With market and medical community in league set to fleece the helpless patient & his attendants, we have to find alternative, economic options.
Unless we exercise discretion, there shall be little to keep us safe, hale & healthy. Polluted environment, unhygienic ambience at work, living or moving places, poor knowledge of basics of health & diseases, sedentary lifestyle, inappropriate food stuff, severe dearth of medical specialists, costly treatment, avoidable referrals, unwarranted diagnostics and procedures, hospitals & dispensaries without doctor, etc. can render us vulnerable to plethora of diseases. This is besides unimagined onset and lingering threat of pandemic Covid-19. Despite all such odds one can stay hale & healthy through basic knowledge and awareness about health and body functions.
Your response to health issues like rushing to a doctor or a health facility or getting vaccinated for Covid-19, if 45 plus, is reflection of your health awareness, which is abysmally low in our country. Professional integrity is certainly a moot issue but ignorance about basic health issues is rampant at ground level. Many don’t distinguish between BAMS or any non-descript degree and MBBS. My medico friend practicing in countryside tells that his patients report ineffectiveness of same medicine when the company changes the colour of capsule or its packing.
Admittedly we cannot ignore our health to live meaningfully. “When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, wealth is useless, and reason is powerless”, said the Greek physician Herophilos. Nature provides best options to keep living beings in shape, apropos of dogs and other animals eating specific shrubs when sick. When we take too much of something, the body resists. Listening to one’s body is vital for good health. Interestingly, any living entity is endowed with systemic capability to heal itself when in disorder thus minimising the need for professional consultation. Baba Ramdev’s highly knowledgeable associate Rajiv Dixit often asserted that cure for all our maladies lies in shrubs & plants naturally grown in our vicinity of which village folks have had good understanding. Early Swiss doctor Paracelsus also wrote, “All that man needs for health and healing has been provided in nature, the challenge of science is to find it”.
The other day, when I consulted a doctor for a mild bruise by a cat at my leg without iota of bleeding, he said: “If you ask me, I shall advise taking full anti-rabies course, a must for dog, cat or monkey bite by”. We all are witness to cases of a medically insured person heading to hospital with complaint of diarrhoea where the attending doctor persuades not to take risk, and be admitted. Branded hospitals charge around Rs. 40,000 for this gimmick. Ditto with avoidable caesarians that fetch Rs. 50-80 thousand, something the new generation does not mind due to ignorance or staying in swim. The chargeable amount depends on the perceived status of client and salesmanship of doctor, an art they have honed up. The medicos working in best interest of patient (and not employer) may be sacked; indeed some quit the workplace. ‘Voices of Conscience from the Medical Profession’ authored by medical veterans Dr. Arun Gadre & Abhay Shukla released in 2016 brings to fore several such malpractices in vogue. No wonder, street doctors earn more from diagnostic referrals and property dealing than from consultation. Sterling medical professionals suggest that human organs and processes should be minimally invaded, and discourage cosmetic surgeries, caesarian deliveries, etc. unless in exceptional cases.
Neglect of mental & emotional make-up and physical movement is impinging on public health. The spiritual & mental aspects of man determining the overall fitness have often been sidelined by modern medicine, which mainly addresses the physical aspects. Imagine how for decades some persons have been doing with far less sleep or food than the stipulated requirements or the ‘recommended dietary allowance’ (RDA). A clue to this riddle can be found in matter-energy convertibility theory. A little quantity of food, if ingested devoutly and happily, is well absorbed by our system to provide enough energy. The extraneous stuff is not only wasted but also renders us obese. Obesity is a major today among children and adults; more people die of overeating than starvation. Obesity is linked with several diseases.
Mind & body constitute a composite entity, one cannot be healthy without another yet owing to its extraterrestrial linkage, mind has deeper role in regulating health system. Recall, how the mind-body matrix is reflexively activated, triggering a bed-ridden lady with 103 degree fever to action mode when she discovers that her child has 99 degree fever.
Several studies have shown that persons with intimate relationships and spiritual leanings live healthier and longer. Keep the body fit by taking interest in life, eating light, breathing deeply and staying cheerful.
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Published in edit page of Orissa Post on 8 April 2021 with the heading, “Follow nature’s diktat to stay hale & hearty”. Link:
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