Unscientific mattress may make one bedridden

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb 22: A plethora of diseases caused by wear and tear and postural deviations can be prevented to some extent by sle...

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Feb 22: A plethora of diseases caused by wear and tear and postural deviations can be prevented to some extent by sleeping on a proper mattress and practising simple exercises, according to a physiotherapist who has conducted an extensive research in this field during the last four decades.

“I have so far identified more than 60 diseases triggered by the frequent use of unscientific bed,” Dr P K Rajan, who took voluntary retirement from the Government health service to concentrate on developing a unique mattress, said.

By using natural rubber, bamboo-ply, handloom-cloth and other raw materials, Dr Rajan has developed a mattress named thera bed’. He claimed that the bed would resist accumulation of heat on the contact surface and keep the real posture of the body.

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Dr Rajan felt that while selecting bed, one should ensure that it kept the real posture of the body and there was no accumulation of heat on the contact surface.

Contending that both static and shaky mattresses wereharmful to health, Dr Rajan said the static bed did not give any rebounding or dynamic force or support to the body and hence the weight bearing areas of the body would be statically compressed. Thick spongy mattresses and spring mattresses generated heat by the sucking action of the body surface and their spongy surface.

These characters would have an adverse effect on the human body as more than 30 per cent of diseases were due to wear and tear, strain of tissues and postural deviations of the body acquired in the course of daily life. Neurological diseases, skin diseases and locomotor diseases could be prevented to an extent by sleeping on proper mattress and practising natural and instinctive exercises.

Dr Rajan, who is yet to start commercial production of thera bed’ in a big way, said his clients included high-ranking Government officials and physicians.

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“The bed helped me to get rid of the symptoms of cervical spondylosis,” said eye specialist G Chandramohan. Physiotherapist K R Ajayachandran,who and his family have been using the bed for the last four years, said the bed could prevent many diseases.

Though Dr Rajan was yet to get patent for his product, his research had left him bankrupt. Whatever he had earned during 30 years of his Government service and his family property were exhausted for his research. “Now I am facing an imminent eviction from my own house as it is on the verge of being confiscated due to mounting debt,” he added.