DOTW: ELAS spreading wrong info???

Hello Friends,

I got this very interesting PM from one of the members Akash and I thought I'd share it with you all... Feel free to leave your comments after reading it...



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Hello-
I wanted to post a copy of my eamil sent to India Today, Times of India & others. I sent this email re: Nikhil's Bone Marrow Donation. The way they are showing - is totally wrong and unscientific. They are spreading wrong & negative message regaridng bone marrow donation. I wanted to raise my voice against it and hence sent an email to the media. Please post it on the forum so everyone know what impact these shows might have on common people. Also, feel free to distribute if feel appropriate. Thanks for you help.

Akash
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We live in California (USA). Since we are away from India, we try to watch Indian Channels as and when time permits. Along with other channels, we enjoy Sony Entertainment. They are currently showing "Ek Ladki Anjani Si" during prime time. This show started pretty well but now dragging as usual just like many other popular (?) mega-serials. I can understand that there is no point is applying logic while watching these serials and they are meant for just plain entertainment. Hence double roles, coming back after death, loosing/recovery of memory etc. doesn't bother me anymore.

The reason I'm writing this letter is that in "Ek Ladki Anjani Si" currently they are showing that Nikhil (main male character) is going to donate bone-marrow for Nikhil Jr. (his son suffering with cancer). They have shown that Doctors made Nikhil sign some papers – sort of disclaimers that by donating bone marrow he or his son might die. After signing those papers he is shown talking like "meri aakhiri iccha puri karo, main aapney beti ko aakhiri baar dekhna chata hu" and so on (just like a person who is going to die soon and knows about it), he has fought with his wife and left the house so she doesn't get troubled when he dies. He is scarifying his life (by donating bone marrow) for saving (?) his son's life.

Now, the reality of it is no one dies by donating bone marrow. I myself along with my wife have registered us as bone marrow donors. Instead of just stating the facts here are some websites for your reference:

http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/ABCs/Myths_%26_Facts_about_Marro w_Don/index.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bone-marrow/CA00047

There are many sites on the internet which will provide you more facts. Please note that India is a country that has no bone marrow registry to speak of. In US they have a national database to track the bone marrow donors. If we show such things on our national television and that too on Prime Time, it will surely discourage the potential donors since the messeage they get is that it's too risky to donate and you might die by soing so, which is not true.

If a person of Indian Origin suffers from Lukemia and he needs bone marrow chances are he will need the match from person of same origin. It's very unlikly that his type will match with person from some other nation. We don't have much awareness (even in Indian living in US) about this to start with and if we show such things on TV then we are pulling back the work of numerous volunteers working on this noble cause.

I'm not a medical professional nor a regular volunteer of any organization. It just bothered & pained me after watching the serial and I felt like bringing this issue to media for further action. Since I'm staying in US, I can't do much to raise the issue than just sending a letter to you. Hopefully you will do something to put sense in this particular serial by talking to the producers/channel and instead of delivering negative & false message showing that Nikhil doesn't die and with his family's support he donates and saves his son. By doing so nothing happens to him. May be they can give a message saying something in support of bone marrow donation program to repair the damage. I hope you understand my stand on this. I have read about number of Indian people dying because of not getting proper match in time and hence it's very important to aware our people before it's too late.

Please acknowledge the receipt of this letter.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Akash Gaiki
Simi Valley, CA (USA)

Copies: India Today, Sahara One & Times of India

my dad just got a bone marrow transplant last summer and its nothing like what they portray it to be!! omg! its not an operation...its just like giving blood! my aunt is coming to donate again this summer...shes already freakig out about it but now after waatching this she called my mom and started saying that sorry i cant come..lol..but shes coming now..but really they should get some more sense into the docs in elas...!

they r spreadin wrong message.. i mean entertain is ok but ppl do take it seriously when shown on telly...
if everyone thinks ppl r gonna die by donating bone marrow then they will stop doin so which will lead to numerous deaths.. i think this is not allowed at all.. and the producer should be informed about the consequences it mite cause..
m gonna research more on this and come back to the topic later..

Mansi

Yes, the info is very wrong. I am not saying that there is no risk to donor. The risk is there even if somebody donates blood but it is very rare. Moreover, the risk is not as grave as shown in the serial. In some cases, there are risks of headaches, back pain, nausea, fever. In most of cases, these go away after a few days.
There is far more risk to recipient than to donor.

Lol..
ELAS ne vaat lagaadi..
Abh dekhte hai Dr dhruv kya karne waala hai 😆 😆 😆

hihi, but did'nt the doctor said that nikhil had some problems with hos bone marrow and he did not had enough of it in his body that is why he can die 😕

Originally posted by: NadiaIqbal

hihi, but did'nt the doctor said that nikhil had some problems with hos bone marrow and he did not had enough of it in his body that is why he can die 😕

Yes, you are right. It is possible that Nikhil's condition was already very bad. After he donated bone marrow, then his condition became even worse. May be this is why doctors said that Nikhil was going to die soon. But still, there is one thing wrong here: -
What was the disease from which Nikhil was suffering? If it was such a terrible disease, then how could his bone marrow be given to Junior Nikhil? Taking bone marrow from a person who is suffering from some big disease is dangerous for the recipient (in this case Junior). Anyway, it depends on what the disease was.

you knw i have been telling my parents the same thing...cuz this is completely wrong...i mean this will tell ppl not to donate bone marrow to those in need cuz they think they will die...this is wrong and they shouldn't do it like that.

Yeah, I too was wondering as to how donating bone-marrow could be so deadly. If it were deadly, then do you think many people would take the risk to donate it? They seriously are spreading the wrong message, or portraying it wrong. Sure, Dr. Dhruv MAY come to the rescue, but before this happens, they basically showed the viewers that it is IMPOSSIBLE to NOT DIE from the bone-marrow, and only a miracle could cure it.
Also, like akhl said, if something WAS wrong with Nikhil's bone-marrow, then he wouldnt be able to donate. It's just like donating blood, you cant donate blood if you have a problem w/it of course, it's risky, or any other reason, you know?
Unless, they meant that Nikhil's body-system couldnt react to donations or something, but you know, it seems illogical.
So yeah, I agree, they ARE portraying the wrong message.
Or, they should have portrayed it properly.

i dont even know what does a bone marrow transplant mean