With a Master of Science in Chemistry from IIT Bombay and a Doctor of Philosophy in Organic Chemistry from Oregon State University, Dr. Raghavan is a highly trained chemist. More than fifteen years ago, he began formulating Metadichol and has been studying its potential benefits ever since.

Metadichol is based on the research of a Dutch doctor named Christiaan Eijkman, who traveled to the East Indies to study the spread of Beriberi – a condition associated with vitamin B1 deficiency. According to Eijkman’s research, the likelihood that chickens would have this sickness varied depending on the kind of rice they were fed. In particular, the hens became ill from eating polished rice, but eating unpolished rice seemed to help them recover. Policosanol, a molecule found in the majority of plant and vegetable foods, is the active ingredient in unpolished rice and has been shown to have positive health effects.

Policosanol is a key component of Metadichol. This active ingredient has been shown to have several positive health effects.

In the first studies conducted on rats, Dr. Raghavan discovered that a 5-milligram dose of Metadichol simultaneously affected a wide range of biological indicators. After that, he began working with other scientists and research centers to conduct clinical studies on humans to assess how the supplement would perform.

Thirteen patients with metabolic syndrome and an average of 25 to 30 years of diabetes participated in the supplement’s 2010 clinical trial. According to Dr. Raghavan, the supplement stabilized blood pressure and lipid indicators, including HDL and Triglycerides. These results were later corroborated in investigations involving different patients, demonstrating its possible usefulness in lowering the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart disease and stroke.

Dr. Raghavan explains that metadichol boosts antioxidant activity while simultaneously reducing inflammation and oxidation. Even in individuals who did not get vitamin C during the trial, he and his colleagues found that those who took the supplement had significantly higher levels of the vitamin.

According to Dr. Raghavan, metadichol increases the GLU2 and GLUt4 genes, which in turn allow vitamin C to enter the body and be recycled. The Gulo enzyme, which allows the body to naturally manufacture vitamin C, has long been known to be dormant in humans and other primates.

Researchers have discovered that amphibians, reptiles, fish, and rodents – animals capable of producing vitamin C – do not experience heart attacks or blood clots. Consequently, lowering the probability of getting cardiovascular disease and other cardiovascular problems may be possible by enhancing the human body’s ability to produce this vitamin.

Additionally, Dr. Raghavan and colleagues discovered that Metadichol aided weight loss by accelerating this process in individuals with a higher body mass index. The supplement also helped the body make more globulin, an important immune system regulator. These findings suggest that Metadichol may have a wide range of health benefits, offering hope for those seeking to improve their overall health.

According to the study, the supplement also increases energy levels. It decreases insulin resistance, defined as the body’s inadequate response to insulin. Given the extensive list of diseases and disorders associated with insulin resistance – including lung disease, heart disease, pancreatitis, cataracts, strokes, and even some cancers – this property could be extremely helpful. The potential of Metadichol in reducing insulin resistance is believed to be due to its ability to regulate blood sugar levels and improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin.

In diabetes, the hormone insulin is not working as it should, leading to uncontrolled blood sugar levels. In clinical trials, Dr. Raghavan’s group found that Metadichol increased insulin-producing cell activity by 63%. This increase in insulin production is believed to be due to the supplement’s ability to activate specific genes, such as IRS1, IRS2, GLU2 and GLUT4, which play a crucial role in insulin production and regulation.

They suggest that the supplement had a beneficial effect on patient health by targeting biological markers linked to diabetes. It is more common to use a combination of pharmaceutical medications rather than just one product to target these markers.

Another set of scientific trials looked at the ability of Metadichol to reduce wrinkles and improve skin health. In these trials, Dr. Raghavan’s team recommended the daily application of Metadichol gel, spray, or cream to areas of damaged skin, rashes, patches, or apparent symptoms of aging. According to the doctors’ observations, multiple patients’ conditions were alleviated, including acne, psoriasis, wrinkles, eczema, burns, herpes, and scars.

In another study, Dr. Raghavan found that 1 picogram of Metadichol increased telomerase in stem cells by a factor of sixteen. Telomerase is the enzyme responsible for maintaining the length of telomeres in cells. Maintaining telomere length is key to reversing the signs of aging and other age-related conditions.

Furthermore, Klotho is a gene that exhibits anti-aging properties and anti-cancer activity. The expression of this gene has been shown to decline with age, and is also very low in cancer cells. Dr. Raghavan and his colleagues have shown that cells exposed to Metadichol show increased expression of Klotho, further highlighting the promise of this supplement in anti-aging therapies, while also suggesting its potential to be used in combination with cancer treatments to enhance treatment efficacy.

According to Dr. Raghavan’s research, Metadichol also induces the expression of Yamanaka factor genes, which have also shown promise in cancer therapies. In addition to these Yamanaka factor genes and Klotho, Metadichol also appears to facilitate the expression of a large family of intracellular transcription factors that play crucial roles in regulating development, metabolism, and homeostasis.

According to the results from additional trials, Metadichol may also promote healthy kidney and liver function. Metadichol’s potential to improve kidney and liver function is believed to be due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help reduce the risk of organ damage and improve overall health.

Dr. Raghavan explains that Metadichol may also aid in the healing process after bacterial infections. He believes that the supplement’s healing benefits are due to its ability to enhance the body’s immune response and promote the regeneration of damaged tissues. Clinical research demonstrated that patients who took Metadichol recovered faster from superbug infections that are resistant to standard antibiotics, indicating the supplement’s potential as a complementary treatment for such infections.

Dr. Raghavan and colleagues also administered the supplement to COVID-19 patients, and noticed that its use was associated with a reduction in respiratory symptoms.

According to the data collected by Dr. Raghavan’s team, Metadichol has the potential to complement treatments for many different medical issues. If future clinical trials with bigger patient populations confirm these results, more doctors and dietitians may be persuaded to prescribe the supplement.

Humans are tribal creatures. Given the right conditions, such as a perceived scarcity of resources, many of us will rapidly adopt an “us vs. them” mindset. This tendency towards conflict and competition is firmly rooted in our evolution, where survival of the fittest is a major driving mechanism. However, these thought patterns can be deeply problematic when they erupt in a professional capacity, and prevent colleagues from effectively working together.

This is the situation in which anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists find themselves in many US hospitals. A perceived scrabble for professional rights and responsibilities can develop into a toxic work culture, with micro-aggressions and conflict common in the surgical theatre. The consequences of this strife are serious, with burnout and anxiety affecting staff along with a potential reduction in the quality of patient care.

Recognizing the untenable nature of this situation, Dr. Sherrer, an anesthesiologist, began to think about different ways to interact with his colleagues. He realized that healthcare is a team sport, and if healthcare is to be evidence-based, then it would make sense to use the evidence for effective team-work.

Dr. Sherrer realized that the participants in this conflict could be described as having a “finite game” mindset. A finite game is played with the purpose of winning and relegating your opponent to a losing position. However, while reading the 2019 book, The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek, Dr. Sherrer discovered that an infinite game mindset could provide a blueprint for reduced conflict and enhanced cooperation in anesthesia.

An infinite game is not played to win, but rather ‘winning’ is interpreted as staying in the game as long as possible. This could be described as a mindset that prioritizes strategies to enhance the longevity of participation in the game. One could describe marriage as an infinite game, for example, where “winning” is the stable continuation of a happy marriage, rather than somehow defeating your spouse.

In a recent Commentary paper, Dr. Sherrer and his colleagues expand on five practices originally proposed by Simon Sinek as essential when adopting an infinite game mindset, and discusses how they can be applied to address the current discord in anesthesia. These are advancing a just cause, building trusting teams, studying your worthy rivals, preparing for existential flexibility and demonstrating the courage to lead. The authors of the paper envisage these principles as forming the basis for Infinite Anesthesia, a platform that hosts these concepts as they apply to anesthesia, with a view to share this philosophy as widely as possible to enable change.

In the context of anesthesia, advancing a just cause takes the form of aspiring to create a supportive workplace where anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists work together in a respectful way to focus on their mutual top priority – patient care. This acknowledges that the patient loses in the finite game that is currently playing out in anesthesia. Patient and healthcare staff satisfaction represent valid metrics to measure whether this just cause has been fulfilled.

The second principle, building trusting teams, is one that Dr. Sherrer has already tackled in his own institution, which suffered from discord among anesthesia staff. Rather than let a toxic work culture fester under the surface, the hospital elected to bring in professional facilitators who chaired meetings between the warring parties where open dialogue was encouraged. Dr. Sherrer and his colleagues describe these meetings as very challenging but incredibly worthwhile, and they have paved the way for respectful and trusting working conditions with more open communication.

The third principle involves studying your worthy rivals. In the context of anesthesia, this would involve anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists changing their mindset towards each other. In the current finite game mentality, anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists see each other as serious rivals or even enemies. Changing to an infinite game mindset would involve seeing each other as fellow players in the game, where the real enemy is counterproductive adversarial behavior.

The fourth principle is preparing for existential flexibility, which means the ability to drastically change course to advance a just cause. In a finite game, drastically changing course is typically reactive and defensive, whereas in an infinite game, this should be possible in a responsive way that accounts for the needs of all stakeholders.

In the context of anesthesia, this involves acknowledging the great strides that have been made in terms of patient safety, which has directly facilitated the rise of nurse anesthetists as semi-independent practitioners of anesthesia. An infinite mindset celebrates this, and seeks to build on it. This could take the form of encouraging people within the anesthesia community to explore new avenues of patient care, such as wearable devices that can extend this impressive patient safety to the post-operative space, while continuing to use existing technologies to further enhance patient safety.

The final principle is demonstrating the courage to lead. Dr. Sherrer and his colleagues’ paper detailing the application of an infinite mindset has already generated controversy within the anesthesia community, with some keen to maintain the status quo. However, an infinite mindset seeks to use opposing views to provide balance and inform strategic decision-making. Forward-looking thinking and grounded, pragmatic thinking can complement each other, with one providing a potential future direction and the other providing helpful detail that can assist in stress-testing, avoiding errors and making sure that ideas stack up in ‘real world’ scenarios.      

Excitingly, an infinite mindset and the principles underlying it are not just applicable to anesthesia. There are many workplaces with toxic rivalries, in medicine and beyond. By promoting these principles and demonstrating that they can work in anesthesia, Dr. Sherrer and his colleagues hope that others may adopt and use an infinite mindset to enhance collaboration and productivity in a wide variety of fields.