ACHIEVING WELLNESS

Amar Nath Mukherjee

Before dwelling on the subject, let us try to indicate the meaning of wellness. Wellness is basically a state of our body and mind which is how effectively responding and recouping from a disturbed state to a normal state. In medical parlance it can be defined as to how soon our psychosomatic system comes back to a normal state (homeostasis) from an unstable state.

For example, when we do work out or running around, obviously our heart rate increases, but when we come back to rest how soon our heart rate comes down to normal level. Similarly, breathing frequency also increases during that physical activity; it should also come down to normal breathing rate in short period in a stressful situation. We are likely to be tensed but how soon we can mentally normalize, in case of over ailment, how soon we convalesce. These are all indicative of over wellness states, both body and mind.

Now the wellness condition is largely dependent on our physical fitness and also on mental and emotional stability and status.

Our fitness criteria depend on factors which are as follows.

a)    One should have an accepted norm of body weight, i.e body mass index between 19 and 25.

b)   The waistline measurement should be less than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women, waist to hip ratio is also important in this matter.

c)    All the major joints viz. neck, shoulder, waist, hip etc. should be adequately flexible.

d)   All the major muscles viz. back, abdominal, shoulder, hand, leg should be well toned

e)    Air intake capacity of our lungs should be well maintained so as not to be gasping for breathing on short jogging or on climbing stairs.

f)     Normal blood chemistry viz. lipid profile, hemoglobin, creatinine, sugar level etc. are to be maintained.

g)    Regular bowel movement with formed defecation should be maintained.

h)   Emotionally and mentally stable so as to be able to effectively handle the stressful situation.

There is a direct relationship between wellness and fitness states of our physiological system, which can be formulated by an abstract equation.

1.    W α F

Or W= (E+d) F

Where W= Wellness. F =Fitness, E= Exercise, d=diet

2.    W α 1/S

Or W= ( E+ d)/S x M

Where, W= wellness, S= sickness, d=diet, E= Exercise, M= Medical assistance.

To keep the balance between wellness and fitness as per the said equation (1) we must have to improve and sustain our workout and proper diet.

In the case of the equation (2) there is one ‘M’ factor that has been introduced, the implication of this ‘M’ is that when we have                          some sickness like blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems etc. only exercise and diet are not sufficient, it must have to be addressed by medical assistance.

In medical treatments there are two parts. One is preventive and other curative, now the curative part is normally expensive, at times the patients spend their major earnings and assets for curative treatment but for preventive portion the expenses are insignificant.

Regular exercise and proper diet ensure us to maintain our wellness state - that is lesser and lesser chance of getting inflicted with various diseases. We can therefore reasonably infer that all types of workouts - be it jogging, brisk walking, swimming, yoga etc. act as preventive and not curative against disease. Nevertheless, few physical culturist or yogis wrongly claim it as to be curative and sell the idea as that.

However, going back to the subject we can say that our achievement of wellness is essentially dependent on our fitness endeavor, as such wellness is the result and the fitness is our endeavor.

To conclude, must you not put at stake your wellness for your occupation lest you may terribly repent at the end of the day.

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FEVER- A SYSTEMIC FAVOUR

Amar Nath Mukherjee

                      Why do we have an occasional bout of fever?

Basically when our body is seized by micro-enemy forces like bacteria, viruses, etc. creating a patho-physiological condition in our body, our body’s immune response to a siege, is the elevation of the body temperature, which is effected by desensitizing the body’s temperature regulatory system of the hypothalamus. Also the cytokine is secreted to trigger the inflammatory response so as to be able to destroy the invading micro-organism in our body. The elevated temperature of the body significantly helps our immune system to annihilate the germs, bacteria, etc. On the flip side of the rise of body temperature to very high say more than 101^oF and above our other normal cells of the body are likely to be seriously impacted. Hence, in such case the temperature will have to be controlled by medicine when it exceeds more than 101^oF and above. Nevertheless the temperature should not also be kept at lower level so as not to make our immune system weak while fighting the enemy at lower body temperature.

In view of the above we can infer that the rise in body temperature during fever creates a condition in our body which is inimical to the survival of the disease causing microbes, thus the fever helps us to be aware that our body has been under siege by parasites, bacteria, and viruses. At the same time it also helps us to destroy the microbe by synergistically acting along with our immune system and medicine.

Now if we can extrapolate the similar condition during our day to day work out, what happens when we engage ourselves with aerobic or weight training activities. Our body temperature increase because during that period our cardiac out put of blood (CO) significantly increases. Consequent to higher heart rate, as a result of which the total peripheral resistance (TPR) of the blood vessels also increase.

But in this case our temperature regulatory mechanism (hypothalamus) is not disturbed as it happens in fever.

The rise in body temperature during our regular work out session helps to annihilate the accumulated germs, bacteria, virus that we continuously receive every day from our surroundings (but not active yet).

In the final analysis we find that those who regularly engage in exercise are substantially less prone to diseases. Every body wants to remain disease free and hence there is absolutely no other option, but to exercise regularly. 

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PHYSIOLOGICAL INSURANCE

Amar Nath Mukherjee

There is a wonderful slogan coined by the Life Insurance Company – “Stay prepared, when you can not predict”. Between the lines the slogan suggests that everybody is to keep financially prepared so that one can manage the difficult period, during one’s life time, in case of sudden demise of the near or dear one to mitigate the suffering sustained.

But buying the insurance policy one can not escape or evade the future uncertainty. In the same vein, it can be suggested that everybody should have physiological insurance also as nobody can predict how our health will behave in future. Medical science is very categorical in its observation that one can certainly reduce the risk factors which inevitably increase as we grow old from the possibility of various diseases like heart attack, cerebral stroke, arthritis, diabetes etc. Those risks can not be eliminated and in view of which Insurance Companies selling mediclaim policies decline to entertain aged persons.

Therefore the other affordable and wise option lies is getting Physiological Insurance at any age of one’s life. To elucidate the terms and conditions and the benefits accrue out of the said policy are given here as under:

The policy will continue on daily premium basis that is to say unlike other policies wherein the policy holder has the option of paying premium either monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually. Hence Physiological Insurance premiums have to be paid daily or at least five days in a week so that the policy does not lapse. However, as a premium one does not have to shell out money but only half an hour to forty five minutes of fitness activities like jogging or brisk walking preferably in the morning.

Now the dividend that one will derive out of keeping the policy alive is many. The first and foremost advantage that entails the fitness activities is the slowing down of the body’s ageing process. It can only be slowed down; nevertheless the gradual decline of our immune system can substantially be reduced if not arrested, with the increase of body’s fitness level, consequent to which our medical dependence will be significantly reduced. The risk factors of getting various ailments inevitably increase as we grow old. In spite of this, irrespective of our growing old the fitness activities will, to a large extent, keep our risk factors quite low.

Due to better physiological function of the body the pathogenic or any other autoimmune attack can not inflict significant damage on the body and hence the body will recover in shorter period of time with less amount of medical assistance.

By and large we inherit various traits from our parents, we also inherit various pathogenic syndrome as our genetic legacy which are genetically programmed so as to appear when we cross our midlife (i.e. about 40 – 45 years of age). Therefore, if we can maintain the slowing down of our ageing process, the occurrence of genetically acquired disorders will substantially be shifted to a higher age with lesser intensity if not an insignificant affection. Even if the person gets inflicted by any disease, the recovery will certainly be much faster than those who do not do any workouts; consequently the medical expenses will be quite low and not to forget, the agony and pain suffered during the disease period can not be reimbursed by mediclaim policies.

The other advantage that accrues out of regular workout is that our body’s immune system remains at a peak activity level as a result of which there is a lesser chance of getting multiple disorders simultaneously as it happens in the case of body’s very weak immune system.

Last but not the least, if we do not allow our physiological policy to lapse by regularly and religiously by paying the daily premiums as stated earlier our stress level (stress hormone) will be kept at a low level, which will also enable us to handle any stressful situation in our day to day activity and for our healthy body and mind, that is absolutely necessary for our peaceful living in this world.

Hence, I beseech each and every one of you irrespective of gender and age to buy a Physiological Insurance Policy forthwith otherwise it will be extremely difficult to live happily amid daily Tension, Pollution and Adulteration.

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SKELETON CAN NOT WALK

Amar Nath Mukherjee

Nor a dead person can move; Why? The reason being the dead person’s muscles become non-functional and the skeleton does not have any muscles. So in both the cases the body does not have the ability to move. Hence for all the body movement, our muscles activity is absolutely required.

Some of our muscles do not require bones for their movement like cardiac muscles, smooth muscles etc., whereas it is impossible for all bones to move without the help of muscles like hands, legs, head etc. Harder the movements, stronger the muscles you need. As such, a strong muscle with adequate muscle mass is indicative of a healthy body. Hence we can not afford to underestimate proper maintenance of our skeletal and other muscles. The main part played by our muscles is given here as under:

a) The skeletal muscles act as body’s shock absorbers, whereby all our joints, particularly our load bearing ones are protected from faster wear and tear. Athletes, sports persons during their games, fall number of times but their bones are protected from breaking by their strong muscles.
b) Well toned muscles maintain proper lubrication of our joints.

c) Well toned muscles maintain proper transportation of venous blood flow towards the heart.

d) Glucose is mainly stored in our liver and muscles as glycogen, as such well toned muscles will have a greater capacity to store glycogen for future energy needs of the body and if the stronger capacity is less due to weak muscles, the excess glycogen gets converted into fat layer and deposit over the muscles of the body.

e) Weak muscles will have a lower mitochondrial density, thereby reducing availability of the total energy produced by the body.

f) The weak muscles will have a lesser insulin receptors as a result of which muscles tissues become insulin insensitive causing one prone to be a diabetic-2 patient.

In view of the above it is essentially important to maintain the muscles of the body well toned and strong for which a regular workout is essential with body movement against some resistance.

The resistance could be either external with dumbbells, barbells, push + pull against a spring which offer resistance to all body movements or our own body weight can be utilised for creating resistance of the movements like squirting, push ups, crunching by leg lift etc.

The muscles can only be strengthened by resistance training or weight training or strength training and all types of workouts are the same with only different names. The gradual atrophy of muscles tissues called Sarcopenia may even start at young age due to prolonged inactivity and underused muscles and it is “ Use it or lose it proposition.” However, there are other factors also responsible for losing strength of muscles, such as hormonal change like depletion of testosterone level in men and estrogens level in women, oxidative damage, infiltration of fat into muscles, inflammation and resistance to insulin, occasional problems arising out of brain and nervous system, in case of a rare autoimmune disorder named as Myasthenia gravis.

Apart from medical assistance needed for the said pathological problems, regular exercise is essentially required to substantially ameliorate and also to evade the incidence of developing various muscular disorders in our life.

Besides regular morning or evening walk one should incorporate at least 10 to 15 minutes of resistance training by apportioning the total workout time one can afford.

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT TIME TESTED HEALTH TIPS

Amar Nath Mukherjee

Nature is our health fitness provider as such, more we are keeping away or insulate ourselves from nature, more often than not we are inviting myriads of avoidable infirmities and illness.
Therefore it is all the more imperative to imbibe the nature’s gift to the mankind earnestly. To elicit the various details of nature’s bounty to the mankind, given hereunder the foods that are conducive to keep us healthy and disease-free.
Our basic requirements of food are as follows – Carbohydrates, Proteins, Minerals, Fats, Fibres and Fluids. The required Vitamins are incorporated in the above mentioned food ingredients. But the balanced diet, depending absolutely upon the age, activity and avocation of the person, is of utmost importance.
In view of the above, some of the healthy food habits time tested to be suitable, particularly to the aged persons.

 Fats and sweets intake should be brought down to the minimum if not completely eliminated from the diet of the person who has crossed fifty years of age.
 The normal diet should comprise of at least 35 to 40% of raw food in the form of fruits, salads etc.
 Beside fats, deep fried foods and sweets should be avoided by overweight persons and even fruits like Mango, Banana, Sapodilla (Chikoo), Grapes etc. will have to be restricted.
 Thumb rule for determining desired weight for men is as follows –
(a) Convert the height in inches then change it to Kg. ± 1 Kg. tolerance; i.e if the man’s height is 5 feet and 7 inches, his ideal weight would be 5 X 12 + 7 = 67 Kg. ± 1 Kg.
(b) But for women it is to be determined as follows – a 5 feet tall woman should weigh 52 kg. and add 2 Kg. for every inch higher than 5 feet. In other words, the desired weight of a 5 feet 3 inches tall woman should be 52 + 3 X 2 = 58 Kg. with a tolerance of ± ½ kg.
 The desired weight of the person is absolutely necessary to maintain good condition of the knee-joints. In other words overweight is inimical to the upkeep of the knee joints.
 The maintenance of proper waistline is essentially required for proper functioning of our vital organs viz. Liver, Pancreas, Kidney, Stomach, Gallbladder, Spleen, Intestine etc., which are lodged inside our abomino-pelvic cavity. The waistline is disfigured mainly due to :
(a) Laxity of the abdominal muscle tone.
(b) Excess fat deposition of the abdomen.
 Besides aesthetic and psychological factors, there are sound health reasons why strong well toned abdominal muscles are essentially required.
 Firstly, our strong abdominal muscles support the membranes that keep the aforementioned vital organs in their original places, which enable them to function efficiently.
 Secondly, by giving support to the lower spine, firm abdominal muscle help avoid or eliminate lower back pain.
 And lastly, they can help prevent or clear up some of the complications of constipation. As such one should augment abdomen-strengthening exercises along with his daily workout like walking, jogging, stretching etc.
 The muscles in the back and the abdomen muscles support the lumber spine, hence the tone and flexibility of the back as well as abdominal muscles are essentially indispensable in keeping a healthy spine.
 There is a misconception that a person with back problem should never bend forward. But, in fact forward bending muscles are the biggest shock absorbers of the spine and if these are not utilized or mildly exercised, they tend to atrophy and become stiff, which results in increased load on the spine and in turn exacerbate pain with the slightest physical activity.
 The body’s requirement of water does not commensurate with the intensity of the thirst, hence for maintaining a healthy body one should drink about 8 to 10 glasses of water in a day irrespective of whether he feels thirsty or not.
 For the reduction of obesity it is advisable that one should drink at least a litre (about four glasses) of lukewarm water after getting up in the morning without even brushing teeth and not taking any food or liquid diet at least for an hour thereafter.
 Brushing of teeth should be done preferably twice in a day, once after lunch and then just after the last diet taken in the night. Usually most of the people opt to brush in the morning, which is not conducive to maintaining healthy gums or teeth as the food particles get lodges inside dental crevices and those get decomposed overnight in the mouth causing damages to the gums and teeth. Hence brushing only in the morning is not a good habit to maintain healthy gums and teeth.
 Unbalanced diet and overeating are considered to be the major causes of premature ageing. We generally overeat not only to satiate our hunger but to satisfy our tastebuds and over a period of time it becomes our habit. The total calorie that we get out of our diet are spent in three heads:
(a) For growth requirement
(b) For body’s metabolic activity
(c) For day to day physical activity we are engaged in
 After the puberty body’s growth requirement becomes insignificant, if not nil, but since food habits and its intake remains the same the surplus food tends to deposit as fat, consequent to which, waistline increases and in addition to this, lesser physical activity with advancing age results in laxity of the abdominal muscles, finally developing to a big paunch.
 Scientists earlier considered that the foods mainly comprising of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water are all that body needs. But further investigation reveals that a lot of other biologically active food component, called Enzymes, play an active role in all the metabolic activities that take place in the body.
 The Enzymes are essential for digestion of food, stimulating brain function and repairing tissues, organ’s, cells and as such without Enzymes our body can not assimilate the proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins present in the foods, which are required for healthy bones, hair, skin, muscles, glands, hormones etc.
 Our body manufactures its own set of Enzymes to use it for digestion, assimilation, detoxification and elimination of waste. Nevertheless outsourcing of Enzymes in essentially required with advancement of our age. Since the Enzymes are extremely heat sensitive , they are destroyed during cooking. Hence raw foods like fruits, salads, sprouted grams, mung, nuts, should therefore be taken everyday, which should form a part of our regular diet.
 Since enzymes are not stored in the body, they have to be replenished with a regular supply of fresh fruits and raw salad to maintain the level of stock required by the body.
 The colourful pigments in fruits and vegetables wonderfully help us to fight diseases and infections. These pigments are known as phytochemicals and can be termed as hidden nutrients of fruits and vegetables. There are various types of these phytochemicals with tongue twisting names like phytosterols, polyphenols, carotenoids etc. etc.
 The National Institute of Nutrition carried out extensive studies on food containing phytochemicals and found out their antioxidant and detoxifying properties that effectively counteract the degenerative process in human body. Therefore the regular consumption of these coloured fruits like pink red apples, bright orange, yellow mangoes, papaya, blood red cherries, plum, deep purple grapes, jamun (blackberries), pineapple, tomatoes, leaves of spinach, methi (fenugreek), coriander leaves, mint leaves, beetroot, carrots etc. are essentially required. Since these phytochemicals are also heat sensitive, hygienically washed raw vegetables and fruits and salads are the best way to high nutrition intake.
 Fibre is another food item which does not provide energy or nutrient and yet it is of utmost importance to keep us in good health. It is that part of the plant which can not be digested, hence it passes through our gastrointestinal tract unchanged and acts just like a scrubber to clean the gastrointestinal tract of toxins, fats, wastes and even helps lower the cholesterol and controls blood sugar in diabetics. Because of its effect on reducing transit time of the stools, it greatly reduces the risk of colon cancer.
 In view of of the above try to include adequate roughage on our diet like whole grain cereals, sprouted pulses like mung, chana, fruits and vegetables, finally try to consume foods as close to their natural state as possible.
 Morning walk is supposed to be one of the best form of exercise a person can undertake without even requiring any expert’s guidance. But some of the tips the writer deems fit to mention hereunder for making the morning walk more effective to maximise the benefit thus obtained –
(a) The best time to go for a walk is in the transition phase between night and daybreak, since in the night the trees and plants continue expel carbon dioxide, atmosphere is thick with CO2 at night. Similarly in the late hours of morning the atmospheric pollution increases substantially; as such twilight is the best time to go for a walk.
(b) A person usually walks at a speed of about 1 km. in 10 to 12 minutes. Therefore 40 to 50 minutes of walking is sufficient to get the body fully warm up, after which time one should perform a bit of stretching exercise, which is necessary for the flexibility of all the joints, but mind you, the stretching should never be performed by jerky motion engendering problems of ligaments and muscles.
(c) To augment the advantages of walking one should incorporate a deep breathing exercise, which is known in YOGA as “Bhraman Pranyam”.
(d) The benefit from long walking is not fully achieved unless say about 10 to 15 minutes of “Shabasana” is performed thereafter. Shabasana is a complete relaxation in supine position (not soft bed, no pillow).
 As the name suggests, the Pranayam is to be performed during walking only. The method is very simple; it is like inhaling during first four steps and exhaling during subsequent six steps and going on repeating this breathing sequence for 10 to 15 minutes of walking at the beginning and then gradually increasing the time period. This consciously controlled breathing sequence should be tried out till one can perform this Pranayam during the entire duration of walking activity; it is noteworthy to mention here that at any point of time if somebody feels uneasy or out of breath then resort to normal breathing for some time and again resume the earlier sequence.
 The benefits of Bhraman Pranyam are many, particularly in increasing the air intake capacity of lungs. In normal breathing it gradually becomes very shallow, as a result, our lungs are deprived of adequate supply of oxygen thus impairing body’s metabolic activity.
Bhraman Pranyam is particularly beneficial to the old person with bronchial problem, asthma, recurrent cough and cold etc. The best breathing is the deep breathing more air at slower pace.
 Abdominal breathing or belly breathing is the way babies and the classical singers perform. Belly breathing helps establish a state of psychological calm and can neutralize negative effects of our stress.
 Perform the belly breathing specially when you are in “Shabasana” (deep relaxation in supine position). In belly breathing your abdomen will move up and down as you breathe in and out, which brings air down into the lower portion of our lungs by dropping the diaphragm down and the air is sucked into the deepest alveoli of the lungs where oxygen exchange in most efficient. One can practise belly breathing consciously throughout the day even when one goes to sleep and particularly in any stressful situation.
 High blood pressure or hypertension is a common health problem after the age of fifty and even some cases earlier and it is considered to be the silent killer; it has a deleterious effect on our kidney, heart, eyes and brain if it is not kept under control. The upper limit for normal blood pressure at this age is 140/90. Our heart beats over one hundred thousand times in a day and at every beat about half a cup of blood is pumped into the arteries and circulates through about one hundred and twenty thousand blood vessels before returning to the heart via veins and this activity goes on continuously and force exerted by the pumped blood against the artery walls is the blood pressure. There are two readings observed at the time of testing, the pressure peaks when the heart contracts (systole) and the pressure decreases when the heart relaxes (diastole). Now it is the diastolic pressure that determines the severity of hypertension since during this phase our continuously acting heart gets the opportunity to relax.
 Now the chronic elevation of pressure in the arteries forces the heart to pump harder and it gets enlarged to cope up with the increased work load, consequent to which heart becomes strained and pumps less blood with each beat.
 Since hypertension like diabetes becomes a lifelong companion at this age. Treatment and occasional check-up has to be lifelong too and lowering the blood pressure for a few months is of no value.
 Therefore hypertension control management has to be meticulously adhered to for keeping the body fit to avoid any probable complication, the treatment of which is expensive and also less effective.
 Besides regular medication under the guidance of a Physician, weight control measure with proper diet and regular exercise is equally important. Common salt and fatty foods have to be limited, one has to restrict intake of alcohol and tobacco and last but not the least one has to minimise stress as far as possible. Practise Shabasana & Bhraman Pranyam to alleviate the ill effects of stress.
 As per Dr. B.M. Hegde, who has several U.K. Medical Degrees and a visiting professor of Cardiology at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School of London University and presently the vice chancellor of the Manipal Academy of Higher education emphasizes on drug free regimen, stresses on diet and moderate exercise rather than on tablets and injections. According to him, only in the field of emergency care and that too mostly as a palliative, the modern medicines do have a part to play.
 Health and fitness activities can be classified into four main parts as follows:
(a) Cardiovascular conditioning
The Cardiovascular conditioning is achieved by jogging, brisk walking, swimming, cycling, cycling and running and even fast dancing, which are a part of aerobic activities that pump the heart and boost blood circulation of the body.
 By these activities we can improve and increase the efficiency of our heart and lungs function and help burn out unwanted fats too.
 But to achieve the desired goal we should be particular about the intensity of these activities. To measure the desired intensity we should elevate the function of our body to the aerobic zone i.e. the pulse rate should be around 70% of our maximum heart rate (MHR), (MHR = 220 – Age). As a rule of thumb, person of age 50 should have about 120 heart beats or pulse rate per minute during his cardiovascular activity.
 In view of the above it is suggested that one should occasionally check the pulse rate immediately upon stopping the activity as the heart rate begins to slow down very quickly at resting position. Needless to mention here that if the pulse rate is not even raised more than 60% of MHR, the desired result will not be achieved.
(b) Strength Training
 Strength Training means exercising with weights or by pulling and pushing against a device that offers resistance. Now there are two types of strength training exercise which are:
• Isotonic Exercise
• Isometric Exercise
 Isotonic exercises are meant particularly for body builders, who do it with a heavy load to increase and develop muscles of the body.
 The Isometric exercises, on the other hand, are meant for athletes, players, wrestlers, whereby they substantially increase the strengths of their muscles without resorting to a heavy load for exercising. It mainly comprises of pushing, pulling, stretching with a device that offers moderate to hard resistance.
 Now, for body fitness why a person, who neither wants to become a bodybuilder nor a wrestler nor an athlete, should require strength training; the reason being to slow down our gradual loss of the muscle mass and tone of our muscle which inevitably associated with our ageing process.
 By moderate strength training, we can certainly regain and decelerate the process of ageing, which is why, it is incorporated in health fitness activities.
(c) Stretching
 Stretching is a very important activity of our body fitness as without keeping our body flexible our muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints can not function properly.
(d) Relaxation
 Finally relaxation, which is a very important activity of our daily workout. After subjecting our body to the aforementioned activities our system does essentially require a period of relaxation preferably in Shabasana, for at least about 10 to 15 minutes. This is required for normalizing the entire body and mind together.
In concluding lines, I must say that our body is enormously resilient provided we maintain it religiously and use it with utmost care.

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