Devi Shetty, Sam Pitroda moot facility for holistic healthcare

Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Innovation Council, has joined hands with Dr Devi Shetty and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon, on Monday for the setting up of a holistic wellness centre as a pilot at Narayana Hrudayalaya.

The project, to be implemented in association with the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, will leverage the facilities and scientific tools available at Narayana Hrudayalaya to check the outcomes of the treatments being provided. A brainchild of Pitroda, the project aims to use alternative medicines like Ayurveda, Yoga and other health disciplines at the hospital to treat people who have undergone a surgery or who has had to undergo therapy for cancer. “A visit to a hospital often only worsens the condition of patients. And, actually it can lead to a relapse,” said Dr M K Vivek Sanker, senior programme officer and in-charge, Centre for Clinical Research, I-AIM.

The centre, will use Ayurveda, Naga, Vedic mantras to treat patients at Narayana Hrudayalaya. Dr Sanker said, the sounds of chanting and sounds of Nagabrahma are known to be beneficial in the healing process. Those with chronic diseases could be treated using the treatment process. “We can improve the clinical outcomes through the use of traditional knowledge,” he added. I-AIM is a multidisciplinary research, education and outreach arm of the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) founded by Sam Pitroda in 1993.

In 2008, the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions Governing Council resolved to subsume the FRLHT initiatives, developed during the 1993-2008 period, into an Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (IAIM). Dr Devi Shetty, chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya, said the hospital will use the facility for patients at the hospital undergoing treatment or who have undergone surgeries at the hospital. “What will differentiate the project is that we will try to measure the outcomes of the treatments,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.