Ayurveda is estimated to be more than 30,000 crore rupees (around 3.6 billion USD) industry. Around 80% of the population in India, Pakistan and Nepal have reported using Ayurveda as an alternative to modern medicine. So it is important to be aware of it to avoid harm.
Basics of Ayurveda:
Ayurveda originated around two thousand years ago. Sushruta Samhita is one of the earliest books on Ayurveda that describes medical knowledge being transmitted from gods to the sages. In Ayurveda, the imbalance of "Dosha" is said to be the reason for sickness. It literally means a fault or defect. The three most important Doshas include:
1. Vaat: wind
2. Pitt: bile
3. Kaf: phlegm
According to Ayurvedic doctrine, these three Doshas determine the physical well-being of a person.
This theory is Indian equivalent to European humoral theory.
Another important concept in Ayurveda is Dhatu. It roughly means tissues.
1. Ras: Plasma
2. Rakt: Blood
3. Mamsa: Muscle
4. Meda: Fat tissue
5. Asthi: Bone
6. Shukranu: Semen
Ayurveda also supports the idea of Agni (fire) in the body. All the activities inside the body take place due to the Agni (fire) present in the body.
The most important aspect of treatment in Ayurveda is by maintaining a strict diet plan.
In the early 20th century, there were some babas (monks) who globalized Ayurveda. Ramdev (Ram Kisan Yadav) has recently commercialized Ayurveda with his Patanjali operation.
Ayurveda and Science:
Is Ayurveda part of science? The answer is NO. But Ayurveda is very similar to science. It was almost part of science in the early days of science when modern medicine as a healthcare system was not developed. But as soon as vigorous scientific methods were developed, Ayurveda left all the traces of science.
I would give you one analogy. Ayurveda is like a refracted research paper that enjoyed a lot of citations in its peak days, but as soon as new updates proved it wrong, it was refracted from the journal. It is the same case with Ayurveda. When mainstream science was not much effective in its early days, Ayurveda was a ray of hope for the people. But unfortunately, people here in India did not abandon the archaic and ineffective method of treatment.
Ayurveda : Present and Future:
Many Ayurvedic product manufacturing companies mass-produce Ayurvedic "medicines" without any vigorous placebo-controlled research trials. Most research is done after medicines reach the market. Unlike modern drugs that require lead finding and all the toxicological studies, these medicines are produced without much R&D effort.
Post Manufacturing Research:
Most of the research on Ayurvedic products is sponsored by the manufacturers, and the results and conclusions tend to be biased towards positive outcomes. Most of these so-called Ayurvedic journals are predatory journals that do not assess the scientific reproducibility of trials and scientifically sound concepts of the papers. So in that way, these papers are just a marketing tool to fool the general public regarding their products.
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