Andrew Phelps
Curated Paper 1
Ayurveda, one of the most ancient yet still extant medical systems in the world, has come from India to the United States in the last half century. That this system, called the “Science of Life,” has lasted more than 5,000 years is a testament to the perpetual relevance of its ideals. Yet, even though Ayurveda has been used for millennia and still maintains its support, a lack of clinical trials and proven research add to public skepticism and unease about the concept in western populations. In western medicine, treatments are tested, measured, and scrutinized by Doctors and researchers and agencies before being approved or considered proven. This process has been magnified to the public eye as we have sought treatment for COVID-19.
Given its ancient origin and cultural descent, less of this has been applied to Ayurveda. Proponents of Ayurveda recognize the need for scientific evaluation of the system and are calling for a bridging of Ayurveda with evidence-based scientific approaches in medicine (Patwardhan, 2014). They maintain that Ayurveda has the ability to treat chronic diseases that modern medicine cannot, including cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and asthma. They acknowledge and lament the dearth of scientific validation for Ayurveda and call for increased efforts in research methodology from their peers in order to increase global recognition and acceptance (Chauhan et al., 2015).
There is also some varying perspective on the move to modernity within the community of Ayurvedic practitioners. Some assert that the advancement of Ayurveda is stagnant due to the complacency of many practitioners, who have attitudes of being defensive, dogmatic, and sentimental instead of having a pragmatic scientific outlook. Proponents of modernity argue that the original contributors to Ayurveda, who used all the knowledge and tools available to them at their time, would have used all the knowledge, instruments, and technology available in this time. They maintain that embracing modernity doesn’t entail blind adherence to all the methodologies of western medicine and losing cultural tradition, but accepting modern tools and expanding Ayurveda, which growth the system was designed for (Patwardhan, 2014).
The Ayurveda Institute is one of the leading Ayurveda schools outside of India. They state that Ayurveda is not a substitute for western medicine, but rather is complementary to it. Where western medicine focuses more on symptoms and treating disease using drugs or surgery, Ayurveda focuses on balancing the energy within a person. Disease and symptoms are a result of imbalance of the mind, body, and spirit, and so Ayurveda’s focus on maintaining balance is disease prevention. Of course, the first step in healing is the reestablishing of that balance (Assisi, 2007). The Ayurveda Institute believes that Ayurveda and western medicine can be used together to make a person stronger and more resistant to disease as well as to rehabilitate the body after the use of drugs or surgery for treatment (Lad, 2006).
Personally, it seems to me that the ideals of Ayurveda are more compelling than using the treatments involved. The idea of maintaining balance within myself and maintaining my personal health hits home to me. However, there is no regulation of Ayurvedic practice or education in the United States, which decreases my confidence in actually going to a practitioner. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative health questions the safety of Ayurvedic medicine, as the preparations may contain lead, mercury, or arsenic in toxic amounts. They also urge patients to consult a conventional health care provider before seeing an Ayurveda practitioner or using Ayurvedic products. They do, however, share a few studies that show Ayurvedic treatments being similarly effective to conventional treatments, though there is limited amounts of such research and sample sizes were also very limited. Though researchers say that inadequate study designs refrain them from reaching conclusions, a small study has shown that a formulation of five Ayurvedic herbs may help patients with type II diabetes (Sridharan et al., 2011).
Discussion of diabetes in America especially brings relevance to Ayurvedic concepts. Living in the United States, medicine is more focused on symptoms and treating disease. We as patients have confidence that most of the ways we can mess ourselves up can be treated with some drug or surgery. Then when type II diabetes shows up and there’s no easy treatment to keep healthy, we have to find another way. Some studies of Ayurvedic treatment show glucose-lowering effects of some herbal mixtures with no adverse effects, though the studies are not strong enough to draw definite conclusions (Sridharan et al., 2011). It seems to me that more than anything, Ayurveda’s focus on the whole body, mind, and spiritual health is the antidote. I don’t have my dream BMI, that's for sure, but I consider myself pretty healthy. I like to go to the gym and stay strong and be active, even if the pounds aren’t falling off. My diet is probably not in perfect balance with the rest of my life but overall I have my health, diet, activity, and spirituality in an okay balance. Yet if I lose balance between these things, it could easily lead to disease, especially type II diabetes. Thus, to me, the mindfulness and intentionality of Ayurvedic health are the most relevant concepts for the state of health in the United States. Imagine the health and economic effect on our country if we all maintained healthy lifestyles that reduced obesity and diabetes.
References
Sridharan K, Mohan R, Ramaratnam S, Panneerselvam D. Ayurvedic treatments for diabetes mellitus. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Dec 7;(12):CD008288. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008288.pub2. PMID: 22161426; PMCID: PMC3718571.
Patwardhan B. (2014). Bridging Ayurveda with evidence-based scientific approaches in medicine. The EPMA journal, 5(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/1878-5085-5-19
Shurtleff, D., & Hopp, C. (2019, January). Ayurvedic Medicine: In Depth. Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/ayurvedic-medicine-in-depth
Lad, V. (2006). Ayurveda: A Brief Introduction and Guide. Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://www.ayurveda.com/resources/articles/ayurveda-a-brief-introduction-and-guide
Assisi, F. (2017, August 05). Ayurveda in America. Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://indiacurrents.com/ayurveda-in-america/
Chauhan, A., Semwal, D. K., Mishra, S. P., & Semwal, R. B. (2015). Ayurvedic research and methodology: Present status and future strategies. Ayu, 36(4), 364–369. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8520.190699
I really liked how you addressed that Ayurveda has been around for thousands of years, yet many people do not use it. Yes, Western medicine and Ayurveda have different views and while Ayurveda has time on its side for credibility, Western medicine has studies to back it up. It was also great that you talked about both sides of the "making Ayurveda more modern" argument. I think that is a very important subject because is it their goal to get more people to practice this, or to maintain the classic care they always have provided. I think something else interesting is Ayurveda practices are not licensed in the US so there is no regulation and Ayurveda doctors are not able to diagnose "Western diseases". That too may be off-putting to people. That is why their treatments can have toxins in them. So, a big thing that Ayurveda emphasizes is prevention. They would emphasize maintaining balance as to prevent developing Type II diabetes because it is a hard problem to fix later. I think that is an important part of that practice. It was really great that you put your opinions in there and shared your personal thoughts, feelings, experiences, and understandings. It was also very enjoyable to read.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your comments about how Ayurveda medical professionals can be defensive against change and oppose using the scientific method to expand their practice. For example, medical schools teach evidence-based medicine to future physicians because they understand how important is to follow investigation, research and statistics when making a diagnosis and treatment. Yes, allopathic medicine has many flaws and could use many of the ideas taught by Ayurveda, but I believe that the scientific method should be the center of every treatment provided to patients, otherwise the methodology cannot be even considered complementary medicine.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, echoing the previous comment, the US is filled with different types of healthcare professionals and even though every individual has the right to decide on their treatment, some types of medical practices can be harmful. For example, naturopathic doctors are able to practice in 17 states even though they recommend against vaccination, medical testing, surgery and other modern medical practices. This can obviously bring harmful consequences not only to the patient but their community as we've seen with the outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the last few years.
I liked how you shared on your thoughts. The point that you made that the "idea" is more compelling than the "treatments" was perfectly stated. I completed agree. Holistic approaches are wonderful and people should always take care of themselves before trying to obtain medication. To believe that there are no regulation on Ayurveda is scary to think about. I wouldn't want a practitioner working on me either if they were not regulated.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of how you linked Ayurveda, diabetes and your own health into the last paragraph was great. I really liked that you expanded on your own fitness. It is important to maintain balance in our life. It's also important that you pointed out that you weren't perfect. No one is perfect and understanding that is helpful when trying to maintain a healthy mindset.