Ayurveda is a medical system that originated in India about 3,500 years ago. It focuses on balancing the systems of the body, mind, and spirit through proper diet, hygiene, cleansing, exercise, and medical treatments from massage to surgery and pharmaceuticals. The eight disciplines within Ayurveda are internal medicine, surgery, eye/ear/nose/throat medicine, toxicology, disease prevention and rejuvenation, pediatrics, sexual and prenatal medicine, and psychiatry. In India, Ayurveda is the most popular form of medicine and provides primary care for most people. In the United States, Ayurveda is considered a form of complementary or alternative medicine and is not considered a replacement for standard Western medicine.
What is an Ayurvedic Researcher?
An Ayurvedic researcher conducts research into the effectiveness, new applications, and potential toxicity of traditional Ayurvedic compounds and treatments. Ayurvedic researchers are either professional practitioners of Ayurveda, or Western medical professionals engaged in Ayurvedic research. Researchers may also be students working toward a degree in Ayurvedic medicine, Western medicine, or another branch of complementary or alternative medicine.
Where Ayurvedic Research is Conducted
Ayurvedic research is conducted in Ayurvedic colleges, universities, and health care facilities; in Western medical colleges, universities, and health care facilities; at facilities specializing in other complementary, alternative, and traditional forms of medicine; at pharmaceutical companies; and at government facilities. In India, the government's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy regulates Ayurveda. AYUSH runs the Central Council of Indian Medicine, which accredits schools and conducts research. Other bodies that conduct Ayurvedic research include the World Health Organization, The European Federation for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, The European Ayurveda Association, the Institute of Indigenous Medicine at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka, Ayurveda Lanka Hospital in Sri Lanka, Gampaha Wickramarachchi Ayurveda Institute at the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka, the U.S.'s National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association in the U.S., and the National Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine in the U.S.
Effectiveness
Ayurvedic researchers study the effectiveness of traditional Ayurvedic treatments. These include physical treatments, such as yoga and massage, nutritional therapies and traditional Ayurvedic diets, and pharmaceutical treatments, which traditionally include herbs and minerals.
New Applications
Ayurvedic researchers study the application of Ayurvedic treatments to new conditions, such as newly emerging infectious diseases, or to typical Western "diseases of lifestyle". They apply Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals, cleansing regimens, exercises, and nutritional philosophy to conditions like heart disease, hypertension, obesity, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and strokes. Researchers also study Ayurvedic herbs and pharmaceuticals to develop new Western pharmaceutical treatments.
Toxicity
Ayurvedic researchers determine the potential dangers and side effects of using Ayurvedic pharmaceutical compounds. This is necessary because many of these compounds contain minerals, which, in their raw forms, have known toxic effects. Many mass-produced compounds marketed in the West were determined to contain toxic levels of these minerals. Research revealed that traditional preparation methods render these minerals non-toxic, but unregulated and "sped up" methods of preparing the pharmaceuticals may leave the compounds in toxic forms.
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