Since February second week things are worse. In earlier days it appeared to be fun staying at home and work from home. However, as the days, weeks, months passed by lives have been monotonous. Earlier news from far away use to disturb us. But the problem started happening in known contacts. It’s more disturbing and affecting our lives. The economy is at toss. Future of many seems to be obscure as the employers are disengaging people. The adversity is taking heavy toll on us. Our mental / emotional health is getting affected further leading to loss of sleep, reduced immunity. Let’s conquer adversities, let’s build resilience. 

It’s high time to build resilience. One should have started from first week of March itself, however, nevertheless it’s not late, start from today – Start to build resilience.

What’s resilience?

Building resilience — the ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress — can help us, our children manage stress and feelings of anxiety and uncertainty¹

Indian perspective for resilience is स्थितप्रज्ञ

In simple words your ability to re-bounce back during adversities of life.

During adversity why are we affected at the first place? Why are we emotionally upset at first place? The WHY “syndrome” is affecting many.

One answer to these questions is – because we are adamant.

Surprised to know the answer?

But it’s true:

(A) we are adamant to accept that only change is constant and stability is not

(B) we are adamant to accept what science is telling us to do in order to prevent the disease

(C) we are adamant to accept facts and we don’t trust science that once we do our 100% in preventive strategies the disease will stay away

(D) we are adamant to accept that there are some powers such as nature beyond our capabilities.

How to break this adamant behaviour and how do one build resilience?

The step by step approach would be:

1. Retrospect and clearly understand existing state
2. Accept the fact that change is only be stable and “stability” is not
3. Accept science
4. Accept powers beyond our capabilities
5. Face fears
6. Prepare plan to bounce back
7. Limit liabilities build newer capabilities
8. Use tools to build resilience
9. Emotional resilience counts more even in medical treatment of any disease be it novel. No gadget on this universe till date can gauze emotional intelligence. Build, gauze it yourself.

Here are some small business tools to develop resilience from world renowned Facebook which you can refer to and extra-polate even in non-business strategies. Do refer to:

• Facebook – Resilience Quick Action Guide – Click Here
• Facebook – Resilience Toolkit – Click Here

If at all you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

References:

1. The American Psychological Association (APA). (18) Oct 23, 2019. Accessed at URL: https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience
2. Facebook Business Resources. Accessed at URL: https://www.facebook.com/coronavirus_business_info

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© July 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance® Quality of Living Clinic 

               In the earlier articles we have learnt what is health, disease and classification of disease. Knowing all the concepts let’s tabulate the precise picture of Healthy State of Being. While tabulating the systems in the extreme left column in Systemic Parameters portion, I have just mentioned the body parts or broader classification, however, it has no relevance medically to existing medical terminology. For example, where I have mentioned broader terminology as Head, Neck, Brain it relates to anatomical area head, neck, brain and does not include internal organs, functions. But here I have included internal organs, functions too as they relate to the area. Or major glands are anatomically located in the broader area mentioned. 

I am sure you have got the birds eye view of the life and living. The content / satisfaction in life leads to good health and wellbeing. Hence along with accumulation of wealth accumulation of satisfaction is more important and crucial to be in the state of wellbeing for longer time period. The longer you remain in the state of complete mental, physical wellbeing you experience Quality of Living which is the purpose and objective of Wellbiance® Quality of Living Clinic to help you achieve it.

Reference:

1. Wikipedia – accessed online – wikipedia.org
2. Academic (1986 to 1992) and Clinical Experience (1993 to 2020) of Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan

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© April 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance® Quality of Living Clinic

In the earlier articles we have learnt what is health and disease. Now let’s understand the Classification of a disease or infirmity. As in the current times three major systems of medicine are prevailing, Allopathy, Ayurveda, Homoeopathy we will restrict ourselves to these classifications and will not deal with classification of disease as per Siddha and Unani.

Allopathic (Modern Medicine) Classification of Disease¹

• Topographic, by bodily region or system,
• Anatomic, by organ or tissue,
• Physiological, by function or effect,
• Pathological, by the nature of the disease process,
• Etiologic (causal),
• Juristic, by speed of advent of death,
• Epidemiological, and
• Statistical

Any single disease may fall within several of these classifications.

Ayurvedic Classification of Disease²

In Ayurveda multiple approaches are considered for classification of disease. The ayurvedic doctor has full liberty to consider newer approaches towards classification of disease.

Homoeopathic Classification of Disease^{3, 4}

Let’s understand Homoeopathic Classification of diseases and where homoeopathy can be effective. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann the founder of Homeopathic Science has scientifically classified disease into three major categories further sub-divided into other sub-categories:

1. Indisposition:

It is just a deviation from state of health. E. g. Indigestion from overeating, body ache (myofibrositis) due to lack of sleep. This category diseases needs no remedy and can subside on their own after correction in the cause leading to indisposition.

2. Surgical or Mechanical Cause related Diseases:

As the name suggests the disease is due to an external factor and has less of or no dynamism involved but is due to manual interference. Examples include fractures, big non reducible hernias. Diseases in this category will need surgical intervention and cannot be treated by any pathy.

3. Dynamic Diseases:

Diseases caused by deviation in lifestyle (irregular habits, wrong diet, mental & physical stress). This category is further sub-divided into:

(A) Acute Diseases: Such as flu, diarrhoea, etc.

(B) Chronic Diseases: Such as arthritis, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, goitre, asthma, allergies, PCOS,   diabetes, blood pressure, etc.

Homoeopathy can successfully treat diseases from the third category.

Visit the URL: Diseases Cured by Homoeopathic Treatment: http://www.drpradhan.com/home/homoeopathic-articles-top/disease-specific-top

Reference:

1. Human Disease Classification. Encyclopaedia Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/science/human-disease/Classifications-of-diseases (accessed on April 4, 2020)
2. Rathod K. B. et al. A Review of Classification of Disease in Ayurveda. International Archives of Integrated Medicine, Vol.1, Issue. 2, October, 2014. P50-60. http://iaimjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/7-A-review-of-classification-of-disease-in-Ayurveda.pdf (accessed on April 4, 2020)
3. Classification of Diseases in Homoeopathy – Centre for Health Informatics (CHI), set up at National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. – https://www.nhp.gov.in/Classification-of-diseases_mtl (accessed on April 4, 2020)
4. Pradhan A. C. Does a Homoeopath can treat all diseases? – http://www.drpradhan.com/home/homoeopathic-articles-top/disease-specific-top/80-can-homoeopathy-cure-all-diseases (accessed on April 4, 2020)

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© April 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance® Quality of Living Clinic

               In the earlier article Health – Basic Concepts (Click Here to read it first if you have read it) we have dealt with the definition of health and its meaning as elaborated in various dictionaries. In this article we will elaborate in depth about what is health, what parameters tell us that we are in good health. These parameters in medical terminology are labelled as Determinants of Health.

Physical Well-Being

What are the parameters of physical well-being? We breathe in and out 12 to 18 times every minute. However, are you aware? Till I tell you the rate at which you are breathing per minute, do you know it? No! You can be aware of your breathing only when you are consciously focusing on your breathing. The same logic applies to each and every part / cell, organ within our body. Till the time you are not conscious / you are not aware of the part or process within our body in normal living you are enjoying health. Unless otherwise you deliberately become aware of these organs, functions such as in case of Yoga, when you deliberately focus your attention on breathing. Some parts and processes are even beyond our awareness. For example: movements of vocal cords. You are not aware how the movements are. The only time you are aware of your voice is when one loose one’s voice in acute laryngitis, yet the way vocal chords move, we are not aware of it. All the parts, cells, processes of the body are harmoniously functioning at it’s own normal pace with ease. When we loose the ease of action of a bodily part at which the part or the process is functioning we become aware of the part and process and then we are diseased. We are dis-eased! We are not at ease. We are diagnosed as diseased (dis-eased). The disease process makes you aware of the ailing part or of the ailing process. For example, when we suffer from common cold, breathing in air is difficult due to nasal obstruction and we experience nasal blockage. It is a well experienced fact that we are aware of our bodily parts and processes only when we are sick. Then how can one differentiate and become aware of healthy functions to label oneself as being in a complete state of physical health? Let’s consider the parameters that tell us whether the part or the functioning is normal or abnormal.

Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine¹ describes physical health as having “a good complexion, a clean skin, bright eyes, lustrous hair with a body well clothed with firm flesh, not too fat, sweet breath, a good appetite, sound sleep, regular activity of bowels and bladder and smooth, easy, coordinated bodily movements. All organs of the body are of unexceptional size and function normally; all special senses are intact; the resting pulse rate, blood pressure and exercise tolerance are all within the range of normality for the individual’s age and sex.”

Complexion, clean skin, bright eyes, lustrous hair, and firm flesh reflect good nutrition. If the person is eating appropriate quantities and taking a balanced diet, there are no deficiencies seen. A state without any deficiencies reflects these signs good complexion, clean skin, bright eyes, lustrous hair, etc. Sweet breath reflects good oral health. Good appetite rules out many diseases. In diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis one tends to loose appetite. However, these are pathological states. A person suffering from indigestion or worm infestation may have poor appetite and bad breath. Seven to nine hours of sound sleep in adults indicate sound mind. Seven to nine hours of sleep rejuvenate cells which have been working round the clock for maintaining the bodily functions. (Do refer my earlier article on Optimum Sleep) Regular activity of bowels means passage of stools on regular intervals with sense of satisfaction. Regular bladder movements indicate absence of diseases such as diabetes or in case of males, diseases related to prostate. In females, diseases related to uterine or bladder prolapse. Coordinated body movements indicate normal functioning of brain in medical terminology normal function of central as well as peripheral nervous system. The other important parameters which need to be normal are: Temperature, Pulse, Respiratory Rate, Blood Pressure. Abnormal temperature, pulse, respiratory rate and blood pressure values are seen in many grievous diseases. Normal temperature, resting pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure within normal range pertaining to age and sex are signs of physical well-being.

Mental Well-Being

If one thinks retrospectively there is definite difference between lower animals and higher animals. Lower animals the only goal of living is survival. They simply need to eat, drink, reproduce and survive. As against that human beings are higher animals and need to have a definite higher purpose of living. One of the important aspect of differentiation amongst lower animals is that we can smile / laugh. Human beings can think beyond survival. A mentally healthy person will search for objectives of higher purposes of living and will align it to the goals of living. 

Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine¹ states mental well-being as “a state of balance between the individual and the surrounding world, a state of harmony between oneself and others, a coexistence between realities of the self and that of other people of the environment.” 

Park’s Textbook¹ further describes that a mentally healthy person is:

1. Free from Internal Conflicts and is not at “war” with himself or herself
2. Is well adjusted means he / she can get well along with others and can accept criticism and is not easily upset
3. Searches for identity
4. Has strong sense of self esteem
5. Knows himself / herself – his needs, problems, and goals (self-actualization)
6. Has good self-control-balances rationality and emotionality
7. Faces problems and tries to solve them intelligently, and can cope with anxiety and stress successfully

Free from Internal Conflicts and is not at “War” with self

Dilemma about making decisions is a stressor commonly experienced by individuals and it act as an indecisive force compelling one to change his / her decisions often and stay away from productive execution of ideas. The self-conflict can be between the conscience whether whatever steps am taking are right or wrong. Self-conflict can arise out of disproportionate perception of reality that whatever I do I will be criticized by the people around and in order to “avoid” the criticism no steps are taken. This state is also indication of low self-confidence.

Well-adjusted and can accept criticism

Ability to receive criticism positively indicates balanced state of mind. The moment one overcomes the sensitivity of receiving criticism he / she can get well along with everyone around. Till the time there is intense sensitivity towards criticism often it is seen such individuals isolates themselves from others for a distorted perception of “I am targeted and am an object of laughter”.

Searches for Identity

Your sense of identity has to do with who you think you are and how you perceive yourself. It’s about how you define yourself. Both affect your mental health, your behavior and how you relate to other people.

It’s important to understand how we develop sense of identity because low or a poor sense of self can contribute to so many problems in our lives. It’s also important to understand what steps we can take if we need help in these areas.

People who don’t have a strong sense of their own identity may be easily influenced by others. They may have trouble in making decisions and may get involved in unhealthy relationships.

The parents must shape identity of their kids. One needs to support them while they try and wipe off negative self-talk. Often peers inculcate a negative thought in the child which kills self-identity. One need to be observant and replace precisely the negative thought with positive one in order to formulate a positive identity. If the child fails to understand his / her own value, one needs to subtly help the child to identify their own values with which they will grow positively in their identity. Such a treatment in Clinical Psychology is referred to as positive re-enforcement.

Case

We had a male child coming to us whose elder sister was a great performer and he use to get subdued in light of her performance. During his upbringing his parents could not focus much on the second child due to their professional commitments. Due to which the male child was poor performer in the school and the peers inculcated a negative identity in his mind that he is not so intelligent as compared to his sister. The fact of the child developing negative identity was brought to notice by us to his parents who subtly as per our instructions “wiped” away the negative self-talk and inculcated confidence with a thought that you are equally intelligent, however, your efforts are falling short. The moment you will increase the efforts you will achieve similar or more than what your sister achieved. The Positive Re-enforcement ‘therapy’ helped the male child to come over negative self-talk and he could build a positive identity and over a period of time his performance at school excelled equivalent to or more than his elder sibling’s performance.     

Strong Sense of Self Esteem

Self-esteem is how you value yourself. It has to do with your sense of self-worth. It’s important to understand how we develop self-esteem because low self-esteem can contribute to so many problems in our lives.

People that have poor self-esteem may be susceptible to a number of psychological problems like depression, anxiety and eating disorders. They may be more likely to become addicted to stimulants such as alcohol or other drugs. Low self-esteem is not the only cause of these problems, but it is often a contributing factor. Children and adolescents with poor self-esteem are more likely than other children to have behavior problems and have trouble getting along with authoritative figures.

The World Health Organization² defines mental well-being as, “Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”

The WHO’s narration about mental well-being matches with the definitions or aspects of mental well-being considered till now based on Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine.

Disease or Infirmity

We have seen earlier what dis-ease is. Whenever we are sick, we loose the sense of well-being and develop a feeling that something is not well or one does not experience fresh and energetic sense of being. Such a sense is many-a-times accompanied with body ache. In medical terminology we call it as malaise. Malaise as per dictionary is a noun and it means a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or unease whose exact cause is difficult to identify. That clearly indicates the first symptom experienced by us is on mental / emotional level. If it is not treated or if it is not feasible to take rest when we experience the sick sense the disease progresses further to evolve. In reality, an individual experiences stress in day-to-day living which lowers the immunity and consequently lowered immunity level attracts diseases.

Whenever one suffers from a sudden onset of disease which lasts for a shorter period of time it is labeled as an acute disease. Whenever a disease has slow onset and lasts for longer period of time it is labeled as chronic disease. Flue, diarrhea, pneumonia are few examples of acute diseases. On the other hand, diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disorders, asthma, PCOD / PCOS are examples of chronic disease.

Whenever an individual is suffering from a chronic disease few of the signs reflected on the physical level affect the bowel, bladder movement, disturbs sleep. If the early signs of physical disturbances along with disturbances on the mental level are not identified and addressed to, then the disease evolves further to the next level.

Research has proved time and again that there is a clear relation between stress and health. Thus, till we do not effectively manage stress achieving the health goal is too far away to be achieved to.

If at all you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

References:

1. Park. Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine. 23^rd Edition. January 2015. P 14 – 15.
2. World Health Organization. Fact Files accessed at: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/ on September 11, 2016.
3. Ashutosh Pradhan’s Clinical Experience since January 1993

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© April 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance Quality of Living Clinic

               Today we all are scared of catching the disease. We are making every attempt to be healthy. However, do each one knows what health is all about? This is the first article in Health series, as it cannot be explained in depth in one article.

Health

Often none of the non-medical or non-health related population is interested in knowing what actual is meant by the six-letter word health. However, I feel it is very essential to know the precise meaning and the determinants of health. Once one is aware of what is meant by health the target of achieving health is crystal clear and the path can be easily chalked out towards health.

Various Definitions

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

Simple Definition of health¹ is the:

• Condition of being well or free from disease
• Overall condition of someone’s body or mind
• Condition or state of something

Full Definition of health¹

1

1. The condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially: freedom from physical disease or pain
2. The general condition of the body <in poor health> <enjoys good health>

2

1. Flourishing condition: well-being <defending the health of the beloved oceans — Peter Wilkinson>   
2. General condition or state <poor economic health>

3

A: toast to someone’s health or prosperity

WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its constitution dated back to 1948 as:

“A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.^{2, 3}”

Huber M. et al

Dr. Machteld Huber redefined Health on 2011 as:

Health as the ability to adapt and to self manage, in the face of social, physical and emotional challenges.^{4, 5}  

Dr. Huber describes the new concept as about ‘positive health’. The concept does not focus on the ‘state of complete well-being’. As per opinion of Dr. Huber the current World Health Organization (WHO) definition:

• Focuses on complete well-being, by which merely nobody is healthy.
• Has inadvertently promoted medicalisation, encouraging people and healthcare practitioners to be continually concerned with fighting disease, and neglecting opportunities for people to lead a meaningful life.

Resilience and self-management

Dr. Huber further feels that health is a dynamic phenomenon, and should be seen as an integral part of the art of living, rather than something we consider only when illness occurs. Of course illness must be treated where possible, but we should also focus on strengthening resilience, self-management and ‘health literacy’.

Wellbiance® Accepted Definition of Health

I am practicing on the basis of WHO’s definition of health since 1993. I differ with opinion expressed by Dr. Huber for her discussion about terms “complete well-being” as mentioned in the WHO’s definition of health. I personally feel that the WHO’s definition is highly ambitious as far as practitioners of modern medicine are concerned. When it comes to practitioners of yoga, homeopathy and Wellbiance®, the definition of health is achievable. With Wellbiance® through vehicles such as yoga, homeopathy independently as well as jointly, complete wellbeing is achievable. Deleting terms “complete well-being” from the definition of health is as good as defeating oneself against diseases. Simply because majority from the population is suffering from chronic diseases does not dilute your target of achieving complete well-being. Hence, I feel WHO’s definition of health is accurate and is time tested.

While we will discuss about Wellbiance® in details in the upcoming articles we will consider WHO’s definition of health as a accurate definition. However, we will use Dr. Huber’s new concept of resilience as a tool to achieve health as per WHO’s definition.

Health – as Specified in WHO’s Definition

Since we have accepted the WHO’s definition of health our goal of achieving health as per WHO’s definition of health, has now been clear. Now we must understand the definition completely so that the target “Health” will be crystal clear and we can chalk down the road map to our target.

Let’s re-read the definition:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.^{2, 3}

If we defragment the statement above into key words following are the keywords:

1. State
2. Complete
3. Physical
4. Mental
5. Social
6. Well-being
7. Disease
8. Infirmity

Let’s understand the meaning of these keywords from the existing easy access definitions, meanings, explanations:

1. State⁷ – noun –
1. The condition of a person or thing, as with respect to circumstances or attributes e.g. a state of health.
2. A particular condition of mind or feeling e.g. to be in an excited state.
2. Complete⁷ – adjective – having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full
3. Physical⁷ – adjective – related to body – we will understand it in depth to learn all physical aspects in terms of signs and symptoms of well-being
4. Mental⁷ – related to mind – we will understand it in depth to learn all physical aspects in terms of signs and symptoms of well-being
5. Social – always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary⁸.
6. Well-being – Well-being is a positive outcome about what people feel about their lives, such as the quality of their relationships, their positive emotions and resilience, the realization of their potential, or their overall satisfaction with life—i.e., their “well-being.”^{9, 10} Well-being generally includes global judgments of life satisfaction and feelings ranging from depression to joy.^{11, 12}
7. Disease – A disease is a particular abnormal condition, a disorder of a structure or function, which affects part or all of an organism¹³.
8. Infirmity¹⁴ – noun
1. A Physical weakness or ailment: the infirmities of age.
2. Quality or state of being infirm; lack of strength.
3. A moral weakness or failing.

With the defragmented understanding of the keywords, you may have had a glimpse of collectively what the definition of health comprises of.

The definition begins with the word state that means it has an affinity to change as per external impression and may not remain the same constantly over a period of time. Then it speaks about complete physical, mental and social well-being. Often in our day-to-day living we refer to only physical health and the other two components are completely missing from our awareness “radar”. We never think of or are aware of mental and social components. It would be a weird idea to have patient coming into a primary care physician and the patient states that I do not have social well-being. Even when it comes to mental well-being many a times the person is not aware of the derangements yet there is enough awareness now a days and people do visit a counselor or a psychiatrist. Why is this scenario prevailing? The basic reason why we never emphasis on the other two components and are constantly aware of derangements at the bodily level is because we have never been taught to gauze the other two levels on our own. We will go through each of the three components thoroughly to understand what it means being in the state of well-being and how to gauze the levels in health.

If at all you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

References:

1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Definition of Health. Accessed at URL: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/health
2. World Health Organization. WHO definition of Health, Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19–22 June 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948. In Grad, Frank P. (2002). “The Preamble of the Constitution of the World Health Organization”. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 80 (12): 982.
3. World Health Organization. 2006. Constitution of the World Health Organization – Basic Documents, Forty-fifth edition, Supplement, October 2006.
4. Huber M. et al. How should we define health? BMJ 2011;343:d4163. PMID 21791490.
5. Huber M. et al. New Concept of Health. A short video published on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoJ_zywh9uM published on December 10, 2012.
6. Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health
7. com
8. Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social
9. Diener E, Seligman ME. Beyond money. Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 2004;5(1):1–31.
10. Diener E. Assessing well-being: the collected works of Ed Diener. New York: Springer; 2009.
11. Diener E, Scollon CN, Lucas RE. The evolving concept of subjective well-being: the multifaceted nature of happiness. In: E Diener (ed.) Assessing well-being: the collected works of Ed Diener. New York: Springer; 2009:67–100.
12. Frey BS, Stutzer A. Happiness and economics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press; 2002.

• Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease

14. com – http://www.dictionary.com/browse/infirmity

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© April 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance Quality of Living Clinic

 Doctor today the Sensex dropped to – 1375.27 points and the NIFTY dropped to – 379.15 points, what is happening, Share Market is almost doomed with two lower circuits hit within a span of few days? My investments are just ripping off in front of my eyes and am helpless. Do you feel indices will ever rise? Doctor, my father is restless, unable to focus, do you have any Homeopathic Treatment? With the lock down in place and constant bombarding of the CoVid-19 news more than the infection there is panic situation amongst people at large. Due to market situation and due to listening to undue stats of the spreading pandemic many individuals are suffering from panic, anxiety and depression globally leading it to a Panic Pandemic.

I felt I must share information on how to handle the Panic Pandemic. We have already covered Stress Management in depth at the session delivered at Rotary Club’s Sanwad Dotoranshi in 2018, you can visit URL – http://www.wellbiance.com/health/wellness-coaching-top/articles/23-sanwad-doctoranshi-2018-wellbiance-effective-stress-management-session and view full 1 hour 54 minutes video which will elaborate in depth, how to deal with stress. In the session we have advised people to undertake introspection and analyse the WEIM®. Those who has not viewed the above session will have question what is WEIM®, I will enumerate WEIM® here in short, however, for a detailed explanation please visit the above URL to watch the full video in one sitting.

Wellbiance® WEIM®

Acronym WEIM (which is a registered ® trademark) simply stands for four pivotal components of Mind:

A detailed illustration of the above concept is as under:

Once one does introspection and note down the WEIM® one gets a bird’s eye view of the four pivotal components of mind. The WEIM® is further classified into: (A) Non-Modulated WEIM® and (B) Modulated WEIM®

• Non-Modulated WEIM®

Non-Modulated WEIM® is a chart of Will, Emotions, Intellect, Memory of an individual at a given point of time after a thorough introspection. With which we can clearly demarcate irrational thinking or stress of the individual. Non-Modulated WEIM® will help the individual to quantify stress and will identify predominant stress component.

• Modulated WEIM®

Modulated WEIM® is a plotted chart consciously modifying and tuning up the predominant sphere with a rational thought process. Once one jots down the Modulated WEIM® the same should be inculcated in the behavioural pattern of the individual to modulate predominant sphere fostering rational thinking.

Balanced and rational thinking will keep the individual healthy.

In other words, the exercise to jot down Non-Modulated WEIM® and executing Modulated WEIM® in the behavioural pattern is also termed as Emotional Intelligence.

Hence as per the concept explained above let’s analyse Non-Modulated WEIM® of people at large as of date.

Non-Modulated WEIM® of people at large in the existing situation:

Wellbiance® Non-Modulated WEIM^® Predominance: Emotions = Panic

The panic is present globally hence I have labelled it as Panic Pandemic. Since the Wellbiance® WEIM® analysis also reflects that the Panic Pandemic is result of suppressed Will we need to work around the Will as well as with the Emotions. However, in order to achieve rational thinking all four components of mind – Will, Emotions, Intellect, Memory must be modulated.

Knowing the non-modulated Wellbiance® WEIM® we know that the emotions are at peak and irrational. The will is strong to perform acts and deeds which are prohibited. Hence the will in today’s situation is suppressed due to the outward situation. Suppression of any of the components of mind will lead to irrational thinking. Irrational thinking is the cause of stress. Persistent irrational thinking over a period leads to a chronic disease or lifestyle disorder. Hence it is advisable to voluntarily amend the irrational thinking to rational one using Wellbiance® WEIM® as the tool. Now let’s modulate the non-modulated WEIM®. What should be the principle to execute modulation? Like the equalizer tool we use in a music system and move the equalizer buttons up and down to balance acoustics we must modulate the four components of mind. In the existing situation where the will is suppressed, we have to get the will in sublimation state by actually grasping the factual position through modulating the intellect and memory. Now let’s execute the principles of modulation in the non-modulated Wellbiance® WEIM® analysed for the existing situation:

 
Wellbiance® Modulated WEIM®

 Though I have illustrated the use of Wellbiance® WEIM® tool effectively in this article, few individuals will find it difficult to over come the panic. Such individuals can be successfully treated with Homoeopathic Treatment. The emotional turmoil caused by the existing situation will be completely cured with the help of Homoeopathic Medicines and rational thinking process can be restored back. We have in a process to start a free Wellbiance® WEIM® Gym session in which we have in-person sessions with group of individuals who have voluntarily opted to join Wellbiance® WEIM® Gym. Which will refine the technique due to regular exercise of Wellbiance® WEIM® implemented. IN the Wellbiance® WEIM® Gym we analyse each participants Non-Modulated Wellbiance® WEIM® and generate a Modulated Wellbiance® WEIM®. If at all you are interested in participating in Wellbiance® WEIM® Gym sessions, do fill in the Wellbiance® WEIM® Gym opt-in form – https://forms.gle/mwDHEmE4CZC2TwGk9

If at all you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

References: NIL

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© March 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance Quality of Living Clinic

How much time does a person spend in sleeping? Were Napoleon and Thomas Edison correct when they advocated that people should sleep less? How can a person know how much sleep he requires? Why does a person need to sleep at all? How can a busy person keep from wasting time unnecessarily in sleep?

Sleep – What’s that?

Usually we perceive surrounding things using our five senses mainly touch, smell, sight, taste, hearing. The inputs received from these five send organs are analysed by the brain and it further instructs the body part to take actions based on the messages received from these five sense organs. When the brain exhausts or experiences fatigue and when it needs a rejuvenating break, that is the time you tend to lose control over these sense organs and your eyes starts closing and you experience a phenomenon termed as sleep. Additionally, a hormone – Melatonin that is secreted after sunset, induces sleep.

Valuable Time Spent in Sleep

It is surprising to note that a person sleeps for about one third of his life. The human organism is designed to function better with regular periods of sleep, and thus we make allowance in each day for satisfying this natural desire. The person who sleeps eight hours out of every twenty-four hours, sleeps 240 hours per month. Means the person is in sleep for ten complete days in a month. This amounts to four months per year, and in an average lifetime, approximately twenty-three years. At first one is tempted to question whether so much sleep is needed. It is logical to ask. Is it feasible to spend less time in sleep and thus have more hours for productive activities? Some famous persons like Thomas Edison, Napoleon advocate less time in sleeping. They could get their full productivity with lesser time sleeping. They were genius. However, were they healthy with lesser sleeping hours, is a million-dollar question to which we don’t have an answer as of date. However, for a normal individual it’s impossible to mimic their sleep pattern.

When we are debating the time of sleep what if I ask you to work 24 X 7 X 365? Are you ready? No, not at all. However, on the other hand human brain, heart, lungs are working 24 X 7 X 365. Have you ever experienced you are awake, and your heart is sleeping, or your lungs are taking a nap? Which is not possible, and you will not stay alive, right? Then when do they take rest? They take rest when you are in deep sleep. They do not stop but the brain activity is at the least minimum during deep sleep periods. Hence for heart, lungs and brain sleep is a rejuvenating phase. Reducing the sleeping time reduces your productivity.

You may have heard a recent news about a staff member of renown company did not sleep for seven days to achieve the target set by his boss. He could achieve the target. However, while making the presentation to his boss after staying awake for 7 days, he succumbed to massive heart attack. We also know a Mumbai based cardiac surgeon who use to perform open heart surgeries known as Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) by compromising his sleep had untimely death due to massive heart attack. Which time and again have proved scientifically that sleep is important rejuvenating rest phase for heart, lung, and brain. Often those students who complete studies staying awake make silly mistakes as they fail to concentrate while they are solving critical sums. Hence it is recommended that you plan your work hours and align it right on day one of being allocated a target to achieve, rather than slogging sleeplessly and then suffering from consequences of sleepless slogging. For men and women in their prime of life, seven to eight-hours sleep is highly recommended. It is a matter of individualization as to how much sleep an individual is required to recharge his heart-lung machine and the brain, in order to have highest productivity of the kind of work they are performing.

NREM = Non-Rapid Eyeballs Moving / Deep Sleep | REM = Rapid Eyeballs Moving / Shallow Sleep

Image Courtesy: How Sleep Works

Physiology of Sleep

As we discussed in the article Human / Biological Clock = Circadian Rhythm (http://www.wellbiance.com/health/wellness-coaching-top/articles/32-human-biological-clock-circadian-rhythm) by 9 pm the sleep hormone – Melatonin secretion starts. In order to have healthy quantities of the hormone secreted one must be in the low light or in the dark and should not get exposed to light. Thus, it is advisable to stop use of screens like mobile, tab, laptop, TV as such an exposure gives a false impression to brain and reduces production of Melatonin. Melatonin helps to induce good sleep as well it works to counter stress and as an antioxidant. Hence it is advisable not to get exposed to strong light after 9 pm so that the sleep quality is best. We must retire to bed at the earliest to experience quality sleep. When we sleep, we do not realize phases of sleep. Sleep is divided into three broad stages of NREM = Non-Rapid Eyeballs Moving / Deep Sleep and REM = Rapid Eyeballs Moving / Shallow Sleep, out of which NREM sleep is further sub-divided into four stages.

These cycles or sleep stages start as soon as we sleep. It follows a typical sleep pattern starting from 30 minutes of REM sleep followed by 90 minutes of NREM or Deep Sleep. We usually experience the dreams in the REM sleep phase. Whenever the bladder is full one starts getting dreams of searching for a washroom. Such dreams and sensation of bladder being full is commonly experienced in REM sleep. It is recommended that you wake up and visit washroom to empty the bladder with eyes closed to continue with sound sleep. If your attention is diverted to something else when you have woken up to empty the bladder, it is likely that you may break the sleep cycle.

Often you may have noticed that there were times where you woke up exactly on the alarm buzz. When you woke up precisely at the sound of buzzing alarm you experience sharp grasping power and completely refreshed feeling. On the contrary there are times when you did not get up despite of the alarm buzzing. In that case if at all you were woken up by one of your family members, you may have experienced heaviness of the head, unrefreshed feeling.  Have you ever thought of reasons behind these experiences? The scientific reason behind such experience is that whenever your alarm was set on a time that lies in deep sleep stage, since you were in deep sleep you could not wake up despite of the buzzing alarm. On the other hand, when you woke up with the buzzing alarm the alarm time was set in your REM sleep stage and since you were in the shallow sleep stage you could easily wake up refreshed. With that when ever you intend to wake up on a specified time see to it that you set up alarm and wake up during the REM sleep stage and not during the NREM or deep sleep stage. Considering this action point I am sharing few tools to identify REM / NREM stages of sleep. Following is the sleep stage classification:

Considering we sleep at 10 pm following is the diagrammatic representation of the phases of sleep which medically is termed as Hypnogram.  

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

Sleep ‘Chip’ / Sleep ‘Bank’

You may ask me a question that I have been recommending 7 to 9 hours of sleep, why do babies sleep for a longer duration? Very good question. Depending on the age of the person the sleep requirements do vary. Following chart lists age-wise sleep requirements:

During sleep time the cells undergo rejuvenating changes and grows further. Hence during younger age when the growth rate is more, the number of sleep hours are more. Once you attain adult age and the development / growth is complete the number of sleep hours are restricted to 7 to 9 hours. Equivalent to growth the time required for optimum sleep is dependent on an individual’s throughout the day activity too. During younger age the activity is more, hence the optimum sleep hours required are more. On the contrary after 60 years of age, an individual retires from active working. The activity slows down. In that age though we have listed sleep requirement to 7 to 8 hours, as the activity is reduced, shorter sleep hours are refreshing as well. Which works as optimum sleep duration for that age.

Similarly, when an individual suffers from a debilitating disease the sleep hour requirement increases. You may have experienced it.

What if the person can sustain sleeplessness? The person may have physical capabilities to stay awake for more time, however, sleep is a homeostatic process. Our body’s memory ‘chip’ / ‘bank’ keeps record of how much time the person has slept. If the individual stays awake for a longer period, sleep ‘debt’ is recorded in the memory and it needs to be compensated. If the person does not sleep for a specified time, his brain, heart, lungs get exhausted which in turn leads to lifestyle diseases. In extreme conditions it may lead to death due to sudden heart failure as we have experienced in the example of few individuals specified earlier in this article.  Once you cross a certain time period of being awake you experience intense sleepiness and it makes you difficult to stay awake and you tend to sleep wherever you are or whichever activity you are carrying out. Typically, after having meals the sleep debt takes a toll over the individual and you feel tremendously sleepy. Following are the penalties you pay for lack of sleep:

 Sleeplessness / Insomnia

Certain individual experiences sleeplessness due to a cause such as hormonal derangement. Few experience it without any specific reasons which is medically labelled as Idiopathic Sleeplessness. It is advisable that if you are experiencing sleepless nights you should see a qualified medical professional to rule out primary causes in the form of diseases. Homoeopathic Management helps an individual to get cured of sleeplessness / insomnia completely without feeling sleepy at odd times. If the person has sleeplessness secondary to a disease such as hormonal imbalance, homoeopathic remedies cure the disease. However, if the sleeplessness is of idiopathic origin still the homoeopathic treatment help to establish normal sleeping cycle. Often, we experience that a new-born is awake the whole night and sleeps the whole day. If not for the new-born but for the parents, it becomes cumbersome to handle this sleep cycle. As they are awake at night to pacify the new-born and working in offices during the day. In such situations homoeopathic treatment to the new-born restores normal sleeping cycle.

Before one resorts to medicines one can make following changes in their lifestyle in order to combat sleeplessness:

1. Avoid daytime naps – one may take rest in the afternoon if possible, however, should stay stark awake as small nap of few minutes has potential to alter the quality of night-time sleep.
2. Follow a daily exercise regime – often lack of activity does not exhaust individual giving rise to sleeplessness. Hence one must challenge their own physical endurance every day which will yield quality sleep at night-time.
3. Undertake Recreation Activities – while undertaking many activities you tend to forget the stress you have, such activities keep negative thoughts away and induce healthy sleeping cycles.
4. Maintain Fixed Sleeping Pattern – retire at the same time each night and wake up at same time. Even though there is a holiday, you should follow your sleeping pattern.
5. Screen Time Restrictions – avoid watching any screens after 9 pm as the melatonin secretion starts after 9 pm which is mainly responsible to induce sleep. Use of screens after 9 pm sends a false signal to brain in turn reducing Melatonin secretion.
6. Sleeping ‘Environment’ – see to it that your bedroom has complete darkness and not even a mellow light, along with complete silence in your bedroom.

References:

1. Shryock. You and Your Health (Revised Edition) Volume 1 – P:426-431 (1979)
2. Neuroscience of Sleep – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_sleep (accessed on 29-Mar-2020)
3. Thompson. REM Sleep – Types and Stages of Sleep – How Sleep Works – https://www.howsleepworks.com/types_rem.html (accessed on 29-Mar-2020)

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© March 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance Quality of Living Clinic

The human body is accustomed to a 24 hours biological clock. Certain hormonal as well as body parameters occur as per the biological clock. The biological clock in medical terms is known as Circadian Rhythm.

The term circadian comes from the Latin circa, meaning “around” (or “approximately”), and diēm, meaning “day”. Processes with 24-hour oscillations are more generally called diurnal rhythms; strictly speaking, they should not be called circadian rhythms unless their endogenous nature is confirmed. Although circadian rhythms are endogenous (“built-in”, self-sustained), they are adjusted (entrained) to the local environment by external cues called zeitgebers (from German, “time giver”), which include light, temperature and redox cycles. Redox cycle is a chemical reaction stimulated by oxidation states of atoms. The above statements indicate that these changes in the rhythm are in the internal cells and tissues of the human body and commonly are triggered with the external light, temperature. Gross meaning thereby is certain hormones and bodily parameters vary from time to time. Let’s enumerate these processes which change from time to time through out the 24 hours phase. Following image (courtesy Wikipedia) illustrates these changes in the Human Body within the 24 hours period.

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

Human Circadian Rhythm

I hope you are well convinced that the circadian rhythm plays a pivotal role in maintaining health. We often come across patients who boast themselves that we can stay awake for many consecutive nights with haphazard food intake. However, such individuals suffer from lifestyle disorders over period of time of messing up with the circadian rhythm.

We all are very much aware about the birds around; they follow the biological clock meticulously. I bet you offer fish or chicken to crows around after 6 pm and they will never touch the dish despite of the dish being their preferred one. If you offer them the same dish at 1 pm or around there will be hundreds and thousands of crows who will come flying to lavish upon the fish / chicken offered by you.

Considering the nature around and the circadian rhythm one must follow daily routine meticulously even during long vacations.

References:

1. Circadian Rhythm – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm (accessed on 28-Mar-2020)
2. Understanding How Testosterone Affects Men – National Institute of Health, US – https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/understanding-how-testosterone-affects-men (accessed on 28-Mar-2020)

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© March 2020, Dr. Ashutosh Pradhan – Consulting Homoeopath – Wellbiance Quality of Living Clinic