Dubai: Her family runs a major medical group with allopathic medical facilities in the GCC and India. But Dr. Zeba Mupen, the youngest daughter of Dr. Azad Mupen, the founder and chairman of her health care, UAE-based Astor DM, said the alternative medicine system could save her from an inherited autoimmune disease. I confided in how I saved it.
So what made Dr. Zeba endorse India’s traditional holistic medicine tradition, Ayurveda? A new lease of life from apparently painful psoriatic arthritis. Gulf News Freedom In a freewheeling interview, she said she decided to go public with the arduous journey she suffered after receiving a massive response to an anonymous post she recently shared on an online discussion platform.
“Even if I was going through it, I didn’t want to talk to anyone but my close family and friends.
“I posted a photo and wrote the story anonymously. I don’t know, and I felt it would be rude not to talk about my experience because I was hoping that I could at least help someone else.
painful journey
It all started when Dr. Zeba started developing itchy hands and feet in 2017 after returning to Dubai after completing his medical education in India. This was followed by severe back pain, which she initially attributed to her sedentary lifestyle.
She recalled working on several initiatives without training. “In hindsight, I know I was very stressed because it was my first time and it wasn’t the job I was trained for. As a woman, I didn’t have a great lifestyle in terms of taking care of myself, nutrition, and sleep hygiene.
Dr. Zeba said he had never had any kind of skin disease or arthritis until then. began to fall out.I developed lower back pain.It was swollen and very difficult to function.I kept taking painkillers.”
diagnose
She then consulted a rheumatologist at MIMS Calicut. The hospital is located in his Dr. Moopen’s home state of Kerala and is run by the Aster Group.
Her doctor diagnosed her with a condition of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). It is a chronic, autoimmune form of arthritis that causes joint inflammation and occurs in the psoriatic skin condition. Often the disease manifests itself between the ages of 30 and 50. For many people, it begins about 10 years after psoriasis develops, but some people develop her PsA first, and others develop or do not realize they have psoriasis.
walk on front legs
“There wasn’t enough skin on the soles of my feet to walk. I was walking on my front legs and I couldn’t even open a water bottle with my hands. It was so bad,” Dr. Zeba recalled.
She then received symptomatic therapy. When she returned to Dubai, she also started homeopathic treatment in October 2017. However, her condition began to deteriorate and her nails began to fall out (separate from her nail bed).
“My father remembered my mother had a problem with protruding nails decades ago. Apparently, she didn’t have the other symptoms I had. received effective treatment from Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala in Kerala.”
Ayurvedic doyen
That’s when, in January 2018, Dr. Mupen himself advised Dr. Zeba to consult Dr. PK Warrior, who was 97 at the time.
Dr. Warrior, who was then trustee of Kottakkar Arya Vaidya Sala, a more than 100-year-old Ayurvedic institution in Kerala, said Dr. Zeba was treated for two weeks with Ayurvedic medicines and a diet containing a liquid diet. I admitted that I did a body detox.
“He said whatever I am giving you, whatever we are doing, 20% of the work will be done and 80% of it will be what you put in your mouth. What you put into your mind will determine the outcome.. It was a message for me that completely changed my view of health.”
food and mental health
Ayurvedic treatment eliminated almost 70% of her medical problems. Dr. Zeba said maintaining her healthy lifestyle, which focused primarily on her diet and mental health, gave her hope and strength to overcome obstacles, she said. The diet gave her body the power to heal.
By May 2018, she received her first treatment and was cured of the effects of her psoriatic arthritis. In August 2018, she underwent a second treatment.
She continued to take her Ayurvedic medications, manage her lifestyle and diet, and attended her annual consultation in 2019.
“I became independent again and didn’t rely on my mother to help me with my daily tasks. My condition is 99% under control.”
eye-opening experience
In the process, Dr. Zeba said he was completely vegetarian until he reintroduced fish into his diet two years ago. “I also started following the path of spirituality, reading Vedanta and delving deeper into more spiritual practices.
She said her experience was “an eye-opener” and “the whole family started exploring different supplements and protocols that weren’t very open to them before.
“There is a growing awareness that there is so much you can do with nutrition, lifestyle and exercise. At the end of the day, we may be in the sick industry, but what we want is for people to get well. It’s about creating patients who feel better.”
Their shift in perspective also led to the establishment of the Jumeirah Wealth Clinic, which offers holistic wellness solutions.
PsA in Ayurveda
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of Dr. Warrier, who turned 100 in 2021, Dr. Zeba has regular checkups at the Wellth Clinic and consults with Ayurvedic doctor, Dr. MS Mahadevan.
In an Ayurvedic consultation, Dr. Mahadeben said it was important to obtain a pulse reading, physical examination, and a complete report on the patient’s medical history. It identifies the constitution or prakruti of the patient based on the disturbed doshas (imbalances).”
It is based on the Ayurvedic foundation that the world is made up of five elements: Space, Water, Earth, Fire and Air.
According to Ayurvedic principles, vata is the combination of air and space or ether, pitta is the combination of fire and water, and kapha is the combination of earth and water.
“Once the doctor identifies the constitution and the actual imbalance of vata, pita and kapha, he can diagnose the root cause of the disease. Advise modifications to lifestyle, diet, routine, medications and treatments to follow, and duration of course of treatment.”
Regarding Dr Zeba’s case, he said that PsA is a state of imbalance between pita and kapha in persons with a Vata-Pitha constitution. “The treatment that followed was therefore to balance the imbalanced pita and kapha without disturbing vata.”
