In the context of COVID-19 spreading across the world, people started to wear the face masks as a measure to prevent themselves from others the likely contact of the virus. Experts in the medical field suggested that folks who have symptoms of the virus must wear the masks to prevent the spread of it but if one does not have them, then there is no need to wear the masks. Independent of how the spread happens, I believe it is not a bad idea to wear the face masks if one has the viral symptoms or not so that they may not spread the virus and may not get contacted by it from others (at least where the facial area is masked, particularly the nostrils and the mouth). Because not everyone is tested, it is difficult to know if one has the symptoms relative to the virus or not. So as an abundance of caution, it is not at all a bad idea to wear one in any case. Of course, the masks must be available and if they are in short supply like in some places, their availability must be prioritized for those in need most, like the medical personnel and those who for sure have the viral symptoms.

Recent developments in the smoking world have taken a turn to the worse in my opinion with kids (teenagers) finding it easy to get E-Cigarettes.

Through the decades, we have been seeing medical breakthroughs unlike any that humans experienced. Eradication of deceases is indeed a beneficial outcome of such breakthroughs. But I wonder if we are playing a cat and mouse game with these medical breakthroughs against the medical challenges. Of course, we must. Otherwise, we will be overwhelmed by the medical challenges that we cannot address. However, even as we advance in the medical field in terms of eradication, prevention and cure of medical sickness (I am using this as a broad term to denote illnesses, deceases etc.) we can never completely conquer unless we broaden the scope of our medical advancement to include a preventive element.

There is no doubt that preventive measures are advocated but how much they are really practiced is a question we must take a hard look at. The lack of such practices actually leads to medical sickness. For example, if you don’t wash your hands, you contaminate and spread bacteria which can cause illness. Or as another example, if you are not physically active, you may develop medically oriented bodily problems.

In addition to the preventive measures, we must also consider ancient wisdom drawn from, say the Indian Subcontinent, regarding food ingredients that are shown to have properties that are both preventive and curative from a health point of view. If you consider ginger, widely used in India, there is no dearth of benefits it bestows on its consumers (I mean literally). Another example of the Indian Subcontinent’s present to the world is yoga that can simply transform, say a generation of folks into a healthy lot, should they practice it. Prior to 20^th century (AD) probably America knew nothing about Yoga. Now it is a different story.

The simple opinion I am trying to profess here is that the modern medical field with its superb technological advancements must synchronize with ancient wisdom on food and healthy lifestyle to strengthen the health of a populace. I just gave a few examples from the Indian Subcontinent but there, I am certain, are many examples from the world over. Thanks for reading!