Asthma Treatment - A Common Sense Approach

We usually assume that we need medical intervention to cure any serious illness. So do many doctors, on whom we depend, as well. But the cure may not always be medical. Sometimes, it can be simple common sense that works.

This is what happened to a friend of mine when I was in Bangalore. Mahadevan was over fifty years then and he used suffer from frequent attacks of Asthma. He has become a very regular visitor to doctors and always kept a small stock of medicines and inhalers. He also tried homeopathy, ayurvedic and other herbal remedies in the hope of finding a permanent cure. But the attacks continued. To an extent, it is the air in Bangalore that causes and aggravates respiratory illnesses, people say.

One day, a friend of his, a medical doctor came to see him. This doctor settled abroad and occasionally came to India. Upon Mahadevan's request, he traveled to Bangalore, hoping that he could hit upon some relief to his friend's problem. And he did that too.

After sharing his medical and treatment history, Mahadevan took his doctor friend around the house. Bingo! The doctor noticed something that did wonders to Mahadevan. He pointed that the water storage tank is right above Mahadevan's bedroom. That was keeping the bedroom very humid which could probably be aggravating the Asthmatic condition.

Mahadevan promptly shifted his bedroom from under the water tank. Within a few months, his condition has improved dramatically. I was a tenant in his house in Bangalore and he shared this story with me one evening over drinks. It was seven years back and I hardly knew that I will become an entrepreneur in health industry then. But Mahadevan's experience forced me to think hard.

Our body works as a system. All things matter: the body, the mind or thinking, the food we take, the place we live in, the habits we have, and more. But unfortunately, our medical system is fragmented among different schools of medicine such as allopathy, ayurveda and so on. Moreover, our allopathic system of medicine is micro-fragmented among different sub or super specializations, whichever way you may want to call them. Because of this, we do not look at a health problem holistically.

But I suggest just one thing! When we have a problem, before assuming anything else, we should do a simple common sense check about the daily routine, physical activity, diet, mental factors such as stress, environment we live in, and the habits we practice. We analyze all other problems we may have. For example, if our performance is poor at work, we analyze that. If we fare poorly in exams, we analyze that. More so, if India looses a cricket match, we not only analyze but almost have sure ways of success for Tendulkar on our lips. Then why do not we at least try when we are ill?

We may think that health and medicine are too specialized and too risky. That is true! But we cannot harm ourselves by being more pro-active and involved in understanding and treating ourselves. And sometimes, we may find very simple solutions to the path towards healthy living. Doctor, or medicine, or God comes later in that order. But the best person you can depend upon to take care of your health is You!