Dr. Mosaraf AliIn the 5th century B.C., Hypocrates, the father of medicine, established that the purpose of medicine was to help man use his own natural powers to defeat illness. He felt that it was enough to activate the body's ability of self-healing by implementing a simple regime of diet, exercise and massage, combined with a life of moderation. In recent years, a British physician has been building his own treatment philosophy on Hypocrates' ancient theory and the result is a great and unusual career. This is Dr. Mosaraf Ali, born in Calcutta India. He has a medical clinic in London with 25 top physicians practicing what is called integrative medicine.

During his visit to Croatia last week, we learned about integrated medicine, about who Dr. Ali is and who his patients are, among whom are many famous people: top managers and aristocrats. He mentioned that his first visit to Croatia was in 1977 while he was doing his specialization in Moscow. At that time, he visited Zagreb and Belgrade in Serbia. We spoke with Dr. Ali in Zagreb where he arrived from the Brijuni islands, accompanied by his two teenaged sons and his host in Croatia, well known photographer and businessman Čedo Komljenović, known as Monty Shadow. “Monty invited me to see the beauty of Brijuni and Mali Losinj and I wanted to see the potential of the Croatian coast for health care tourism. This is a new hot topic. Each year, over a million people worldwide visit India to undergo a combination of traditional Eastern practice with conventional Western medicine.”

Dr. Ali has become famous by treating patients in exactly that manner, and his London Clinic bears the name Integrated Medical Centre. He is considered to be a pioneer of such practice, with over 20 years of experience. He opened his London Clinic in 1996 and his physicians now treat about 600 patients weekly. The least expensive visit costs 40 ₤, while treatment costs much more.

A turning point in his career was his meeting with Prince Charles. “I met the Prince by chance at a reception. At that time, I was working at the Hale Clinic in London. He was very interested in my work and soon afterwards, I began to treat the entire royal family. For the past 14 years, I have been a member of the medical team of the British royal family. The family strongly believes in alternative medicine. They exercise, eat a healthy diet and spend a great deal of time outdoors in nature. This is why they are so healthy and long-lived. I often say that my treatment methods are not medicine at all, but a way to help keep people healthy,” says Ali.

Proof of the clinic’s reputation is in the client list: well known people from the world of film, fashion and business, aristocrats. However, Dr. Ali does not reveal why his famous patients were in for treatment. We asked him if he helped model Kate Moss free herself from a drug addiction last year. His only comment was, “That too, but she has other problems”. Gari Halliwell visits the clinic for vitamin treatment. Camilla Parker Bowles, wife of Prince Charles, attended one of his spiritual visits to the Himalayas several years ago to “recharge her batteries” and to quit smoking.

Twice a year, Dr. Ali takes a group of patients, which always includes famous stars and top managers, on a two-week retreat to India. He says that this has helped many to completely change their lifestyle and habits. “This is my hobby. We go to the Himalayas for spa therapy twice a year – in November and March. I have been doing this with people from all over the world for the past 17 years. In the morning, we exercise with yoga masters, and then walk through the mountains for three hours. We rent out a lovely palace, a simple place but which has everything that the people need. It is in the Kangra Valley. I also have groups I take trekking. I will take one such group on 18 August. Many interesting people will join us.”
Camilla Parker Bowles has become a great fan of his work. Prince Charles even asked Dr. Ali to help organize Camilla's 50th birthday party, bringing his friend Ravi Sankara to play music at the party. Prince Charles is said to be thrilled with Dr. Ali and it is their joint wish to open a hospital in London with one hundred beds where patients can be treated with the methods and techniques of Dr. Ali and where young doctors can learn.

He has treated TV host Selina Scott for exhaustion, designer Nicole Farhi for frostbite and British jet-setter Tara Palmer Tomkinson, whom Dr. Ali calls the “eighth wonder of the world” to successfully kick a cocaine habit. According to the British press, Dr. Ali has said that she experienced spiritual enlightenment on her trip to India and that addiction is not over when you leave the clinic, but that support of people like him is needed. Geri Halliwell was suffering from bulimia, but it appears that Dr. Ali also cured her of that. She was put on an exercise regime, diet according to his instructions and received vitamins and minerals. Before the start of the football championships in Germany, Dr. Ali had yet another famous British patient: Wayne Rooney. When it was announced that Rooney might now be able to play due to a serious injury, Sky News asked Dr. Ali what he would do. “I am convinced that my massage would help accelerate the healing. If I do not succeed and if Wayne does not play in Germany, I will tear up my medical degree before the television cameras,” he said. As we all known, Rooney played in the championships.

We asked Dr. Ali when he began to practice alternative medicine. “I studied and finished medicine in New Delhi in India. However, when my father died, I was supposed to return home and carry on the family business, which was golf. I didn’t want to do that so I applied for a post-graduate medical scholarship in Moscow. I was always a very good student. I received the scholarship and went to study there, and that is where I met Russians who were researching old techniques of alternative medicine. I received my Master’s degree in homeopathy and acupuncture. I learned a great deal about alternative medicine. Then I returned to India where I stayed for six years. In Delhi I learned about ayurveda and the principle of yoga, as well as unani, the medicine of the ancient Greeks founded by Avicena. What I do today is actually a combination of the medicine of Hypocrates, Galeno and Avicena. I truly had great masters as my teachers. My first lessons in homeopathy was as a boy from my grandfather in Calcutta. When I began working, combining my knowledge and the techniques of both types of medicine, I gained many patients. Many employees of the embassies visited me, including those in the Yugoslav embassy in Delhi. The ambassador and Mr. Jelic, the economic advisor, were my patients. His daughter, Vesna Jelic, studied under me and now she works in Stockholm on genetic research.

“Finally, I had to leave Delhi. One day, the reporters from Indian television came to my clinic to make a documentary film about me. They showed how after my treatments, paralyzed people were walking again, how I had cured people from migraine attacks, and many other cases. I became a hero that all of India wanted to visit. I had so many patients that a mass of people in wheelchairs and on crutches was constantly waiting in front of the clinic. The owners of the building couldn't handle this and they asked me to leave. I was left without a practice. No one wanted to give me medical space because once a doctor enters into a space, he doesn’t leave it easily. So I went to Hong Kong and after three years, to London.” Today, some in Great Britain criticize him for all the talk about famous patients. He says that only about 10% of his patients are famous and that he treats everyone who seeks him out.

He opened a clinic for the poor in India, where the residents of the Kangra Valley are treated, where he leads his wealthy patients on 2-week healthy living retreats. “My heart always goes out to those in need: to children born with serious problems – those who cannot speak, cannot walk. I have achieved excellent results in rehabilitation if we start therapy when they are young, still small. I stimulate the muscles and nerves with special massage. These are all old techniques that I have modernized. I have studied them, researched them and created my own system based on them,” he explains. “This is a system of physical rehabilitation. I discovered that the arteries in the neck vertebrae, as well as the both the conscious and subconscious parts of the brain, have a separate blood supply system. The subconscious part of the brain is the part that controls everything: from energy, sleeping, hormones, emotions, mood, posture, balance, temperature, appetite, heart beats, breathing. The conscious part of the brain only thinks, makes decisions and makes the moves we want to make. I have seen examples where children with neck injuries during birth can have various difficulties. Some are born too quickly, some forcefully and some in long labour, all which can damage the neck.

“Children born like this often develop allergies, colds and coughing, some become hyperactive. No one takes these traumas into account. Just like no one, in general, takes physical trauma into account. For example, any type of blow to the head, car accidents, fall down the stairs, off a horse or a tree. All this shakes the brain and neck, which are very sensitive. When the neck vertebrae are damaged, the blood flow to the brain is hindered. Many problems – from serious migraines to poor thyroid function – are all the result of such injuries. Migraines usually appear about two years after the injury. With such cases, I apply a special massage technique to improve blood flow through the neck to stimulate the work of the subconscious part of the brain. This is hardware and if it functions well, the whole body will function,” Ali explains.
A special part of Ali’s technique is an ancient physical therapy technique used in India by martial arts masters. “If you get him in kung-fu in such a way that your arm becomes paralyzed, there is a pressure point that you can activate to return feeling to your arm. I use this kind of therapy on athletes,” explains Ali.

Dr. Ali is also well known for his intentions to restructure the British health care system. He has already had several serious discussions on this topic with the line ministers. He also explained his concept of health care tourism. Ali considers that there is a series of illnesses should not be treated using conventional medicine as it just doesn’t help and costs a great deal of money. “I have always believed that chronic diseases are best treated using integrative methods and I have proved this. Arthritis, asthma, migraines, back pain, constipation, sinus troubles, obesity, high blood pressure and other ailments are best treated with integrated medicine. Today, one in three patients in the UK going to their general practitioner has minor health problems, and this is burdening the health care system. They complain of chronic problems and receive medications that cannot help them, but are expensive. I think that it’s time we take control over our own health, get back to the basics and try treatments that have proved effective over thousands of years,” he explains.

Over the years, Dr. Ali has drafted his own Life Program which addressed the five areas that are key to maintaining good health: moderation in everything, eating healthy food, regular exercise and yoga, spending time in the fresh air and massages, sufficient rest and meditation. Ali is also involved in complex and serious health care research in the field of patient rehabilitation, particularly following stroke.

His results speak for themselves. He claims that the massive application of his techniques and methods would save the health care system a great deal of money. He treated the now late Princess Margaret for years after she suffered a stroke. Thanks to his therapy, she successfully recovered. He has drafted a completely new system of rehabilitating stroke patients for the British government. He claims that his methods and programs could be implemented in various European centres as well as on the Adriatic islands, such as Mali Losinj. Dr. Ali advocates outdoor activity and says that Brijuni and Mali Losinj are ideal for health care and rehabilitation institutes.

Dr. Ali explained that the number of elderly persons is on the rise in Europe, but that living longer does not necessarily mean living healthy. “I believe that the majority of problems the elderly face could be alleviated with a very simple method – spending time in outdoor recreation. Due to their condition, they go to the hospital, take up a bed and, in fact, block the system, and there is little benefit for them. They receive tablets, tests are run and then they are sent home. I do things differently: I teach people how to change their lifestyle. First, I put them on a diet. Their digestive capacities are weaker and they should not be permitted to eat salty, fatty or sweet foods. Second, they should receive massages once a week for their back, joints, neck and should regularly do exercise such as yoga. This helps the spine stay flexible and keep them thin. The climate on the Adriatic is mild, there is a lot of sun and it would be excellent to start up that kind of tourism here, where people would come from all over Europe to spend at least three months a year in group therapy. European pensioners could afford that. Labour is cheap in Croatia, as is the cost of living, so it wouldn’t cost very much. And given the climate and the sea, this could operate year round,” says Ali. However, he feels that Brijuni should be reserved for an exclusive health care tourism centre, a great spa.

It is interesting to hear Dr. Ali’s long-term goal: simply put, for people to visit the doctor less. “The doctors in the clinic and I always have new patients, because our old patients are feeling better, they know how to take care of themselves and they don’t come anymore or come more rarely. That is wonderful and that is exactly what I want – to see only new patients”.