Lack of Vitamin B12 in the Jordanian Society

According to Cheryl Haines of HighBeam research: "Ask most Jordanians about vitamin B12 and chances are they, or someone they know, will be taking weekly injections to combat a supposed deficiency in this important bodily vitamin."

This does not come as a surprise to me, as my father and my grandmother both take routine vitamin B12 injections.

Cheryl adds: " While no official records currently exist at the Ministry of Health, one doctor contacted by The Jordan Times estimates that 80 per cent of her patients are B12 deficient.

Several health practitioners noted similar figures, claiming that a significant portion of the population requires weekly injections to alleviate the symptoms commonly associated with a deficiency -- fatigue, difficulty concentrating and muscle weakness."

This is not a good sign for Jordanians, for the symptoms stated above can clearly lead to a decline in a person's physical and mental performance.

Vitamin B-12 is the largest and most complex vitamin currently known to man. A slight deficiency of vitamin B-12 can lead to anemia, fatigue, mania, and depression, while a long term deficiency can potentially cause permanent damage to the brain and central nervous system.

Made in Jordan

The idea of getting a job in the Ferrari Industries may seem impossible, but with will and determination, anything could become a reality.  This is the fruit of a story I read in Torque, the primary automobile magazine in Jordan, about Ala Qubain, a young Jordanian who accomplished that very same dream.

Ala Qubain, like many young Jordanians, took his bachelors degree without knowing what lay ahead of him, and then headed to the United States to continue his studies in Engineering.

It all started at the Indianapolis Formula 1 race track, for when he witnessed those cars flashing by he realized that the automobile world was his dream. From then on, he was persistent in becoming part of that world. In the next year's race, he decided to give out a copy of his resume to the team leaders hoping to get to work with one of them. Days passed without any news and he knew that he was hardly a match with the other applicant specialists.

His decision was to enrol in Imperial College London, which has a worldwide reputation in Automobile Engineering, and continue his doctoral studies in Aerodynamics. It was then he gained his experience and began talking to his supervising professor about using air jets as an aerodynamic assistant in automobiles. Therefore, it wasn't of surprise when his supervising professor called him one day for a talk - that wasn't about his levels of achievement - a talk that was bound to change his life.

It was about a work opportunity. Ferrari was looking for young skilled engineers that were to be given a scholarship and to work in their industries. Ala accepted immediately, for he had finally achieved his goal!

So he started working, along with Ferrari engineers, on his project which consisted of air jets that were to variate movement of air particles to increase or decrease their pressure on car bodies.

The results were significant, and validated the assumption that air jets could be used to fluctuate pressure, so Ferrari offered Ala a part in the Millano team. There, he began integrating the air jets onto the limited Ferrari 599XX, the second car of its type after the FXX. The jets proved as a great success and sparked a great deal of interest that Ferrari decided they should be mass produced. It was a great despair that the chosen company for mass producing the unit did not comply.

While Ala was in Amman, he received numerous messages requesting him to return to Italy. Obliging to some of his friends' requests he headed to the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) - a governmental body used chiefly for local military development and research - and after briefing them on the unit, he built it himself! 

In Italy, his unit gained a wide reputation and it was then he saw the ultimate opportunity and proposed the idea that he would build the air jets for Ferrari, and thus he started a company for this purpose. In my eyes, this story is a message that must be remembered, a message that states clearly that the possibilities are endless. That one must challenge their own in achieving all they can, set their personal goals to the highest limits imaginable, and attempt to achieve nothing but the most inspired dreams.

Medical Tourism in Jordan

An article that sparked my attention today was an article I read in AlGhad news, under the headline "Government undergoes study to lower medical costs for intensive care".

According to AlGhad, the government plans to decrease costs of medical care for patients staying for more than a week in Jordanian hospitals. Dr. Fawzi Al Hammoury, head of the Jordan's Private Hospitals Association, estimates this discount as percentage between 20% and 40% depending on the patients medical situation.

This discount comes as a key in enhancing Jordan's medical tourism, which is not only limited to foreign and Arab patients, but Jordanians as well. Dr. Hammoury noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank now place Jordan within the top 5 countries in the world in the field of medical tourism and the leader in the Middle East.

He also notes that the medical care costs are significantly lower than both Great Britain and the United States with a percentage of 20 - 40%, as well as the neighbouring countries by 5 - 10%.

Middle East News wrote in their article "Jordan pushes medical tourism industry" on Sunday, December 20 - 2009 that: "Jordan has been at the forefront of the medical industry in the Middle East since the 1970s" and "Adding to the kingdom's reputation is the fact that most of its doctors are English-speaking and many have been trained or are affiliated with top US hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins... Other features that make that Jordan a popular healthcare destination are sight-seeing attractions such as Petra and the Dead Sea and the fact that its capital, Amman, is considered one of the cleanest cities in the world."

"Come here, do your surgery. Afterward, have a vacation, visit Petra, swim in the Dead Sea," Dr. Hammouri  said, listing the country's most popular tourism destinations. The hospitals are offering package deals, including air travel. To add to that, Jordan also hosts the only specialized cancer centre in the Middle East, the King Hussein Cancer Centre and Foundation.

I was extremely impressed by our medical facilities and standards upon reading this, and being a current medical student I was inspired to learn more about the international reputation the country has earned and further about the various successes Jordanian doctors have achieved in medicine.