|
Ayurveda
Medical Group
|
Frequently
Asked Questions
 By Dr. Hemant Gupta
Q. What is
Ayurvedic medicine?
Ayurved is a Sanskrit word. "Ayur" means lifespan and
"ved" means knowledge, or science, so ayurveda is literally the
science of life and longevity, in which lifespan is defined as a balanced
union of body, senses, mind, and consciousness. Ayurveda is a
"consciousness-based" holistic approach that simultaneously
focuses on these four components of life.
Q. How does
Ayurvedic medicine work?
Ayurveda has a comprehensive method of diagnosis and treatment that
emphasizes prevention, heath care, and disease control. The distinguishing
feature of Ayurvedic treatment is that it offers a personalized health plan,
customized according to an individual's body-mind type (prakriti). It
addresses specific imbalances in an individual through diet, herbs,
lifestyle, Ayurvedic detoxification programs (panch karma), yoga, and
meditation. So Ayurveda treats the person as a whole and treats disease in
full consideration of a person's individual physiology.
Q. How old is Ayurveda?
It is the oldest system of medicine known to mankind. There's a saying in Ayurveda
that goes "As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm." In other
words, Ayurveda is based on the study of nature in its totality, and
therefore its fundamental principles are universal.
Ayurveda, discovered as nature's gift to suffering mankind, is based on
fundamental laws of nature and is receiving more attention for its insight
and practicality in modern times.
It has provided founding principles for Tibetan and Chinese medicine, early
Arabic, Unani, and Greek systems of medicine. It was influential in all of
these places.
Q. Is Ayurveda
widely used today?
Today Ayurveda is part of the primary health
care system on the Indian subcontinent. There, most universities offer five
years of undergraduate study in Ayurveda, including a one-year internship,
and many have a three-year postgraduate degree (MD Ayurveda) recognized by
India's university grant commission. Some universities and colleges in
Europe, Russia, North
America, and Japan
have started offering adjunct courses of Ayurveda in medical schools.
Q. How does Ayurveda's use of plants differ from that
of other medicinal practices?
Ayurved differs in its fundamental approach
in using herbs. Because Ayurveda understands the individual person as a whole
it advocates the use of whole herbs instead of isolating, extracting, and
administering active ingredients of an herb. Ayurveda does not support the
reductionistic approach to studying physiology, nature, or
herbs.
Q. What is the Ayurvedic view of human physiology?
Ayurveda has a common basis of understanding for human physiology, cosmic
physiology, and herbs. This understanding is based on five elements: earth,
water, fire, air, and space. These five elements each have functional
significance in our bodies, including structuring (body tissues, for
example), binding and moistening (bodily fluids), transforming, digestion,
and metabolism (enzymes and hormones), moving/circulation, transportation,
and communication (the nervous and circulatory systems), and spacing (all
macro- and micro-channels).
These five elements manifest themselves in human physiology as three
doshas (biological humours or biometabolic principles). They are Vata
(space+air), Pitta (fire+water), and Kapha (earth+water).
Vata performs
functions of circulation, transportation and communication and represents all
macro and micro channels (such as the nervous system, circulatory system,
etc.)
Pitta is
transforming or metabolizing. It represents enzymes and hormones.
Kapha
comprises all structures and represents body tissues (bones, muscle tissue,
nervous tissue, fat tissue, etc).
Q. How does
this view relate to plants?
Ayurveda recognizes that the same five elements constitute plants, the
human body, and everything else in the universe. Ayurvedic herbology (Dravya
Guna Vigyan) describes the action of foods and herbs through five fundamental
principles:
Taste (Rasa), such as
sweet, sour, bitter, salt, pungent, astringent
Qualities (Gun),
such as heavy, light, cold, hot, dry, oily
Potency (Veerya),
i.e. effect on a system or organ.
Post-digestive action
(Vipak), such as sweet, sour, and pungent.
Specific effect
(Prabhav)
These five factors of herb action take effect through a dominant element
or a combination of the five elements. Knowing this combination is the basis for
determining the effect of foods and herbs on body-mind and consciousness.
The idea is to use proper foods, herbs, lifestyle, and routine in order to
create and maintain a balance (Swa-stha) of vata, pitta, and kapha, bodily
tissues, digestion and metabolism, as well as to clear channels and foster
happy senses, mind, and consciousness. All these are part of the holistic
definition of a healthy individual.
Q. How
important is it that herbs used in Ayurvedic medicine be organic?
At the beginning of all ancient systems there were only organically grown
foods and herbs. Much later, we added chemical pesticides and fertilizers and
so on to change them or make them grow faster. As a result, today we
sometimes find that herbs that have been effective for thousands of years
don't have the same effect they're supposed to because of the use of
pesticides and fertilizers.
Now, in India and every other place, it
is very well recognized that plants must be grown organically. Governments
pay special attention to making sure there is full control over the
environments the plants are grown in. They want to ensure that Ayurvedic
medicines are made from organically grown, handpicked herbs.
Q. What are some common medicinal plants that are used in Ayurved?
There are more than 500 herbs. Ayurveda recommends the use of
- Single herbs that are used
based on their action on the three Doshas, bodily tissues, or specific
systems or organs, and on that herb's effect as an analgesic, nerve
tonic, laxative, anti-asthmatic, or anti-inflammatory
- Herbal formulas based on a
combination of primary herbs, herbs that enhance bioavailability, herbs
that eliminate or minimize side effects and maximize side benefits,
herbs that facilitate the elimination of metabolic wastes and toxins, and
herbs that have immunomodulating effects.
Some of the most commonly used single herbs are Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna)
for heart care; Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)which is
particularly good for the nervous system, anxiety, or depression - think of
it as Indian ginseng; Guggul (Commiphora mukul) which is most commonly
used for high cholesterol and joint inflammation, stiffness and joint pains.
Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) is very good as an immunomodulator, for
skin diseases, liver problems, and hyperacidity. Gokshur (Tribulus
terrestris) is commonly used for urinary problems, kidney stones, or
prostate problems. Nirgundi (Vitex nirgundo) is also very good for
joint pains, sciatica, and disorders of the nervous system.
Copyright © Ayurveda Medical Group,
2004.
|
|
