Title : Health indicators beyond absence of disease
Abstract:
Observations in several meditative traditions suggest a series of objective indicators of health beyond absence of disease which can be useful for optimizing health. Several of the physical signs have been confirmed by research or are consistent with modern science. This study is to examine the evidence related to the claimed advanced health indicators which include change of body odor and blood color; decrease in bodily secretions, respiratory rate, pulse rate, habituation, food intake and sleep; increase in bidirectional temperature tolerance, gait speed, and light transmission.
Literature review was conducted in Pubmed and Google Scholar on the health correlation of body odor, bodily secretions, respiratory rate, pulse rate, habituation, food intake, sleep, gait speed, bidirectional temperature tolerance, blood color and light transmission using the related keywords and AI assistance.
Health indicators beyond absence of disease is a promising direction of preventive medicine. Respiratory rate, pulse rate, food intake and gait speed should be integrated into part of a health matrix for assessing a person's health status beyond absence of disease with more research. Body odor is potentially a useful indicator for mental health but more research and technological development is needed to make this more objective and widely applicable. The correlation of habituation and long term health still needs further research.
The other claimed health indicators may happen in rare, advanced practitioners and will be very difficult to study and repeat to establish statistical significance.
Audience Take Away:
- Objective indicators for optimal health based on meditative traditions
- the evidence supporting the health indicators
- potential application in preventive medicine
- future directions
