Sunanda Pushkar death: Mystery grows

New Delhi: A senior doctor at AIIMS said Sunanda Pushkar could have died between 1 pm and 7 pm on Friday. The three member team that conducted the autopsy collected tissue samples from her body and sent it for a toxicological analysis and other tests to get more clarity on the cause of death.

Revealing that Sunanda’s body bore some marks of external injuries and bruises, Dr Sudhir Gupta, head of the forensic sciences department, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said that “the injuries might not be the cause of death". Doctors have preserved viscera, blood samples and portions of certain vital organs, including the heart, for a histopathology. The final report will be handed over to the police in the next two days. 

"The viscera samples include portions of her heart, lungs, liver, kidney, hair, and portions of the skin that bore injury marks," AIIMS spokesperson Amit Gupta said. 

A police source said she often took sleeping pills. The cops claimed to have found Alprax tablets from her room number 345. Alprax is a prescription medicine given for nervous disorders.

Next: What went wrong?

The couple’s driver, Bajrang, told the police that Tharoor had an argument with Sunanda on Thursday evening. He told the police that the couple also had arguments during their recent stay in Thiruvananthapuram.

A crime branch team also visited the luxury hotel in connection with the case and questioned hotel staff. The police is also examining the telephone call details of the couple and the hotel’s CCTV camera footage.

The mortal remains of Sunanda were consigned to the flames in the presence of her family members at the Lodhi Road crematorium here on Saturday evening.

Sunanda was reportedly suffering from stomach tuberculosis and Lupus, an auto-immune disorder which can lead to rashes or marks. The AIIMS team has sought details of her treatment.

The medical board at Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), where Sunanda was admitted for treatment earlier in the week, said she was not diagnosed with “any serious medical condition which might have caused her immediate death”.

The KIMS vice-chairman, renowned cardiologist G. Vijayaraghavan, told media in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday that Sunanda Pushkar had been admitted to KIMS on January 12 afternoon for a "complete medical check-up" and that she had been discharged on January 14.

Next: Social media catalysed Sunanda’s death

Social media catalysed Sunanda’s death

Rashme Sehgal |DC

New Delhi: Social networking sites have an ubiquitous and intrusive aspect which can adversely affect the psychological health of the individuals using them. Psychologists warn that this is especially true for celebrities and politicians who have huge fan followings on the social media.

Delhi-based pyschologist Dr Pulkit Sharma  believes that Sunanda Pushkar, reportedly suffering from both tuberculosis and lupus, was an extreme example of ‘social media addiction.’

Dr Sharma said, “She was obviously under a great deal of medication and should have been resting under medical supervision rather than tweeting away.

The trend these days is to allow everything to hang out.  But when you are a politician or a celebrity, and are in the public eye, you are left with very little space to deal with your inner contradictions and aberrations. Would the media have bothered about the infidelity of a lesser known husband ?”

“The flip side of social media is that it often influences your sense of self worth and self esteem. Seventy per cent of the postings on it are aspirational — about people going place and is governed by how people who will read these tweets will react,” Dr Sharma added. Social media has been found to be  responsible for triggering a large number of divorces with  husbands and wives often ‘chatting’ with their respective girlfriends, boyfriends only to have their affairs subsequently discovered by their spouses.

Next: Despite serious ailment she was full of life, says Friend

Despite serious ailment she was full of life: Friend

 
Thiruvananthapuram: Contrary to the statement of Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Union minister Shashi Tharoor’s friend T.P. Sreenivasan said Sunanda Pushkar was suffering from a serious ailment.

Sreenivasan told this newspaper that Tharoor had informed him about Sunanda’s disease. She had taken treatment in France and it was found that she had a serious medical condition.

“He was quite worried about Sunanda’s health and I pacified him.  I mentioned to him two cases one of a 26 year old woman, suffering from same ailment, who died suddenly as the infection led to renal failure. Another case was of a patient who lived with the disease for 65 to 70 years of age.’’

The former diplomat said despite being unwell, Sunanda was always full of life. “I met her last at the UAE consulate inauguration function here on January 11. She was cheerful. Whenever we met, I used to inquire about health and she used to laugh it away. Sometimes even recite a couplet in Hindi or a Urdu shayari — Jo hoga dekha jaayega — ,’’ he recollected.

While Sreenivasan declined to divulge the details of Sunanda’s ailment, there have been media reports that she was suffering from suspected systemic Lupus erythematosus.

Medical experts say that lupus may not always show prominent signs externally. The major cause of death in longstanding lupus is accelerated atherosclerosis leading to cardio vascular disease.

Next: Depression, lupus are linked

Depression, lupus are linked

Kaniza garari |DC

Hyderabad: There exists a lethal combination of lupus and depression, claim medical experts. The decreasing immunity in the body does make a person swing from extreme hypersensitivity to feeling low.

Sunanda Pushkar, deceased wife of UUnion minister Shashi Tharoor, suffered from lupus, a connective tissue disorder. The heart, lungs, kidney are connected via tissues and it is here that the immunity of the body is attacked. The first attack is on the kidney. The heart is attacked last, said doctors.

This is a battle that goes on within the body. The condition is incurable but treatable. Once diagnosed the person has to be on steroids and pain killers lifelong. Drugs are prescribed for side-effects of medicines and depression arising because of the constant pain in the body.

A senior doctor explained, “It is a fatal disease as the body is subjected to immuno-suppressors which have side effects. Some people put on weight, while others go into deep bouts of depression since there is too much pain in the body." Early diagnoses can help an individual to live with the disease but usually a person lives for about five years or less.

Experts claim that 25 per cent of the total population suffers from this disease and it can strike at any age. The exact cause of the immune system attacking its healthy cells is not known.