From the Desk of Coordinator, Bioinformatics Center |
|||||||||||
January , 2004Battle
of the Bulge
(Obesity & Metabolic Programming) |
|||||||||||
|
In
early seventies when I started teaching Biochemistry to medical Students,
I proudly used to say that we have well understood what is ideal nutrition
to combat malnutrition and importance of proteins, oils, fruits,
vegetables in diet as sources of vitamins, fibre etc. One fine morning we
ended up in a mess called ‘Obesity’. Due to bulge, belly would appear
like a big apple in male and as a pear in female. In America an obesity
(Body – Mass index of at least 30-35) rate of nearly 1 in 3 or almost 59
million people has been reported. Childhood obesity is equally alarming,
especially in the children belonging to the well-to-do families. Obesity
has become a global problem with economic prosperity in developing
countries funneled by fast food industry and supermarkets. It has become a matter of great concern to the medical world as
nothing much is being done to prevent the scourge. Why is it in epidemic
proportions these days? The reasons are – Excessive eating of high
calorie, sweets & fat rich foods, processed and chemically polluted
junk foods, sedentary life style, lack of physical activity, television,
commerce and aggressive advertisement in foods. People have filed Legal
suits against McDonald for deceptive advertising and thus causing obesity
in children. Health problems associated with obesity include diabetes,
heart disease, high blood pressure and arthritis, increasing the health
care costs. The American Federal Department of Health and Human Services
puts the health care cost of overweight and obese Americans at $117
billion in 2000 and said that being overweight results in 30000 deaths a
year.
Extensive epidemiological findings indicate that metabolic programming / adaptation during critical phases of early development occurs in humans emphasizing the importance of adequate maternal nutrition during pregnancy. In animal studies, Patel et. al. have shown that artificial rearing of 4-day-old rat pups on a high carbohydrate milk formula up to Day 24 results in the immediate onset of hyperinsulinemia which persists through out the period of dietary intervention, sustains in the post weaning period and forms the basis of adult-onset obesity. Nature has a way of tackling obesity though secondary to regulating the metabolic supply of nutrients. Excessive calorie intake is thought to be sensed by the brain, which then activates thermogenesis – converting food directly into heat, a process called diet induced thermogenesis. This seems to be determined by genetic make up of the individual and composition of the diet. Interestingly there are stories of individuals who survive on boiled water, sunlight or blessings of “Mataji”. Prahlad Jani, 76 year old man in Gujrat has baffled the medical fraternity by claiming that he has been blessed by Mataji at the age of ten and living in a cave near the Ambaji Temple without food and water for 65 yrs. When he was observed for 10 days in a hospital, he did not take food or liquid and did not pass urine or stool. DIPAS at Delhi would be conducting research in this case. Another case is of 64 year old mechanical engineer and Jain follower, Mr. Manek, who undertook his record breaking feast of sunlight. For 411 days he survived on just boiled water and sunlight. He was physically active carried out all his normal activities. Perhaps his body is undergoing ‘Chronic adaptation’ learning to survive on few calories, explains a neurophysician observing him. Manek was invited to USA by NASA to study his fasting technique.
Regulated diet and
plenty of exercise seem to be the best weapons to fight obesity. |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
The Breath of Life and Beyond
|
||||||||
|
The breath we breathe in and out without respite is termed as Prāna or the bioenergy or life force which endows man with an unlimited spiritual potential. Breath is a wireless connection to transcend the entire field of mind and matter by meditation and experience bliss. According to the yogic view, man is part of cosmic phenomenon and continuously exchanges bioenergy through his breathing with the cosmic power outside of him. Respiratory rate goes up in anger, after physical strain or under mental stress while it goes down when one is in relaxation or sleep. As roses and jasmine flowers spread out fragrance into the environment, it is possible that the regulated breathing by the chemicals produced by positive or negative emotions of man, do influence the environment at subtle level. Pranayama, the controlled and conscious breathing helps in calming and purifying effects on the body-mind complex. Slow, relaxed and deep (abdominal) breathing reduces stress, deepens insight, expands consciousness and increases intuitive perception. The yogic disciplines such as abdominal breathing, shavasana and meditation admirably bring about a reduction in the sympathetic activity and increases the inner strength of the individual and foster the feeling of connectedness bringing reduction in stress. Constant awareness or concentration on normal breathing or parts of body as in Vipassana meditation or Yognidra, quietens mind and helps in coming over stressful situations. Mindfulness is defined as a non-judgemental moment-to-moment awareness without drifting into thoughts of the past or future. At University of Massachusetts Medical Centre, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program through sitting meditation and body scan (full attention to the parts of the body) has been very helpful in decreasing chronic pain (low back, headache and neck / shoulder pain). Even a short programme of mindfulness meditation produces lasting positive changes in both brain and the functions of the immune system (Davidson et al., 2004). Asthma, a gift of junk foods, modern life style and polluted environment, is increasing in the recent years. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of USA says that the prevalence of asthma around the world has doubled in the last 15 years. WHO estimates that between 100-150 million people around the globe have asthma with about two lakh deaths each year due to asthma. There are attempts to explore Alternate Systems of Medicine in management of asthma. In a study by Cooper etal. (Thorax, 2003), the Buteyko breathing technique improved symptoms and reduced bronchodilator use to some extent whereas use of Pink City Lung Exerciser (mimics Pranayama) did not show benefit. This is in contrast to the encouraging results observed at Yoga Institutes. The failure with objective prototype studies is possibly due to lack of spiritual element and positive attitude. Emotional involvement of individual along with yoga way of living may give better results. October , 2004
|