Kathmandu, December 1

Doctors involved in the treatment of Yagya Raj Panta, father of Nirmala, have said that the cause of his possible mental disorder could be because of imbalance of thyroid hormones in his body. Yagya Raj was admitted at Tribhuvan University Teaching hospital, Maharajgunj, on November 25 for medical treatment after he started showing signs of mental disorder in the course of staging an indefinite sit-in demanding justice for his daughter, in front of District Administration Office, Kanchanpur.

Psychiatrist Manisha Chapagain, who is involved in Yagya Raj’s treatment said, “We have suspected that the mental problem that Yagya Raj is having is due to the excessive growth of hormones produced by thyroid in his body.” However, he said  it was not necessarily true that all people with endocrine health problems developed such symptoms.

According to Dr Chapagain, high level of thyroid produce hormones that may lead to weight loss, anxiety and traits of mental illness. She also said that the Yagya Raj was suffering from diabetes.

She said lack of information on Yagya Raj’s health history was causing difficulty in diagnosing his illness. “We do not know how he behaved in the past or what kind of illness he suffered in the past.” Yagya Raj is accompanied by his wife and two relatives, who did not know about his health history.

Earlier, doctors had said that the CT Scan report of the brain of Yagya Raj had not shown any ‘structural pathology’ like additional mass, tumour, and infection was seen in his brain.