Chapter 36 Asian medicine
HISTORY OF ASIAN MEDICINE SYSTEMS
Ayurveda
Ayurveda is the ancient and sacred (Hindu) system of health care, originating in India over 5000 years ago. It is purely Indian in origin and has not been influenced by other countries or their medical systems. The literal translation of the word ‘Ayurveda’ from two words in Sanskrit—āyus, meaning ‘life principle’ and veda, referring to a ‘system of knowledge’—accurately portrays the complexity and depth into which this medical system goes. A more overreaching translation can be taken as ‘The knowledge (or science) of life’. The Charaka Samhita—an ancient Indian Ayurvedic text on internal medicine defines ‘life’ as a ‘combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, which sustains the body over time, and guides the processes of rebirth’ and is one of the earliest written texts of Ayurveda, dating back to about 300 BC (see Chattopadhyaya, Further reading). It is believed to be the oldest of three ancient treatises of Ayurveda and is central to the modern-day practice of Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect ‘āyus’, which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony. It is also one among the few traditional systems of medicine to contain a sophisticated system of surgery (which is referred to as ‘salya-chikitsa’). In today’s Western society, theemergence of holistic health systems such as Ayurveda has led to the accommodation of modern science, especially in relation to the testing of medicines, in which research and adaptation are actively encouraged. Indeed, it is perfectly possible to evaluate Ayurvedic medicines using conventional clinical trials, and this is being carried out increasingly. At present, there are only a few Ayurvedic practitioners (‘vaid’) in the West, but the rapidly increasing popularity of more holistic approaches to health—where each patient is considered unique and therefore must be treated individually—has led to the emergence of schools of Ayurveda, Ayurvedic treatment centres and more Ayurvedic medicines being imported. This approach is in contrast to Western medicine where populations are generalized and ‘normal’ means what is applicable to the majority. Many ethnic populations from India and Pakistan continue to use their own traditional remedies while living in Europe, Australia or the US. Philosophically, Ayurveda has similarities with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The familiar yin and yang—the opposing life forces identified in TCM, can be likened to the three ‘humours’ of Ayurveda—the tridosha.
