Ayurvedic medicine for plantar fasciitis

Ayurveda

Alternative medicine with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent

Ayurveda (/ˌɑːjʊərˈveɪdə, -ˈviː-/)^[1] is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent.^[2] The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific.^[3][4][5] The Indian Medical Association (IMA) characterises the practice of modern medicine by Ayurvedic practitioners as quackery.^[6]

The main classical Ayurveda texts begin with accounts of the transmission of medical knowledge from the gods to sages, and then to human physicians.^[7] In Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), Sushruta wrote that Dhanvantari, Hindu god of Ayurveda, incarnated himself as a king of Varanasi and taught medicine to a group of physicians, including Sushruta.^[8][9] Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia.^[2] Therapies are typically based on complex herbal compounds, minerals and metal substances (perhaps under the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasa shastra). Ancient Ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, kidney stone extractions, sutures, and the extraction of foreign objects.^[10][11] Ayurveda has been adapted for Western consumption, notably by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and Maharishi Ayurveda in the 1980s.

Some scholars assert that Ayurveda originated in prehistoric times,^[12][13] and that some of the concepts of Ayurveda have existed from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization or even earlier.^[14] Ayurveda developed significantly during the Vedic period and later some of the non-Vedic systems such as Buddhism and Jainism also developed medical concepts and practices that appear in the classical Ayurveda texts.^[14] Doṣa balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness.^[15] Ayurveda treatises describe three elemental doṣas viz. vāta, pitta and kapha, and state that balance (Skt. sāmyatva) of the doṣas results in health, while imbalance (viṣamatva) results in disease. Ayurveda treatises divide medicine into eight canonical components. Ayurveda practitioners had developed various medicinal preparations and surgical procedures from at least the beginning of the common era.^[16]

There is no good evidence that Ayurveda is effective for treating any disease.^[17] Ayurvedic preparations have been found to contain lead, mercury, and arsenic,^[18] substances known to be harmful to humans. In a 2008 study, close to 21% of U.S. and Indian-manufactured patent Ayurvedic medicines sold through the Internet were found to contain toxic levels of heavy metals, specifically lead, mercury, and arsenic.^[19] The public health implications of such metallic contaminants in India are unknown.^[19]

1. ^ "Ayurveda". Oxford University Press.
2. ^ ^{a b} Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1999). "Introduction". A History of Indian Medical Literature. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. ISBN 978-9069801247.
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference kaufman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference oxpsych was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Quack-2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "IMA Anti Quackery Wing". Indian Medical Association. The purpose of this compendium of court orders and various rules and regulations is to acquaint doctors regarding specific provisions and orders barring quackery by unqualified people, practitioners of Indian & Integrated Medicine to practice Modern Medicine.
7. ^ Zysk, Kenneth G. (1999). "Mythology and the Brāhmaṇization of Indian medicine: Transforming Heterodoxy into Orthodoxy". In Josephson, Folke (ed.). Categorisation and Interpretation. Meijerbergs institut för svensk etymologisk forskning, Göteborgs universitet. pp. 125–145. ISBN 978-91-630-7978-8.
8. ^ Bhishagratna, Kaviraj Kunjalal (1907). An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita Based on Original Sanskrit text. Calcutta: K. K. Bhishagratna. p. 1. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
9. ^ Dhanvantari. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 August 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
10. ^ Wujastyk, Dominik (2003). The Roots of Ayurveda: Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings (3 ed.). London etc.: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-140-44824-5.
11. ^ Mukhopadhyaya, Girindranath (1913). The Surgical Instruments of the Hindus, with a Comparative Study of the Surgical Instruments of the Greek, Roman, Arab, and the Modern European Surgeons. Calcutta: Calcutta University. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
12. ^ Dinesh Kumar Tyagi (2005). Pharma Forestry A Field Guide To Medicinal Plants. Atlantic Publishers. p. 34. Ayurveda, the organised and classic system of traditional medicine had known to the Indians from prehistoric times.
13. ^ Corwin Hansch, Peter George Sammes, Peter D. Kennewell, John Bodenhan Taylor (1990). Comprehensive medicinal chemistry: the rational design, mechanistic study & therapeutic application of chemical compounds. Pergamon Press. p. 114. The origin of Ayurveda is lost in antiquity. As was the case with many branches of human knowledge in prehistoric times, Ayurveda developed in close association with religion and mythology.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
14. ^ ^{a b} Pankaj Gupta; Vijay Kumar Sharma; Sushma Sharma (2014). Healing Traditions of the Northwestern Himalayas. Springer. p. 23. ISBN 9788132219255.
15. ^ Cite error: The named reference WujastykXVIII was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
16. ^ Sharma, Priya Vrat (1992). History of Medicine in India. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy.
17. ^ Cite error: The named reference cruk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
18. ^ "Is Ayurveda treatment approved in the U.S?". WebMD.
19. ^ ^{a b} Saper RB; Phillips RS; et al. (2008). "Lead, mercury, and arsenic in US- and Indian-manufactured medicines sold via the internet". JAMA. 300 (8): 915–923. doi:10.1001/jama.300.8.915. PMC 2755247. PMID 18728265.

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