C V Krishnaswamy, senior city diabetologist, passes away at 84

C V Krishnaswamy, senior city diabetologist, passes away at 84

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:23.05.2021

Senior diabetologist Dr C V Krishnaswamy, who pushed medical boundaries to combine modern medicine with Ayurveda, paida lajin, and other streams to make it a “holistic” therapy for patients, passed away on Friday. He was 84.

On Saturday, condolence messages poured in from patients and their families to the Voluntary Health Services, where he had served for more than 50 years. Besides organising free insulin for more than 800 children with type-1 diabetes, he was known for love and passion towards treating his patients.

“He was a doyen. He would say many things that stunned doctors. He would talk about acupuncture mediated metaphysical therapy at a medical conference. And in the same conference he would ask doctors to explain side effects of antidiabetes medication. He would then ask them why they put pre-diabetes patients on anti glycaemic drugs. His views were strong, but he practised them,” said Dr S Suresh, secretary VHS. “And his patients loved him.”

He would ask his patients to tap at different points on the body as part of paida lajin – a Chinese therapy under which paida involves patting and slapping one’s skin while lajin involves assuming various postures to stretch one’s muscles.

“I have been his patient for several years now. He is the only doctor I go to and I have managed to live and handle diabetes for more than 40 years,” said S Muthukumar, one of his patients, who runs a grocery shop. He met him at the Stanley Medical College out-patient department when he was 10 years old. “My parents did not understand what diabetes was. But he guided us all through. He gave us not just medicine, he gave us hope,” he said. He continued to visit Dr CVK even after he retired from VHS three years ago. “I used to see him at his clinic in Alwarpet,” he said.

Many leading diabetologists and doctors praised him for his teaching skills. Senior diabetologist Dr V Mohan remembers him as a walking encyclopaedia. “A tall man who was a brilliant clinician inspiring most of his patients to lead a healthy and happy life,” he said.

Dr CVK was known to push boundaries to combine modern medicine with Ayurveda, paida lajin (Chinese therapy) and other streams to make it a “holistic” therapy for patients