http://www.dailychilli.com/news/3543-70-years-without-food-or-water
70 years without food or water Military doctors in India are starving a mysterious holy man - to find out if claims he has survived for 70 years without food or water are true. The defence docs backed by India's national defence research centre are studying the 83-year-old in a bid to find out his secret. Long-haired Prahlad Jani has been put in solitary confinement in hospital where 30 medics are maintaining a constant watch over him. Prahlad Jani has survived for 70 years without food or water The tests will establish if he is telling the truth in the very real hope the study may uncover as yet undocumented methods of surviving in extreme conditions. Dr Govindasamy Ilavazhagan, director of India's Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, said: "The observation from this study may throw light on human survival without food and water. "This may help in working out strategies for survival during natural calamities, extreme stressful conditions and extra-terrestrial explorations like future missions to the Moon and Mars." Tests at the hospital in the western city of Ahmedabad will include magnetic resonance scans, measuring Jani's brain and heart activity with electrodes and other neuro-physiological studies. The probe began on April 22 and is due to last up to 20 days. Jani, who claims to have been blessed by a goddess when he was eight, has not eaten or drunk anything - and has not been to the toilet. Scientists also have their eye on using his secret technique to help soldiers in wartime. Dr Ilavazhagan added: "The exercise of taking this yogi under the medical scanner is to understand what energy supports his existence. "Jani says he meditates to get energy. Our soldiers will not be able to meditate, but we would still like to find out more about the man and his body." Jani was studied previously in 2003 by neurologist Sudhir Shah. Dr Shah said: "Two stationary 24-hour video cameras have been set up in his room, while a mobile video camera follows him whenever he needs to step outside." Shah said Jani told him the key to his survival was an unexplained process by which he receives drops of water through a hole in his palate. - The Sun, UK Published April 29 2010
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