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Face to Face with Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and Actress Pallavi Joshi - 'The Bengal Files' Movie
Namaskar, and welcome to ITV Gold. And of course with me today is Padma Shri recipient Doctor. Sudhir Parekh. And joining him is a very, very special person and I would definitely like Doctor. Sudhir Parekh to do the honors of welcoming our guest for today.
Speaker 1:Doctor. Parekh.
Speaker 2:Hello. Hello, viewers. Today, we are going to welcome it's my honor and privilege to welcome my very close friend, Doctor. Arun Garg from Vancouver, Canada. He's a medical doctor, plus he has a PhD.
Speaker 2:He is a biochemist, and he has expertise in the integrated medicine to bring the East and West together. He is a president and founding president of the Canadian Indian Network Society, which is a group of the Canadian doctors equivalent to the API here in USA. He's also I'm very pleased to say that he's also one of the senior executive committee member of Global Association of the Physician of Indian Origin, which has 1,500,000 Indian doctors who studied in India and then they immigrated to the different countries of the world. And now we Indian doctors are there, GAPIO members are there in 60 different countries. Six zero, 60 different countries.
Speaker 2:And we brought big international platform to help the Indian students, medical students, medical faculties, and try to help something integrated medicine to connect the East and West. So today, let's hear from the the expert of the integrated medicine who has several years of the experience, doctor Arun Garg. Doctor Garg, welcome.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you, doctor Parekh, for those kind words. I will be remiss if I don't also mention congratulations to you for getting the honor of being president of GAPIO, a global association of physicians of Indian origin. And as the executive council member, it will be my privilege to be working with you. So, sir, it is a pleasure to be with you and share with your listeners and viewers some of the excitement.
Speaker 3:And by the way, doctor Parekh, our upcoming Canada India Network Society meeting in June 05/07/2020 '6 is also a mid year meeting of GAPIO. So GAPIO and CINS are working together for bringing healthy civil society. So it's my pleasure to be with you on your show and share some of the thoughts of the meeting, some of the work we have done, and the potential of building a healthy civil society.
Speaker 2:Thank you, doctor Garg, and welcome. And our request Ms. Pia to start the interview.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. And of course, welcome Mr. Garg to ITV Gold. So since you know you are talking about this Canada India Network Association, I just want you to talk a little bit more because we a lot of us know about what GAPIO does. I want you to talk a little bit about the mission and objectives of this Canada India Network.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much. About fifteen years ago, it dawned on me that as I say, Houston, we have a problem. We have a huge problem in South Asian community that the chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, dementia, mental disease are disproportionately higher in the community, especially diabetes mellitus. So looking at the problem, we have a very large diaspora in our community, one of the largest in Canada. And also my passion for connecting with India, we formed this not for profit society called Canada India Network Society.
Speaker 3:Canada India Network Society, as the background says, build strong cultural, economic, academic, and social links between Canada and India through healthy civil society. And as you know, yesterday, prime minister Modi and our prime minister, right honorable Kearney, signed a major agreement of building these links further. So Canada India Network Society really is to build people to people links between Canada and India, building healthy civil society at the same time. And we have strong partnership with organizations like GAPIO and Apollo and several other like CAHO. And we are our main team is really working in the community, engaging, empowering, and educating people so they're healthy to look at their health.
Speaker 1:As you have been, Doctor. Garg, as you have been talking about GAPIO, I know you combine like modern scientific medicine with Vedic and Yogic principles. So tell me, how does this integrative approach improve patient outcomes, especially in chronic diseases prevention?
Speaker 3:Fabulous questions, very appropriate questions. So in our journey, we felt that there was a gap. You, your health, and the gap. And the gap is how to engage people in their own health. This is where I thought of the idea of cultural medicine.
Speaker 3:And cultural medicine led me to the Indian culture, which is based on Indus Valley vedic yogic science. And your question, how it works is, it gives you the empowerment that you want to be healthy. Because now we are combining the scientific rigor of biochemical medicine, scientific rigor of modern medicine, and empowering you in your own belief systems, what you want to do. Most of the chronic diseases like hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes have a very big component of lifestyle. And life lifestyle is related to your sleep patterns, your emotional behavior, your physical activity, and least last but not the least, food.
Speaker 3:And all those are greatly influenced by culture. So c I n s is dedicated to bring the concept of the body, mind and intellect. So people want to be healthy based on their culture. So this the concept in integrative medicine is empowering the individual not only for physical medicine, not only for physical body, but the mind and the intellect that I want to be healthy. I want to eat healthy food.
Speaker 3:I want to understand what diseases cause. And I think that's what where most of our work is. And this is where our next conference in June will really be sharing with people the philosophy, the principles, and the practice of integrative thinking to integrative medicine.
Speaker 1:You know, since Doctor. Garg, you are talking about this culturally informed health care. So just I want you to explain our viewers and of course us like understanding like a patient's cultural background changes, how will it change the treatment effectiveness?
Speaker 3:That's a very good question. Up till now, mostly most modern physicians are not trained to understand the role of culture in disease and health. So for example, you get diabetes, and you go to the doctor, and you're given a pharmacological preparation. But really, what your diet is, what your behavior pattern is, there is never much emphasis on this. So what we are saying is you need to combine the pharmacotherapy, the modern science with cultural background so a person is more apt to change their behavior.
Speaker 3:And you have to be sensitive to the food they eat. Food is a very big part of it. Why they eat it? How they eat it? When they eat it?
Speaker 3:And then explain to them and work with them so that they become healthier. And through the healthier process, then they lower the burden of chronic diseases.
Speaker 1:So you're talking about, you know, the therapies like traditional therapies like Ayurveda or even yoga. So tell me how can, like, integrated medicine, like, safely and, you know, backed by evidence? And, of course, how can it safely do that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, safety is not an issue when you're talking about lifestyle. I'm not talking about mixing therapeutic interventions with modern interventions. I'm still talking about modern intervention as the main form of therapy. But what I'm talking about is empowering the individual themselves to be healthy based on the concept of mind, body, and intellect.
Speaker 3:And that includes the concept of the four pillars of that are diet, the food, the sleeping patterns, the movements or exercise, and emotional and and relationships. And those are really lifestyle, cultural part of the medicine. And they are not in any conflict with scientific based therapy. And that combination of thinking of the person and then relating it to their physical body and their mind and intellect is what going to produce the better results in chronic diseases.
Speaker 1:All right. And you know, Doctor, at the South Asian Health Institute, you have pioneered models for chronic disease prevention. So tell me, like what have been the most significant outcomes for communities in Canada?
Speaker 3:I think when we recognize that there is a problem and we need to then go about it, we are then sensitizing the providers of health care in routine basis so they're culturally more apt and they're culturally more aware. So South Asian Health Institute, we formed within the realms of Fraser Health, is educating providers that culture plays a role. And this has been very well received, especially in chronic diseases and primary care. The other aspect of it is engaging the community itself. So going to the temples, going to the gurdwara, sharing with them healthy recipes, sharing with them the role a diet plays.
Speaker 3:You'll be surprised how little people relate that diet plays a role in chronic diseases, especially something like diabetes. So when you talk about when you eat, people normally eat quite late. And generally speaking, one should eat early. And because if you ate late, then insulin resistance sets in. So I think what we're talking about is behavior changes in lifestyle, which brings healthy living and lower the burden of chronic diseases.
Speaker 3:So health promotion, illness prevention, and in certain diseases, even better management of chronic disease. But in some instances, it's felt that the lifestyle can reverse some of the cases in diabetes, especially in type two. So all in all, I think to clarify and to make sure your listeners get grasp what we are saying is that traditional western medicine is supplemented with role of cultural medicine so that the behavior of the person that I want to be healthy, I am healthy, and the role of diet, emotional relationships, exercise, movement, and sleep key patterns which are absolutely linked to the behavior and the culture of medicine. And those are the areas we emphasize in this integrative thinking to integrative medicine.
Speaker 1:So, doctor Garg, the question that's coming to my mind is like, what trends do you see like shaping the future of integrative medicine? And how can like health care providers incorporate them into mainstream practice?
Speaker 3:Very good. I think it's a very pertinent question. One area I didn't talk about was the self management. So as you know, with COVID, lot of people got used to self management, self awareness, technology, artificial intelligence. So the next trend I see is that people are becoming so interested in their own health and monitoring their own health through technology.
Speaker 3:Like, I'm wearing the Apple Watch, which tells me how many steps I have taken, how much exercise I have done. So I think one of the trend I see of integrative medicine is engaging the people through technology and awareness. So the four pillars I talked about, diet, sleep patterns, emotional behavior, relationships, and exercise. And those then will form the backbone. So when you go and see your doctor and your doctor gives you prescription for pharmacology.
Speaker 3:At the same time, they give you a prescription, what's now known as social prescription, which lists details about a diet, culinary medicine, functional medicine. And by the way, these areas are very well developed in United States. United States is leading this aspect of integrative practice of functional medicine. And I think fair amount of research has been done in United States because let's face it, the burden of chronic diseases is so huge that it cannot just be solved by traditional scientific pharmacotherapy. We need to engage people so they want to be healthy.
Speaker 3:We need to help them in their behavior patterns, and that's what I call cultural medicine. So the future, you asked about the future pattern, I see physicians getting aware of it. And it's already happening in The United States. Canada is just starting to have these clinics. So what you will see is physicians clinics well equipped with this kind of knowledge and sharing that knowledge with patients and prescribing patients what's called social prescription.
Speaker 3:So there are capacity building. You know, in the old days, people used to go to the gyms or people used to go to some other exercise activity. In this visualization, people might go to the central clinic where counseling and where education can be provided about diet, the food, the exercise, emotional relationships, and sleep patterns.
Speaker 1:You know, doctor, you were just talking about the technology. And this reminds me, I have right here. This is the Oura ring I have, and I wear it every day. But the problem is, you know, I'm not stressed, but it tells me, oh, whenever I, you know, take a look at what I have I done all day, my steps and everything else, it tells me that, you have been stressed from this time through this time. And sometimes I feel, I was not even stressed.
Speaker 1:Why is it telling me? And that word stress makes more stress on my head. And I get more stressed because of that. So,
Speaker 3:so. Well, you're a very informed consumer. And I think that's wonderful to see that. Thank you very much for wearing that aura ring. But I am going one step further.
Speaker 3:I agree with you. And I recognize that that that will be one of the unintended consequences. So what we are saying is support. Support for the person through capacity building clinics in the community. So so you'll not just be wearing this ordering on your own.
Speaker 3:You are guided by it, by your primary care physician, but more important, a group of people who you trust working together. So it becomes a bit of a group discussion. So I visualize in the communities the health support areas and where this kind of discussion, what you just talked about, can take place. So rather than producing stress, it's going to produce education.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 3:It's going to it's going to educate you so you feel confident and you feel empowered. You know, if I may share with you a story, one of my patients came to my public lecture, and she was moved by it. So she started to go to this clinic, and then her glycolated hemoglobin, which is one of the biochemical markers to monitor how your diabetes doing was done. Then she went on a bit of a protocol which we have about exercise and eating, and then she had her glycolated hemoglobin done again, and that has moved point point five units down. And that that really gave her empowerment.
Speaker 3:She was so excited that now there is a proof with her that it's working. Okay. And that her glycolytic hemoglobin went into the normal range. So I think what I'm sharing with you is not produce stress, but give you the empowerment of the knowledge that it's working and again, support it through support groups.
Speaker 1:Right. So what I want you to do is, Doctor. Gurga, is just for everyday people, people like us, what simple lifestyle or even dietary strategies from your integrative approach can you make the most like impact on long term health? I want you to talk about
Speaker 3:Thank it. You very much. I really like your questions. They're very pointed. They're very focused.
Speaker 3:Diet is very critical because it's a scientific basis. It suggests that fifty percent of chronic diseases are due to chronic inflammation. And in diet then, I have coined five k's. So that formulate what small changes they can make. And as we talked about, sugar added sugar is the key part of that.
Speaker 3:And if one can make one small change and that is no added sugar in their beverages and their coffee and their tea, they can lower, the possibilities of getting diabetes by as high as ten percent, type two diabetes. The reversal of diabetes can also take place. So that will be one of the things, a small change people can make. The other small change people can make is the sleeping patterns. Sleep is nothing but recharging the batteries, the mind, and the intellect.
Speaker 3:So you have to get a solid sleep. And most people say, oh, you have to get six hour, eight hours. My own work suggests that it's not the number of hours you sleep, but the quality of sleep is very important. So the quality of sleep, when you sleep, you sleep soundly and you recharge your batteries and that reduces chronic inflammation. So I think in terms of chronic diseases, modern theories of biochemistry clearly say that inflammation, chronic inflammation plays a major role.
Speaker 3:So anything you could do to reduce that is a positive thing.
Speaker 1:So, you know, doctor Garg, I wanna ask you, like, you definitely have trained, like, generation of physicians and leaders. So my question to you is, what is that one principle you hope that young medical professionals carry forward from your work?
Speaker 3:I think beside providing adequate care, providing excellent care, providing one to one care, I think young people need to get involved in the community. Young people need to think of the health as a community health, public health, health promotion. And these are as important as providing intervention health. So I would hope that with our work will be a guide and opportunity for young people to include some of the work working with the community. And our community can sure use the help because the prevalence of diabetes is four to six times higher than a regular other population.
Speaker 3:So something has to be done and physicians can play a very critical role because people listen to physicians. Physicians are the role model. And if we talk about these things, then people adopt in their life.
Speaker 1:Doctor Garg, so, you know, you okay? Okay. All right. So you know, I have this final question in my head. Like you have been in GAPIO too.
Speaker 1:So looking ahead, what's your vision for GAPIO and integrative medicine, like in creating healthier global communities?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I think at our last executive council, presented my ideas. We had a session at the GAPIO annual meeting where we brought several experts to talk about integrative thinking. So first and foremost, what GAPIO can do is and GAPIO will do is act as a steward of disseminating this information through education. So at the meetings of GAPIO, bring the right people together so we could talk about it.
Speaker 3:And it's not a controversial this or that. It is incorporating the best cultural knowledge and best scientific knowledge and best technology into a better health. And that's what we talk about when we say integrative thinking to integrative medicine. If you want to use the interventions of Ayurveda, that's your choice. If you want to use the interventions of biochemical medicine, like modern medicine, that's your choice.
Speaker 3:If you want to use other interventions, that's your choice. What I'm talking about is the lifestyle and changes in behavior, which is common to all of them. And the beauty of Ayurveda is that it emphasizes as part of their therapeutic regime how important lifestyle is. That is the uniqueness of Ayurvedic thinking, and that's what the very positive part. So it's really very natural that Ayurveda and yoga be used as a guidepost for behavior change.
Speaker 1:All right. So my last question to you is you have any messages for our ITV Gold viewers?
Speaker 3:Well, think first of all I am delighted that I am affiliated with Doctor. Parekh. I'm delighted that we are working together. We are looking forward to welcome him at our meeting. Our message to IT, Global is keep up the good work, take the mantle of disseminating this kind of information to the people because awareness, education, empowerment, and engagement of the people is the key for creating a healthy civil society.
Speaker 3:And and I think your TV production, your studio shows, your podcast, your conversations, your interviews like these can play a very significant role in that journey. And I think I'm really looking forward to be working with doctor Parekh and his team, to play my role through CINS and providing the contents and the knowledge.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much.