Good morning friends
We doctors take an oath before we actually start medical practice. This oath is known as the ‘Hippocratic oath’, a promise to uphold the professional ethics of practising medicine. Hippocrates is known as “ The Father of Medicine “ for his lasting contributions to medicine. But I am not going to talk about the Hippocratic oath today. ( I heard that there is some controversy about this oath now in India ! ) I want to talk about an interesting quote from Hippocrates that I read today. He says, “ Before you heal someone, ask him if he is willing to give up the things that made him sick.“
Hippocrates was born around 460 BC, almost 2500 years ago. But his quote holds true even today after so many years, in spite of the mind boggling advances in the medical field. In fact, probably, it is even more true now in the modern times with the ever increasing lifestyle diseases than it was in his times. Don’t we all see this happening day in and day out ? After a bypass surgery, for a few months or a couple of years at the most, the patient follows the advice regarding lifestyle changes, but soon, very soon, it’s back to square one ! We hear of people undergoing 2 or 3 bypass surgeries, of diabetes not getting under control, and so on, simply because the patients are not willing to give up the lifestyle that made them sick. Is it not time that the doctors asked the patient this fundamental question before treatment is started, “ Are you willing to make a change? Are you willing to give up the things that make you sick ?”
And all this is not just about diet and exercise, but it’s also about the stresses of modern life. Unless we consciously work on reducing our stress levels, on spending some time every day indulging in activities that relax us ( like our hobbies ) and of course, unless we take up the practice of meditation on a regular basis, it would be difficult to reduce our stress levels.
I heard a very interesting talk by BK Shivani yesterday on you tube. This talk was given specifically for doctors at a medical conference. She has talked about the origin of sickness being related to negative thoughts and how sickness cannot be cured unless we treat the root cause. But more about that some other time.
I wish that all of us can make a conscious choice to give up the things that make us sick, and work towards staying healthy,
Love,
Anjali Bhatawdekar
