AMOEBIASIS

What is amoebiasis?
Amoebiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite called Entamoeba Histolytica. The infestation is contracted by consuming contaminated (stool of the infected person) food or water containing the cyst stage of the parasite. It can also be spread by person to person contact.
People exposed to this parasite may experience mild or severe symptoms or no symptoms at all. Fortunately, most exposed people do not become seriously ill. The mild form of amoebiasis includes nausea, loose stools with or without blood and mucus, weight loss, abdominal pain and occasional fever. In our country chronic amoebiasis is very common because the parasite can stay in the body for a long time causing repeated episodes of diarrhea and dysentery. When the condition becomes more chronic it can invade other internal organs and one of the common places is the liver leading to liver abscesses.

Reasons for the infection to turn chronic and cause long term problems is the life style of poor nutrition, poor hygiene and bad habits of smoking and drinking. Hence prevention of the disease is by ensuring better hygiene while cooking, catering and consuming food. Also  health education for a healthy and hygienic life style in all its facets is important.

What is the role of yoga in amoebiasis?
Yoga provides the techniques for mastering the mind which is very essential to follow the right life style for a healthy living and hence is  useful in preventing the infestation.
Yoga vasistha ,one of the traditional texts of yoga, classifies all diseases into  two categories –Adhija and Anadhija vyadhis. Vyadhi in Sanskrit means ‘disease’, adhi means ‘life style’  and ja means ‘born of’. Those diseases that are born due to stress and life style alone come under this category. Those diseases that are caused by external agents such as infections are called Anadhija vyadhis.We may say that Amoebiasis is an anadhija vyadhi. The primary treatment in anadhija vyadhi is to use medicines (metronidazol in this case) to kill the parasite which have entered the body as an enemy. But the problem is not as simple as this. There are two other components that makes the disease chronic and difficult to handle with medicines alone . These are (a) the fighting capacity of the immune system and (b) tolerance to environmental changes.For example say two persons drink the same infested water but one of them will contract the amoebae but the other does not. This is because the first  person has more stamina to prevent to ameba from entering the body. Once the infestations has occurred the chronicity is decided by the ability of the defense system in our body to  clear the ameba quickly by sending  strong soldiers (WBCs) to the site of fighting in the intestine. If the immune system is not strong enough the parasites take the upper hand and learn to stay on and on inside the body and the disease continues .Yoga techniques help in tackling both these components i.e. tolerance to environmental changes as well as strengthen the immune system to fight the away the parasite quickly.

What are the practices of yoga for amoebiasis?
Cleansing techniques called kriyas include laghu- shankhaprakshalana for clearing the intestines and Agnisara kriya for improving blood flow to the infested intestines. Kapalabhati is useful to strengthen or revitalize the immune system.
Asanas that improve blood flow to the abdominal organs include all forward bending postures in sitting position ,inverted postures and prone postures. These fetch more white blood cells to the site through better circulation of blood so that effective fighting can be ensured.
Pranayama with emphasis on abdominal breathing and ‘aaa’ chanting  to develop better awareness of the internal abdominal activity encourages better circulation of prana and promotes healing.
Meditation is an essential component of yoga therapy as it improves concentration and relaxation . The deep relaxation and rest is the real healer within our body. Deep internal rest to all organs in general, the sick organ in particular restores harmony and promotes healing.

Yogic life style without getting stressed under difficult situations of life is the key of  holistic or integrated yoga that needs to be practiced by following the knowledge of jnana, karma and bhakti yogas.