Management of Symptoms Associated with Ageing through an Integrative Approach including Yoga and Other Traditional Therapies - A Case Study

Abstract

A case report about a female patient (elderly patient of age 69 years) has been presented here, who was suffering from various ageing related ailments, other complaints, and associated symptoms including: Pain in lower back radiating to the left leg, pain in bilateral feet with swelling, pain in left half of the body, excess mucous from mouth (thick and yellow), heaviness in head region, weakness, low appetite. Based on the above-mentioned medical history, and further discussion with the doctor/health care provider, the diagnosis for the patient included Sciatica, mild hepatomegaly, right renal cyst, and low vision. An Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) based integrative therapy including Yoga, Naturopathy, Acupressure, and Pranic Healing was administered in a Spiritual Environment, over a period of 9 days, in OPD setting. Light Diet included morning - herbal decoction, afternoon - soup/fruit, and evening - light meal. Daily health awareness sessions were conducted. Even in such a short duration of intervention, the patient experienced almost 80% relief in pain in lower back; almost complete relief in pain in bilateral feet with swelling, and heaviness in the head region; almost 70% relief in pain in left half of the body; the low appetite before the therapy became good after the therapy. Some weakness still persisted. The patient also filled pre and post standard psychometric questionnaires (translated in-house in Hindi) – in Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), anxiety level changed from Mild to Minimal; in Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), depression level changed from Mild to Minimal or none; while, in Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), stress remained moderate. Overall, the patient was feeling good and relaxed after the completion of the therapy. Thus, the administered integrative therapy approach showed encouraging results in the management of symptoms associated with ageing related multiple ailments, in a short duration of time.