Ladan and Laleh Bijani (in Persian: ) (January 17, 1974 – July 8, 2003) were Iranian conjoined twin sisters. They were joined at the head and died immediately after their complicated surgical separation. Coincidentally, the twins were born 100 years to the day of the deaths of Chang and Eng Bunker, also conjoined twins, famously known as the "original" Siamese twins.

"'Conjoined twins" are identical twins joined in utero. An extremely rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southeast Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and an additional one-third die within 24 hours. Most live births are female, with a ratio of 3:1.

Two contradicting theories exist to explain the origins of conjoined twins. The more generally accepted theory is "fission", in which the fertilized egg splits partially. The other theory, no longer believed to be the basis of conjoined twinning, is fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separates, but stem cells (which search for similar cells) find like-stem cells on the other twin and fuse the twins together. Conjoined twins share a single common chorion, placenta, and amniotic sac, although these characteristics are not exclusive to conjoined twins as there are some monozygotic but non-conjoined twins who also share these structures in utero.

The most famous pair of conjoined twins was Chang and Eng Bunker (Thai: อิน-จัน, In-Chan) (1811–1874), Thai brothers born in Siam, now Thailand. They traveled with P.T. Barnum's circus for many years and were labeled as the Siamese twins. Chang and Eng were joined at the torso by a band of flesh, cartilage, and their fused livers. In modern times, they could have been easily separated. Due to the brothers' fame and the rarity of the condition, the term "Siamese twins" came to be used as a synonym for conjoined twins.

In Chinese alchemy, elixir poisoning refers to the toxic effects from elixirs of immortality that contained metals and minerals such as mercury and arsenic. The official "Twenty-Four Histories" record numerous Chinese emperors, nobles, and officials who ironically died from taking elixirs in order to prolong their lifespans. The first emperor to die from elixir poisoning was likely Qin Shi Huang (d. 210 BCE) and the last was Yongzheng (d. 1735). Despite common knowledge that immortality potions could be deadly, fangshi and Daoist alchemists continued the elixir-making practice for two millennia.

Embryo splitting in which zygote divide asexually,

to produce identical children, is blocked by mitosis inhibitor.

In 1996, they traveled to Germany, trying to convince doctors there to separate them; the German doctors however declined to operate, saying that the risk of separation surgery would be too high for both of them.

In November 2002, after meeting Dr. Keith Goh, the Bijani sisters travelled to Singapore to undergo the controversial operation. Even though they were warned by the doctors that the surgery to separate them would still be very risky, the sisters were very determined. Their decision to go ahead with the operation caused an international media blitz.

After eight months in Singapore, doing extensive psychiatric and legal evaluations, they underwent surgery on July 6, 2003, under the care of a large team of international specialists at Raffles Hospital, composed of 28 surgeons (including neurosurgeon Ben Carson) and more than 100 support staff working in shifts. A specially-designed chair was required that allowed the operation to be performed with both sisters in a sitting position.

The attempt to separate the twins turned out to be very difficult, because their brains not only shared a major vein (the superior sagittal sinus), but had fused together. The separation was achieved on July 8, 2003, but it was announced then that the twins were in critical condition, both having lost a large volume of blood due to complications of the operation.

The separation stage of the surgery completed at 13:30 (Singapore time, UTC +8), but there was significant blood loss during the blood vessel repairing process, and Ladan died at around 14:30 on the operating table; her sister Laleh died about 90 minutes later. Their deaths were announced by the chairman of Raffles Hospital, Dr. Loo Choon Yong.

Islamophobia is an intense fear or hatred of, or prejudice against, the Islamic religion or Muslims, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or the source of terrorism.

The term was first used in the early 20th century and it emerged as a neologism in the 1970s, then it became increasingly salient during the 1980s and 1990s, and it reached public policy prominence with the report by the Runnymede Trust's Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia (CBMI) entitled "Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All" (1997). The introduction of the term was justified by the report's assessment that "anti-Muslim prejudice has grown so considerably and so rapidly in recent years that a new item in the vocabulary is needed".

The causes and characteristics of Islamophobia are still debated. Some commentators have posited an increase in Islamophobia resulting from the September 11 attacks, some from multiple terror attacks in Europe and the United States, while others have associated it with the increased presence of Muslims in the United States and in the European Union. Some people also question the validity of the term. The academics S. Sayyid and Abdoolkarim Vakil maintain that Islamophobia is a response to the emergence of a distinct Muslim public identity globally, the presence of Muslims is in itself not an indicator of the degree of Islamophobia in a society. Sayyid and Vakil maintain that there are societies where virtually no Muslims live but many institutionalized forms of Islamophobia still exist in them.

The etymology of English elixir derives from Medieval Latin "", from Arabic ("al-ʾiksīr"), probably from Ancient Greek ("xḗrion" "a desiccative powder for wounds"). "Elixir" originated in medieval European alchemy meaning "A preparation by the use of which it was sought to change metals into gold" (elixir stone or philosopher's stone) or "A supposed drug or essence with the property of indefinitely prolonging life" (elixir of life). The word was figuratively extended to mean "A sovereign remedy for disease. Hence adopted as a name for quack medicines" (e.g., Daffy's Elixir) and "The quintessence or soul of a thing; its kernel or secret principle". In modern usage, "elixir" is a pharmaceutical term for "A sweetened aromatic solution of alcohol and water, serving as a vehicle for medicine" ("Oxford English Dictionary", 2nd ed., 2009). Outside of Chinese cultural contexts, English "elixir poisoning" usually refers to accidental contamination, such as the 1937 Elixir sulfanilamide mass poisoning in the United States.

"Dān" 丹 "cinnabar; vermillion; elixir; alchemy" is the keyword for Chinese immortality elixirs. The red mineral cinnabar ("dānshā" 丹砂 lit. "cinnabar sand") was anciently used to produce the pigment vermilion ("zhūhóng" 朱紅) and the element mercury ("shuǐyín" 水銀 "watery silver" or "gǒng" 汞).

According to the "ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese", the etymology of Modern Standard Chinese "dān" from Old Chinese "*tān" (< *"tlan" ?) 丹 "red; vermillion; cinnabar", "gān" 矸 in "dāngān" 丹矸 from *"tân-kân" (< *"tlan-klan" ?) "cinnabar; vermillion ore", and "zhān" from *"tan" 旃 "a red flag" derive from Proto-Kam-Sui *"h-lan" "red" or Proto-Sino-Tibetan *"tja-n" or *"tya-n" "red". The *"t-" initial and *"t-" or *"k-" doublets indicate that Old Chinese borrowed this item. (Schuessler 2007: 204).

Although the word "dan" 丹 "cinnabar; red" frequently occurs in oracle script from the late Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600-1046 BCE) and bronzeware script and seal script from the Zhou Dynasty (1045-256 BCE), paleographers disagree about the graphic origins of the logograph 丹 and its ancient variants 𠁿 and 𠕑. Early scripts combine a 丶 dot or ⼀ stroke (depicting a piece of cinnabar) in the middle of a surrounding frame, which is said to represent:

- "jǐng" 井 "well" represents the mine from which the cinnabar is taken" ("Shuowen Jiezi")

- "the crucible of the Taoist alchemists" (Léon Wieger )

- "the contents of a square receptacle" (Bernhard Karlgren)

- "placed in a tray or palette to be used as red pigment" (Wang Hongyuan 王宏源)

- "mineral powder on a stretched filter-cloth" (Needham and Lu).

Many Chinese elixir names are compounds of "dan", such as "jīndān" 金丹 (with "gold") meaning "golden elixir; elixir of immortality; potable gold" and "xiāndān" 仙丹 (with "Daoist immortal") "elixir of immortality; panacea", and "shéndān" 神丹 (with "spirit; god") "divine elixir". "Bùsǐ zhī yào" 不死之藥 "drug of deathlessness" was another early name for the elixir of immortality. Chinese alchemists would "liàndān" 煉丹 (with "smelt; refine") "concoct pills of immortality" using a "dāndǐng" 丹鼎 (with "tripod cooking vessel; cauldron") "furnace for concocting pills of immortality". In addition, the ancient Chinese believed that other substances provided longevity and immortality, notably the "língzhī" 靈芝 ""Ganoderma" mushroom".

The transformation from chemistry-based "waidan" 外丹 "external elixir/alchemy" to physiology-based "neidan" 內丹 "internal elixir/alchemy" gave new analogous meanings to old terms. The human body metaphorically becomes a "ding" "cauldron" in which the adept forges the Three Treasures (essence, life-force, and spirit) within the "jindan" Golden Elixir within the "dāntián" 丹田 (with "field") "lower part of the abdomen".

In early China, alchemists and pharmacists were one in the same. Traditional Chinese Medicine also used less concentrated cinnabar and mercury preparations, and "dan" means "pill; medicine" in general, for example, "dānfāng" 丹方 semantically changed from "prescription for elixir of immortality" to "medical prescription". "Dan" was lexicalized into medical terms such as " dānjì" 丹劑 "pill preparation" and "dānyào" 丹藥 "pill medicine".

The Chinese names for immortality elixirs have parallels in other cultures and languages, for example, Indo-Iranian "soma" or "haoma", Sanskrit "amrita", and Greek "ambrosia".

The medical condition of being overweight or obesity is defined as "abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health". It is measured through the Body Mass Index (BMI), defined as a person's weight, in kilograms, divided by the square of the person's height, in meters. If an individual has a BMI of 25–29, he or she is overweight. Having a BMI of 30 or more means an individual is obese. The greater the BMI, the greater the risk of chronic diseases as a result of obesity. These diseases include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, cancer, and premature death.

The causes of childhood obesity can be based on both a combination of individual choices and socio-environmental adaptions with genetic factors playing an important role also.

The MONICA Project, sponsored by the World Health Organization, discovered that 30% of the population in the Arab World is overweight or obese, including adolescents and adults. This percentage is smaller for North African countries than oil-producing countries, but is still a prevalent trend. The spread of the Western lifestyle, defined as "the intake of attractive energy dense food with undesirable composition, increased consumption of animal fats and sugars and reduced consumption of dietary fiber, along with a lack of sufficient physical activity", is one of the leading causes. Specifically in the Arabian Peninsula, "physical activity of the population has significantly diminished with the availability of housemaids, private cars, television, and sophisticated household appliances. In addition, the types of food and fat intake have changed...".

Other common factors, besides a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food choices, across the Arab world include urbanization, technology, and a cultural appreciation of female plumpness and the practice of "leblouh" ("fattening").

One reason that poverty produces such high rates of fistula cases is the malnutrition that exists in such areas. Lack of money and access to proper nutrition, as well as vulnerability to diseases that exist in impoverished areas because of limited basic health care and disease prevention methods, cause inhabitants of these regions to experience stunted growth. Sub-Saharan Africa is one such environment where the shortest women have on average lighter babies and more difficulties during birth when compared with full-grown women. This stunted growth causes expectant mothers to have skeletons unequipped for proper birth, such as an underdeveloped pelvis. This weak and underdeveloped bone structure increases the chances that the baby will get stuck in the pelvis during birth, cutting off circulation and leading to tissue necrosis. Because of the correlation between malnutrition, stunted growth, and birthing difficulties, maternal height can at times be used as a measure for expected labor difficulties.

High levels of poverty also lead to low levels of education among impoverished women concerning maternal health. This lack of information in combination with obstacles preventing rural women to easily travel to and from hospitals lead many to arrive at the birthing process without prenatal care. This can cause a development of unplanned complications that may arise during home births, in which traditional techniques are used. These techniques often fail in the event of unplanned emergencies, leading women to go to hospital for care too late, desperately ill, and therefore vulnerable to the risks of anesthesia and surgery that must be used on them. In a study of women who had prenatal care and those who had unbooked emergency births, “the death rate in the booked-healthy group was as good as that in many developed countries, [but] the death rate in the unbooked emergencies was the same as the death rate in England in the 16th and 17th centuries.” In this study, 62 unbooked emergency women were diagnosed with obstetric fistulae out of 7,707 studied, in comparison to three diagnosed booked mothers out of 15,020 studied. In addition, studies find that education is associated with lower desired family size, greater use of contraceptives, and increased use of professional medical services. Educated families are also more likely to be able to afford health care, especially maternal healthcare.

Genetics, according to the Australian Health Survey plays a primary role in determining obesity. In 2011/2012 it was recorded that 90% of the Australian population had inherited their obese tendencies due to the epigenetic modifications of their mothers during pregnancy. Interchanging closely with the genetic factor, the environment and individual temptations are also highlighted as contributing causes to the worldwide epidemic. The genetic configuration influences the tendencies to become overweight, and diet and physical activity determines to what extent those tendencies are elaborated.

Though heart disease is not exclusive to the poor, there are aspects of a life of poverty that contribute to its development. This category includes coronary heart disease, stroke and heart attack. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and there are disparities of morbidity between the rich and poor. Studies from around the world link heart disease to poverty. Low neighborhood income and education were associated with higher risk factors. Poor diet, lack of exercise and limited (or no) access to a specialist were all factors related to poverty, though to contribute to heart disease.

Both low income and low education were predictors of coronary heart disease, a subset of cardiovascular disease. Of those admitted to hospital in the United States for heart failure, women and African Americans were more likely to reside in lower income neighborhoods. In the developing world, there is a 10 fold increase in cardiac events in the black and urban populations.

Poverty and disease are tied closely together, with each factor aiding the other. Many diseases that primarily affect the poor serve to also deepen poverty and worsen conditions. Poverty also significantly reduces people's capabilities making it more difficult to avoid poverty related diseases.

The majority of diseases and related mortality in poor countries is due to preventable, treatable diseases for which medicines and treatment regimes are readily available. Poverty is in many cases the single dominating factor in higher rates of prevalence of these diseases. Poor hygiene, ignorance in health-related education, non-availability of safe drinking water, inadequate nutrition and indoor pollution are factors exacerbated by poverty.

Just the big three PRDs — TB, AIDS/HIV and Malaria — account for 18% of diseases in poor countries. The disease burden of treatable childhood diseases in high-mortality, poor countries is 5.2% in terms of disability-adjusted life years but just 0.2% in the case of advanced countries.

In addition, infant mortality and maternal mortality are far more prevalent among the poor. For example, 98% of the 11,600 daily maternal and neonatal deaths occur in developing countries.

There is most likely a link between children's linear growth and household sanitation practices. The ingestion of high quantities of fecal bacteria by young children through putting soiled fingers or household items in the mouth leads to intestinal infections. This affect children's nutritional status by diminishing appetite, reducing nutrient absorption, and increasing nutrient losses.

The diseases recurrent diarrhoea and intestinal worm infections (helminthiasis) which are both linked to poor sanitation have been shown to contribute to child stunting. The evidence that a condition called environmental enteropathy also stunts children is not conclusively available yet, although the link is plausible and several studies are underway on this topic. Environmental enteropathy is a syndrome causing changes in the small intestine of persons and can be brought on due to lacking basic sanitary facilities and being exposed to faecal contamination on a long-term basis.

Research on a global level has found that the proportion of stunting that could be attributed to five or more episodes of diarrhoea before two years of age was 25%. Since diarrhoea is closely linked with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), this is a good indicator for the connection between WASH and stunted growth. To what extent improvements in drinking water safety, toilet use and good handwashing practices contribute to reduce stunting depends on the how bad these practices were prior to interventions.

Heat-related illnesses from occupational heat stress have several risk factors. Some of these factors include high temperatures, humidity, radiant heat sources, limited air movement, metabolic heat from physical exertion of energy, not drinking enough fluids, personal protective equipment and clothing, physical condition and health problems, medications, pregnancy, lack of acclimatization, advanced age, having a previous heat-related illness and others.

Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding can lead to stunted growth of their children. Women who are underweight or anemic during pregnancy, are more likely to have stunted children which perpetuates the inter-generational transmission of stunting.

Heat alert programs should be developed for implementation when hotter than normal temperatures, or a heat wave occurs.

The diagnostic criteria for Dorian Gray syndrome are:

- Signs of dysmorphophobia

- Arrested development (inability to mature)

- Using at least two different medical-lifestyle products and services:

- Hair-growth restoration (e.g. finasteride)

- Antiadiposita to lose weight (e.g. orlistat)

- Anti-impotence drugs (e.g. sildenafil)

- Anti-depressant drugs (e.g. fluoxetine)

- Cosmetic dermatology (e.g. laser resurfacing)

- Cosmetic surgery (e.g. a face-lift, liposuction)

Episodes of major depressive disorder and of suicidal crisis occur in the man afflicted with Dorian Gray syndrome when the defense mechanism activities, the pursuit of eternal youth, fail to indefinitely preserve his handsome face and sculpted physique; usually, anti-depressant drugs and psychotherapy are prescribed and applied to counter his feelings of failure.

Furthermore, if the man misunderstands the self-defensive character of "acting out" the DGS, and continues pursuing the timeless beauty of male youth, without being aware of the psychodynamics of narcissism, then he, as a psychiatric patient, establishes a cycle of chronic psychological depression. In extreme cases of DGS, the man seeks self-destruction, by means either of drugs or with plastic surgery, or both, in order to fill the narcissistic emptiness that is the Dorian Gray syndrome.

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), Age, Smoking, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Being Overweight or Underweight can all affect fertility.

In broad sense, acquired factors practically include any factor that is not based on a genetic mutation, including any intrauterine exposure to toxins during fetal development, which may present as infertility many years later as an adult.

Obesity in Mexico is a relatively recent phenomenon, having been widespread since the 1980s with the introduction of processed food into much of the Mexican food market. Prior to that, dietary issues were limited to under and malnutrition, which is still a problem in various parts of the country. Following trends already ongoing in other parts of the world, Mexicans have been foregoing traditional whole grains and vegetables in favor of a diet with more animal products, more fat, and more sugar much of which is a consequence of processed food. It has seen dietary energy intake and rates of overweight and obese people rise with seven out of ten at least overweight and a third clinically obese.

Twelve percent of all infertility cases are a result of a woman either being underweight or overweight. Fat cells produce estrogen, in addition to the primary sex organs. Too much body fat causes production of too much estrogen and the body begins to react as if it is on birth control, limiting the odds of getting pregnant. Too little body fat causes insufficient production of estrogen and disruption of the menstrual cycle. Both under and overweight women have irregular cycles in which ovulation does not occur or is inadequate. Proper nutrition in early life is also a major factor for later fertility.

A study in the US indicated that approximately 20% of infertile women had a past or current eating disorder, which is five times higher than the general lifetime prevalence rate.

A review from 2010 concluded that overweight and obese subfertile women have a reduced probability of successful fertility treatment and their pregnancies are associated with more complications and higher costs. In hypothetical groups of 1000 women undergoing fertility care, the study counted approximately 800 live births for normal weight and 690 live births for overweight and obese anovulatory women. For ovulatory women, the study counted approximately 700 live births for normal weight, 550 live births for overweight and 530 live births for obese women. The increase in cost per live birth in anovulatory overweight and obese women were, respectively, 54 and 100% higher than their normal weight counterparts, for ovulatory women they were 44 and 70% higher, respectively.

Until the late 20th century, dietary issues in Mexico were solely a question of undernutrition or malnutrition, generally because of poverty and distribution issues. For this reason, obesity was associated with wealth and health, the latter especially in children. Despite changes in the Mexican diet and food distribution, malnutrition still remains problematic in various parts of the country.