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Know your body and soul

Issues raised at MEDHA-2006 exhibition are startling and things to ponder over, says P. SUJATHA VARMA

PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE Mannequins are of a great help for surgeries.

"I bet this place is really spooky at night," exclaimed Sai Teja gaping with disbelief at the black charred man whose lifeless body lay still, leaning against the wall. His friends nodded in affirmative hurriedly trying to get away from there. As they tried to steal one last glance at the frail black structure, they were flabbergasted as they saw a group of youngsters moving close to the `black man' lying in a sitting posture. The `interlopers' went closer to adjust the piece of white cloth draped around his unresponsive waist.

Calling the frightened boys back, the group in white blazers explained them about the almost two-year-old body of a dead man, which was preserved for a detailed anatomy by students of medicine.

Curious visitors

"Ten litres of fluids- a mixture of formalin, glycerin, methylated spirits, carbolic acid and common salt added with equal quantity of water - is injected into the arteries. The fluid not only passes through the veins but also percolates into every tissue of the body preventing decay," explains K.S. N. Prasad, head of the department of anatomy, Siddhartha Medical College.

The exhibits at the department of anatomy on the first floor of the medical college are snaring a major chunk of curious visitors to the six-day medical exhibition. The expo - MEDHA-2006 (Medical Exhibition Devoted to Health Awareness), which unfolded on Wednesday, provides a peek into the mystifying world of science. The exhibits have profound implications. An infinite and major inference on how body systems work, how knowledge advances and how best we can improve our lives by making appropriate use of medicine.

"It is an educative and informative event sans any frills. We want people to visit the expo and know some plain facts of life. That common problems like hypertension, diabetes, obesity and stress can kill a person, if neglected for long," says G. Eswar, principal of the medical college. The event is covering nearly 23 disciplines in medicine including general medicine, psychiatry, microbiology, pathology and radiology. A colossal effort involving 500 students, 100 internees and the entire faculty of the college, the expo is a big hit with numerous visitors.

Specimens of a foetus with placenta, a foetus with viscera in suit, abdomen of a foetus opened to expose a view of the intestines with meckle's diverticulum and a human embryo are other projections in the anatomy section that have the wide-eyed viewers pause for a while for a closer look. An illuminated graphic depiction of the symbiosis of male and female chromosomes resulting in formation of an embryo has social undercurrent. It seeks to convey the message loud and clear that birth of a child is purely a chance factor and that women should not be blamed for the birth of a girl child.

Department of dentistry invites you to enter the oral cavity while students studying psychiatry are eager to explain to you all about anxiety neurosis, depression, phobias, panic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders and how to identify a suicidal person.

The Chinese restaurant syndrome urges you to insist on ordering noodles without ozonimoto, a harmful ingredient that can play havoc with your digestive system.

Tree of intemperance

A tree of intemperance vividly illustrates the sorrows of alcoholism that include robbery, murder, despair, vice and loss of self-respect among many other things. The danger signs of cancer, the A B C D of HIV prevention, brain tumour and surgical removal of tumours are some of the interesting topics put on display.

Suman, in his fifth semester, elucidates on the harms of rabies. "The patient shows symptoms of aero phobia, hydrophobia, fear and hyper salivation," he explains. Talking about the possible transmission of rabies through corneal transplantation, he says it is important to avoid contact with saliva and secretions of a patient diagnosed as having rabies.

After having been fed on adequate dose of entertainment in the recent past, it is time to break away from the routine and look beyond. The convincing theories of the students will help you broaden your horizons.

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