Head of the General Therapeutics Department and professor of the Yerevan State Medical University Edward Nazaretyan visited the Nubarashen police department to see Razmik Sargsyan, who has been on a hunger strike since August 12, 2005. We present the interview with Nazaretyan after the quick examination of the boy. Before the doctor’s examination, Razmik had refused taking glucose for 5 days. A pressure ranging from 140/90 is considered hypertonic.
– What can you say about Razmik’s health after the examination?
– There is nothing dangerous. Nothing will happen to his body by not taking glucose for three days because the brain uses 95% of glucose. He is young and has fats. If you begin not to eat, those fats burn and give you energy. He is pretty active.
– Does this mean that a person can stay in a normal condition by not taking in glucose for one month?
– It matters whether or not he or she drinks water or no. There was water in the stomach; the appendix was full of water; so, he fulfills the demand for water. As for nutrition, if he completely refuses to eat after 40-50 days, it is then that there may be some organic changes in the body, but small. But the thing is that no medical clinic allows the patient to go long without eating. They force him to eat.
– Do you mean to say that you can force someone to eat?
– Yes, of course.
– But as far as I know, it is forbidden in all countries to force someone to eat.
– I don’t know. Why is it forbidden? How do we feed psychologically ill people who refuse to eat? If the patient refuses to eat, any humanitarian profession does not allow the patient to refuse to eat. We always find a way to make the patient eat. If we can’t force him to eat, then we will do that by injections. What’s wrong?…we will never let the patient go hungry.
– What do you think about transferring Razmik Sargsyan to the hospital? Are the isolated conditions normal for him to stay there?
– I can’t say for sure because their administration deals with that and there is an expert committee. We specialists just come to check-up on the patient. At the present, I don’t feel that there is a necessity to treat him like an ill patient. What I mean is that I don’t consider him a sick patient. The X-rays and examination show that his heart functions normally and 120/90 pressure is considered as a normal result for heart function, the pulse goes at a rhythm; meaning, there are no changes in the heart-artery system, the air in the lungs is clear, the liver comes out of the sides by 0.5-1 centimeters and that is normal. Of course, the patient, if we can consider him a patient, the person can still live…calmly, he can live his life but must eat.
– How do you explain the fact that Razmik is in a good condition after a four month hunger strike (it will soon be four months)?
-I think that he has been taken care of normally for the past four months. I don’t think that he has not been taken care of, because if it was like that, then…
– What do you mean by care?
– Nutrition. They have fed him, or given him…I really can’t answer that question.
– Who can answer it?
– The people that work in the police department. I don’t think that Razmik has starved to death for the past four months and that is why he is in this condition…I don’t think so. Anyone can go out on a hunger strike to try it out. There must be means to feed him.
– What if he doesn’t want to eat?
– Well, the psychotherapist can talk with him, convince him. This is where the doctor comes in…
– Does he need to be fed?
– If a little effort is put in to feed him, he will return to his regular regime.
– We have talked to the Red Cross and they say that if he is in a hunger strike, that is his right and nobody has the right to forbid him from doing that-it is his choice.
– I can not add anything to the statement made by the Red Cross. How can you not convince that person to eat? I don’t know why he is not refusing to eat, but I look at his present situation and if he continues to eat after today, his life will not be endangered; basically, he will be able to live a normal life. There is a way, legal or I don’t know, so that he can eat and live his life. We believe that lawyers may talk to him and lead him on the right path; then Razmik will can start to eat. There is no danger in the near future. I see no danger.
– Don’t you see anything dangerous here?
– No, my dear, I really don’t. He may face that danger later on. It has only been three days that he has been refusing medical treatment. Nothing will happen in the course of three days. He is conscientious, he hears us very well, understands perfectly; basically, his brain functions normally. This means that his body functions normally even if he hasn’t taken any medicine for the past three days. This is the most important thing. As to what he should do after this, it is up to the legal parties to decide.
– Can you say how many days it will take for him to get worse after not taking in glucose?
– One month, two months, three months…it depends on how energetic the person is. There are people that have a lot of energy and that person is not always hungry. There is glycogen inside his organs that decays and gives the person endogen glycogen; he has an extra of that in his liver-after all, the organism knows how to function…and gives the person as much glucose as needed. So, he is not hungry. As soon as glucose comes up, he will want to eat. I will tell you something else-as soon as he eats something, he will no longer be able to keep it up.
– Can we consider his health normal after taking in glucose?
– The main energetic source is glucose. There are children that mainly eat sugar and live long lives. Since he has been in bed for a long time, he has little energy. This is a means of defense. When he is constantly in bed, he doesn’t move and that is a means of defense. If, for example, he does physical work, he will have a high demand for glucose and if he were able to stay 15 days without food, his extra glucose would finish after one or two days. Basically, he is defending himself.