Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Star of BBC 1’s Doctor in the House Series

Rani Singh Tuesday 16th January 2018 06:19 EST
 
 

Dr Rangan Chatterjee is the UK’s new popular media doctor, though he never set out to be a TV star. No. This 40-year old medic is passionate about public health. He aims to help 100 million people change their lifestyles and gain optimal health in the process.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee is the star of BBC 1’s documentary shows, Doctor in the House. He has been the lynchpin of two series, both of which have scored high ratings with average audiences of five million per show. His carefully thought out approach focuses on four pillars; movement, food, sleep and relaxation. No wonder his book, the 4 Pillar Plan, is flying off the shelves.

Genesis of the Four Pillar Approach

After nearly 17 years in conventional medicine, as a GP Rangan felt he  was only helping roughly 20% of his patients since the health industry is so focussed on treatment using pharmaceutical solutions to problems.

“My father, a Consultant at the Royal Manchester Infirmary, had to retire through ill health in his late fifties. He had to have kidney dialysis for 15 years, during which time I was his carer. Suddenly I was on the patient side of things,” he says.

Felling intuitively that there must be a better way to treat health, Dr Rangan Chatterjee decided to research newer remedies and started frequenting US medical conferences, engaging with some of the world’s best experts in immunology, gut health, nutrition and lifestyle. He used his own days off and annual leave for this transatlantic study. “I wanted a bigger toolkit than what I was taught at medical school, though that too was fantastic,” he adds.  

One lady he saw was presenting 15/17 menopausal symptoms. Dr Chatterjee reduced the number to 2/17 just by treating her levels of stress- with 15 minutes of evening downtime like listening to music, or having a bath, in addition to five minutes of morning meditation and breathing. He also modified her diet and asked her to take 10,000 steps a day.

“If the mind is constantly active, cortisol levels are up,” Rangan explains. “This has a downstream effect on other hormones.

Another thing is that in 2018 there is a sleep deprivation epidemic. Sleep deprivation is associated with nearly every chronic disease that we have.”

Winning Doctor in the House

One day, while Rangan was busy in his former NHS practice in Oldham, an email from a colleague arrived asking for a new doctor for a BBC series looking at what GPs would do if they had more than the standard 10 minutes with each patient. It’s a topic that resonated with Rangan, so he applied in order to answer that question using his own research and philosophies. The producers found his natural passion and honed knowledge base refreshing. He went through three more months and seven or eight interviews to beat off the other 1,000-odd doctors who had also applied. Rangan forms the central part of the hit ongoing series, providing his brand of effective lifestyle remedies for chronic ailments. In each show, Dr Chatterjee lives with a family for a period to assess what changes can help a member who suffers from serious, debilitating symptoms.

Case Studies

“Your readers, Asians in particular, are prone to blood pressure problems and Type 2 Diabetes,” says Rangan. “I can almost always reduce how much medication they’re taking.”

His own mother was once taking 14 pills a day. Through using techniques like Rangan’s five minute kitchen workout, his mother is now down to zero pills a day.

Try the free easy workout for yourself at https://drchatterjee.com/5min-kitchen-workout/ -the good doctor says he has 80 year olds and 20-year olds doing the same simple exercises and benefitting.

Dr Chatterjee still sees patients regularly in Cheshire, where he lives. Treating patients is his first priority, and he will continue to do that. But he appreciates that through television, he reaches bigger numbers than he could ever hope to do practising on his own. “If five million are watching, and if only 1% of them changes their lifestyle, that’s 50,000 people. If it goes to 10%, that’s half a million. I want to make an impact on public health. You know, about 80%of our modern ailments are in some way related to lifestyle.

Around one in four people suffers from mental problems. Diet can help improve the symptoms, and I also apply a no tech rule for 90 minutes before bedtime- switch off all gadgets like mobiles- and I apply this myself. Change your lifestyle to change your biology.”

Link for book - http://amzn.to/2yGfpuB


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