Diseases can be original and so can treatments

 Diseases can be original and so can treatments

There are still hundreds of diseases around the world that have not yet been cured. Even the drugs that have been developed do not work equally effectively for all patients.

Diseases can be original and so can treatments

David Hasman has donated a total of $40 million to the university's Neuroscience Institute for the treatment of his wife's ALS disease.

Niri Nepal has urged cooperation to involve doctors in research in Nepal and considers medical research necessary.

A few days ago, a news item was published online at the university where I work - a wealthy real estate businessman has donated $20 million to the university's Neuroscience Institute. Since that businessman named David Hasman had already donated $20 million to the institute, the total amount of donations he has provided to the university has reached $40 million (about five billion Nepali rupees).

In developed countries, it is customary for wealthy people to make large donations to build buildings or structures in their own name or in the name of a person they want. However, the reason why David donated so much was not to build a building for the university. The reason was that his wife died of a rare motor neuron disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The doctors at the institute tried their best to save her, but they could not.

The reason why she could not be saved is that the cure for the disease has not yet been found. The world-famous British scientist Stephen Hawking also passed away from the disease a few years ago. Therefore, the inability to find a cure for the disease despite the tireless efforts of scientists and neurologists around the world can be estimated as to the complexity of this disease.

Despite having such a huge financial empire, he had to lose his wife because the cure for the disease he suffered from was not found. Therefore, he spent about 40 million dollars for the research needed to find a cure for the disease and built an institute in the name of himself and his wife at the university. There are thousands of examples of departments, universities, and such institutions being built in this way through donations from people in developed countries.

Need for research in Nepal

There are examples of thousands of people losing their lives in Nepal due to the lack of treatment for many diseases. The death of Dr. Upendra Devkota, a famous neurologist in Nepal, a few years ago is one such example. Dr. Devkota died of cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct that connects to the gallbladder. He was very wealthy and could have gone to any hospital in the world for treatment. He went to the UK and started treatment, but the drugs currently available in his body did not work.

Therefore, he decided to spend the rest of his life in Nepal and returned to Nepal. He was admitted to his own hospital and remained under general care. The reason for his death, as mentioned above, was the lack of a drug that could eradicate bile duct cancer.

Even today, hundreds of diseases have not been cured worldwide. Moreover, the drugs that have been developed do not work equally effectively for all patients. One of the main reasons for this is that each person's genetic makeup is different. For example, a medicine that works well for the majority of the population in one country does not necessarily work equally well for the population of another country.

Genetic structure is not limited to this, the prevalence of a disease seen in one community of Nepal may not be present or may be less in another community. The disease called ‘sickle cell anemia’ related to red blood cells seen in our Tharu community is less common in other communities. The causes of diseases are largely original in themselves, and their prevention and treatment are also effective only if they are original.

Why do doctors need to be involved in research?

Doctors communicate directly with patients. Their responsibility is not only to prescribe medicines available in the world market to patients, but also to help them improve their overall health. In some cases, doctors do not have any medicine to prescribe to patients because they have not found a cure for any disease. The easiest example of this is diabetes.

Diabetes is caused by a lack of the insulin hormone needed in our body, whose function is to reduce the amount of sugar in the body. When the body does not produce enough insulin, diabetes begins. The current treatment for diabetes is to give insulin directly to the patient, but no drug has been discovered that can permanently produce insulin in the body or as an alternative to it.

Therefore, we all know that there is no alternative to reducing sugar in the diet for diabetic patients. This is a small example. We have many other diseases for which no treatment or medicine has been discovered yet.

Since those drugs are not very effective in the Nepali population among the many diseases for which drugs have been discovered, we need to develop drugs through our research.

In developed countries including the US, doctors are involved in a significant amount of research. Doctors reduce their clinic time and devote some of their responsibilities to research. As a result, there is an attractive collaboration between scientists and doctors here.

The minimum qualification to become a doctor in the US, that is, to enter medical school, is a bachelor's degree. Also, doctors who want to work in research have been provided with the opportunity to study M.D. and PhD at the same time. This gives a doctor the opportunity to develop their skills in medical practice as well as research by studying MD and PhD, if they wish. This provision does not exist in Nepal.

Doctors also understand research better when they obtain PhD qualifications. While working as doctors, they gain a clear understanding of how to fill the gap in diagnosis and treatment technology through research. Research involving doctors is more patient and disease-focused, and its results play a more effective role in diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Currently, Niri Nepal is emphasizing the collaboration of doctors to fill the gap in research being done in Nepal. Our aim is to collaborate with Nepali doctors and diagnose health problems seen in Nepal through research here. Therefore, I would like to request doctors who want to join research through this article.