With the advent of modern hi-tech medicine, the rich in the world are made to believe that one can not exist without the help of hi-tech modern medicine. The truth is otherwise. Man has been here on this planet, for well over 9,00,000 years in 50,000 generations. Hi-tech modern medicine has been there for less than half a century. If human existence on this planet were to depend solely on modern medicine, mankind would have been extinct, like the dinosaurs, long, long ago! Modern medicine has become top heavy and prohibitively expensive. More than 80% of the world's population does not have any touch with modern medicine at all. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, once said: " modern medicine, for all its breathtaking advances, is slightly off balance, like the Tower of Pisa." How true!



Classification of Diseases:

From the utilitarian point of view diseases that man is heir to could be classified under the following heads:



* Acute emergency problems

* Minor illnesses syndromes

* Chronic, incurable, degenerative diseases

* “Doctor-thinks-you-have” diseases

* "Patient-thinks-he-has" diseases, and

* Doctors and/or drug induced diseases (Iatrogenic)



The above classification would give a very comprehensive scenario of medical care delivery in the world today. While it is true that modern hi-tech quick-fix methods are palpably effective in almost all emergency situations to mend the damaged human organs and or their functions, rest of the five classes of diseases need not (usually don’t) rely on modern hi-tech for relief. In fact, many a time, modern medical methods applied to these diseases might even make matters worse, not to speak of the prohibitively expensive cost of the treatment and investigative methods. It is worthy to note that only about 10% of the times when man and medicine come together, do these quick-fix methods work. In other words, 90% of the doctor-patient contacts happen in the non-emergency set up.



Many a time the apparently healthy people in society are being labeled as having elevated blood sugar, abnormal fat profile, and/or having border-line high blood pressure etc. Many short-term interventional studies with drugs for these “doctor-thinks-you-have” diseases have shown benefit. However, long term studies in all the above three categories of apparently healthy individuals, have unequivocally shown no significant difference in their long-term outcome. There are instances where interventions have even harmed patients.



This is understandable. With the present knowledge of time evolution in a dynamic system, like the human body, it is almost impossible to predict the future evolution of an apparently healthy human being, based on one or two physical characters like altered sugar, cholesterol etc. Time evolution depends only on the total initial knowledge of the human being. Changing any of the parameters at the initial stage might not (usually does not) hold good as time evolves. To correctly predict the future of a human being, doctors should be able to know the total picture of his body, a peep into his mind, as also the total picture of his genes. This is impossible at this point in time, and consequently, routine check-up of healthy population and labeling them based on a few characteristics has led to more misery in the long run.



This has provoked the British Medical Journal to write an editorial: “Routine screening might seriously endanger your life” Similarly, blood vessel blockages, as seen in coronary arteries, brain arteries, and peripheral arteries are now used as the excuse for interventions by means of either bypass surgery or angioplasties . Both these procedures are useful only in relieving symptoms. This is easily explainable as blockage of the vessels starts at a very young age in people having the right genes. Blockages make the human system attempt to make necessary alterations in the vascular systems, lest the patient should come to grief. Only in rare cases the body’s wisdom to correct the fault might fail. In the latter situations, the unfortunate victim suffers from pain and /or reduced functioning of the organs concerned. Doctor interventions come in handy only when symptoms start.



Unfortunately, we in modern medicine, use the "banana logic". Banana has yellow skin; therefore anything having yellow skin must be banana. Toilet steel pipe gets blocked; it needs to be unblocked or bypassed. Therefore, when the coronary blood vessel gets blocked, it has to be unblocked by angioplasty or bypass. It is sad, though, that audits have consistently shown that 80% of the asymptomatic people who go for these procedures, do not get any benefit. Moreover, significant number of those hapless recipients suffer other damages like stroke, in addition.



Sixty percent of improvement in the health scenario in the USA has been attributed to change in life style in the last half a century. Avoiding preserved junk food, eating more fruits and vegetables, avoiding smoking and alcohol with better education about healthy life styles, nutrition and regular exercise with the modern economic prosperity (which removes the greatest stress for disease – poverty), have all been responsible for the healthier western society. Only 3.4% of the improvement was due to the hi-tech, very expensive, modern medical interventions. The latter mostly were emergency quick-fixes.



Most recent studies have shown that it is the negative thoughts of man - anger, greed, hatred, depression, hostility and pride that bring on major killer diseases like cancer, heart attack, brain attack, raised blood pressure, raised sugar etc. In fact, on-going studies in young American students aged 15-20 have shown that the hostility of mind went parallel to the blockage of heart vessels even in that young age. The good news, however, is that properly randomized controlled, prospective and long term studies have shown that tranquility of mind, praying for others (intercessory prayers), and faith in a higher reality bring about excellent results in reversing the trend of killer diseases coming on in those with negative thoughts in the mind. In short, ancient Indian yoga system would go a long way in helping humanity.



Integrating the various systems of medical care:

With modern medicine going beyond the reach of even the upper middle class white men in the advanced West and having no contact with 80% of world’s population inhabiting the poorer countries of the world, there is a pressing and urgent need to evolve a new system of medical care which incorporates the best in modern medicine for emergency care and the scientifically proven good and useful interventional methods of various complementary systems of medicine being practiced at different parts of the world from time immemorial. One must hasten to add here, though, that only those methods which have stood the scrutiny of the real scientific touch stone tests, from among these various complementory systems, should be adopted in the new integrated system. There have been attempts to separate the wheat from the chaff in the various alternative systems. There was a recent conference on the same topic in the Royal College of Physicians, London. In the forefront of the complementory systems are Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, various other systems of medicine practised in India, as also homeopathy. Right thinking people who have the scientific background to pick the best from among these systems must put their heads together to filter and see that an inexpensive, patient friendly, integrated system of medicine evolves to do most good to most people most of the time.



Health care Delivery Vs medical care Delivery:

The common man has a misconception that the health of the public needs doctors and hospitals. Nothing can be farther there from the truth. Doctors and the hospitals are not needed to keep society healthy. In fact, doctors and hospitals might even make society unhealthy. There was significant fall in total morbidity and mortality in Israel recently when doctors there went on strike for two months.



Health of the public needs the following very important ingredients

* Clean drinking water for all citizens (not available for the 80% of the world population)

* Three square meals a day uncontaminated by human/ and or animal excreta.

* Toilets for every house in the village to avoid hookworm infection

* Healthy, locally available, nutritious food for the poor people.

* Cooking methods in our villages, where dry leaves, dry twigs and cow-dung cake are used for cooking, emit more carbon monoxide than tobacco smoke, resulting in physical damage to inmates. The most important cause of death in children below the age of 5 is pneumonia and in women due to lung cancer and other lung diseases, both of which are aided and abetted by cooking smoke coming into the house. We must provide the poor with simple smoke free cooking methods.

* Education of the poor people about healthy life styles and the danger of smoking and drinking and irresponsible sex life.

* Economic empowerment of the masses to avoid the greatest stress for all illnesses viz- not knowing from where your next meal comes from.



The poor and the rich should also know what to eat and what not to eat although it is not what you eat that kills you but it is what eats you that kills you. The science of nutrition in modern medicine has no sound basis at all. But the great science of Ayurveda has the most scientific basis of diet advice.



* Eat in moderation at frequent intervals.

* Eat only if you are hungry.

* Vegetarian food is much better.

* Food must be fresh and not spoiled too much to please the taste buds.

* Preserved food, with added salt to increase the shelf life, is poisonous.

* One should be happy while eating.

* Have a clean conscience.

* Work very hard.

* Don’t cheat, lie, steal or back bite.

* Forgive people who harm you.

* Treat everyone as your near and dear ones.



The earlier we evolve an alternative method of medical care delivery, the better for mankind.