AYURVEDA INDIA

Ayurveda is the traditional system of Indian medicine. It is attributed to Dhanvantari, the physician to the gods in Hindu mythology, who received it from Brahma. Its earliest concepts were set out in the portion of the Vedas known as the Atharvaveda (2nd millennium BC). The most important Ayurvedic texts are the Caraka samhita and Susruta samhita (1st – 4th century AD). These texts analyze the human body in terms of earth, water, fire, air, and ether as well as the three bodily humours (wind, bile, and phlegm). To prevent illness, Ayurvedic medicine emphasizes hygiene, exercise, herbal preparations, and yoga. To cure ailments, it relies on herbal medicines, physiotherapy, and diet. Ayurvedic medicine is still a popular form of health care in India and it has gained currency in the West as a form of alternative medicine.

Ayurveda is now a statutory, recognized medical system of health care like other medical systems existing in India. Ayurveda is India’s traditional, natural system of medicine that has been practiced for more than 5,000 years. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that literally translated means "science of life" or "practices of longevity." Ayurveda was the system of health care conceived and developed by the seers (rishis) and natural scientists through centuries of observations, experiments, discussions, and meditations. For several thousand years their teachings were passed on orally from teacher to student; about the fifth to sixth century BC, elaborately detailed texts were written in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. For many years Ayurveda flourished and was used by rich and poor alike in India and Southeast Asia.

Ayurveda is the ancient Hindu medical-metaphysical healing science based on the harmony of body, mind and universe through diet, exercise, herbs, and purification procedures. It is the most complete system of natural medicine and the mother of all healing arts. Ayurvedic diagnosis involves examination of the eyes, face, lips, tongue, nails, and pulse. The pulse is important because of the belief that the heart is the seat of the underlying intelligence of nature i.e. human consciousness.

Ayurveda (the 'science of life') is a system of traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda comprises the words āyus, meaning 'life' and Veda, meaning 'science'. Evolving throughout its history, Ayurveda remains an influential system of medicine in South Asia. The earliest literature of Ayurveda appeared during the Vedic period in India. The Sushruta Samhita and the Charaka Samhita were influential works on traditional medicine during this era. Ayurvedic practitioners also identified a number of medicinal preparations and surgical procedures for curing various ailments and diseases.
Ayurveda has become an alternative form of medicine in the western world, where patents for its medicine have been passed, and the intellectual property rights contested by Western and Indian institutions. Ayurveda is considered to be a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) within the United States of America, where several of its methods—such as herbs, massage, and Yoga as exercise or alternative medicine—are applied on their own as a form of CAM treatment.

Ayurveda believes in 'five great elements' earth, water, fire, air and space) forming the universe, including the human body. Blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, chyle, and semen are the seven primary constituent elements of the body. Ayurveda stresses a balance of three substances: wind/spirit/air, phlegm, and bile, each representing divine forces. The doctrine of these three Dosas - Vata (wind/spirit/air), Pitta (bile) and Kapha (phlegm)—is important. Traditional beliefs hold that humans possess a unique constellation of Dosas. In Ayurveda, the human body has 20 Guna, meaning quality). Surgery and surgical instruments are employed. It is believed that building a healthy metabolic system, attaining good digestion and proper excretion leads to vitality. Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, yoga, meditation, and massage.
The concept of Panchakarma is believed to eliminate toxic elements from the body. Eight disciplines of Ayurveda treatment, called Ashtanga, are given below:
• Surgery (Shalya-Chkitsa).
• Treatment of diseases above the clavicle (Salakyam).
• Internal medicine (Kaya-Chikitsa).
• Demonic possession (Bhuta Vidya): Ayurveda believes in demonic intervention and—as a form of traditional medicine—identifies a number of ways to counter the supposed effect of these interferences. Bhuta Vidya has been called psychiatry.
• Paediatrics (Kaumarabhrtyam).
• Toxicology (Agadatantram).
• Prevention and building immunity (Rasayanam).
• Aphrodisiacs (Vajikaranam).

Ayurveda traces its origins to the Vedas - the Atharvaveda in particular - and is connected to religion and mythology. The Sushruta Samhita of Sushruta appeared during the 1st millennium BC. The main vehicle of the transmission of knowledge during that period was by oral method. The language used was Sanskrit - the Vedic language of that period (2000-500 BC). The most authentic compilation of his teachings and work is presently available in a treatise called Sushruta Samhita. This contains 184 chapters and description of 1120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.

The early phase of traditional Indian medicine identified 'fever (Takman), cough, consumption, diarrhea, dropsy, abscesses, seizures, tumours, and skin diseases (including leprosy).' Treatment of complex ailments - including Angina pectoris, diabetes, hypertension, and stones - also ensued during this period. Plastic surgery, cataract surgery, puncturing to release fluids in the abdomen, extraction of foreign elements, treatment of anal fistulas, treating fractures, amputations, cesarean sections, and stitching of wounds were known. The use of herbs and surgical instruments became widespread.
Other early works of Ayurveda include the Charaka Samhita, attributed to Charaka. The earliest surviving excavated written material which contains the works of Sushruta is the Bower Manuscript - dated to the 4th century BC. The Bower manuscript cites directly from Sushruta, and is of special interest to historians due to the presence of Indian medicine and its concepts in Central Asia. Vagbhata - the son of a senior doctor by the name of Simhagupta - also compiled his works on traditional medicine. Early Ayurveda had a school of physicians and a school of surgeons. Tradition holds that the text Agnivesh Tantra - written by the legendary sage Agnivesh, a student of the mythological sage Bharadwaja - influenced the writings of Ayurveda.
The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien (337 - 422 BC) wrote about the health care system of the Gupta Empire (320 - 550 BC) and in the process described the institutional approach of Indian medicine which is also visible in the works of Caraka, who mentions a clinic and how it should be equipped. Madhava (700 BC), Sarngadhara (1300 BC), and Bhavamisra (1500 BC) compiled works on Indian medicine. The medical works of both Sushruta and Charaka were translated into Arabic language during the Abbasid Caliphate (750 BC). These Arabic works made their way into Europe via intermediaries. In Italy the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques of Sushruta.

British physicians traveled to India to see Rhinoplasty being performed by native methods. Reports on Indian Rhinoplasty were published in the Gentleman's Magazine by 1794. Joseph Constantine Carpue spent 20 years in India studying local plastic surgery methods. Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the western world by 1815. Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in the Western World.