The Science of Ayurveda

I would like to share a few glimpses which emphasizes that our heritage in medicine is valid in the present times with great relevance. Recently, I had an opportunity to attend a talk by a medical practitioner in Allopathy. She was of the opinion that the so-called western medicine addresses the symptoms  rather than treating the cause. The paradigm followed in the Ayurvedic culture is however different, she explains. Especially in an age where the lifestyle diseases - like diabetes, obesity are on the rise, the community needs a sensitization on the cause treatment. The brief idea is to first identify and treat the lower and deep seated cause of the disease rather than taking a peripheral symptomatic approach. In this context the science of how the traditional medicine works needs to percolate and be incorporated in our medical community.

The three doshas

The ayurvedic approach is to balance the thri-dosas : vata, pitta and kapha. The thri-doshas   are essential parts of the system, which when in excess  or less can cause disease. Thus here the approach is in stabilizing the balance rather than identifying a symptom based approach. Also, traditional ayurvedic medicines have a natural base and is less processed. This in turn contributes to the reduction of the unintended side-effects. From a general observation, it is seen that ayurvedic treatments are holistic - that is there is an equal priority for internal and external medicine. The internal medication may often involve diet restrictions, for proper digestion and sleep. As is often the case physical health needs to be in personal mode, and the practitioner is found to be less involved. One can easily pick this up from books or others who are regular in their daily exercises. The periodicity and the span of treatment are well discussed in ancient texts and are usually made clear by the practitioner.

The rise

It has been observed that the allopathic medicine grew its roots with the advent of the British rule in India. There has been tremendous growth in this domain, even in the post-independent era. Recent years have witnessed, people shifting their focus onto zero-side effect drugs, with the help of ayurveda. This trend has been seen in the consumer and marketing aspects also, with branding being often associated with the captions 'natural', 'zero-sugar', 'zero-cholesterol' etc. Also the western world has taken ayurveda to combat the major lifestyle diseases prevalent  there. Many medical doctors are seen to undertake education in ayurvedic practices under well known 'acharyas' or 'gurus' in the traditional schooling methods. The value of our ancient healthy and traditional culture is  documented in the revered works by Charaka, Susruta and Vaghbata.

Resolve to be New

Novelty is the aspect of human beings that differentiates him from any other creation. So what is actually, so peculiar to the humans in generating the feeling of newness. The aspect of newness is a "feeling". If one can reason out, there are only relative newness and oldness. In fact everything is as old as the universe. The notion of age is limited and restricted to the subjective observer, and for the all pervading Supreme One there is nothing which is new or old. The nature of our reality is essentially ageless. This post was intended for the "New" Year, but it has got delayed for a good. This post is also inspired  by  the world outside which always enquires on "Isn't there anything new?". The question is heard from all corners  starting from when one is a child to even the elderly class. The intension of the article is to enlighten a fire of inquisitive thought process that can drive you to identify the novelty in you.

Novelty is an energy which emanates to evaluate yourself, and measure your own improvement against the past in you. It is a positive change which gives you a push to perform and act differently by overcoming the faults of yesterday. In a way it accelerates growth and helps to bring the best talents in you. In the language of science it is an adaptive exercise, that bring the perfection out of you. As, is oft said novel nature should arise from the inner side of your self, and not from any external factor. Such a innovative idea shall belong to the world forever. So wish you all to a year of newness.

Healthcare and Wearables

In the context of healthcare electronics, the advent of the wearable devices  and  the Internet of Things (IoTs) are going to revolutionize the age tested hospital system. The major challenge in modern healthcare services is to provide quality medical care  at affordable prices for the large number of seekers.  The emerging field of  low power electronics and the miniaturization of devices makes the wearable devices the best choice for personalized healthcare.

The concept level model for this system is to propagate the so called "health begins at home" . In other words this means to redistribute the load of the healthcare management to a wider community of health specialists, so that an equality of health related services is rendered. According to my broad (maybe vague) perception of medical field, each individual needs to undergo the three steps of Diagnosis (Prediction), Prescription and Prevention - which is easily remembered by the 3 P's. This is very similar to the analytics which our present day data scientists are familiar with. The model henceforth develops into a stronger hierarchy of medical institution, which now translates into home medicine, primary health centers,  general hospitals, speciality hospitals and research institutions in medicine. The goal in the mind of the IoT healthcare community is to come up with wearable systems (eg: gadgets) that may equip each individual to be better informed about their health status in tandem with the best in house medical doctors to be allocated 24 x 7.