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.