Now, ayurveda-based fitness tests before high altitude postings

This test has been devised by CSIR’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) by integrating elements of both traditional and modern medicine.

According to IGIB’s director Rajesh S Gokhale, the project christened as Ayurgenomics was started to study characteristic behaviour of humans getting affected by several diseases and find out remedies for those.

“It has been observed that army personnel posted at higher altitudes ranging from 17,000 feet to 23,000 feet are prone to pulmonary disorders and cardiac ailments apart from other disease.  The symptoms of these diseases typically start appearing after 15-20 days of their posting, which means, the jawan or official has to be sent back to ground posting for treatment and some other personnel would replace them,” Gokhale said.

“With the new testing technology in place, the personnel would be tested for vulnerability to any such disease at ground posting only by analysing three sutras of Ayurveda – vata, pitta and kapha. In Ayurveda, the treatment of a common disease can be different for different people, which is not the case in modern medicine like allopathic treatment where a drug is prescribed on the basis of symptoms and drugs are identical,” Gokhale said, adding that three doctors of AIIMS are also a part of this project.

While spelling out the achievements of the research institute, he said, “The project was started some 6-7 years ago and now it has started giving positive results. The objective of the mission was to develop affordable health care solutions based on traditional knowledge of Ayurveda.”

If the project is a success, it will not only help army personnel posted at higher altitudes, but also 30,000 jawans of ITBP stationed at similar altitudes. Commenting on the new fitness test, ITBP spokesperson Vivek Pandey said, “We will be happy to see this project succeed as it will definitely boost the morale of our jawans, who suffer one or other disease during their posting at higher altitudes.”

“There are about 200 posts of ITBP, of which about 150 are at higher altitudes, including Ladakh, Sikkim, Tamang, etc. We have to first study the whole project and if it would fit into our scheme of things , we would also request the research institute to extend their services to other paramilitary forces,” Pandey said. 

Ayurgenomics study, which was started in collaboration with other research institutes, has convincingly correlated genomic variations with the classification of prakriti (nature of body). The study, which has analysed 262-well-classified male individuals belonging to three prakritis – vata, pitta and kapha, has showed that the phenotypic classification of India’s traditional medicine has a genetic basis and its nature-based practice in vogue for many centuries resonates with personalised medicine.

The CSIR labs such as IGIB, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) are proactively working towards deciphering  the molecular mechanism for 

rare disorders.