Benefits Of Integration of Yoga With Modern Medicine

The traditional Vedic systems of health comprising Ayurveda, Yoga and Siddha matured through human observation and inference with universal reproducibility over thousands of years, taking good care of the health of people in our sub-continent.

By Dr R K Tuli

There was continuous exchange of medical expertise between Indus valley and neighbouring civilizations.
The influx of population from central and west Asia brought along with it the Unani system of medicine into our country; and later the system of Homoeopathy from Germany was found to be very hospitable to Indian psyche. Our father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, promoted Naturopathy as the safest way to take care of individual health.
The advent of antibiotics and immunization in the first half of last century helped to control huge epidemics due to infectious diseases, establishing superiority of the Allopathic or modern system of medicine over the traditional systems in public perception. It was further enhanced by quick relief of symptoms in various diseases by medical pharmacology, improved critical care, as well as rapid advances in surgery and modern diagnostics. Thus, modern medicine became the official system of healthcare delivery all over the world including our country.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) was established by United Nations in year 1945 to regulate health. The WHO definition of Health, “a state of positive physical, mental and social well being, and not merely absence of disease” guided the healthcare worldwide, as well as the development of modern medicine.
The health planners at the helm developed a belief that the technology thus made available could conquer all sickness and restore health for all people in the world. With that confidence, WHO-UNICEF combine launched a universal programme termed “HEALTH FOR ALL BY 2000 A.D.” in the year 1978.
But, well before its 2000 A.D. deadline, it became apparent to the experts that this programme had failed to meet health expectations of the humanity, essentially because of its exclusive reliance on the allopathic system of medicine with its inherent weaknesses that: 1. It’s not acceptable nor affordable by majority of the people in the world; 2. It’s not easily accessible to most of the populations; 3. It’s inseparable from ‘iatrogenesis’ or its harmful side-effects. 4. It was also noted that the allopathic based model couldn’t take care of the health of the growing population of the ‘elderly’ in the world; and 5. It lacked ‘spiritual’ needs of the people.
But, the World Health Assembly 1986 recommendation that ‘spiritual’ well being be added as the fourth dimension to definition of Health, in addition to physical, mental and social aspects, remains beyond comprehension of modern science and thereby current healthcare worldwide so far.
From the lessons learnt from the failed ‘Health for All’ programme and to overcome deficiency in healthcare, the WHO recommended and our National Health Policy promulgated integration of the modern allopathic medicine with the officially recognised traditional or Indian, later termed as AYUSH systems of medicine and indigenise healthcare services in the country.
It was only in the year 1977 that the Government of India (GOI) extended official recognition to the alternate or Indian systems of health comprising Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. They were later merged together into the meaningful term ‘AYUSH’ and designated as a department under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The current regime has recently upgraded its status to be an independent ‘Ministry of Ayush’.
A GOI order in year 2003 recommended all state governments and health care agencies in the country to popularise drug-free modalities of Acupuncture and Hypnotherapy by trained registered medical practitioners of all the systems of medicine. These two drug-free modalities enable an efficient bridge at clinical level for various drug-based systems with the ‘ashtanga’ philosophy of Yoga for an all integrative and comprehensive ‘body-mind-spirit’ model of ‘Holistic Health Care For All’ at all the levels of health.

PRESENT SCENARIO:
Due to good control of communicable diseases (CDs) in the last century, the pattern of sickness has shifted to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), majorly attributed to ‘life-style’ changes in the population into twenty first century. As a result, in spite of tremendous advances in modern medicine and far improved availability of health care infrastructure in the country, the incidence of morbidity due to NCDs is stated to have increased four-fold in the last three decades.
A contributory factor may be also due to the fact that all the importance, investment, credit and glory of the medical profession has hitherto gone to secondary and tertiary services at the expense of due respect to primary health care for prevention, early diagnosis as well as conservative management of NCDs aimed at arrest, reversal and cure of freshly detected cases of various life-style and psychosomatic disorders like obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, allergic or autoimmune disorders and viral infections, etc.

CURRENT NEED:
The current need is to develop a wholesome and an all inclusive strategy to contain and reverse this rising trend of incidence and morbidity due to NCDs. It must be declared by health authorities in the country that this cannot be achieved by any drug based system or medical interventions. The health campaigns must highlight that health lies in its prevention and that all medical interventions, though help to save life in critical state, extend mere temporary relief leading to prolonged suffering and finally death. For an effective long term cure of NCDs, each individual must be guided for healthy life-style, efficient rehabilitation and reversal of the cause of disease by reinforced active primary health care including sincere conservative management of such disorders.
National Health Care should begin with country wide introduction of health, hygiene and sanitation as well as scientific understanding and application of ‘Ashtanga Yoga’ as the way of life in education curriculum at all levels. The Govt. of India should introduce study of the philosophy, science and practice of Yoga mandatory in under-graduate curriculum of all the systems of medicine, and Yoga Therapy must be made available at all levels of health. Initiation of Yoga as a post-graduate speciality in all the systems of medicine and its availability at each primary, secondary as well as tertiary care facility shall go a long way in raising the status of health in our country and minimise morbidity as well as suffering due to NCDs. Simultaneously, attention must be paid to the useful complementary role of officially recommended drug-free, non-conflicting and yoga friendly modalities of Acupuncture and Hypnotherapy as that shall augment to improve health care at all stages.

THE WAY FORWARD:
It’d be most appropriate to officially mandate learning of the philosophy and practice of ‘Ashtanga Yoga’ as a way of life by all by appropriate education at all levels in schools and colleges. The same must be included in all the systems of health at all levels, complemented with emphasis on drug-free modalities like disciplined life, regular exercise, healthy nutrition, stress management, weight control, counseling, hypnotherapy and acupuncture to enable more efficient cure and faster recovery of the freshly diagnosed or those needing rehabilitation after secondary or tertiary care.
This drug-free model of Holistic approach to health shall enable each individual to ‘add life to years’, improve ‘quality of health’, minimise morbidity due to any kind of sickness, reduce dependence on medicines and medical interventions, and enable fresh rejuvenation after any sickness to return to society as a model of positive health and total wellness.
To achieve ‘HEALTH FOR ALL” in the country, the healthcare planners under the dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister and the Union Minister of Health need to promote this approach termed Holistic Healthcare in the country by incorporating their will and augmenting skills of personnel within existing resources. It’ll, also, be a great act to restore the old dignity of medical profession.

(The author is, Chief Consultant Holistic Medicine, Former. Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals & Indian Air Force, *”SOHAM” The Clinic For Holistic Medicare & Cure, New Delhi)