Traditional Indian practices like Yoga and Ayurveda strongly focus on mental and physical well-being and they are deeply rooted in the concept of preventive healthcare. Ayurvedic medicines and trea...
Traditional Indian practices like Yoga and Ayurveda strongly focus on mental and physical well-being and they are deeply rooted in the concept of preventive healthcare. Ayurvedic medicines and treatments are immensely popular and are easily available in India but why a modern developed country like America is showing interest in this ancient Indian medical practice?
Ayurveda commands a significant amount of respect at home and abroad. However, its effectiveness is under scrutiny owing to the doubtful legitimacy of its clinical trials, and as a result, its data and conclusions. Does Ayurveda have the potential to treat covid 19 or similar viruses? This is yet to be found. However, if it is to achieve this goal, what is the correct way to go about things to make it more dependable? What healthcare standards should be practiced?
There is an appreciation among a small set of physicians and these set of physicians choose to work outside the health insurance system. We can rely on these people that will be willing to take it forward. Some physicians also work in the mainstream medical, but they will give Ayurvedic practices as counseling.
There is a small percentage of doctors (particularly doctors who have been practicing for many years and people who are in the older age group, close to 60+) who after looking through what the modern medical system has done to people, the good as well as the bad, have formed opinions as to the surety and reliability on it. The place where it is not that good is in chronic conditions.
Modern medicine is highly effective for acute conditions, you have a heart attack, you have an accident, modern medicine is the best for you. On the other hand, if you’re in a chronic illness like diabetes or heart-related weakness et al, staying on drugs for many years, one drug after a period leads to another and another, and other complications come, and they go on (there is no pill for every ill but there is an ill following every pill). So, there is no cure from a modern medicine perspective while the traditional medicine and yoga approach can give the cure to them.
Healthcare costs in developed nations
Rising healthcare costs are now a major concern in many developed nations. In the UK, experts think that obesity may even bankrupt the National Health Service. According to a report by OECD, mental illness costs the UK 94 billion pounds a year and in America, mental disorders are the costliest medical condition in the country. If diseases can be detected or prevented early, public health goals can be reached faster. It is reasonable to say that preventive healthcare is the way forward. There are enough examples that show spending more money on health does not always guarantee better health. According to AAPI healthcare in America is more expensive than in any other wealthy nation.
Ayurveda
Ayurveda is based on the quantum physics world view which takes into consideration the entire world and its surroundings. This is especially important to know about somebody’s illness or wellness because unless you know that you will not be able to consider how to treat it. Just like in quantum physics which says E=m (energy is matter and matter is energy) we can say that the human body as a whole is the mind as the mind includes consciousness and awareness which our brain alone is incapable of comprehending. This was known to the ayurvedic science for thousands of years.
This Is the concept of Ayurveda; Ayurveda does not say there is a disease you treat. It says to preserve the wellness of the healthy, which is easy, cheap, and more profitable than treating a disease, but western medicine is after money. Hippocrates, the father of western medicine said, ‘do not make money in the sickroom’. America is taking a big hit in the field and now the UK NHS, which provides free medicines is also seeing its effects. Therefore, eastern medicine specifically Ayurveda is becoming too popular in the west.
Ayurveda believes in the human body as a closed system in systems biology. A closed system is a system where everything happens on its own. The thing about western medicine was that everything requires an outside intervention that is the pills and medication but today in Ayurveda (and that is coming in western medicine also) it is considered that normally if you can keep your immune system good, you will be fine without any outside intervention. Interestingly this concept is alien to western medicine.
Conclusion
The western system is a little on the edge, but you cannot just throw it out because for emergency quick fixes this kind of medicine is the best. Although this is only 2% of the sick population each day. 98% can make do with an Ayurveda-like alternate system. There should not be a monopoly for one system. What we should have, is a judicious combination of all systems where emergency quick fixes come from modern medicine, western medicine, and all the other things come from various systems like Ayurveda. We need to put together a system we call future medicine or meta medicine.
