Ashok Gupta

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Ashok Gupta is a former ME/CFS patient who claims to have healed himself, and now sells his own program to patients with a variety of chronic illnesses.[1] He also conducts coaching webinairs and workshops.[1]

Qualifications and training[edit | edit source]

Ashok Gupta graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He was then automatically awarded an honorary MA (Cantab), as all Cambridge University graduates are. After graduating he worked as a management consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and states he had alternative and complementary health certifications (DHyp PNLP MNCH, Neurolinguistic programming Practitionerand Clinical Hypnotherapist, member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy).[2]

Gupta describes himself as a "chronic illness expert" but holds no medical qualifications or certifications, and as an "expert on stress", and has given a number of media interviews about stress, but does not appear to hold any academic or professional qualifications in psychology or mental health either.[1]

Gupta states he has designed "Revolutionary Neuroplasticity Techniques" based on his "20 plus years of experience and research". He has not completed a research degree, does not have a medical licence, and is not affiliated to any academic institution.[1][3]

Illness[edit | edit source]

Gupta states he fell ill with CFS during his time studying Economics in Cambridge; he states he was partying hard, studying hard, feeling pretty stressed out, and not taking care of himself when he contracted "some kind of stomach bug" on a trip to India and developed a host of symptoms that did not improve.[4] Gupta states he found a way to heal his ME/CFS and has been fully well since.[5] Gupta reports being ill with CFS, which he regards as the same as ME, for over three years in the late 1990s.[6]

Research[edit | edit source]

Ashok Gupta states he has spent over 20 years researching neuroplasticity.[1]

Gupta Program[edit | edit source]

Gupta published his hypothesis of ME/CFS in 2002, and has sold the Gupta Program, which he describes as a brain training and holistic health course, it has been commercially available since 2007.[4] The Gupta Program was originally called the Gupta Programme and later a variety of different terms have been used to promote it, with Amygdala and Insula Retraining (AIR) being the most recent.[1]

See also
Gupta program.
See also
Criticisms of The Gupta Program.

Complaints[edit | edit source]

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint in 2018.[7]

Notable studies published by others[edit | edit source]

  • 2020, Mindfulness-Based Program Plus Amygdala and Insula Retraining (MAIR) for the Treatment of Women with Fibro[8] - (Full text)
Conflict of interest not declared: Author and investigator Virginia Gasión (Virginia Gasión Royo) had been a Gupta coach since 2014, which means she earns from people doing the Gupta Program, giving a direct final financial conflict of interest.[9]
  • 2012, A mind-body technique for symptoms related to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue[10] - (Full text)
The Advertising Standards Authority rejected this as evidence of effectiveness of the Gupta Program.[7]
This was open to patients with chronic fatigue syndrome but none completed it. Of the 32 patients randomly assigned to Amygdala and Insula Retraining (AIR) plus standard care, 19% (6 patients) dropped out before starting, 19% (6 patients) did not complete baseline measures but did AIR, 41% (13 patients) did AIR but not the follow-up assessments, 22% (7 patients) did AIR and completed follow-up assessments. Twice as many patients completed standard care, including both assessments - 56% (14 out of 25).[10]

Articles not peer reviewed or from non-academic journals[edit | edit source]

  • 2010, Can amygdala retraining techniques improve the wellbeing of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome? A clinical audit of subjective outcomes in a small sample[11] - (Full text)
The Advertising Standards Authority rejected this as evidence of effectiveness of the Gupta Program.[7]
This was not published in an academic journal[12]
  • 2002, Unconscious amygdalar fear conditioning in a subset of chronic fatigue syndrome patients[3] - (Full text)
The Medical Hypotheses journal that published this is reported to be the world's most controversial journal,[13] and describes itself as publishing hypotheses that are "radical, speculative and non-mainstream scientific ideas" and some "where experimental support is yet fragmentary".[14][15] It is peer-reviewed.

Clinic location[edit | edit source]

Previously called Harley Street Stress Solutions, Gupta's clinic is now in Harrow, Middlesex, UK.

Talks and interviews[edit | edit source]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "The Secret of Amygdala Retraining". The Gupta Program. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Practioners". Harley Street Stress Clinic. Archived from the original on April 19, 2003.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gupta, Ashok (2002). "Unconscious amygdalar fear conditioning in a subset of chronic fatigue syndrome patients" (PDF). Medical Hypotheses. 59 (6): 727–735.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Role of Neuroplasticity in Chronic Illness & Healing". Dr Kara Fitzgerald ND. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Benson, Dick (April 2021). "Conversation With Ashok Gupta, MA (Cantab), MSc: Treating Long-Haul Covid". Integrative Medicine (Encinitas, Calif.). 20 (2): 42–46. ISSN 1546-993X. PMC 8325493. PMID 34377093.
  6. ↑ Gupta, Ashok (April 2009). "ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Causes and the Amygdala Retraining Recovery Programme". Positive Health. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Advertising Standards Authority | Committee of Advertising Practice (April 11, 2018). "Harley Street Solutions Ltd". Advertising Standards Authority. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  8. ↑ Sanabria-Mazo, Juan P.; Montero-Marin, Jesus; Feliu-Soler, Albert; Gasión, Virginia; Navarro-Gil, Mayte; Morillo-Sarto, Héctor; Colomer-Carbonell, Ariadna; Borràs, Xavier; Tops, Mattie; Luciano, Juan V.; García-Campayo, Javier (October 2020). "Mindfulness-Based Program Plus Amygdala and Insula Retraining (MAIR) for the Treatment of Women with Fibromyalgia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial". Journal of Clinical Medicine. 9 (10): 3246. doi:10.3390/jcm9103246. ISSN 2077-0383. PMC 7599726. PMID 33050630.
  9. ↑ "Our Professional Team of Coaches". Gupta Program. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Toussaint, Loren L.; Whipple, Mary O.; Abboud, Lana L.; Vincent, Ann; Wahner-Roedler, Dietlind L. (March 2012). "A mind-body technique for symptoms related to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue". Explore (New York, N.Y.). 8 (2): 92–98. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2011.12.003. ISSN 1878-7541. PMID 22385563.
  11. ↑ Gupta, A (September 2010). "Can amygdala retraining techniques improve the wellbeing of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome? A clinical audit of subjective outcomes in a small sample" (PDF). Journal of Holistic Healthcare. 7 (2): 12–15. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Journal - information for contributors". British Holistic Medical Association. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  13. ↑ Cressey, Daniel (March 18, 2010). "Editor says no to peer review for controversial journal". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2010.132. ISSN 1476-4687.
  14. ↑ "Guide for authors - Medical Hypotheses - ISSN 0306-9877". Elsevier. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Medical Hypotheses | Journal". ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
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