Yoga is fine, fraud is not

A Television channel has been running a live programme for nearly two months now, titled ‘Corona Se Jung, Baba Ramdev Ke Sung’ (A fight Against Corona with Baba Ramdev), presented by the Yoga Guru himself.

It aims to educate people to fight the coronavirus infection by boosting one’s immunity with the help of Pranayam, other Yogic exercises and Ayurvedic medicine. The title of the show is a bit of a misnomer though since the Baba speaks on ‘complete transformation of the body and soul’ through yogic exercises and his herbal cures. The show also has a generous sprinkling of nationalism, ancient Indian culture, organic farming, swadeshi, and environmental issues.

It is for the Government and ‘competent authority’ to allay apprehensions that the programme contributes to the spread of false information about the deadly virus and efficacy of Yoga as treatment. The programme also makes outlandish claims about the ability of Yoga and Ayurvedic medicines to cure diabetes, hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis, arthritis and all types of cancer.

We may well ignore the Baba’s claim about his own ‘super immune system’ acquired through 40 years of pranayama and other yogic exercises, knowing fully well that when he had gone on a fast unto death, in June, 2011, his organic functions started giving way by the sixth day of the fast and he had to be rushed to a hospital and administered intra- venous glucose. His other claims though, are too serious to ignore lest a gullible public follow his advice and risk their lives.

Baba Ramdev has, for example claimed that doing various kinds of pranayama and Yoga exercises will boost your immunity and keep the virus at bay. He has also said that if you can hold your breath for one minute, you may rest assured that you do not have the infection. This test, he says, works both in symptomatic as well as asymptomatic cases of coronavirus. He also claimed that putting mustard oil in your nostrils would flush out the coronavirus from your respiratory tract and lungs.

Experts have debunked all the above claims and called them highly misleading. Dr Arvind Kumar, Chairman of Chest & Robotic Surgery at Gangaram Hospital and founder trustee of Lung Care Foundation told a news agency, “Holding your breath just means your lungs are clear, it has noth- ing to do with coronavirus. A sportsman for example, can hold breath even longer than a minute; it does not mean he is not infected.” Conversely, he said, “a smoker, whose lungs are badly damaged may be able to hold breath only for 20 seconds. Does it follow that he is infected?” The other claim of mus- tard oil flushing out the coronavirus has also been dismissed by expert.

The claim that certain Ayurvedic concoction (kadha) can boost immunity is equally false. Yoga, like any other exercise, can increase your stamina and lead to a sense of well-being. It cannot boost one’s immunity. As a matter of fact, no exercise, medicine or any kind of meditation has been found to boost immunity. Nor is there any way one can measure or quantify immunity.

Harvard Medical School reported in 2014, “The idea of boosting your immunity is enticing, but the ability to do so has proved elusive for several reasons. The immune system is precisely that- a system, not a single entity. To function well, it requires balance and harmony. There is still much that researchers do not know about intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune response. For now, there are no scientifically proven direct links between lifestyle and enhanced immune function.

However with no evidence yet in favour of the ability of Yoga or a kadha to boost immunity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recommended both during his videoconference with village heads. Union Minister Piyush Goyal also confided to a TV channel recently that nowadays kadha is served during official meetings with the Prime Minister.

There is nothing wrong with ‘kadha’ as such, but to believe and propagate it as an elixir to boost immunity amounts to encouraging unscientific temper. Most of us will agree that in the matter of scientific authenticity, Harvard is better than hard work, whatever our present Prime Minister might say!

Baba Ramdev’s claim about having cured thousands of patients suffering from advanced stages of all types of cancer, liver cirrhosis, arthritis, hypertension and other serious diseases is too preposterous to need any refutation.

In the programme aired on 14th June 2020, he claimed that his organisation, Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd has come up with a drug which he called ‘Coronil’. Acharya Balkrishna, the co-founder and CEO of the company, also corroborated that this had cured Covid -19 patients within a span of five to 14 days. Balkrishna was quoted by ANI as saying that a trial conducted on hundreds of Covid-19 patients had yielded 100% favourable results.

Although Baba Ramdev’s appropriation of medical terms, which he now ceaselessly uses in his discourse, is harmless. But nevertheless, it raises ethical questions. It is morally dishonest to use terminology from a discipline you consider inferior to your own. Ironically, the use of medical terms is an implied admission that Ayurveda did not have these in its lexicon. It is a bitter truth that our ancients did not know that blood circulates in our body, leave alone hypertension, till William Harvey (1578-1657) the English physician discovered this phenomenon. In fact, we knew too little about the human body and its pathology to have discovered cure for the ailments which afflicted it.

Then, there is the question of advertising your therapeutic skills and cures. It is a set- tled principle of medical ethics that doctors and pharma companies should not advertise their expertise in treating patients and the efficacy of drugs respectively.

The Indian Medical Council has in its Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics Regulations 2002 (Regulation 6.1.1, Chapter 6) mentions, “Soliciting of patients directly or indirectly, by a physician, by a group of physicians or by institutions or organisations is unethical. A physician shall not make use of him or his name as subject of any form or manner of advertising or publicity...”

Baba Ramdev continues to violate these guidelines. He also openly advertises his Ayurvedic preparations. Are all his claims and pronouncements cited above under the scrutiny of concerned authorities, related as these are to the sensitive issues of public health and human lives?