Miracles of alternative medicine

Health is wealth. When you lose it, you feel miserable. When you become a patient, you want to recover soon. You go to your family doctor. When his medicine does not cure you, you go to a specialist. Sometimes you have to be warded in a hospital.

If you have a medical insurance or to if you can afford the high fees you can stay in a leading private hospital. Sometimes, even the so-called specialists fail to diagnose the disease.

When you are desperate to find an effective remedy, your friends advice you to consult so many other specialists, ayurvedic physicians, native heaters, homocopaths and numerous others who claim to have a panacea for all ills. Sometimes you consult a number of quacks who have no qualifications whatsoever. Naturally, now your disease is much more complicated than it was at the beginning.

Despite major advances in modern medicine, the medical world today has realised that there are countless ailments which it cannot handle with the available methods of treatment. I feel that there is a treasure house of knowledge in different types of alternative medicines that have evolved and existed for thousands of years.

I had a brush with a paralytic illness recently. On the advice of my friends I got myself admitted to a leading private hospital. I came under the supervision of an eminent neuro surgeon.

After numerous tests, which cost me a fortune, I was told that there was a blood clot in my brain. But the good doctor assured me that there was nothing to worry. He said he could have it dissolved without surgery. I was relieved to hear those words.

After a few days I was able to walk unaided. But there was an excruciating pain running through the spinal column down to the ankle of my left leg. The pain became acute when I went to bed. The pain killers did not have the desired effect. I thought something drastic should be done.

I rang the veteran dramatist Henry Jayasena and sought his advice. "This is a simple problem. You go and consult Dr. Upali Pilapitiya who runs the Pilapitiya Ayurveda Health Resort at Kesbewa, Piliyandala". Accordingly, I consulted Dr. Pilapitiya and he asked me to take in-house treatment for two weeks.

Then only I realised that Dr. Pilapitiya is one of Sri Lanka's pre-eminent practitioners of Ayurveda. He was the director of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine and the Bandaranaike Memorial Ayurvedic Research Institute. Later I found out that he was an adviser to the World Health Organisation and the Asian Development Bank on alternative medicine.

Within a few days of his treatment the pain vanished but I stayed in his private hospital for ten days as I was advised to take the full course of medicine.

Good wine needs no bush. Similarly, Dr. Pilapitiya never advertises his competence in treating numerous diseases such as chronic headache, backache, peripheral neuropathy, diabetic neuropathy, fatigue syndrome, eating disorders, depression, psoriasis eczema, gastritis, flatulence, arthritis, sinusitis, bronchitis and dyspeptic conditions.

Once Bradma Weerakoon former secretary to the Prime Minister wrote, "Dr. Pilapitiya, whom I personally know and hold in very high regard, is internationally renowned for his knowledge and skills in the practice of Sri Lankan Traditional medicine. He is not only one of the most dedicated proponents of traditional medicine (Ayurveda) but also knowledgeable of other forms of medicine as practised in China, Korea and Japan."

On the eve my discharge Dr. Pilapitiya tells me that despite globalisation, Sri Lanka has been able to preserve Buddhism in its pristine purity for more than 2,500 years.

Ayurveda plus indigenous system of medicine have existed in the island for more than 3,500 years. The indigenous medicine has been nourished by Ayurveda.

Sri Lanka also has a few other systems of indigenous medicine such as Siddha medicine which was evolved in Southern India and the Unani system which has evolved in the Greeko-Arabic region and brought to Sri Lanka via the Silk Route.

Basically his treatment includes Ayurvedic and traditional medicine combined with Acupuncture which originated in China. Acupuncture is an effective treatment for pain and illness in which thin needles are positioned just under the surface of the skin at special nerve centres around the body. This is a painless method of treatment.

Dr. Pilapitiya has treated three Heads of State: Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, J. R. Jayawardene and R. Premadasa. Mrs. Bandaranaike honoured him with the prestigious title 'Vishva Prasadini' for his services. Once he treated Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maithreya Thera and accompanied him to Burma to take part in the Buddha Jayanthi Sangayana attended by 2,500 Buddhist monks.

The glorious history of Sri Lanka records a lot of information about how the kings built and maintained hospitals. For instance, King Dutugamunu built hospitals in 18 different places and maintained them using state funds, King Buddhadasa (377-307 BC) was an eminent physician himself. He built hospitals for the sick and for animals as well.

Dr. Upali Pilapitiya too has two dreams. One is to establish a college where he could impart his knowledge and experience in alternative medicine to the younger generation. The other is to put up an arboretum - a botanical garden devoted to medicinal herbs. He already has his own factory at Horana which produces all the Ayurvedic medicines to ISO standards.

"The preparation methods of herbal medicines are very intricate. The number of herbs which go into a simple compound are numerous. Different types of leaves, stems and roots are boiled and a selection of oils, ghee and honey are added in the production of Ayurvedic drugs. Therefore, the analysis of the end product and its authenticity is a difficult task," said Dr. Pilapitiya.

When traditional Western medicine fails, people invariably turn to alternative medicine which includes treatments such as Ayurveda, acupuncture, homeopathy and hypnotherapy. However, patients should beware of bogus practitioners who have no qualifications to practise medicine.