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January 8, 2002
REVIEW: Live healthy, be happy
THE quality of our lives hinges upon how fit we keep ourselves. This is a fact to which a lot of people never pay any attention. They just live from day to day submitting to disease as a matter of course. Disease prevention is not only a science but also an art — the art of coordinating your mind and body to give you the optimal sense of well being.
Much of today’s compendium of medical myths limit our approach to health. Here we have a book by Dr Sarfaraz K. Niazi, a Ph.D, which conveys in a nutshell that wellness encompasses procuring optimal physical and mental health through disease and mishap prevention. The information in this book titled The wellness guide will not be new to the informed reader. But presented in an action-oriented tone, the book reminds him that minor yet consequential changes in lifestyle can alter his entire health status by pulverizing those harmful habits which are so damaging to the human system. This guide should contribute towards educating people at all levels.
This book is intended for family use and has been written in such a way as to offer general and comprehensible information with a minimum of technical terms. Entries are in alphabetical order and very concise indeed.
The book starts with the “accentuate the positive” advice. Hostile, cynical and mistrustful people live short painful lives. Try to find something positive in everything. And you will discover that there is something positive in everything.
A potpourri of topics, which the writer discusses makes the book interesting for all. The topics range from acidity in mouth, acne, angina, AIDS, gout and hearing loss to hormone replacement therapy, hysterectomy, and varicose veins. Being bothered by snoring or typing pain? You will find a solution here. You can even find a recipe for an ideal garnish. All those out there who are in the habit of using antacids indiscriminately, beware of depletion of phosphate, iron and vitamins in the body.
For new mothers, pointers are given for infant feeding and infant colic. The book also teaches you how to cope with inferiority complex. Suggestions on what to eat and what to beat are ample and effective. Apple shaped bodies (fattest in the middle) have an inordinate risk of heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. A formula to calculate body mass index guides you whether you need to go on a diet. Girls aiming to look Venezza- thin, are advised by Dr Sarfaraz Niazi to “gain a few kgs”. In women, leaner bodies may mean loss of menstruation and infertility. Female baldness is mentioned but the reader is left wandering what to do about it.
This book is a must for every household. Written in a friendly and simple tone, it reads like guidelines from a friend. The wellness guide should be read by adolescents, the young and the old. You might learn what you have been missing all along to improve the quality of your life by making yourself healthier. But one final word of warning, though. One should keep in mind that this book is not a substitute for a medical professional.
The wellness guide
By Dr Sarfaraz Khan Niazi
Ferozsons, 60 Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam, Lahore Tel: (042) 630 1196
277 Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi. Tel: (051) 564 273
Mehran Heights, Main Clifton Road, Karachi. Tel: (021) 583 0467
74-E Blue Area, Islamabad. Tel: (051) 274708
ISBN 969-0-01639-3
172pp. Rs225
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