‘Don’t fall for influencers’: Tata Memorial doctor’s advice to Zerodha founder

Thoracic surgeon Dr C S Pramesh, a director of the Tata Memorial Hospital, asked Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath, who recently suffered a mild stroke, not to fall for influencers without “science background.”

Nithin Kamath is in recovery after he suffered a mild stroke around six weeks ago. A social media influencer and entrepreneur, Shankar Sharma, offered medical advice to Kamath about post-stroke rehabilitation, which has been refuted by many doctors online.

Re-sharing Shankar Sharma’s post on X, Dr CS Pramesh wrote, “A thread that demonstrates how life-threatening social media can be. Please don’t follow random “influencers” who don’t have true science to back them beyond ‘Trust me,bro.'”

In an added post, Dr Pramesh also said that although people might have good intentions, ill-researched advice can do more harm than good.

“While some may have malicious or mercenary intentions, I largely believe in the inherent goodness of the human race and generally give the benefit of doubt that folks are well-intentioned when they give advice. But ill-researched “expert” advice can do more harm than good. Beware,” he wrote.

Not just Dr Pramesh, several doctors have disapproved Sharma’s post-stroke recovery recommendations.

But first, here’s what Shankar Sharma wrote, “Nithin, Please immediately do these ( believe me, medical science has nothing to offer beyond initial hospital care). 1. Get a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber and start 1 hour per day. 2. Buy Red Infrared therapy device, available on Amazon ( take around 60 watts or more or ask Nikhil to message me, will send him one more powerful one.

IR is critical in brain rehab. Safe, non invasive. Plenty of research. 3. Immediately start on 5 grams of highest quality krill oil Omega 3 capsules + Brahmi. Again, plenty of research. Act fast. You have a window of a few weeks to completely rehabilitate yourself. Nikhil has my number and he can immediately send me a message.”