All About Ayurvedic Medicine Programs

By Catherine Kennedy


Addresses to healthcare and wellness are an ancient enterprise. Methods and approaches greatly differ in every time and place. In some cases, common denominators can be deduced from seemingly incongruous practices. Such is the case with Ayurvedic Medicine Programs, which has much common ground with some medical approaches the whole world over.

The common ground is its theories on elemental balance. The scriptures seem to imply that there is a kind of metaphysical force that connects the common person to the universe as a whole. Similarly, discrepancies in the bodily systems of a person, even down to the minutest cell, can impinge on ones overall health. Energy blocks and mental dissension can be responsible for physiological and physical complaints. Perhaps less vaguely, it hints that there is some sort of universal interconnectedness at work.

Ayurveda is a holistic enterprise, in that it claims to heal a wide variety of diseases and complaints. Correspondingly, a variety of products and practices are also used to combat them. Some contain herbs such as turmeric or aloe, and some have to do with minerals and metals.

Ayurveda isnt recognized as a science per se, and thats for obvious reasons. Modern doctors see it as a kind of complementary or alternative medicine, that which the patient can take or practice should he choose to. However, it doesnt boast the patronage of leading medical research centers. Therefore, its not at all recommendable and guaranteed to forego conventional medicine in the place of these mere integrative approaches.

That may be too metaphysical for its own good. Anyway, all the fuss about Ayurveda is not so much on its tenets and theories but on its applications. As it is, if you want some sort of praxis to be widely accepted, make it as vague as possible. Ayurvedic tradition seems to stand by this trope.

The Ayurvedic system hasnt at all received the gold standard in the world of medical research, since its practitioners havent conducted sufficiently controlled clinical trials and systemic research reviews to prove that its practices are beneficial and not harmful. The researches held maybe had problems with control groups, research designs, or some such, which make it disreputable among medical research journals.

For example, one might not be able to form a logical premise right off the bat, why Ayurvedic practitioners stand by the fact that leeching cures baldness or that vomiting cures anorexia. That can be really mind boggling when one thinks too much about it.

Anyway, the standard practices of Ayurvedic medicine include exercise, yoga, meditation, herbal remedies, and other some such therapies. Special diets are also encouraged, as well as the proper facilitation of natural cycles like sleeping and eating. In this regard, it also zeroes down on lifestyle recommendations, even impinging on seemingly detached factors such as hygiene. There is panchakarma, the toxin and energy block remover. Some forms of surgery are also practiced, as well as bloodletting. Rasa Shastra involves the taking in of metal elements including mercury, lead, and arsenic, that which is not at all encouraged by most conventional medical practitioners. Much predictably, there are also the herbal medicines, involving such herbs like turmeric, basil, aloe vera, etc.

These schools combine didactic education with clinical training. In order to take part in it, the student should have completed a relevant bachelors degree from an accredited school. The system used aims to see health care in an integrative perspective, combining both Eastern philosophy and traditional medicine with modern, conventional medicine. There are also targeted program outcomes and competencies, from practical examinations, clinical skills, development of standardized plans, theory and applications, as well as presentation of methodologies, that which would enable the holistic formation of the student and lead him on his path as an Ayurvedic practitioner.




About the Author: