genetic make-up
of a population and its interactions with the environment coupled with the lack
of specialist neurologists in Bhutan, I am optimistic that we will be able to
diagnose and treat ALS.
Can
we leave out ALS patients in Bhutan, if any?
I haven’t found reports of
ALS in Bhutan. This may be because of two reasons. There aren’t medical
journals published in Bhutan. I haven’t yet practised in Bhutan.
Are there
other important things?
I can’t say ALS is
unimportant. But certainly, at this stage in Bhutan, there many more important
things at hand to focus on. The Annual Health Bulletin lists alcoholic liver disease and high blood
pressure as the top killers. There are enough and more reasons why these
killers are on the rise, including diabetes.
What’s the point of this
article?
The young people in Bhutan including
myself, should focus on the big killers, relevant and pertinent to our society.
We should work to keep our people happy as I remember a Rudyard Kipling poem from
school that talks about healthy people for a healthy nation. As you support ALS, please support for other
diseases in Bhutan.
We need to think of other ice
bucket challenges for alcohol liver disease, hypertension and diabetes. Why can’t
we for the phallus we draw on our homes?
(This phallus is to draw attention to our own set of health challenges in Bhutan)
