Kindly don't let accidental discoveries for things like essential hypertension fade away into oblivion. What if the medical discoveries were accidental, and with no help forthcoming from any one or from governmental or global resources ?
Kindly don't let accidental discoveries for things like essential hypertension fade away into oblivion. What if the medical discoveries were accidental, and with no help forthcoming from any one or from governmental or global resources ?
Dear Editor,
I really fear if it’s only me who feels a bit different about the so called laid down policies for publication and research. What if a doctor is posted at a really remote place, where a doctor may feel handicapped with the available knowledge, and the availability of resources? What, for instance, must a doctor do in case he or she happens to try out whatever he or she can to help a patient who has taken all the risks and trouble to reach out to a doctor in the remote wilderness? While serving with the Indian Army as one of its doctors, and posted to far-flung remote border areas where there were no roads or tracks in a high altitude mountainous region, at times I had found it very difficult to evacuate a patient to the next medical centre which had better medical facilities and availability of specialists. It was in such instances, and not wanting any patient to succumb in my presence, that I followed my conscience and took a few extra steps in order to help my patients. These were not trials, and were not registered. To me these were my last calculated efforts at saving and helping my patients for whom I was directly responsible.
Many of those novel and accidental medical techniques of mine have already been showcased by me to an international audience at various international medical conferences, and which are now a part of your BMJ’s domain now, as ‘rapid responses’. After my premature and voluntary retirement seven years ago from the army, after having served for nearly 25 years, I have spent some of my spare time at the age of 53 years helping myself with some of my medical problems.
Now ‘Essential Hypertension’ had been one of the many nagging problems I had, that had continuously glared at me, and at my incapacity to deal with it. Now that I have overcome this medical problem as well, and possibly for good, I would like the medical fraternity to hear and learn about it from me (before I die and take away the innovative technique with me). There have been many people thereafter who insisted and prevailed on me, and many of them now have their blood pressures settled within the normal range and are off anti-hypertensive drugs. I believe that there would be thousands who would have come across with some real breakthroughs, but would have been unable to disclose the same to the world. Possibly here lies the story of missed opportunities due to the policies that we have. Possibly the world needs to give a fresh thought to such accidental and novel innovations, that could be very useful to the whole world. Surely, with all the resources that the world has, the global medical and scientific fraternity could help improve these innovations further.
I also feel that the world community must spare some acknowledgement and encouragement as well to such people who have come up with innovations, as people like me may not feel up to it, and may not like to fill in the nomination forms for various awards and nominations, including the one that is being organized by you, The BMJ. The world must do it for them to encourage them and keep them motivated and going. Don't let them sulk or feel neglected anymore, please.
Best regards.
Competing interests:
To date, there are more than a dozen patients who are not taking anti-hypertensive medication anymore, which they otherwise used to take regularly for past so many years. I happened to strike an accidental discovery that enabled settling down of blood pressure to within normal range. This elderly patient was a distant relative who had come all the way a very .ong way for treatment. He had been suffering from a very rare syndrome that affected his blood pressure as well, which was way beyond the accepted limits despite regular intake of anti-hypertensive medicines. This case was published as an e-letter to Editor in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on 28 May 2014 (http://www.cmaj.ca/content/186/8/E281/reply). Ever since then my other relatives, family members and close friends became aware of this unintentional and accidental technique, and I was unable to refuse some of them who wanted their hypertension should be taken care of by this accidental technique. Yes, during my service days and now after my retirement some seven years ago, I have been experimenting on my body, and have accidentally developed a few novel and innovative techniques, that I had presented at various international medical conferences. All these 16 novel techniques have been summarized in a book that I was invited to write by an international publisher last year. This book is titled, "Innovative medical techniques showcased at international conferences", and much of it is also published as 'rapid responses' in your BMJ over the last few years. With no resources at my disposal, and with my own pension, and with no help, encouragement, or acknowledgment, I could not pursue these techniques any further, but have always wanted that the global community and the medical fraternity picks up from hereon. It would help if the continuous need of antihypertensive treatment is done away with, even in a small percentage of patients, with my technique. Surely this technique, and all the other sixteen techniques that have been showcased to the international fraternity, can be improved by world's scientists and the medical fraternity, and I would love to see my techniques helping the world. Now that is my competing interest.
08 July 2015
Dr (Lieutenant Colonel) Rajesh Chauhan
Consultant Family Medicine
Honorary National Professor IMA CGP, INDIA
Family Healthcare Centre, Sector 6-B (HIG) /154, Avas Vikas Colony Sikandra, AGRA - 282007. INDIA.
Rapid Response:
Kindly don't let accidental discoveries for things like essential hypertension fade away into oblivion. What if the medical discoveries were accidental, and with no help forthcoming from any one or from governmental or global resources ?
Dear Editor,
I really fear if it’s only me who feels a bit different about the so called laid down policies for publication and research. What if a doctor is posted at a really remote place, where a doctor may feel handicapped with the available knowledge, and the availability of resources? What, for instance, must a doctor do in case he or she happens to try out whatever he or she can to help a patient who has taken all the risks and trouble to reach out to a doctor in the remote wilderness? While serving with the Indian Army as one of its doctors, and posted to far-flung remote border areas where there were no roads or tracks in a high altitude mountainous region, at times I had found it very difficult to evacuate a patient to the next medical centre which had better medical facilities and availability of specialists. It was in such instances, and not wanting any patient to succumb in my presence, that I followed my conscience and took a few extra steps in order to help my patients. These were not trials, and were not registered. To me these were my last calculated efforts at saving and helping my patients for whom I was directly responsible.
Many of those novel and accidental medical techniques of mine have already been showcased by me to an international audience at various international medical conferences, and which are now a part of your BMJ’s domain now, as ‘rapid responses’. After my premature and voluntary retirement seven years ago from the army, after having served for nearly 25 years, I have spent some of my spare time at the age of 53 years helping myself with some of my medical problems.
Now ‘Essential Hypertension’ had been one of the many nagging problems I had, that had continuously glared at me, and at my incapacity to deal with it. Now that I have overcome this medical problem as well, and possibly for good, I would like the medical fraternity to hear and learn about it from me (before I die and take away the innovative technique with me). There have been many people thereafter who insisted and prevailed on me, and many of them now have their blood pressures settled within the normal range and are off anti-hypertensive drugs. I believe that there would be thousands who would have come across with some real breakthroughs, but would have been unable to disclose the same to the world. Possibly here lies the story of missed opportunities due to the policies that we have. Possibly the world needs to give a fresh thought to such accidental and novel innovations, that could be very useful to the whole world. Surely, with all the resources that the world has, the global medical and scientific fraternity could help improve these innovations further.
I also feel that the world community must spare some acknowledgement and encouragement as well to such people who have come up with innovations, as people like me may not feel up to it, and may not like to fill in the nomination forms for various awards and nominations, including the one that is being organized by you, The BMJ. The world must do it for them to encourage them and keep them motivated and going. Don't let them sulk or feel neglected anymore, please.
Best regards.
Competing interests: To date, there are more than a dozen patients who are not taking anti-hypertensive medication anymore, which they otherwise used to take regularly for past so many years. I happened to strike an accidental discovery that enabled settling down of blood pressure to within normal range. This elderly patient was a distant relative who had come all the way a very .ong way for treatment. He had been suffering from a very rare syndrome that affected his blood pressure as well, which was way beyond the accepted limits despite regular intake of anti-hypertensive medicines. This case was published as an e-letter to Editor in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on 28 May 2014 (http://www.cmaj.ca/content/186/8/E281/reply). Ever since then my other relatives, family members and close friends became aware of this unintentional and accidental technique, and I was unable to refuse some of them who wanted their hypertension should be taken care of by this accidental technique. Yes, during my service days and now after my retirement some seven years ago, I have been experimenting on my body, and have accidentally developed a few novel and innovative techniques, that I had presented at various international medical conferences. All these 16 novel techniques have been summarized in a book that I was invited to write by an international publisher last year. This book is titled, "Innovative medical techniques showcased at international conferences", and much of it is also published as 'rapid responses' in your BMJ over the last few years. With no resources at my disposal, and with my own pension, and with no help, encouragement, or acknowledgment, I could not pursue these techniques any further, but have always wanted that the global community and the medical fraternity picks up from hereon. It would help if the continuous need of antihypertensive treatment is done away with, even in a small percentage of patients, with my technique. Surely this technique, and all the other sixteen techniques that have been showcased to the international fraternity, can be improved by world's scientists and the medical fraternity, and I would love to see my techniques helping the world. Now that is my competing interest.