Sipping From The Fountain of Youth

I recently read an interesting article written in the esteemed Economic Times, which carried an interview with Dr Aubrey de Grey, a researcher who believes he could live long enough to uncover the secret to the fountain of youth.

Can we turn back the biological clock?

In the interview, the good doctor says the key to reversing ageing will “alleviate suffering” and that “it is only a matter of time before medicine becomes sophisticated enough to control ageing”.

Ageing is an extremely sensitive subject. Poetry, art, sculpture and literature (not to mention scientists and pharmaceutical companies!) have always eulogised youth and beauty and have driven dread into our hearts about our silver years.

Leveraging the fear associated with ageing and capitalising on the huge market for ‘wonder solutions’, Dr Grey and many others like him have got millions of men and women hanging onto their every word, hoping to outlive the discovery of a secret that Nature will one day give up.

Not surprisingly, anti-ageing treatments and bioengineering are on the cutting edge of scientific research – billions of dollars are spent and reaped every year on researching and manufacturing anti-ageing products and treatments.

'Editing' our DNA?

The problem is that scientific jargon impresses us, and the more ‘sophisticated’ and incomprehensible the terms, the more impressed we are. And the more impressed we are, the more we tend to believe these prophets of immortality. Thus, when researchers like Dr Grey talk about “editing our DNA” and “stimulating growth factors to reverse ageing”, every fairytale and fable we ever read about the fountain of youth inches closer to becoming a scientific truth.

Oh, how gullible we are! Tampering with your genetic make-up will most definitely alter your bio-physiological processes. Why, it could even make you look younger! But this is a dangerous move. You see, Nature has engineered and fine-tuned the human body to perfection and has left no margin for error. We were created just the way we were meant to be.

Just because we can play God, it doesn’t mean we should. When we use genetic and medical interventions to modify basic biochemical processes for cosmetic purposes, we are attempting to change the natural order of things. These interventions invariably alter selective processes, thereby adversely impacting on other systems and functions such as hormonal activity, immunity and on organs such as the liver and kidneys. In other words, when you ‘selectively re-engineer’ your internal make-up to make your skin taught and young, something else in your body pays the price.

Sometimes, it could be crippling or fatal, as in the tragic case of pop icon Michael Jackson. Obsessive about his looks and unable to accept himself, Jackson obviously wanted to be someone he was not. He went under the knife repeatedly and eventually, his obsession proved fatal. Numerous cosmetic surgeries had obviously wrecked Jackson’s face, leaving it disfigured and unnatural. I mean, how do you go from being a happy-go-luck kid with so much talent and the world at your feet to looking like this?

So what exactly am I saying? Before I answer that, take a look at these pictures…

This is Kashmira. When this young lady approached MindHeal Homeopathy, she had dark circles under her eyes, a receding hairline and her shoulders carried the burden that her marriage had become. It took a toll on her health and she looked tired and fatigued. Not a pretty picture.

MindHeal: Before

Before: Kashmira

Less than two years later, Karshmira is an altogether different person. She looks vivacious and attractive and she’s happy too. Pardon me. She’s happy and calm, and she looks good too. And therein, in that chicken-and-egg rephrasing, lies the answer to happiness or, if you will, the secret to feeling young and looking good.

MindHeal: After

After: Kashmira

Growing old is the result of wear and tear, depletion of resources, emotional baggage and disease and sickness. The way you look is an outward manifestation of these deep-seated biological changes. Your hair thins and turns white, your skin creases and wrinkles, you lose your vitality and your memory wanes. And yes, quite literally, you hair can turn white almost overnight.

For many people, the silver years are also associated with hypertension, heart ailments, metabolic and auto-immune disorders such as diabetes, abnormal weight gain, allergies and asthma. And why only silvers? Thanks to modern lifestyles, many of these ailments are now manifesting themselves in young people, a phenomenon I am faced with every day in my clinic.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that modern lifestyles, stress, emotional trauma, disease, environmental pollution and the like accelerate the ageing process. Yes, it all adds up. And though this may sound like a cliché, it’s the plain and simple truth.

Let me put it this way. It’s like buying an expensive car, tanking it up with adulterated fuel, repeatedly grinding the gears, driving it into every pothole in sight, parking it in the rain and then blaming it for breaking down every now and then and looking like a wreck. 

So you get a top-class mechanic to do some fancy bodywork on your car and lo and behold – it looks as good and new! But in a couple of weeks, the wheels begin to wobble again, the airconditioning gives way and the engine continues to break down. But what the hey, the car still looks good! Hmmm.

Age-old truth

The human body is no different. We punish our minds and bodies and still want this miraculous machine to work like magic. We overwork ourselves, party all night, harbour deep-seated resentments, don’t get enough sleep, eat all the wrong things and we still want to look great. Hmmm.

That’s because most of us tend to believe that “ageing begins when we start growing old”. We also tend to believe that the answer to glowing skin, lustrous hair and a great figure lie in the hands of dermatologists, hair stylists, weight-reduction experts and cosmetic surgeons.

Don’t get me wrong. I never miss my appointment at the salon and I do bask in the occasional pedicure. And sure, pampering and grooming are fun, relaxing and make one feel really good. But if your basic biochemistry malfunctions, even the best body shop and ‘reputed beauty specialists’ cannot help. That’s because they cannot change the basic metabolic processes that are driving your body to age – for some prematurely, others without grace and for many with a host of health problems.

In our race for quick-fix solutions and in moments of self-denial, it is easier to blame our genes and even the weather for our hair falling out and for terrible skin than admit that we are leading toxic lifestyles or that emotional baggage or one’s personality type could be responsible.

So where am I going with all this? It’s actually very simple. MindHeal Homeopathy is a system of medicine that rebalances your biochemistry, corrects deficiencies and diminishes excesses to raise your body to its optimal level of functioning. And all this with purely natural remedies derived from the natural world. Yes, I mean those “good old pills and powders”.

The ‘secret’ to achieving these dramatic – and completely satisfying – results lies in administering the right homeoapthic remedy. And that’s where MindHeal Homeopathy's skill, experience and intuition come into play.

The good doctor Grey suggests that we need to “control” ageing. I say it’s not about forcing back the hands of time; it’s about rebalancing your biochemistry and making life choices that bring out the best in you. When that realisation dawns, you can sip all you want from the fountain of youth.

Here, check out Minti's Moment of Truth...

MINDHEAL: BEFORE

MINDHEAL: AFTER

Aw, she's one happy customer, isn't she?

 
Re-awaken the healer in you...

- Dr Anita Salunkhe, MD

MindHeal Homeopathy is based in Chembur, Mumbai. To find out more about The MindHeal Way, call: 022-25230530 / +91-9930363981. Or write to crm@mindheal.com. Website: www.mindheal.org. We’ll be happy to answer all your queries.