During “Reflections” episodes, the Qatari Authors’ Forum hosted Dr. El-Sayed Ahmad Praia, who made an overview of his book (Aldwa’ fi Hayatuna) “Medicine in Our Life” published by Dar Lusail in 2019.
Dr. El-Sayed Praia began by talking about medications’ types, characteristics, and different dosages and effects. He divided his book into four chapters: The first is entitled “Medicine for Life”, while the second is “Margins on Hope Grave” and the is entitled “Food and Medicine: Discord or Harmony”.
Dr. El-Sayed Ahmed Praia stated that his book aims to correct some people’s misconceptions about medicines and diseases as well as addressing herbal remedies, their importance and harms.
The speaker defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and socially well-being and not merely the absence of disease or disability. It is a state of harmony between a person’s physiological and psychological aspects. Health has absolute and relative meanings, which differ according to place and time. These meanings are a result of an interaction between many internal and external, inherited and acquired, individual and collective, and medical, environmental and social factors formed by cultural norms, economic conditions and laws.
Further, Praia stated that balance between a human being’s body, soul and mind is another basis for health. If this balance is disturbed, man falls prey to disease.
He also pointed out that if a virus enters a cell, it controls it and fights against the body’s immunity. In this regard, he mentioned that the most famous viruses are: the Spanish Flu virus, which killed more than 40 million people in 1918, followed by the Asian Flu virus in 1959, the Hong Kong Flu virus in 1968 and the Russian Flu virus in 1977.
He likened the ideas of life to many incomplete poems and invasions in which no one triumphs nor is defeated. The aim of such poems may be to preserve balance in a world of an unbalanced environment and astonishing science fiction progress. Further, Mr. Praia wondered whether absolute well-being is a reality experienced by human or a false hope to which a person aspires and is just an illusion that would make life more beautiful. The Pharmacist stressed that medicine is one of the human greatest achievements and their dazzling brilliance in the battle of well- being and life.