Dr Rajiv Desai
An Educational Blog
EXERCISE
EXERCISE: _ _ Prologue: The big four “proximate” causes of preventable ill-health are: smoking, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity and alcohol excess. Of these, the importance of regular exercise is the least well-known. However, exercise is not a new concept. In 300 BC, Aristotle suggested that “a man falls into ill health as a result of not caring for exercise.” These factors (smoking, nutrition, lack of physical activity and alcohol) are often described as lifestyle choices, yet many people do not have the finances, self-efficacy, environment or knowledge to be able to practice lifestyle choices correctly. We have moved towards a sedentary society with changing work and domestic habits & patterns. We now drive cars, sit in front of computers or TVs and use domestic appliances. There are far fewer manual jobs. This means that physical activity is not routine for most people. In 1949, 34% of miles travelled […]
YOGA
YOGA: _ Marilyn Monroe performs dhanurasana (bow pose) in 1948: Indra Devi opened yoga studio in Hollywood in 1948 and discovered ready students among movie stars, who found yoga’s breathing and relaxation techniques useful to their work. Her students included Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson and Marilyn Monroe. ______ Prologue: A considerable number of studies have identified prayer as a frequent and favoured coping method among patients providing each patient with comfort and strength. A variety of studies have attempted to test the efficacy of prayer and found no medical benefit. Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and well-constructed study proved in 2006. The Cochrane Collaboration published a thorough review reaching the same conclusion in 2011 and counselled, “We are not convinced that further trials of this intervention should be undertaken and would prefer to see any resources […]
