Prameha and Diseases of Udakavaha Srotas
(Part-2)
Prof. Muralidhar Sharma
based on the lecture available at–Prameha and Diseases of Udakavaha Srotas
This led to a theory so that’s the major focus of what we want to draw the action. Let me explain based on gene theory. This theory of genes was published by Neel JV, one of the famous genetic scientists and he named it ‘Thrifty’ genes which are present among the Indian races or the eastern part of the countries while in the western countries that gene is not present. This led to naming the gene famine gene. The Indian scientist immediately grabbed it and they are proudly saying that we have famine genes. That’s one of the real issues which is to be condemned. I always will be very open about that issue because it’s a biased perception of the Indian culture. The hypothesis is that Indian people had no food available because food was scarce, they are accustomed to fasting and the culture of Indians was considered hunter and gathering culture and a theory of anthropology where Indian culture was submitted with Iran’s. The newspaper ‘Times of India’ gives me better detail about that kind of new evidence coming up supporting my theory that the Haddpan genome and identification of specific genes in the fossils which excludes the possibility of alien invasion and proves the culture of farming existing in the civilization much before that cultural have been elsewhere.
There is a point which we have to be aware of and wherever there is an opportunity we should be able to put the truth properly. So what I’m doing is I’m trying to give you the evidence another way and trying to give you a different picture about that issue of humanity. It’s not the famine gene instead, there is certainly unique nature in the Indian or the eastern genes. I will not give you my view and give you the facts from scientific sources and will try to put the theory in the correct form.
The whole issue is the cause of diabetes mellitus. The famine gene or thrifty gene theory proposes that the hunting and gathering culture found in an earlier era and the unavailability of food for a longer duration increases the body’s tendency to store energy and fat inside the body. Now Indians have better availability of food because of the adoption of western culture, inventions in the agriculture field, farming cultivation, and many more reasons. As food is available all the time, Indians are eating every day and their body tries to store the energy resulting in more accumulation of fat and an increase in body weight eventually developing insulin resistance secondary to more production of insulin. In case when the body has abnormal adipose tissue deposition, it needs more insulin, and that insulin is not sufficient enough or it may have insulin resistance. Deficiency of insulin is not the cause of type 2 Diabetes mellitus. There is no scarcity of insulin in the body but it is not capable of functioning properly because of insulin resistance.
आस्यासुखं स्वप्नसुखं दधीनि ग्राम्यौदकानूपरसाः पयांसि|
नवान्नपानं गुडवैकृतं च प्रमेहहेतुः कफकृच्च सर्वम्||Ch.Chi6/4
रयाणामेषां निदानादिविशेषाणां सन्निपाते क्षिप्रं श्लेष्मा प्रकोपमापद्यते, प्रागतिभूयस्त्वात्; स प्रकुपितः क्षिप्रमेव शरीरे विसृप्तिं लभते, शरीरशैथिल्यात्; स विसर्पञ् शरीरे मेदसैवादितो मिश्रीभावं गच्छति, मेदसश्चैव बह्वबद्धत्वान्मेदसश्च गुणैः समानगुणभूयिष्ठत्वात्; स मेदसा मिश्रीभवन् दूषयत्येनत्, विकृतत्वात्; स विकृतो दुष्टेन मेदसोपहितः शरीरक्लेदमांसाभ्यां संसर्गं गच्छति, क्लेदमांसयोरतिप्रमाणाभिवृद्धत्वात्; स मांसे मांसप्रदोषात् पूतिमांसपिडकाः शराविकाकच्छपिकाद्याः सञ्जनयति, अप्रकृतिभूतत्वात्; शरीरक्लेदं पुनर्दूषयन् मूत्रत्वेन परिणमयति, मूत्रवहानां च स्रोतसां वङ्क्षणबस्तिप्रभवाणां मेदःक्लेदोपहितानि गुरूणि मुखान्यासाद्य प्रतिरुध्यते; ततः प्रमेहांस्तेषां स्थैर्यमसाध्यतां वा जनयति, प्रकृतिविकृतिभूतत्वात्||Ch. Ni 4/8
This basic theory resulting involvement of fat resulting in resistance to insulin is described in the same terms by Charak and the only difference is an expression in another language. Above shloka implies that initially there is a fusion of prakupit Kapha with Meda and further with Kleda and Mamsa Dhatu. This may be suggesting insulin resistance. The whole issue of diet and lack of exercise results in insulin resistance. Explanation from gene theory is not a new one and that kind of explanation is also found in Charak Samhita.
Distribution of fat
The distribution of the fat in the body would be of different categories. Accumulation of fat resulting in obesity is categorized into 6 subtypes based on their precipitating causes. Of course, there are many classifications.
- Obesity caused by food
- Obesity is generated by a “nervous stomach”
- Obesity-related to gluten
- Metabolic obesity
- Obesity is caused by the venous circulation
- Obesity from inactivity
- Metabolic Syndrome
Indians when they gained weight the way majority of them would be either one or six from the provided classification. People having such type of fat distribution are more prone to develop diabetes than the other form of obesity. So it is not only BMI that is responsible for the possibility of diabetes but it’s about the fat distribution also which increases the risk when fat is accumulated more in the abdomen and thoracic area.
Metabolic Syndrome
When we were studying at that time that metabolic syndrome was not there in the textbook, we used to study it as a pre-diabetic condition. Now, the same is presented as metabolic syndrome.
American health care association guidelines [3 of 5]
- Fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL (or receiving drug therapy for hyperglycemia)
- Blood pressure ≥130/85 mm Hg (or receiving drug therapy for hypertension)
- Triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL (or receiving drug therapy for hypertriglyceridemia)
- HDL-C < 40 mg/dL in men or < 50 mg/dL in women (or receiving drug therapy for reduced HDL-C)
- Waist circumference ≥102 cm (40 in) in men or ≥88 cm (35 in) in women; if Asian American, ≥90 cm (35 in) in men or ≥80 cm (32 in) in women
Out of the above 5 criteria, the last one about waist circumference is indicated for Asian and non-Asian persons. There is a lot of overlapping in the nomenclature of this condition. WHO nomenclature is a different issue. WHO identifies pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome into two categories, impaired fasting glucose, and impaired fasting glucose. Lots of confusion are there about that issue. But we have a category of people who have the risk of diabetes that can be identified. The risk of Diabetes could be identified even before onset of diabetes and that’s what is mentioned in Charak and Sushruta Samhita.
प्रमेहपूर्वरूपाणामाकृतिर्यत्र दृश्यते |
किञ्चिच्चाप्यधिकं मूत्रं तं प्रमेहिणमादिशेत् ||
कृत्स्नान्यर्धानि वा यस्मिन् पूर्वरूपाणि मानवे |
प्रवृत्तमूत्रमत्यर्थं तं प्रमेहिणमादिरोत् || Su. Ni 6/ 22,23
Whenever a patient has any of the Poorva roop like a tendency to go to sleep and reduce physical activity, even if it is seen at half of it then it could be considered possibly Prameha even if there is a primary sign. So the whole issue of identifying the patients in the early stage, identifying the risky patients, is nothing new from the Ayurvedic point of view or contemporary point of view.
The famine gene and some more of the data may look to be irrelevant now, but in the end, when we come to put on the things together, then we’ll come to a possible idea of what I’m going to say. So don’t be confused now.
Global hunger index and prevalence of diabetes in India
India is considered one of the countries hungry. Ranking among those hungry countries India is at the level of 103in the last 2018, earlier it was 97. We are not boasting that we have ascended the ranks of the 97 to l03 and so on. But the conclusive point is that the hungry index score of India is showing a downward tendency but at the same time incidents of diabetes are increasing proportionately.
(Prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications in India and economic costs to the nation R Pradeepa & V Mohan European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 816–824 (2017))
The line of hunger index is reducing incidents, that graph is about the incidence of the disease. The graph is presented up to 2015 only and data of year2016, 2017, and 2018 are not provided. The graph shows reverse strength. This is one of the proof to say that there is famine a gene and that gene is responsible ible cause in the development of Diabetes melitusMellituss what the other view is presented. But my view is different.
Global heat map of mean birth weight
World Health Organization. Low Birth Weight: A Tabulation of Available Information. Geneva: WHO; (1992). [Google Scholar]
Indian and eastern countries had hunting and gathering cultures and therefore these races are supposed to be underweight. The people in the Eastern countries and East Asian countries are represented in blue colour in the growth area which suggests relatively low birth weight up to about 2800 gm. While the British population has a maximum is 3000 gm of birth weight. The distribution of birth weight across the globe is different and there is a significant difference in the Indian context. Indian and eastern populations to be having a lower birth weight but it does not mean that you are weaker than a citizen.
de la Grandmaison GL, Clairand I, Durigon M. Organ weight in 684 adult autopsies: new tables for a Caucasoid population. Forensic Sci Int (2001) 119(2):149–54.10.1016/S0379-0738(00)00401-1 [PubMed]
Kohli A, Aggarwal N. Normal organ weights in Indian adults. Medico-Legal Update-Int J (2006) 6(2):49–52. [Google Scholar]
Another data from the source shows that the mass of every organ in the body, starting from the pancreas, kidney, spleen, liver and then heart comparatively all the organs have lesser size among oriental or the total area of the Indian subcontinent of earlier days. So in that the whole of the area the relative weight of other organs of the body is relatively less.
Brain size, IQ, and racial-group differences: Evidence from musculoskeletal traits. Philippe Rushton*, Elizabeth W. RushtonDepartment of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2
If we see the size of the brain, it shows different sizes. The size of the brain and level of I.Q of east Asian races is given in the above table. The total cranial capacity is much higher compared to Europeans and Africans. So that’s the basic issue. We are meant to have a lower body weight but we are supposed to have a relatively higher intellectual capacity.
RACE, EVOLUTION, AND BEHAVIOR:
Life History Perspective
2nd Special Abridged Edition
Professor J. Philippe Rushton
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2
Another very authentic source and very excellent book, ‘Race evolution and behavior’. Of course, it’s not a medical textbook and it is about behavioral therapy, published in London and authored by professor J. Philippe Rushton, one of the very authentic anthropologists.
The striped line in the graph suggests about the oriental and non-striped are indicating other races. The Head size of Orientals is on the slightly higher side than other races. Similarly, the graph depicts higher IQ levels and lesser crime rates in Orientals than in other races.
The crime rate is supposetenddency to have the crime. The attitude of the whole important identity of that Oriental races and so-called that unique gene whether it’s famine gene or thrifty gene, I would call it ‘Indian gene’ has created a body where the physical aspects of the body are lesser, whereas the intellectual capacity and a sort of philosophical approach to the life is the characteristic approach of the Indian races.
That’s exactly the gene is there, now called as Famine gene, and say that it’s because of the hungry and the scarcity of food the gene had developed. Rather I would say this is one of the signs of evolution, where there is a tendency to develop intellectual capacity. The whole problem now is we have that gene, but we are not living according to their genetic character.
