Ayurvedic Medicine Essay

1030 Words5 Pages
In this essay we will be comparing a whole healing system and a modality. The whole healing system we will be looking at is Ayurveda and the modality is Nutritional Medicine. The different aspects that will be covered are when and who invented them, how they have changed over time, what philosophies they have, how they define health and disease and how both of the healing systems are similar. It is believed in Indian tradition that Ayurveda originated from Lord Brahma (Dahanukar & Thatte 2000) “Having seen the short span of life and limited intelligence of men, (Brahma) composed (Ayurveda)” (Sushruta Su. 1:6) Lord Brahma created Ayurveda at the beginning of time as he realized illness and disease would befall man.(Dhruva, Nanal & Nanal 2008) Ancient Hindu medicine can be divided into three periods: Pre-Vedic period, Vedic period and the Arsha period. In the Arsha period most of the growth and development of Ayurveda was made. Unfortunately, India was conquered twice, during this time Ayurvedic culture was subject to the new rulers medicine practices. The moghuls enforced the Unani system and the British prevented the development of Ayurveda and Unani. In India’s struggle for freedom they fought for their right to practice Ayurveda. “Strong nationalistic views led to rejection of everything British” (Dahanukar & Thatte 2000) and Ayurveda prevailed once more. In modern day India and the world, Ayurveda is still used, however because there have not been extensive clinical trials in the efficacy of Ayurvedic treatments, some are shunned and Allopathic treatments are used instead (Wujastyk & Smith 2008). Ayurvedic medicine has many branches of healing as described by Frawley (2000) Herbs, diet, exercise, meditation and other natural means are all used to bring harmony to the body. There are also procedures used to eliminate toxic waste from the body such as ‘Basti’
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