Ayurvedic medicine or Ayurveda is among the oldest medical systems in the world. Ayurveda originated in India and evolved to its present form after thousands of years. In the Unites States, Ayurvedic medicine is thought of as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) system. Ayurveda therapies are often used as their own CAM. This includes the use of herbs, massage, and specialized diets. Below is a general overview of Ayurveda.

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Key Points

Ayurvedic medicine’s goal is to achieve balance in the body, mind, and spirit and integrate them together. The belief is that by doing so wellness is promoted and illness prevented. Ayurvedic medicine cleanses the body and restores balance through the usage of various products and techniques. Some of the products are harmful when improperly used or without consulting a trained practitioner. This includes some herbs having negative interactions with conventional medicines. Be sure to find out about the practitioner’s training and experience before utilizing Ayurvedic treatments.

Ensure that you inform all your health care providers about what complementary and alternative medicine practices you use. This allows them to know exactly how you are managing your health and coordinate your safe medical care by avoiding adverse interactions.

Background

The history of Ayurvedic medicine or Ayurveda can be traced back several thousand years ago in India. Ayurveda translates to “the science of life,” as ayur means life and veda means science or knowledge.

In the United States, Ayurvedic medicine is thought of as a whole medical system type of CAM. Ayurveda includes ways to prevent, manage, and treat health issues. Like other medical systems, these ways stand upon theories of health and illness.

Some consider Ayurvedic medicine to be holistic, as it works to integrate and balance the body, mind, and spirit. It is believed that obtaining this balance can help achieve happiness and health that in turn aids in the prevention of illness. Ayurveda includes treatments for specific physical and mental ailments. The main goal of Ayurveda is to rid the body of substances that cause diseases. By doing so it aids in reestablishing harmony and balance in the body.

Ayurvedic Medicine in India

Ayurveda medicine has long been used in India making it one of the world’s oldest medical systems. Many Ayurvedic practices were developed before written records and were passed down through the generations via word of mouth. The main texts of Ayurvedic medicine are contained in two ancient books (Caraka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita) that were originally written in Sanskrit over 2,000 years ago. Theses books outline the eight branches of Ayurvedic medicine as follows:

- Internal medicine
- Surgery
- Treatment of head and neck disease
- Gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics
- Toxicology
- Psychiatry
- Care of the elderly and rejuvenation
- Sexual Vitality

About 80 percent of India’s population continues to rely on Ayurvedic medicine exclusively or along side conventional Western medicine. Additionally, it continues to be widely practiced in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan.

There are Ayurvedic colleges and hospitals in almost all major cities in India. Additionally, the Indian government has supported systematic research on Ayurvedic practices since 1969.

Use in the United States

The 2007 National Health Interview Survey contained an extensive survey of American’s use of CAM. The results showed that over 200,000 American adults used Ayurvedic medicine in the prior year.

Underlying Concepts

There are several key foundations related to health and disease that are part of Ayurvedic medicine. These foundations relate to universal interconnectedness, the body’s constitution (prakriti), and life forces (doshas).

Interconnectedness: When thinking about issues that affect health, Ayurvedic practitioners rely on beliefs about the relationships between people, their health, and the universe. Ayurvedic medicine beliefs include:

- All living and nonliving aspects of the universe are interconnected.
- All humans are made up of elements that are found in the universe.
- When one’s mind and body are in harmony, you will enjoy good health. This means one’s interactions with the universe are natural and wholesome.
- When one is not in harmony with the universe, disease happens in the person.
- The disturbance with harmony can be physical, emotional, and/or spiritual.

Constitution (pankriti): There are also particular beliefs related to the body’s constitution in Ayurvedic medicine. Constitution relates to a person’s overall health, how likely a person is to becoming unbalanced, and the person’s capability of resisting and recuperating from diseases or other health issues.

In Ayurvedic medicine, constitution is referred to as the prakriti. This includes the person’s own combination of physical and psychological attributes as well as how the body functions maintain health. One’s prakriti is affected by various factors including digestion and how the body takes care of waste products. Ayurvedic medicine believes that prakriti does not change during one’s lifetime.

Life forces (doshas): There are three life forces or energies known as doshas that make up the prakriti characteristics. These life forces are responsible for controlling the body’s activities. The balancing of the doshas are believed to relate to how likely someone is to develop specific types of diseases. The balance can be affected by the physical body, mental factors, and lifestyle factors.

The Ayurvedic medicine beliefs about the three doshas are as follows:

1. Every dosha contain two of five basic elements. The five basic elements are ether (i.e. upper regions of space), air, fire, water, and earth.

2. Every dosha possesses a specific relationship with bodily functions. This relationship can be disrupted for various reasons.

3. Everyone has a different combination of the three doshas. Usually there is one prominent dosha in each person. The doshas are always being created and recreated by food, activity, and bodily processes.

4. Every dosha possesses its own physical and psychological attributes.

5. Dosha imbalance results in symptoms that are specific to that dosha. The imbalance can be a result of age, unhealthy lifestyle, diet, mental or physical overexertion, not enough mental or physical exertion, seasons, or improper protection from weather, chemicals, or germs.

The three doshas are referred to by their Sanskrit names of vata, pitta, and kapha.

Vata dosha is a combination of the ether and air elements. This dosha is believed to be the most powerful, as it controls the body’s most basic processes. These basic processes include cell division, the heart, breathing, discharge of waste, and the mind. Vata aggravates fear, grief, staying up late, eating dry fruit, or eating prior to fully digesting the previous meal. Those that have vata as their prominent dosha are believed to be at risk of skin and neurological conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, anxiety, and insomnia.

Pitta dosha is a contains the fire and water elements. This element is responsible for controlling hormones and the digestive system. When there is an imbalance of pitta, a person experiences negative emotions including anger. Additionally, the imbalance can cause heartburn 2 to 3 hours after eating. Things that lead to an imbalance of pitta include eating spicy or sour food, fatigue, and overexposure to the sun. Those whose constitution is mostly pitta are believe to be at risk for hypertension, heart disease, infectious disease, and digestive ailments such as Chrohn’s disease.

Treatment

In Ayurvedic medicine treatment is based on the patient’s constitution. Patients are expected to play an active role when using Ayurvedic treatments, as most treatments require changes in diet, lifestyle, and habits.

Balancing Dosha: The first step in receiving Ayurvedic treatment is finding out what the patient’s prominent dosha is along with finding out the balance among the doshas in the patient. During this part of treatment, practitioner ask the patient about diet, behavior, lifestyle practices, recent illnesses, and past ability to bounce back from illnesses or setbacks. They also take into account the patient’s physical characteristics including teeth, tongue, skin, eyes, weight, and overall appearance. Additionally, they consider the patient’s speed, voice, and pulse as well as look at the patient’s urine and stool.

Treatment Practices: There are four main components of Ayurvedic treatment: eliminating impurities, reducing symptoms, increasing disease resistance, and reducing worry while increasing harmony. These are achieved through a variety of methods.

Eliminating Impurities: This is done through a process referred to as panchakarma, which cleanses the body of undigested foods called ama. The ama interferes with normal body function by sticking to tissues. This can result in disease. Panchakarma works to get rid of ama via the digestive tract as well as the respiratory system. Some of the methods of doing this include enemas, massage, and nasal spray medical oils.

Reducing Symptoms: Practitioners will provide various options to help reduces symptoms. This can include physical exercises, stretches, breathing exercises, meditation, massage, sun exposure, and diet changes. They may also suggest taking specific herbs. It is frequently recommended to take the herbs with honey to help with digesting them. Occasionally, it is recommended to restrict your diet to specific foods. In a some instances, minimal amounts of metal and mineral preparations such as gold or iron may be prescribed.

Increasing Disease Resistance: To improve your immune system tonics with herbs, proteins, minerals, and vitamins are provided or recommended by Ayurvedic practitioners. The tonics are based on the same formulas written in the ancient texts about Ayurvedic medicine.

Reducing Worry while Increasing Harmony: Mental nurturing and spiritual healing are important aspects of Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic practitioners usually recommend avoiding circumstances that lead to worrying. They will also recommend ways to relieve negative emotions.

Use of Plants: Ayurvedic treatments mostly use herbs and other plants. This includes the use of oils and common spices. There are over 600 different herbal formulas as well as 250 single plant drugs used in the current “pharmacy” of Ayurvedic treatments. The different plant compounds used in Ayurvedic medicine are grouped into categories based on their effects. These categories include healing, promoting vitality, and relieving pain. The different compounds are detailed in texts that national medical agencies in India release. In some instances the botanicals are mixed with metals or other natural substances to create formulas. The making of these formulas utilize several herbs and herbal extracts and are done using precise heat treatment as described in Ayurvedic texts.

Practitioner Training and Certification

There are over 150 undergraduate and 30 postgraduate colleges for studying Ayurvedic medicine in India, where most practitioners get their education. The process of becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner can take 5 or more years. In India, those that wish to get a degree in Ayurvedic medicine can obtain a bachelors or doctorate. Some of those that obtain degrees in India go on to practice Ayurvedic medicine in other countries such as the United States.

In the United States there is not a national standard for the training or certification of Ayurvedic practitioners. However, some states do have approved Ayurvedic schools as educational institutions.

Concerns About Ayurvedic Medications

Ayurvedic treatment mostly involves using tonics made with herbs, metals, minerals, or other materials. There are four main concerns related to using these ingredients are toxicity, formulations, interactions, and scientific evidence. Health officials in India as well as other countries have worked to address these concerns.

Toxicity: Ayurvedic medications can be toxic. Many of the ingredients used in the medications have yet to be throroughly researched in Western or Indian studies. Ayurvedic medications are regulated as dietary supplements in the United States. Because of this, they are not subject to the same safety and efficacy standards as conventional medicines. In 2004, a NCCAM-funded study discovered that 14 out of 70 Ayurvedic remedies purchased over-the-counter and made in South Asia contained lead, mercury, and/or harmful arsenic levels. The same year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in the previous three years 12 cases of lead poisoning was caused by using Ayurvedic medications

Formulations: Since most Ayurvedic medications contain a variety of herbs and other ingredients, it is tough to tell exactly which ingredients have an effect and why.

Interactions: There can be interactions any time multiple medications are taken. This can cause the efficacy of one or more of the medications to be higher or lower.

Scientific Evidence: The significance of the results of most Ayurvedic medicine clinical trials are compromised by factors such as being too small, problems with research designs, lack of proper control groups, or other issues. Thus the scienctific evidence related to the efficacy of Ayurvedic practices is varied and it is necessary for more rigorous research to be carried out to determine the safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic practices.