Introduction
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is an important cause of visual impairment among persons with diabetes. A study by Vashist et al. (2021) showed that the prevalence of DR in population aged 50 years and above was 16.9% and that of STDR (sight-threatening DR) was 3.6%. It also reported a higher prevalence of DR among the urban population than in the rural population (20.7% vs. 15.5%).1 Persons with known diabetes had poor awareness regarding the need for annual retina examination for diabetes complications such as DR, as revealed from study results which showed 89.9% of KDs (known diabetics) had never undergone fundus examination for evaluation of DR and only 6.3% of them had gone for an eye examination within the previous one year. There is critical need for India to adopt a coordinated and multi-sectoral approach to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and the onset of DR.1
Laboratory and clinical evidence showed that in addition to microvascular changes, inflammation and retinal neurodegeneration may contribute to diabetic retinal damage in the early stages of DR.2 The diagnosis of DR relies on the detection of microvascular lesions. The treatment of DR remains challenging. The advent of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy demonstrated remarkable clinical benefits in DR patients, yet the majority of patients failed to achieve clinically-significant visual improvement.2 According to Wang et al (2018), there is an urgent need for the development of new treatments.2
Yoga Prana Vidya system
Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) is a no touch and a no medicine proximal or distant healing modality which is based on the principle that our body has the ability to heal itself or normalise itself and this process can be accelerated if the flow of prana or energy in our system is regulated and enhanced. YPV is a holistic and an integrated healing modality which uses breathing exercises, forgiveness sadhana, meditation techniques, physical exercises and energy healing to cure any physical or psychological ailments generally as complementary medicine, though there have been instances where YPV modality was successfully applied as alternative medicine when there was no treatment available in main stream medical system.
The YPV energy healing techniques involve treating the major and minor chakras (in our energy body by cleaning them in order to remove the diseased, dirty and used-up energy from the system and filling it up with fresh energy from the environment (See figure 1). In this way, the energy healing techniques can be used as a preventive or a curative healing. The main advantage of YPV energy healing technique is that it works even at a distance. The healer and the subject do not necessarily have to be physically present in front of each other. Hence, YPV healing techniques can be applied from any part of the world to anyone in need of the healing energies. Figure 2 shows Energy body of a healthy person and a sick person and the differences are noticeable. Figure 3 shows major chakrams of the human energy body which are healed and treated by YPV healing protocols to normalise various ailments.
The application of YPV level 3 (YPV Psychotherapy) protocol helps in treating the stress, trauma, anxiety or any other psychological imbalances in the chakrams of a subject. This accelerates the complete healing process helping speedy recovery of the subject.
Some examples of ailments successfully treated using YPV healing techniques are, treatment of Dislocation of knee cap,3 Hodgkin lymphoma cancer,4 Nephrotic Syndrome,5 Epilepticus,6 Snake bite,7 Urinary Fistula,8 Hyperthyroidism 9, High Cervical disc prolapse,10 Cholesterol and asthma,11 Exostosis of ear,12 Heart Block,13 Diabetes,14 Eye issues15 and some difficult medical cases.16
Materials and Methods
This study uses case study method going through patient medical information, healer’s records and patient feedback.
Case Report
Patient details
Patient was a male 38 years of age, working as a manager in a company for about 15 years.
Pre YPV medical condition
The patient was diagnosed with diabetes in April 2019 when he was suffering from UTI and underwent a small procedure. He had been on insulin medication since then.
In the month of June 2019, he faced blurriness in his eyes, and he sought medical advice from several doctors and finally it was concluded that it was a case of diabetic retinopathy. His vision weakened as a consequence. He was administered some injections in his left eye while laser treatment was done on his right eye. He underwent the procedure as advised by his ophthalmologist.
Again, in October 2019, around 3 to 4 months post treatment, he faced the same issue and underwent laser treatment and injections in the left and right eye. Since the irritation and blurriness continued after few months, he tried ayurvedic therapy and naturopathy treatment for eyes where he got some relief. In march 2020, he again faced the same issue where he underwent the further ayurvedic treatment wherein his medicines were changed.
In July 2020, his diabetes condition worsened considerably and this caused blurriness in his vision. He also had bleeding in the eyes on few occasions. Medical assessment revealed that his retina got stretched, and he underwent a surgery for left eye and light laser treatment for his right eye. The laser process was repeated again after 2 to 3 months. Again in November 2021, the blurriness started accompanied by stress, sleeplessness and increased sugar levels.
YPV intervention
In April 2021 this patient suffered from COVID. At that time, he heard about Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) organisation and got healings done for recovery from COVID. As a result, he recovered from COVID within 14 days under home isolation. Following his recovery from COVID, in November 2021 he approached a YPV healer for YPV healing treatment to cure his vision blurriness.
As part of YPV treatment, he was prescribed and taught YPV practices such as rhythmic breathing, forgiveness sadhana, meditation techniques and physical exercises including walking, and to follow controlled fruit and veg diet.
The patient practiced rhythmic breathing 3 to 4 times in a day along with the other prescribed practices. The Healer used standard YPV psychotherapy, HDP 1 protocol (internal organ cleaning and blood cleansing) along with eye regeneration techniques as healing protocols.
The healer conducted healing sessions twice daily for a duration of 20 minutes each, starting on 29 November 2021 till 5 January 2022 on regular basis, and after that the healings were given on alternate day basis till 30 January 2022. The healer monitored patient condition and YPV practices every day through feedback shared by the patient.
Results
Patient results with progressive improvements achieved over nearly 8 weeks of YPV intervention are as stated below.
Week 1: 29 November to 5 December 2021
After two days of healing, there was change in sleep cycle considerably, from 3-4 hours to 7-8 hours. The stress levels also reduced. On 3rd December he went for routine check-up, when the doctor after examination confirmed that the retina condition was stable and that the medicines were discontinued. Doctor prescribed eye drops for dryness in eyes.
Week 2: 6 December to 12 December 2021.
His energy levels improved, and he could walk for 30 minutes instead of just 20 minutes previous week. Blurriness reduced to some extent in both eyes, and also some improvement in diabetic condition was experienced.
Week 3: 13 December to 19 December 2021
He found improvement in eyes, and as a result he was able to work on computer. His walking speed as well as duration increased. His stress levels were down.
Week 4: 20 December to 26 December 2021
Vision further improved and usage of eye drops continued. Further improvements in reduced stress levels and diabetic condition were experienced by the patient.
Week 5: 27 December 2021 to 5 January, 2022.
No blurriness in eyes, and he could work longer on computer without feeling strain. Eye drop usage reduced to just once or twice daily.
Next 3 weeks: 6 January to 30 January, 2022.
As the patient condition was stable and sustaining, healings were reduced to alternate days.
Post healing condition
His blurriness greatly reduced and vision fully recovered and this improved condition is sustained. He continued YPV sadhana app practices like rhythmic yogic breathing, forgiveness sadhana along with diet control and exercise to manage improved diabetic condition and lower stress levels.
Follow up
After about 10 months, i.e., on 12 December 2022 a follow up of the patient was done by the healer to ascertain his health status.
About his diabetic condition, he stated “My diabetic condition is quite fine. Now I don’t feel the need to visit the doctor, and I am not in need of any extra medicine change. It is under good control now.”
The patient was further asked about the issue of blurring of eyes, or bleeding in eyes that happened before healing, to which he confirmed that there was no more bleeding in the eyes and no more blurred vision, and he is having clear vision.
About the YPV practices, he confirmed doing regular practice of breathing practices, and forgiveness practice, because of which he is able to sustain the changes and improvements.
Discussion
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is one of the complications of diabetes mellitus (incidence ranging from 6-30%), and is a leading cause of visual impairment and avoidable blindness.17
A search of literature shows that there is no published article on treatment of DR using YPV energy healing techniques. However, Nanduri and Chaitra (2019) published an article which shows successful outcomes for participants of an eye camp using YPV techniques for improving vision.18
Alternative therapies using some ayurvedic treatments for certain cases of DR have been reported in a randomised control study by Manjusha et al. (2022).19
Shi et al. (2020) reported that patients with DR have high incidences of deficiencies of crucial vitamins, minerals, and related compounds, which also lead to elevation of Hcy (Homocysteine) and oxidative stress. Reducing oxidative stress in the mitochondria and cell membranes decreases ischemic injury and end-organ damage to the retina. The authors recommend that new approaches are needed, which reduce the risk and improve the outcomes of DR while complementing current therapeutic approaches.20
According to American Diabetes Association, the most effective medical treatment to slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy is glycemic control. The relationship between hyperglycemia and retinopathy has been reported in well-conducted observational studies.21
It is therefore observed from this case study that integrated YPV healing techniques consisting of non-invasive protocols without use of any drugs, enabled the patient to achieve good glycaemic control because of which his retina improvement remained stable and blurriness in vision eliminated. His overall health also improved holistically as a result of YPV intervention.
Conclusions
Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) techniques have been established as a non-drug, non-invasive system of treatment as complementary and alternative medicine in a variety of health conditions including various types of physical and psychological illnesses. Further research is recommended using appropriate methodology and sample size. It will be helpful for frontline health workers such as doctors and nurses to learn and practice YPV protocols to complement their respective medical specialities for holistic treatment of patients.
