Alternative medical methods have their own importance for public health. The World Health Organization also pays attention to these and believes that all those methods should be adopted which can provide effective treatment at low cost. The basic principle of public health is to provide the best treatment to the individual. In this context, efforts are being made at the national or international level to promote yoga. The purpose of these efforts is to draw people’s attention towards exercise and benefit from it.
Yoga brings changes in our lifestyle. But there is still a lack of a complete and comprehensive plan regarding this. On including yoga in the routine, there seems to be a lack of a definite plan regarding how much a person should eat, what kind of exercise he should do, how many hours he should do it. Whereas in comparison to this, modern science has much more clarity about exercise. In Medical Science, subjects like Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Psychology, Pathology are taught to the students.
After this, there is the study of physical medicine, in which on the basis of complete understanding of the bones and muscles of the body, it is detected that what problems can arise in it and then it is corrected. Which vein comes out from where and where it goes, everything is explained in detail. Treatment is done only after proper study. Not only this, there are also specialists in physiotherapy or occupational therapy who work under the guidance of an orthopedist. In this context, modern medical science is a very developed science.
But the good thing about yoga is that when it is promoted, people’s awareness of health increases. But more clarity is needed on this. Like, it is better to do any exercise related to yoga under the guidance of a yoga expert. Similarly, every person does not need every type of yoga practice. It can also have bad effects and people’s suffering can increase. Some yoga practices or postures are such that can prove to be dangerous in a particular situation. For example- if there is a disease of the back, neck, or joints, or if one is very sick and needs complete rest, then in such a situation it is better to do yoga only after consulting or under the supervision of a yoga expert. Is.
One more important thing, if yoga practice is done collectively, then it must be clarified that which practice can be done by every person and which practice would be better to do only under the supervision of an expert, only then it would be beneficial. In India, where many people take treatment of diseases from allopathic, homeopathic and Ayurvedic doctors. On the other hand, many have faith in yoga and they get their treatment done through this medium. In such a situation, arrangements should be made for regular education in the field of yoga as well. In this way, after regular study of Yoga like Allopath and Ayurveda, its students will also be able to treat patients like other doctors. The effects of yoga practice also need to be studied thoroughly. It should be confirmed on scientific basis that in which situation which yoga practice would be correct. A comparative study of physiotherapy and yoga exercises can be done on the basis of statistical assumptions, and then it can be concluded that which method of treatment is better or both are similar.
Doctors never advise any patient to do or not to do yoga. But it is difficult to say anything without facts about how much yoga is beneficial or not. Talking about foreign countries, there is no ban on any medical method including yoga. There their practice is allowed, provided it does not cause any harm to anyone. In the context of Yoga, there is also a truth that the number of experiments being done outside India regarding this are not being done here. More research needs to be done regarding yoga. With the confirmation of its effects on scientific basis, the benefits of yoga can be explained more clearly. This will further strengthen the efforts of the government to promote yoga.
(The author is a physician and professor at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.)
