Sri Vijaya Puram, Aug 13: The modern human lifestyle, despite providing unprecedented comfort and convenience, may be creating an environment increasingly incompatible with biological health, says renowned scientist and Padma Shri awardee Dr. Ajai Kumar Sonkar.
According to Dr. Sonkar, modern society has accumulated enormous conveniences but has not necessarily achieved greater calmness or biological well-being. Instead, sedentary living, processed food, pollution, artificial environments, disrupted sleep, continuous digital stimulation and chronic psychological stress are contributing to what he describes as an increasingly “anxious lifestyle.”
“We have accumulated enormous material convenience, but convenience has not necessarily brought calmness. In many cases, it has produced the opposite, restlessness, anxiety and continuous biological stress,” Dr. Sonkar said.
He said the growing prevalence of obesity, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancer, kidney and liver disorders and other chronic illnesses should make society reconsider whether the modern environment is truly compatible with human biology.
Pets Are Sharing Our Lifestyle
Dr. Sonkar further pointed to an often-overlooked phenomenon, the growing occurrence of serious diseases among companion animals living closely with humans.
Dogs and cats living in modern households share much more than their owners’ homes. They share indoor air, household environments, food patterns, sedentary habits, artificial lighting and exposure to numerous household materials and chemicals.
“Our pets have become part of our lifestyle. If the environment we create for ourselves surrounds them as well, we must ask whether some of the biological consequences of that environment are also reaching them,” he said.
Dr. Sonkar emphasized that diseases in pets cannot simply be attributed to human lifestyle. Age, genetics, breed, nutrition, infections and other factors play important roles. However, he believes the parallel deserves much greater scientific investigation.
Look at Animals Living in Nature
Dr. Sonkar said that an important contrast can be observed by looking at animals living in their natural ecosystems.
Wild elephants, deer, primates, big cats, birds and countless other species live according to ecological and biological rhythms shaped by nature.
“They experience natural sunlight and seasonal changes, remain physically active, consume foods appropriate to their ecological niche and interact continuously with the microorganisms present in soil, plants, water and other living organisms,” he said.
He cautioned, however, that wild animals are certainly not free from disease.
“Wild animals suffer from infections, parasites, injuries, starvation and other natural causes, and many die young. The important difference is that they live within an ecosystem, whereas modern humans increasingly live within an artificial environment.”
According to the scientist, this difference deserves much deeper scientific investigation.
The Missing Microbial World
Dr. Sonkar said one of the most important differences between traditional human environments and modern urban life may be the loss of regular contact with natural microbial diversity.
Human beings evolved in continuous interaction with microorganisms present in soil, water, plants, animals and natural surroundings. Companion animals evolved within the same ecological world.
“We should not confuse hygiene with the elimination of every microbial exposure. Clean water, sanitation and infection control are essential. But biology also depends on balance and diversity, and we are only beginning to understand the importance of the microbial ecosystem surrounding us,” he said.
He suggested that future health research should examine not only harmful microorganisms but also the beneficial microbial communities that interact with the immune system and contribute to biological balance.
Stress Is More Than a Feeling
Dr. Sonkar further stressed that chronic stress should not be considered merely a psychological phenomenon.
“Stress is a biological event. Persistent psychological stress can influence the nervous system, hormones, metabolism, sleep, immunity and inflammatory processes.”
He said this is also where epigenetics becomes particularly important.
Genes provide the biological instructions of an organism, but the activity of those genes can be influenced by environmental and physiological conditions.
“An unhealthy lifestyle does not simply create ‘bad genes,’” he clarified. “But long-term environmental pressures, nutrition, stress, sleep patterns and other factors can influence gene regulation and biological resilience. This is why epigenetics deserves greater attention in understanding modern lifestyle-related diseases.”
Our Homes Are Becoming Artificial Ecosystems
According to Dr. Sonkar, the modern home may appear exceptionally clean while simultaneously becoming an increasingly artificial biological environment.
People and their pets may be exposed to plastics, synthetic fragrances, cleaning products, pesticides, artificial lighting, processed materials and other substances used for convenience.
“Our pets live on the same floors, breathe the same indoor air and spend much of their lives in the same environment as us. They may therefore provide an overlooked window into the biological consequences of the modern household environment,” he said.
“The issue is not necessarily one substance. It is the cumulative interaction of lifestyle, environment, diet, stress, inactivity and multiple exposures that deserves scientific attention.”
The Forgotten Medicine
Dr. Sonkar believes modern society needs to rediscover several basic elements of biological life, movement, sunlight, natural surroundings, adequate sleep, nutritious food and meaningful human interaction.
“We designed vehicles so that we could walk less, machines so that we could exert ourselves less, screens so that we could remain indoors and technology so that our attention could remain continuously occupied,” he said.
“But the human body has not evolved at the same speed as technology.”
He added that companion animals are undergoing a similar transformation.
“An animal evolved to move, explore and interact with nature can become biologically different when its entire life is spent inside a human-designed environment.”
Towards a Biologically Intelligent Civilization
Dr. Sonkar said the answer is not to reject modern civilization or return to primitive living.
“The challenge before us is to create a more biologically intelligent civilization, one that uses technology without allowing technology to dictate every aspect of life.”
He suggested greater physical activity, exposure to natural light, time outdoors, nutritious food, adequate sleep, reduced unnecessary chemical exposure, meaningful social interaction and a healthier relationship with digital technology.
Pets May Be Our Biological Sentinels
Dr. Sonkar believes companion animals could potentially become important biological indicators of environmental change.
“If an animal shares our home, it shares many of our environmental exposures. Therefore, changes in animal health may provide clues about changes in the environments we have created,” he said.
He suggested that long-term scientific studies comparing companion animals living in highly urbanized environments with those having greater access to gardens, outdoor activity and natural surroundings could examine microbiomes, metabolic health, immune markers, epigenetic patterns and disease incidence.
Such research, he said, could provide valuable insights into the relationship between environment, lifestyle and biological health.
Have We Confused Comfort With Health?
Dr. Sonkar concluded that modern civilization has been remarkably successful in making life more convenient, but convenience and health are not necessarily synonymous.
“A body designed to move may become unhealthy when it never moves. A biological clock designed around day and night can be disturbed by artificial light. A brain designed for periods of silence can become overwhelmed by continuous stimulation. And an ecosystem adapted to microbial diversity can be profoundly altered by an excessively artificial environment.”
He said society must therefore reconsider what it means to live a healthy life.
“We should not ask only how to make life more convenient. We must also ask whether the convenience we are creating is compatible with biology.”
And perhaps, he added, our pets are quietly giving us an important warning.
“If the environment we create is making our companions increasingly sick, it is worth asking what that same environment is doing to us.”