Eye Doctor 'Out of the Box'

By Ittyerah Tholath

This book is an attempt to find a scientific solution to the three unsolved problems of humanity namely old age,cancer and death.This unique book is divided into five chapters.Each chapter begins with a relevant quote by great men.
The first chapter(I have a dream,a youth for ever dream)starts with a return van trip of the author,a young eye doctor to the base hospital in Tamilnad India on a warm summer Sunday with the fellow doctors and other team members after a surgical eye camp.The doctor day dreams during his post lunch nap of a world of young men and women only.He tries to realize the dream with the help of persons of different profession and fails. He finally finds his own method to create a world of young persons only.
The second chapter (Impact of realizing the dream)discusses the possible implications of realizing the dream of creating a world of young persons alone by genetic manipulation.
The third chapter(I am out of the box ; are you?) discusses the established social, medical, philosophical, and religious concept about death and old age.The concept that death is the final and inevitable event of every living organism is challenged in a scientific way.It is a call to medical personals to conduct research to eliminate death.
The fourth chapter (The how and why of cancer)high lights the age as the important risk factor for cancer and tries to evolve a new concept regarding the origin of cancer.
The fifth chapter(Why imagination is more important than knowledge?) is an analysis of the role of imagination in scientific process and inventions.An attempt is made to analyse the significance of Albert Einstein's statement 'imagination is more important than knowledge' The ideas in the book may appear impossible; but are possible.The author envisages a smart remedy for the triple tragedies of human life. The book may be more interesting for medical men and could be challenged by religious persons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ittyerah Tholath
• Release date: Jan 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301878284

Ittyerah Tholath

Dr. Ittyerah Tholath Peter is an eye surgeon with over forty five years of experience in various capacities in four leading medical institutions in India. He is the holder of a M.B.B.S from Kerala University, M.S.( Ophthalmology) from BHU, and M.Phil. ( Hospital and Health System Management) from B.I.T.S. He had his fellowship training at St.Vincentius eye hospital in Karlsruhe, Germany. He was a Fellow of Royal college of physicians & surgeons Glasgow(FRCS) and International Medical Science Academy(FIMSA) . Dr.Ittyerah , has held various roles in his illustrious career, namely Clinical Registrar in Ophthalmology(BHU), Jr. Lecturer in Ophthalmology (C.M.C. Vellore.), Head of Department of Ophthalmology at Pushpagiri Hospital Thiruvalla and Little Flower Hospital Angamaly, India, He was President of Kerala Society of Ophthalmic Surgeons (KSOS) and Indian Medical Association (I.M.A.) Madhya Kerala Branch. In his literary capacity, he has previously held the roles of Chief editor of Journal of K.S.O.S. and Indian Journal Of Ophthalmology. The All India Ophthalmological Society ( A.I.O.S.),the Kerala society of Ophthalmic Surgeons (K.S.O.S.) and the Cochin Ophthalmic Club (C.O.C.) honored him with life time achievement awards for his outstanding contributions in the field of ophthalmic science.In his busy schedule he has managed to provide his services to the community through organizations like YMCA, Y's Men Club and Rotary Club, the latter honoring him with the Paul Harris Fellowship award for his leadership role in matching grand programs. The esteemed doctor has also held the role of President of Rotary Club of Angamaly and Y's Men Club of Angamaly, Kerala, India. He is continuing as emeritus editor of Indian Journal of Ophthalmology(IJO).He is an ophthalmologist with special interest in medical subjects beyond ophthalmology.

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Preface

Geriatric diseases constitute the major medical and surgical problems in ophthalmology. Senile cataract, diabetic retinopathy, and age related macular degeneration are a few of the blinding diseases of old age. Qualified and skilled eye surgeons can treat these diseases with considerable success with the help of advanced technologies. The best method to prevent these diseases is elimination of old age. Today old age population is rapidly increasing in the world. Longevity is increasing and centenarians are becoming common. According to certain studies the projected life expectancy of one hundred and fifty years can be reached soon. It is possible that the first person to celebrate their thousandth birthday would be born within the next twenty years (Aubrey de Grey)! As life extends like this the quality of life is not improving correspondingly. The old age segment of the human life cycle is mainly extending. In this background I had a dream and I am trying to realize this dream. This book is the written form of my dream and my unconventional thoughts.

This book might contain some unacceptable statements to certain sections of the society. They are not intended to hurt their feelings, but to highlight the need and urgency of doing research to eliminate old age sufferings. Please pardon me if the words are hurting anybody’s faith and feelings.

Dr. Ittyerah P. Tholath

1

I TOO HAVE A DREAM - A youth forever dream

"You see things, and say, why?

I dream things that never were, and say, ``Why not?"

George Bernard Shaw

On a warm South Indian Sunday after noon, precisely in the second week of May in summer, 1976 during our return trip from an eye camp*I was enjoying the Tamil folk music of our van driver Mani. Mani, a jovial middle aged former Indian army driver, enjoyed giving directions to the blind patients and their relatives in the eye camp wearing an old army uniform. He not only drove our vehicle efficiently but also did public relations work at the eye camps. He used to travel along with our cook Michael to the market, and collected local news while the cook was very active in buying the vegetables, poultry and spices. He shared the local news with his own spicy additions and explanations during our lunch time and the trip back home.

This surgical eye camp was conducted in a local hospital in the village Koviloor, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and there were more surgeries than what we had anticipated. The team, consisting of eye surgeons, nurses, optometrist, cook, managers, and many students and trainees, had left the base hospital on the Saturday afternoon immediately after the lunch sacrificing the weekend for community service. All the staff in the camp had to work fast and hard to finish the eye surgeries by lunchtime so that they could reach home before dinner time to enjoy the last few hours of the weekend with family and friends at home. The swinging of the old blue Dodge van on the uneven road complimented the folk music, along with the clapping of hands by the young and beautiful nursing students who were trying to enjoy themselves after a day’s hard work in a warm climate. The late lunch after a complimentary appetizer (Shaw’s night cap) from the medical superintendent’s quarters was enough to generate sufficient sleep signals in the brain. Besides this the mood and atmosphere inside the vehicle were so sleep inducing, that I had a late post lunch nap.

My sleep was suddenly disturbed by the blaring of horn and an unusual forward jerk due to braking of the vehicle. One of the standing passengers, a frail and tired junior nursing student, was thrown onto my lap when the van stopped suddenly with a jerk. As she hurriedly got up I could recognize her pale frightened face. It was Selvy, a hard working first year nursing student. The van had just hit a buffalo on the center of the road at a turning. The driver got down from the van and assessed the damages to the van and the buffalo. He was convinced that it was only a mild hit without serious damage either to the van or to the animal. He jokingly asked the buffalo to give a fitness certificate of the brakes of the van and continued the journey as if nothing had happened. I too went back to sleep mode.

After some time when I was awakened by my fellow passengers I was half way through a dream. The van was slowly moving under the good old Banyan tree which was considered as the eldest member of the community in the Indian Medical College Hospital campus. This tree had witnessed every activity of the campus for several years and is continuing to, like a great grandfather in a joint family. There were a lot of singing birds on the tree, often sprinkling their droppings on the neatly dressed staff and students who ran under the tree in an attempt to avoid a hit. The unlucky ones hit by the evening droppings of these birds rushed back to the hostel to clean it up and restarted for their evening engagement. The students believed that a second hit could be avoided if they prayed to the grandfather tree in the morning after sprinkling clean drinking water three times on the trunk of the tree. The innocent birds never knew that they were devastating the hopes and expectations of the young couples who had managed to make plans during their busy hospital schedules to meet each other either in the cinema theatre or in a restaurant. When I got down from the van after the nap, I could still see the unfinished dream, like a positive after image.

In the dream I was wandering through a beautiful garden full of fragrant flowers of different colors, sizes and shapes. There was a small stream flowing gently through the middle of the garden. One bank of the stream appeared as if decorated with golden pebbles, partly submerged in the shallow water, while the other bank had short green bushes with violet flowers in multiple rows. As the stream flowed rolling the pebbles, a gentle musical note emerged. I could sense the dance of small golden yellow pebbles to the tunes of the stream with flashes of silver lights reflected from the tiny fishes swimming between the pebbles. There were many varieties of ripe fruits on the trees and the elegant Peacocks and many other colorful birds were feeding on the fruits .The smart monkeys tasted them to find out the sweetest one for their consumption and threw away the unripe ones. There were a lot of energetic beautiful young women and handsome men with shining eyes enjoying themselves on the meadow off the stream. A few young couples were seated on the low lying branches of the trees while a few others were swinging gracefully to the tunes of soft exotic music, on swings decorated with fresh Jasmine flowers. I continued to experience the fragrance of the jasmine flowers while getting down from the van. Interestingly there was not a single old person or baby visible anywhere in the garden or outside. It was a pleasant happy world exclusively of young men and women.

When I shared the dream with my friends, one of them, Mr. Suryanarayanan, a young orthodox aristocratic Brahmin gentleman with a lot of faith in Astrology, told that it was a very unusual dream and I should consult an astrologer for a proper interpretation. Next day both of us consulted one of the popular astrologers of the locality Mr.Murugasamy. After listening to me, the elderly astrologer with a partially balding grey sunflower shaped bald head conducted a few astrological tests, calculations and prayers. With half open eyes under the sandal wood painted forehead, he declared emphatically, "You are fortunate to come at the right time to the right person. Within two days when the full moon appears on the eastern sky all the evil young spirits shall come out of their hiding locations and dance before you, because one of your young enemies has performed witchcraft on you. The young ghosts shall suck your blood and grow younger, more powerful and energetic. The ghosts and evil spirits of