guide the world : Pujya Gurudev

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya’s Kripa

How can the sick nation guide the world?

(Akhand Jyoti,July-Aug.2010)

Are we healthy?

It is a known fact that if we are healthy then we cherish various offerings of life better. We can also use all tools at our disposal more effectively to achieve happiness. On the other hand, if somebody in the house falls sick, the whole atmosphere of the house becomes dull and gloomy, house members start worrying, relatives and friends start asking questions about the health of the sick family member.  Health is considered a great gift of God. We feel blessed if we are able to perform our daily tasks without any problems or depending on anyone. 

If there are sick people in our nation who are not able to carry on with their daily lives because of their illnesses, then not caring for them amounts to apathy. But, somehow the pains of others do not affect us. We are not leading perfect lives either; we all have some or the other form of physical or mental issues to deal with. Why does the suffering of other people in our country does not bother us? Why don’t we sound an alarm at the national level to deal with it? 

Let’s look at some statistics that form our discussion. 
1)    India has become the diabetes capital of the world. By the end of 2010, we will have 5 crore (50 million) diabetes patients. This disease is mainly hereditary but has drastically increased in the past few years due to change in our lifestyles and diet patterns. China is closest to us and may exceed us by year 2015 with 9 crore (90 million) people suffering from diabetes. There are 33.2 crore (332 million) diabetics in the world, majority of them living in cities. It is estimated that this figure might increase by 170 % by year 2015. 

2)    Cancer is another profoundly increasing condition. Every year 3 lakh (300,000) people die from this disease. After year 2025 this will increase to 14 lakhs (1.4 million) annually; this is the opinion of National Cancer Registry. Currently 20 lakh (2 million) people are getting treated for various types of cancer and 40% of them have very slim chances of survival. 
3)    India is also gradually becoming the hub of Heart ailments. There will be 10 crore (100 million) people suffering from heart related problems by year 2020. Currently this number is around 5 crores (50 million). 15 % of these people need angioplasty right now. 80% of the new cases are from the low and middle income group nations. 

Illnesses from lifestyle: 

Sedentary lifestyle, increasing conveniences, changes in daily routines have lead to an increase in incidences of stroke, cancer, diabetes and heart ailments. These are very painful, life threatening conditions because cost of treatment is very high; and not everybody can afford it. India has spent about Rs 950 hundred millions to fight these diseases in the past five years and will have to spend another Rs 270 thousand millions  in the next five years to deal with these diseases.  This amount is in addition to the money spent on the treatment of communicable diseases like fever, dysentery, diarrhea etc. An important fact is that India is a young nation, which means that nearly half of the patients are below the age of 35. If no attention is paid on the diet and lifestyle of the youth, the nation will continue on the path of illness. 

Increasing death rates of new born babies :Out of every 1 lakh (100,000) babies born, 149 die at the time of the birth and a high percentage of babies die within the first 28 days of birth. There are number of reasons for this; primarily, absence of good medical facilities in rural areas, premature birth, asphyxia, pneumonia and a host of communicable diseases. Female death rates are higher, probably due to negligence. The infant mortality rate has surely come down in recent years due to rising awareness but still the overall rate is higher compared to other nations. 

Junk food and increasing obesity The bad lifestyle and the habit of junk food have badly affected the health of the nation. This is a prime cause of obesity in teenagers and chronic diseases in youth. People eating junk food like pizza, pasta, burgers, samosas, non-vegetarian food can get addicted to it, similar to an addiction of smoking and drinking. Scripps Research Institute of Florida did a research on the effects of potato chips and found that subjects regularly lost control, overate and slowly moved away from a healthy diet. The chances of them getting obese were very high. Rats which were fed the diet of junk food were found to have incidences of obesity. Their brains showed similar addiction symptoms as of users of drugs like heroine or cocaine. 
Obesity and other diseases are increasing rapidly in children in cities and towns of India. The I.Q. of children is also getting affected and western food habits are largely responsible for that.

Traits of a man 

Overeating causes stomach disorders not just in India but in every country. Param Pujya Gurudev observed that,”man is the only animal who can eat whenever he wants”. Animals don’t eat till they feel hungry whereas humans can eat without really feeling hungry and eat a lot more than what is required to satisfy their hunger. If we find tasty food then we stuff ourselves and overeat even if it gives us stomach ache and disorders. Antacids and pain killers have become our best friends. 
Imbalance in diet, lack of physical activity, lack of proper sleep has accelerated our march towards stomach disorders, heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes and other ailments. 

Thanks GOD, Thanks Sadguru,

Shiv Sharma