The Founder-Chairman of Brains Super Speciality Hospital states that fundamentally, they are trying to create awareness, both about pollution in general and hygiene in particular. He believes this can have a tremendous impact on the body, immunity, infections, brain health, overall productivity, man-hours, and an individual’s ability. Dr Venkatramana suggests that this needs significant improvement in their country, and they are trying to educate people through their magazine called Brainwise, which features articles emphasising the various factors that influence brain and mind health and their impact on life and society.
Climate Change and Strokes
Talking about the incidence of strokes increasing due to climate change and how to protect oneself from heat-related strokes, Dr Venkatramana clarifies that heat stroke is an entirely different phenomenon. He describes heat stroke as a condition occurring when environmental temperatures become very high, particularly during peak summer in certain areas of their country, leading to very high fever (hyperpyrexia), dehydration, unconsciousness, convulsions, and potentially paralysis or even fatality.
He stresses the need for awareness among people working in the hot sun, such as labourers and those exposed to high temperatures in factories, to avoid such situations by drinking plenty of water, protecting themselves from the heat, and avoiding high temperatures if possible, as well as improving working conditions. Similarly, he advises people living in poorly insulated homes to be very careful during midday temperatures, avoid exposure, and stay well-hydrated.
Winter Strokes
Dr Venkatramana contrasts heat stroke with regular brain strokes (paralysis), which he says can happen in winter for several reasons. He explains that cold temperatures can cause physiological alterations in blood vessels and blood, potentially making the blood thicker. People also tend not to drink enough water in winter because of the cold, further increasing blood viscosity. Additionally, blood pressure is known to increase during winter due to shivering, and people might skip medications, especially when travelling, disrupting their routine. He concludes that both brain haemorrhage and brain stroke (brain attack) are quite common in winter.
Climate Change and Brain Health
Regarding the impact of climate change on brain health, Dr Venkatramana states that brain health is increasingly recognised as being related to environmental pollution and increased radiation due to ozone layer depletion. He adds that exposure to abnormal weather conditions, sudden weather changes, and unexpected natural calamities all influence both mental and brain health. He emphasises that the brain and mind cannot be separated, with one influencing the other. Disturbances in the mind can change the brain’s structure and function, and vice versa. Furthermore, these situations inherently cause stress, which also contributes to problems.
Pollution and Brain Function
Dr Venkatramana notes that there is growing evidence linking pollution directly to brain function and degeneration. More reports suggest that toxins in the air and pollution can increase diseases like Alzheimer’s, particularly dementia, and Parkinson’s disease, in addition to toxins from food. Therefore, he stresses the importance of keeping the natural environment and surroundings clean and hygienic for good health. Pollution can also cause various infections, particularly viral infections, which can affect the brain in many ways, from simple colds to serious encephalitis, potentially leaving permanent brain damage (post-encephalitic sequelae) affecting memory, learning, and behaviour, and possibly leading to epilepsy and progressive brain degeneration.
He believes it is crucial to educate people, highlighting that it is a collective responsibility of society and the government to create awareness and facilitate proper planning to reduce pollution through measures like proper drainage systems, as contaminated water and open drains contribute to air pollution, affecting everyone. Continuous exposure has a cumulative effect over time, with manifestations depending on the type and degree of pollution, individual tolerance and sensitivity, and acquired infections. He suggests that the effectiveness of masks during the COVID-19 period in improving respiratory health indicates their potential benefit in highly polluted areas to reduce exposure to some extent.
Impact of Air Pollution
Specifically on air pollution’s impact on brain health, Dr Venkatramana reiterates that increasing reports link brain health and hygiene, particularly pollution, indicating a kind of social neuroscience where pollution can affect the brain. He points out a bidirectional relationship, where a healthy brain can also contribute to a healthy environment. He stresses the need for constant awareness and effort to maintain healthy surroundings.
Unfortunately, he observes habits in India of prioritising personal cleanliness over the cleanliness of surroundings, with people cleaning their houses but discarding waste outside. He criticises the pollution system and the quality of air, food, water, and drainage systems, noting the prevalence of open systems exposes everyone. While some might argue this builds immunity, he believes it causes longer-term, more serious damage that is not currently recognised.
Most Impacted Population
Dr Venkatramana states that pollution affects everyone, but more so those living in slums due to their exposure to open toilets, drains, contaminated water, and unhygienic food in their living spaces. While their exposure might be higher, he believes no one in the country is truly exceptional in avoiding it, with certain cities being highly polluted beyond manageable levels.
He notes the difficulty of relocating and stresses the importance of establishing and adhering to norms, with everyone contributing to improve the situation collectively, as the problem is likely to spread across the entire country if neglected. He laments a lack of sensitivity towards this issue and emphasises that individual responsibility is crucial alongside government action in creating awareness and implementing proper, uncompromising systems with strict enforcement. He feels a serious threat to mental health due to pollution, alongside environmental changes like ozone depletion leading to increased ionising radiation and a rise in cancers. He also mentions the impact of electromagnetic waves from technology and noise pollution affecting hearing and vision. Despite these issues, he observes a lack of sensitivity and continued contribution to the problem.
Factors Impacting Brain Health
Regarding specific factors impacting brain health, Dr Venkatramana describes the brain as a crown jewel with tremendous potential that is often underutilised due to a lack of awareness. He compares it to the sun, whose importance is only realised when obscured. Similarly, the brain works silently, and its importance is often only recognised when something goes wrong. He believes people can learn to use their brain effectively through good discipline, lifestyle, emotional wellbeing, physical activity, happiness, and good habits from childhood, including proper eating and sleeping.
He also notes the potential of music to enhance brain functions and the importance of avoiding multitasking. However, he expresses concern about increasing influences damaging the brain, such as children being encouraged to eat junk food and engage in substance abuse at a young age, which he sees as alarming and likely to burden society in the future. Despite efforts to counter these trends, he feels things are worsening.
He also highlights physical damage to the brain from head injuries due to a lack of safety precautions driven by speed and competition in daily life, with people taking risks, particularly on two-wheelers, and showing restlessness on the roads, often ignoring signals. While acknowledging inherent problems like poor roads and inadequate training, he stresses the importance of learning discipline, believing that many issues are manageable with cooperation and stringent, uncompromised government systems that enforce rules regardless of the individual. He feels that the lack of such enforcement leads to people taking things lightly, hindering the effectiveness of developments and allowing fundamental issues to remain unaddressed.
Music Therapy
Talking about the helpfulness of music therapy in brain wellness, Dr Venkatramana expresses his love for music and its tremendous potential not only on the brain, body, and mind but also on the universe, referencing stories of music influencing weather and moving objects. He states that music has a tremendous calming effect on the brain, acting as a pathway of least resistance, relaxing the mind and allowing one to connect with their core self and consciousness.
He believes music is not only helpful in creating health, happiness, and wellbeing but can also facilitate inner connection and even enlightenment, citing examples of saints who achieved this through devotional singing. He considers music a shortcut in spirituality, offering no resistance to the brain or mind, allowing one to become engrossed in a different world, providing relaxation comparable to seven hours of sleep and enhancing memory, focus, attention, efficiency, energy reserves, and happiness, ultimately elevating brain function.
Structurally, he explains that the right brain is responsible for tune and emotion, while the left brain handles lyrics, diction, and speech, creating a beautiful combination in songs that allows for relaxation and enjoyment. He believes that whatever the genre, music has a similar positive effect on the brain and can do wonders.
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