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.

Treating mind, body and spirit together, with the aim of achieving wellness and good health.[1] May be within modern medicine or alternative / traditional medicine.

holistic Treating mind, body and spirit together, with the aim of achieving wellness and good health. May be within modern medicine or alternative / traditional medicine.

amygdala Part of the brain, within the temporal lobe. Related to memory and emotional behavior.

Part of the brain, within the temporal lobe. Related to memory and emotional behavior.[2]

amygdala Part of the brain, within the temporal lobe. Related to memory and emotional behavior.

subjective outcome An outcome of a clinical trial that depends on the judgement or opinion of the assessor or patient, e.g. asking if fatigue has increased or decreased "a little" or "a lot", patient questionnaires like the Chalder Fatigue Scale, and other patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

stress Stress can by either physical or psychological, or both. Stress is either 1) a state of emotional or psychological strain or 2) the physical stress (pressure or tension) that a physical object such the human body is placed under, e.g., a stress test is a medical test that monitors the cardiovascular system during strenuous exercise.

naturopath a practitioner who uses a system of treatment of disease that avoids drugs and surgery and emphasizes the use of natural agents (such as air, water, and herbs) and physical means (such as tissue manipulation and electrotherapy)

holistic Treating mind, body and spirit together, with the aim of achieving wellness and good health. May be within modern medicine or alternative / traditional medicine.

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