Fun_People Archive
19 Sep
WhiteBoardness - 9/19/97

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 97 22:04:45 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: WhiteBoardness - 9/19/97

Excerpted-from: WhiteBoard News for Friday, September 19, 1997

Patna, India:

An Indian with both male and female sexual characteristics became pregnant
and carried the fetus for four months before miscarrying, according to a
gynecologist.

Dr. Kumudni Jha said the hermaphrodite, 16-year-old Ganesh Kumar Yadav,
underwent surgery on Monday to remove the dead fetus.

Jha said Yadav has sexual organs of both genders: a vagina and uterus;
developed breasts; a penis; one testicle - the other was surgically removed
a few years ago; and an undeveloped scrotum.

"Ganesh is a true hermaphrodite with characteristics of both sexes," Jha
told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday.

Jha said Yadav, a resident of Darbhanga, 530 miles east of New Delhi, sought
his medical help after suffering acute abdominal pain and profuse bleeding.

Jha did an ultrasound test and discovered a dead 17-week-old fetus in
Yadav's uterus. The bleeding was a result of a miscarriage, Jha said.

Jha and other doctors attending to Yadav have suggested he undergo an
operation to become wholly female, saying the pregnancy indicates he could
live as a woman. But Yadav has refused, Jha said.
==========

Lagos, Nigeria:

Gangs of Muslim youths paraded through the streets of a northern Nigerian
city Wednesday in protest over an eclipse of the moon, saying it was caused
by "sins of infidels," local newspapers reported Thursday.

The protesters, who were mainly youths who beg for alms on the streets of
Kaduna city, chanted "Allah akbar," a Muslim prayer meaning "God is the
greatest."

The independent "Guardian" newspaper said the youths, aged from nine to 15,
harassed women and customers in hotels and beer parlors, blaming their
actions for the eclipse the night before.

"It is normal for Muslims to gather and pray in mosques when an eclipse
occurs. We cannot understand why youths take to the streets armed and
harassing people at such a time," said Kaduna Police Commissioner Yakuba
Shuaibu, a Muslim.

Northern Nigeria is predominantly Muslim and many lives have been lost there
in past religious clashes.
==========

Bath, England:

A new hair-do resulted in a 42-year-old woman being admitted to hospital
with a stroke, say doctors.

When the woman, who lives near Bath, Somerset, stretched her head backwards
for her hair to be washed, she damaged the carotid artery in her neck.

The woman, who has one child and who has not been named, was completely
healthy but, as she left the hairdresser, she had difficulty walking and
began to drag her left leg.

Within two hours, she had become unsteady on her feet and realised she had
increasing numbness in her left hand - to a degree that she could not tell
hot from cold. The next day she woke up to find part of her face and her
left arm were numb and her speech was slurred.

She went to hospital but would not agree to being admitted because she had
to collect her child from school. But she made an appointment to see a
neurologist the next day. That evening, she fell at home and could not use
her left leg. By the next day, she could not stand and was admitted to
hospital and treated for a stroke.

After six months, she was left with a mild weakness and some problems with
fine movements in her left hand. Dr David Bateman, consultant neurologist,
who treated the woman, said yesterday: "I don't know whether hairdressers
are told about this in their training or how careful they are told to be."

With Dr. Nkeka Nwokolo, he says in The Lancet today that the damage the
woman did by over-extending her neck was extensive enough to tear the lining
of the artery and cause the stroke. The doctors warn hairdressers to be make
sure customers do not over-stretch.

© 1997 Peter Langston