Therapies and their principles

Therapies and their principles
Tanu Singh, MBBS
B P Singh, IFS   M. Sc (Physics), M. Phil (Physics)
Email : bps.arunabh@gmail.com

The internal function of the body, its regulations and management is done by mind through various chemicals. Chemicals required are normally produced by different organs at different places within the body itself. Production of such chemicals is completely regulated. In a healthy body all the organs function in a normal fashion and chemicals remain in balanced state. Healthy state of a body and mind is the indicator of balanced state of chemicals in the body.

What are those chemicals, what are their natures, which organs are producing them, which are responsible for making such chemicals produced in the body on specific locations, what chemicals are required to be fed from outside in the form of food or additional chemicals to produce such chemicals and keep such organs healthy to produce the required chemical optimally, etc. are different aspects to take into account to understand functions of the body and find out most appropriate food/ chemical/ stimulant/ impulse/ therapy etc.

It is also necessary to understand the correlation in functions of various organs. How is the function of one organ dependent on that of others? Meaning thereby, if one organ starts malfunctioning, how and which other organ/organs will get affected first and then others in sequence. Understanding of this will open the door to understand the multiplicity of problems and the roadmap of their solutions. This will also tell how a single remedy solves all the problems or more than one problems at a time and for that with which therapy/treatment should be started or what should be the combination of therapies and their sequence. 

Illness either acute or chronic is the synonym of Chemical Imbalance causing malfunctioning or not functioning some of the organs in the body and all the therapies are aimed at removing the imbalance and thereby helping body to regain its normal function. If all the therapies are analysed it is found that there are two ways to remove imbalance in the body. Firstly by adding suitable chemicals from outside and secondly by producing required chemicals within the body itself through different methods or techniques or stimulants. Supplying chemicals from outside cannot be site specific. Meaning thereby chemical/chemicals required by particular tissues cannot be supplied to only those tissues which need it/them. However, chemical produced in the body through external physical or chemical stimulant is site specific. It means the required chemical is produced where it is needed. Thus for effective and scientific use of any therapy it is essential to understand the principle of its working. Now let us discuss some of the therapies and their principles of working.

Therapies to be considered are Allopathic, Ayurvedic, Unani, Homeopathic, Yoga, Pranayam, Acupressure/acupuncture, Massage, Exercise etc. These are all scientific methods of treatment and they work on certain principle. These are elaborated as follows:

Allopathic: This is most popular and widely used branch of medical science. This has two branches – surgery and medicine. Surgery has no substitute in other branch of medical science or therapy. Therefore, all other medical science has to work in conjunction with allopathic to have complete package of solution. Surgery works on the principle of taking out or replacing organ which is beyond repair and whose presence may create or aggravate problem. In case of medicines, illness is diagnosed on scientific basis, appropriate chemical /chemicals required is worked out, the same is tested first on animals and after getting success it is used for human beings.  This works on the principle of supplying chemicals from outside to remove imbalance causing illness. However, there is no mechanism to supplement required chemicals to only those tissues which need it and so what we do is that chemicals are sent in blood circulation either orally or directly through intra-venous injection. Medicines given orally take some time to reach in blood circulation and show result as it has to pass through digestive processes. Chemical so brought in blood stream circulates across the body through circulatory system. During circulation, chemical is absorbed by the tissue to which it is required. The mechanism of absorption is the same for all the tissues. The working unit of all the tissues is cell which is not joined directly with other cells even within the same tissues. However, all tissues have the same parent cell i.e. zygote and therefore, they are similar in many properties except the characteristic properties of the tissue. Due to similar character of the tissues, the chemical circulated is absorbed not only by the target tissues but also by other tissues having similar character. The target tissue after absorption of chemical starts showing improvement and patient gets relief. But the tissues which without need absorbed chemical start showing abnormality in their function causing discomfort to the patient. This is termed as side effect of the medicine. This is inevitable with almost all the allopathic medicines. The principle of allopathy is Contrariacontraris.

Ayurvedic:This also works on the principle of substitution like allopathic. However, there is difference between these two. In case of allopathic medicines/chemicals are artificially synthesized and so concentrated. In case of Ayurvedic most of the medicines are in natural form which can be accepted more easily by the body without showing reaction provided proper dose is given.

Unani: This too works on the principle of substitution. The chemical needed is supplied from outside to the body which takes care of the imbalance of chemical for that tissue/organ.

Homeopathic: There are two effects of homeopathic remedy. First is its physical effect and other is as a stimulant to mind. As remedy is capable of producing diseases if taken in crude form in sufficient quantity for longer time and so it tends to produce disease like symptoms after taking even infinitesimal quantity of it which is known as aggravation in homeopathy terminology.  This character too is not shown by all the remedies and for all the diseases.Remedy of which smallest quantity also affects body shows such aggravation. In fact this gives confirmation of correct selection of remedy. Another and main action of the remedy is as a stimulant. This gives a message to the brain about aggression and in turn immune system starts working. Thus it works on the principle of Similiasimilibuscurantur or Likes cure Likes. Some substances taken in crude form and sufficient quantity for longer time producea set of symptoms in different parts of the body. Illness showing similar symptoms but not produced by the same substance can be cured by an infinitesimal quantity of such substance. Defense mechanism of the body is based on this principle only. This is natural behavior of the body. This science of medicine stimulates the immune system through brain/mind. The action of the immune system is site specific and therefore, the action of the homeopathy remedy is site specific. As no chemical in visible or perceivable quantity is given in homeopathy to the body from outside and internal production of required chemical is site specific and therefore, there is no chance of any side effect. Furthermore, since immune system fights against the cause of illness producing a set of symptoms and so homeopathy treat the person and not the disease of a particular organ. This is the natural and most scientific way of treatment. Since it stimulates to produce chemicals within body itselfand so it is necessary that organ producing chemical should be in working condition.

Yoga: It works on the principle that body works well if all important organs work well and to make all important organs to work well they need their movement (contraction & elongation or stress & strain). As we know some chemicals in the form of aqueous solution is needed for smooth running of the body. This implies that through Yoga we are intended to stimulate internal system to keep on secreting life sustaining fluids in normal way. In Yoga nothing is given to body from outside. This is also a science but not so evolved that it could explain all the scientific aspects of this therapy. This is organ specific solution and not a holistic solution.

Pranayam: It works on the principle that Oxygen keeps all the organs healthy and healthy organs provide healthy body. Utilization of external or stored energy by internal organs need oxygen without which nothing will happen within the cell. Production unit needs oxygen in addition to other material to produce particular type of chemical required for sustenance of human life. This is undisputed fact that through breathing body gets Oxygen which controls catabolism and anabolism in the body. Insufficient amount of oxygen makes cells to under function causing tissues and organ weak and unhealthy. Therefore, through Pranayam weak or unhealthy organs due to improper supply of oxygen can be made healthy and healthy organs can be kept healthier and that too for longer time. This gives relief to all the unhealthy organs and so a holistic solution.

Acupressure/acupuncture: It assumes that each internalorgan is represented by one or more than one points located on palms, soles, along spine and other parts of the body. In healthy body all such points are painless and in a state of unhealthiness of any organ its corresponding points become painful or sensitive to touch or pressure. It works on the principle that on pressing such points gently it stimulates the concerned nervous system which removes the causes of illness. There is no statistics of scientific experiment on it which should tell by pressing a particular point will produce a particular type of fluid which will work as medicine to remove difficulty in that organ. This is organ specific solution and not a holistic solution.

Massage: It works on the same principle on which acupressure works.There are numerous spots on different parts of the body which are connected to different organs inside the body. On pressing those points connected, organs get activated which helps in removing malfunctioning of such organs. This also works on the assumption that there is chemical imbalance due to improper function of the internal organs. Its effectiveness depends on knowledge of this science and experience in it and so trained person and experienced persons are required for the operation of acupressure. It is also organ specific and not a holistic solution.

Exercise: In exercise differentialtreatment is given to a particular organ and works on the principle that all organs should be used optimally thereby keeping them healthy to perform their normal function. This is done through doing exercise of different parts of the body. Such parts of the body are connected to different organs in the body. By doing exercise of a particular part of the body stimulates the internal organs connected for its normal function.

Naturopathy: This works on the principle of eliminating those food and habit which are creating problem and selecting right food and habit which are needed. This is also a sort of elimination and substitution. This believes that illness is due to unnatural way of life