“WHOLE PERSON HEALTH SUMMIT 2005 AND THE SECOND QIGONG SUMMIT 2005 IN WASHINGTON DC.”
Posted by bmhegde on 1
Nanotechnology, a method primarily of molecular manufacturing, for the creation of tools, materials and machines that might eventually enable us to “snap together the fundamental building blocks of Nature easily, inexpensively, and in most of the ways permitted by the Laws of Physics”. It all began with a talk by Nobel Laureate physicist, Feynman; in 1959 titled “there is plenty of room at the bottom.” Conventional thinking is that nanotechnology would revolutionize modern medical science.
One of the founder fathers of nanotechnology research, Prof. Rustom Roy, emeritus professor of material sciences at the Penn State University, thinks otherwise and feels that the reductionist science of modern medicine will take medicine on the wrong path, if it has not already done so. I think he is dead right in his assessment. He had recently put together an international seminar on the theme of WHOLE MAN HEALING in Washington DC during the weekend of 14th through 17th of April 2005, after having done extensive meticulous research on many of the complementary systems of medicine himself using the yardsticks of nanoscience.(1) Many other organizations, led by the Penn State University, chipped in to make this a great success.
I had the privilege of delivering a plenary talk on The Clinician’s view of Whole Man Healing, wherein the advantages, of looking at the human being as a whole vis-à-vis looking through the tinted glass of reductionism and organ based specializations, were demonstrated. The highlight of the talk was the documentation of “mode locking” between breathing and heart’s function viewed through heart rate variability. With continuous wavelet transform (CWT) pattern of colored computer display through wavelet coefficient analysis of ECG strips, we have been able to make better diagnosis and accurate prognostication possible in cardiac ailments.(2) The talk also showed the way to future research in holism in human wellness and illnesses.
Well researched papers on various complementary systems, ranging from the ancient Indian wisdom of Ayurveda, successfully practised for “times out of mind” in many parts of the world, the Chinese Qi Gong, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, spiritual healing, another great Indian system of preserving health, Yoga, and even the good that prayers, reiki, pranic healing, Sufi healing techniques of Iraq (including the fast wound healing demonstrated by one of the US researchers as a subject) and other such methods do were presented by speakers from all over the world. Effect of Yoga in neuro-psychiatric disorders was an excellent paper from the U’sity of California in San Diego by David Shannof Khalsa.(3) Prof. Roy’s paper on the structure of water and its therapeutic values was the high light of the seminar. Homeopathy could benefit from this scientific explanation. Avinash Patwardhan of Arlington gave an impressive talk on what is true Yogic life style for good health.
Bala Manyam, professor and director of research at the Texas University, Bhushan Patwardhan, a molecular biologist from Pune, India, Hari Sharma of the Ohio State U’sity along with Prakash, a practising Ayurvedic physician from Dehradune, India gave excellent scientific data on the various facets of Ayurveda in a special session sponsored by the Chopra foundation. Kenneth Freidman, of the Clifton Mining, presented extensive data to show the “Myths of the Free Market Economy” on the future of Pharma company products. Effie Poy Yew Chow, President of the East West Academy of Healing Arts, California gave an impressive demonstration of the powers of Qi Gong. Element water was discussed by Jon Stout, Oleg Yasko of the US and Chao Liu of Tokyo Denki University. Larry Dossey, formerly of the National Institute of Health and the present editor of The Journal of Health and Healing, gave two passionate talks on whole man healing.
Just as manufactured products are made from atoms, the properties of anything depend more on the atomic structure and much less on its chemistry, e.g.: if atoms are rearranged coal becomes diamond and sand turns into computer chips. That should give us an idea as to why we have invented this monster of adverse drug reactions that has been the fourth important cause of death even in the US.(4) The future of our race on this planet depends on holistic research in the field of health sciences, which could do most good to most people most of the time. Let us get out of our cocoon with our holier-than-thou attitude towards other systems of medical care. Research should try to separate the wheat from the chaff in all those systems for the benefit of human kind. This initiative of Prof. Roy should be picked up by other researchers in the conventional modern medical field.