Editorial: A Cascade of Biochemical and Physiological Markers in Pathological Disorders

Abstract

A few years ago, a neurophysiology lecturer in the Department of Medical Physiology, University of Nairobi, was doing some research on possible indicators in malnourished children. The first indicator he chose was the electroencephalogram (EEG). Would this parameter be significantly different in malnourished as compared to well-fed healthy children? Out of curiosity, I sought the opinion of a paediatrician regarding possible outcome of this research. What I got was totally unexpected. The paediatrician went ballistic; with a furrowed brow, hissing and his hands in the air gesticulating spasmodically, he could hardly control his emotions. As far as he was concerned, the only answer the researcher would get would be “I am hungry, I am hungry, I am hungry, feed me!” Paediatricians are known to get emotional when the welfare of their patients is threatened but clearly the procedure of getting EEG is much less invasive than getting blood for diagnostic purposes. So what provoked the paediatrician? This could best be answered by posing a rhetorical question: “Why do we disapprove the use of pictures of malnourished African children and elderly people by religious missionaries and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to solicit funds from foreign donors?”