Hello everyone and welcome to this week's blog post where I will be discussing Ayurvedic medicine. In this blog post, I will discuss the principles of Ayurvedic medicine, its components and its role in modern medicine.
Ayurvedic medicine, which is also known as Ayurveda, is the ancient Indian medical system. While it was developed over 3,000 years ago, it is still commonly practised and remains the traditional way of treatment in India and other countries on the subcontinent today.
Ayurveda is based on the idea that balance between the mind, body and spirit is the key to health. There are still those who practice this form of complementary and alternative medicine today, who believe that all matter is made up of five elements: space, air, fire water and earth. These are then combined with three life forces called doshas: Vata (which predominately consists of space and air), Pitta (which predominately consists of fire and water) and Kapha (which predominately consists of water and earth). Ayurvedic medicine then goes on to explain that, at birth, everyone receives a different combination of these doshas, which control body functions such as cell division and emotions. An imbalance of these doshas is then hypothesised to be the cause of disease. This imbalance could then be treated through traditional medicine and diet. Further, illness could also be prevented by keeping a person healthy using these techniques.
Ayurvedic physicians, or vaidyas, believed in practising holistic medicine, in that in order to treat disease, one must apply treatment to the whole body. Consequently, vaidyas were trained in all the subjects of Ayurveda, much like GPs in the UK. Tragically, this belief likely decreased the effectiveness of medicine in the past, as unlike in modern medical systems, vaidyas were not supported by specialist doctors who had specific knowledge of certain ailments.
There are eight components to Ayurveda, which are outlined in the classical Sanskrit works on the subject. These eight branches are the following:
1. Internal medicine (Kayachikitsa Tantra)
2. Paediatrics and Obstetrics (Kaumarabhritya Tantra)
3. Surgery (Shalya Tantra)
4. Otorhinolaryngology and Opthalmology (Shalakya Tantra)
5. Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (Agada Tantra)
6. Spiritual Healing or Mental Health (Bhuta Vidya)
7. Health, Longevity and Rejuvenation of the body (Rasayana Tantra)
8. Fertility (Vajikarana Tantra)
The first is internal medicine, or Kayachikitsa Tantra, which deals with diseases such as diarrhoea and tuberculosis. Internal medicine, the most developed component of Ayurveda, originates from Lord Atreya Punarvasu, who founded the school of internal medicine in between 500-1500BC. His students then went on to write many books on internal medicine, which remain the basis for Ayurvedic medicine in southern Asia. While these principles are not used in modern internal medicine, Ayurveda is still often credited for being the origin for this branch of medicine.
The second, paediatrics and obstetrics, deals with children's diseases and the general growth and development of children up to the age of 16. This part of Ayurveda was considered very important to Ayurvedic physicians as it was deemed that good health in childhood would set the patient up for good health later in their lives. The teachings of the Ayurvedic school of paediatrics, which set up by Maricha Kashyapa, proved very important in the medical community at the time. Indeed, these teachings are still used by Buddhist Ayurvedic physicians in Nepal, making them specialists in paediatric Ayurvedic medicine.
The third component is surgery, whose school was set up by Dhanwantari Divodasa, a king in Bansarasa, India. Unfortunately, unlike the other components of Ayurvedic medicine, the teachings of this school are no longer in widespread use. This is likely due to two main reasons. Firstly, in the last few centuries, there have been very significant advances in surgery meaning that people are unlikely to turn to Ayurvedic medicine for surgical treatment. Perhaps more importantly though is the way in which Ayurvedic physicians, or vaidyas, were trained. Rather like general practitioners in the UK, vaidyas were trained to treat the entire person. To that end, vaidyas were trained in all 8 components of Ayurvedic medicine, so received comparatively little training in surgery, unlike surgeons today who are trained in great detail about surgeries on a very specific part of the body. As such, surgery was mostly ineffective in Ayurvedic medicine.
The fourth branch of Ayurveda is Otorhinolaryngology and Opthalmology, which concerns the treatment of the eyes, ears, nose and throat. The school for this branch of medicine was run by the King of Videha, Videhadhipati, who wrote the first 'textbook' on Otorhinolaryngology and Opthalmology in Ayurvedic medicine. Regrettably, this work was lost, as were subsequent writings on the topic, so knowledge of this treatment is limited in modern-day Ayurvedic treatment.
The fifth component is toxicology and forensic science, which concerns any illness due to poison. This includes food poisoning, animal bites (such as snake bites) and the injection of other toxins. This branch also lays the principles of the application of medicine to law, more specifically by devising forensic tests when investigating crimes and by advising courts on the medical reasons behind a case (for example how someone died). Toxicology is the only component of Ayurvedic medicine which I have found to have specialists - poison doctors who treated people after having been bitten by snakes and other animals and others who consulted kings on how to avoid being poisoned by their enemies.
The sixth component of Ayurveda is spiritual healing and mental health. This component also covers diseases which don't align with the theory of Tridosha balance. The theory of Tridosha balance is central to Ayurvedic medicine. Much like the renaissance theory of the four humours, Tridosha balance states that there is a balance between the three fundamental substances of the body called the doshas. Imbalances of these doshas, which result in mental health difficulties, can be cured by rebalancing the doshas through spiritual healing.
The seventh and eighth branches of Ayurveda are rejuvenation and fertility. This is the health of sexual organs and health in old age, including techniques to combat ageing. Interesting, both of these components do not originate from specific schools of teaching or ancient texts. Instead, these branches are derived from the teachings of internal medicine and have evolved to become separate parts of Ayurvedic medicine.
As you might expect, modern scientists are sceptical on the effectiveness of Ayurvedic medicine. Nevertheless, there have been studies which suggest that some of these treatments are as effective as modern medication. For example, according to the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, trials found that Ayurvedic treatment was as effective in reducing pain for people with knee osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Nonetheless, it must be stressed that in most other trials and reviews which supported the effectiveness of Ayurvedic medicine, scientists questioned the validity of the findings, stating that the study methods had flaws and left many important questions unanswered.
Furthermore, there are concerns about the safety of Ayurvedic medicine, highlighting that taking these medicines may actually be detrimental to your health. For instance, the United States Food and Drug Administration warns the public that these medications may include metals and other minerals which could prove poisonous. In addition, a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report published by the CDC in 2015 outlined how Ayuvedic medication increased a woman's blood lead levels, which posed risks to brain development and could have caused kidney damage.
In conclusion, while it would be foolish to dismiss all Ayurvedic medicine, trials must be performed on them to ascertain how safe they are and whether they have a place in modern medicine. Nevertheless, it is important to note that Ayurveda, while perhaps incorrect in some of its principles (such as the principle that all matter consists of the five elements), it did teach the importance of having a good lifestyle and how this would contribute to having good health. Ayurvedic medicine was also partially successful during its time. As such, we while it might not be useful in the world of modern medicine, it certainly did help treat disease and prolong life in India for several centuries and is still central to Indian medicine today.
Sources:
Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice: Unionization of Welfare Employees edited by Thomas P. Kasulis, Roger T. Ames, Wimal Dissanayake
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