Natural calamities apart, most of today's suffering is man-made. Lachhman Nankany presents a homoeopath's point of view.

OUR HEALTH STANDARDS:

There is much suffering in the world today. The standard of living is rising everywhere, but the standard of health is at its lowest! Pay a casual visit to any hospital anywhere in the world and you will see what man's standards have come to.

The poor suffer from diseases of deprivation. The rich, on the other hand, suffer from diseases of plenty or excess. These include diabetes, rheumatism and arthritis, high blood pressure, heart trouble (cholesterol), kidney failure, asthma, osteoporosis, depression, skin problems, Parkinson's disease, prostate problems, cancer, acidity and ulcers, colitis, spondylitis, thyroid problems, migraine, obesity and its associated problems, multiple sclerosis, piles, sinusitis, septicemia - the list is endless.

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE:

It is believed that in ancient China there was a system where the family doctor was paid at the end of the month - but only if no one in the family had fallen ill during the month. If someone fell ill, it was the doctor's duty to get him well AND the doctor was NOT paid for that month. Why? Because he had not done his job properly! It was the doctor's job to practice preventive health care - to guide the family's food and living habits in a manner conducive to maintaining good physical and mental health. In other words, the doctor had a vested interest in your not falling sick.

Today, we have reversed the process. We go to the doctor and pay him/her when we are sick. Let us be honest - the medical profession is not responsible for this - we are, and only we can change this.

IS IT HEALTH-CARE OR DISEASE-CARE?

When the words health care are used, we are programmed to think of vaccinations, inoculations, medical check ups, pap smear tests, biopsies, prostate tests, urine tests, CT scans, ultra sound scans, MRI's, etc. - in fact, the list is endless and the more it costs us to get these tests done, the more we feel satisfied that a lot is being done by us for our health! Notwithstanding all this, nations are getting sicker by the day.

While all governments all over the world have health ministries, health services, health insurance - health is quite conspicuous by its absence! What we have in fact are disease ministries, disease services, disease insurance and so on. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on health care annually, most conspicuously by countries, which are at the forefront of medical technology. Yet, ill-health, not health, is the order of the day.

Why? Because, dear brothers and sisters, health cannot be bought in a pharmacy. It doesn't cost money - it only demands an uncompromising quest for wellness. The pathway of peaceful and harmonious co-existence with Mother Nature and all her creatures is the only way to wellness.

Is it not ironical - we first spend money to acquire ill-health (through indiscriminate overindulgence) and then we spend more money and vast amounts of national and personal resources trying to regain our health?

Mind you, while we are visiting doctors and hospitals we continue to guzzle vast quantities of wrong foods and live lifestyles of indulgence and indolence, all of which only adds to our woes.

PRESENT DAY RESPONSE TO DISEASE : Disease has overtaken us completely and we are all looking for quick-fix solutions. Let us take an example - I have a headache. What is my response? I pop a pain-killer into my mouth. The pain goes away - for the moment. A few hours, a few days, a few weeks later it returns. I pop some more pills into my mouth. At each recurrence, the pain gets worse, the frequency is greater and the duration is longer. Soon I have to increase the number of pills I take because the pain is no longer responding.

This goes on getting worse until I am a full blown case of migraine operating at an efficiency level which is only a fraction of the reactions of toxins in my body. Worse still, I may develop hyperacidity (which is a side effect of pain-killers) and it may become a full-blown ulcer. For this I will in turn start taking antacids which over a period of time will destroy my liver. The kidneys will be next in line - all quick-fix solutions have a domino effect until all our vital functions are destroyed.

SAFE, GENTLE & HOLISTIC:

Remember, homoeopathic healing is a holistic approach and it helps the body's vital force to restore its energy to live in health and harmony. As your remedy begins to take effect you may find yourself saying: "Well, my pain is better" and, in addition to this, "I feel so much better myself". This is the effect of balancing and improving your health as a whole person.