Ayurveda in
Dr. Sebastian Mathew, mathew@aon.at
Synopsis
In the last few years Ayurveda
has become very popular in many of the European countries. It is moderately widespread
as wellness and not as a medicine. There are only less than 10 doctors who
practice Ayurveda in
To propagate Ayurveda in the west, scientific
researches should be done. Ayurveda can play a very
important role in
Full Paper
20 years ago Ayurveda was not very popular in
many European countries. It has started to be known in the context of wellness
and some special oil massages.
The Europeans, who came to
In the beginning there was some confusion, because these tourists
correlated this kind of oil massage with Ayurveda,
not knowing that Ayurveda is much more than just a
massage, but a great ancient medicine.
And so some hotels in
But nowadays this view of Ayurveda as wellness
is starting to change.
In
Ayurvedic training in
Even though Ayurveda is becoming popular in
In the field of wellness we have a very successful development of Ayurveda in
In
For the education of Ayurveda there is no
program or course from any of the Austrian universities. For physiotherapists,
medical massagers and nursing professions etc. ayurvedic
courses are being offered, but it is not possible to achieve an official ayurvedic title by them.
In order to practise any kind of medicine in
The head of this committee is Dr. Sebastian Mathew, originally from Kerala, who is both, a consultant surgeon and also trained
in ayurvedic medicine. He has his own Ayurvedic clinic in
After a long period of preparation a postgraduate training in Ayurveda for Austrian medical doctors could be started in
March 2006. In cooperation with the GAMED
(
These doctors are also interested in visiting
Dr. Mathew is in contact with some of the leading ayurvedic
centres in
At the same time the ayurvedic committee is
trying to get the official legalisation from the Austrian medical counsel for Ayurveda. If this can be fulfilled, it would be very
helping in achieving the accreditation for Ayurveda
as a medical system and not only as a further education.
The Austrian medical association has already accredited 30 hours of ayurvedic training in the education and training program
for doctors. This is a great success as it is the first time that a medical
association in a German-speaking European country certifies a comprehensive Ayurveda studies course.
Health insurance companies: Ayurveda is not
included in the basic health insurance plan of
Ministry of health: A commission for Asian healing methods was
established by the Federal Ministry of health in 2005, for which
representatives of Chinese medicine, Tibetan medicine and Ayurveda
Medicine were appointed. It is due to the strong recommendation of this
commission, that the legalisation of ayurvdic massage
for wellness was achieved.
Products and medication: In
How to make Ayurveda acceptable in
The marketing of ayurvedic medication and
other products is not the correct way of propagating Ayurveda
in the west. Surely the pharmaceutical industry can contribute a lot to the
growth of Ayurveda, by helping to standardise the
medication, in the mechanism of action and the active ingredients.
The most important and effective way for making Ayurveda
acceptable in
It is not enough to teach the ayurvedic
principles without evidence based medicine and research. Even Charaka says one should continuously think and ponder on
new problems.
It is very important that we spell out what exact research should be
done on ayurvedic lines. Due to various historical factors
the development of Ayurveda had ceased from 12th
century AD. After the 16th century AD we have only collections of
ancient works and re-writings of what had been done earlier. To be accepted in a
evidence orientated world, one has to think in more modern ways.
Ayurveda and modern medicine:
We cannot equate Ayurveda with modern
medicine. Ayurveda lays its emphasis on both
preventive and curative aspects, but its stronghold has been the former.
Nowadays the main cause of deaths and disability occur from diseases of
the cardiovascular system, cancer, psychosomatic problems, degenerative
disorders etc. Here there is an urgent need on the global level to evolve
preventive strategies.
In Charak Samhita
there is put a lot of emphasis on longevity and the role of promotive
health care. Rasayana treatment, preventive medicine,
palliative medicine and rehabilitation are the main possible pillars in Ayurveda
in
Health promotion is discipline whereas disease treatment is a crisis
management. Ayurveda is a science on holistic
principles and holds for health strategies. In the west there is a trend of
thinking that we need a holistic way of treatment. Ayurvedic
physicians in
Evidence –based Ayurveda:
Ayurveda is a conceptual science where
concepts have been evolved, and modern medicine is based on experimental
science. We know that the concepts are no more absurd, but it is essential to
create a base of evidence for fundamental principles of Ayurveda.
Other than drug therapies, Ayurveda
contributes Ksharasutra and leech therapies in modern
health care, which can be easily applied in
In anal fistel cases where surgical therapy is
contraindicated, ayurvedic therapy (Ksharasutra) plays a definitive role. Leech therapy is very
effective in complicated varicose veins.
As a practising surgeon in
Researches on the biophysics of Panchakarma
with the help of biophysicists and biomedical engineers should be done. Mucous
membranes of the gastrointestinal tract have a dialyzing effect and are
therefore a field of great research possibility.
Another interesting field of research is our mind. Human emotions are
attributed to the number of brain peptides (correlated to the food protein
intake). There is no research done on brain peptides in Satya,
Raja and Tama states and also pathya foods in Ayurveda.
Good ayurvedic practitioners are missing in
Conclusion:
In the last few years Ayurveda has become very
popular in many of the European countries. It is moderately widespread as
wellness and not as a medicine. There are only less than 10 doctors who
practice Ayurveda in
To propagate Ayurveda in the west, scientific
researches should be done. Ayurveda can play a very
important role in