Taking a mindful approach to hormones and health
Dr Ruder spoke to women in Glenvista on women’s health and hormonal issues.
DR SUNDEEP RUDER was the guest speaker at a seminar held in Glenvista on Saturday, February 17 – the focal point of his talk on women’s health and hormones setting life in motion being ‘What does it mean to be human?’.
The roomful of women listened attentively as the highly trained endocrinologist ventured into the intricate functioning of a select network of hormone-secreting organs and how they affect our everyday lives.
Ruder has an amalgam approach to the topic of hormones, repeatedly emphasising that “we wreak havoc with our hormones”. With this in mind, the doctor approaches the subject holistically, that is not just from the point of view medicine and science, but also via a deeply philosophical understanding of what it means to be human and how it affects our hormones.
“A big frustration for doctors is when our prescriptions don’t seem to work,” he said. “Everything in life, medically and the way we feel, is a law of cause and effect. With everything we do, we are constantly setting hormones in motion and sending messages throughout the body. Our ability to understand cause and effect can help us understand ourselves and our maladies.”
Ruder pointed out that hormonal change can lead to internal problems due to our extroverted lives, and at the end of the end day there is no introspection as to where the problem is coming from. Changes in hormones are dictated in nature, but the degree and amplitude depends on our choices, and Ruder stressed that what nature has given us is what is best for us.
He broke down what it means to be human into three categories, namely body, mind and intellect. The body is the physical being that is controlled by the emotional being (the mind), but the intellect governs all.
“Use your intellect to quieten your mind and govern the body with an attitude of service and sacrifice,” said Ruder.
The nature of a human being is a sacrificial force that uses the body, governs the mind and improves the intellect, and when we give, whatever the nature, then the hormones settle and everything becomes calmer.
The key message of his talk was the importance of independent thinking in everything. Seek help from experts and when you get information, don’t take everything at face value. Make it your own and see how it applies to your life, then you can become the governor of your life.
Nicholene Snyman, the organiser of the seminar along with Estee van der Linde of the Tres Jolie Ladies Boutique, thanked Ruder for his thought-provoking talk. She also thanked van der Linde for organising everything and Tres Jolie Ladies Boutique for sponsoring the evening.
“This talk has definitely motivated the ladies and me to get a better understanding of our bodies and intellect and how it affects our hormones,” said Snyman.
The ladies enjoyed a variety of delicious and healthy snacks after an interactive question and answer session with Ruder at Nicholene’s beautiful Glenvista home.
More on Dr Sundeep Ruder
Dr Ruder is a clinical endocrinologist at Life Fourways Hospital and is also an honorary consultant at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg. He is an associate lecturer in internal medicine and endocrinology at the Wits Medical School, and serves on the executive committee of the Society of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa. He is also a student of philosophy at a university in India. Perhaps one of his most rewarding projects to date has been serving as a parliamentary scientific adviser on the Sugar Tax. Ruder has served on pharmaceutical advisory boards and is often invited to speak at events both locally and internationally.
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