HEALTH IS WEALTH

Over the past one year, I have been repeatedly encountering a medical condition among Indian corporate executives that has startled me. Just how far will the effects of lifestyle go?

Vitamin D deficiency. Shows up as excruciating muscle weakness and bone pain. Back ache, joint pain and lethargy are classic symptoms of Vitamin D and D3 deficiency. Left untreated it can lead to other trouble. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with brittle bones, cardiovascular disease, asthma, autoimmune diseases and even cancer.

Bizarre? When I heard it first I did not quite believe it. Anyone knows that the biggest source of this vitamin is sunlight. In fact it is called the sunshine vitamin. So how could someone living in a tropical country, with the sun pelting down for hours and hours, ever get this deficiency?

My old homeopath explained it to me. This is the latest lifestyle condition. People leave for work early and mostly do not exercise outdoor before leaving. They sit all day inside closed and sealed offices. Few modern offices have any sunlight coming in. Fewer have windows that open. People sit in their cabins or cafeterias and eat. Few step out in the day. Then when they set out for home, it is mostly evening time when the sun has gone down. So there’s basically just no exposure to sunlight among the corporate execs. Even youngsters are increasingly suffering from it. Again, the same reason. Children don’t go out to play enough.

Few foods can replace this source. Vitamin D is available in considerable quantities like fatty fish, cod liver oil and eggs besides fortified milk and dairy products. Most of these foods are not consumed by Indians or, at least, not in the required quantities. To add to it, people try being ‘healthy’ by not eating ‘ghee’ or drinking low-fat milk, thus eliminating Vitamin D even further from their diets. Result: A recent study conducted across 33,444 people shows that 65% of women in Mumbai in the age group of 12- 35 years are Vitamin D deficient.

So here we seem to have a growing problem that can easily be contained. People could be made aware of this and take small, easy steps to avoid this trouble. A short walk before leaving for office? A late afternoon walk out of office instead of the tea machine chat? And probably adding ‘ghee’ and eliminating junk food? Of course, many of the usual excuses will pop up immediately to this. Meetings, presentations, no time….can’t help order outside foodstuff sometime or the other.

But health is a good enough reason to find solutions for, instead of hiding behind the usual reluctance to change. And any medical practitioner will tell you that preventive care is better than curative steps. Now don’t you think it’s worth considering at least?