I had a near death experience and spinal cord concussion in a rollover car accident twenty years ago several days after the death of my mother. I also had the combination of stress, grieving, and the effects of many years of working long hours and skipping lunch when I was operating on patients. Though, I took time off of work to recover, I found that my immune system was decimated: my allergies worsened, I developed repeated colds, bronchitis, and pink eye, my white blood cell count lowered to a dangerous level, and there were repeated yeast infections, to name a few of the symptoms I had. Though, western medicine had many medications to offer me including bronchodilators, allergy medicines, inhalers, etc., and I myself had prescribed these for years to clients, I found myself becoming frustrated with the fact I wasn’t addressing root cause for my impaired immune system. I have practiced as an ears, nose and throat doctor for over thirty years and have found that many patients would come in with histories of 6-8 upper respiratory infections or colds every year, or allergies that worsened as they aged. This is not a normal state of health. I began to explore Ayurveda as an adjunct as it has a 5000 year history and I felt it could offer its historically proven benefits and natural intelligence to me and others in both preventing disease and maintaining health in the healthy. So, I first tested it on myself and have continued to employ these principles for self-care over the past twenty years!
Why a Western Doctor Turned to Ayurveda?