Ayurveda Ek Darshan. Review on Ayurvedic Treatment for Arthritis and other Joint pains

Ayurveda, the science of life, elucidated in India over 6, 000 years ago was the first record of scientific medicine in the history of the world. The word “Ayurveda” literally means knowledge (Veda) of life (Ay u). The aims of Ayurveda are both to improve the quality if life and increase its span. Its major emphasis is on prevention of disease and promotion of health by strengthening tissues so that they can withstand exogenous and endogenous stressors.

This is achieved by modulating diet and lifestyle, as well as by the appropriate use of drugs and therapeutic maneuvers like “Panchakarma” that restore the equilibrium of the body. Very few Ayuvedic therapies have been subjected to evaluation keeping the principles of Ayurveda as the basis for choice of therapy.In this era of evidence based medicine, it is important to generate data that will support decisions to use Ayurveda in the mainstream of healthcare. Our center has been involved in validating the Ayurvedic concepts of health, disease and treatment for a number of years. We have concentrated on areas where satisfactory treatment is not available in modern medicine.

We have also been evaluating the potential of Ayurvedic remedies as adjuvants to counterect side effects of modern therapy and have compared the cost effectiveness of certain Ayurvedic therapies vis a vis Modern therapeutic schedules. Unfortunately, all the information is in Sanskrit, the classical language of India, which is not easy to interpret. The Moghul and British invasions did not allow either the language or the knowledge to flourish. Consequently, the beneficial effects of the therapies described in Ayurveda have not been meaningfully interpreted in modern scientific language nor have they been subjected to verification by rigorous experimental or clinical methodology.In this article, we discuss briefly some of our studies that have suggested that Ayurveda may play an important role in modern health care. These include the concept or rasayana, ksharasootra, treatment of hemorrhoids and use of vaman (forced emesis) in bronchial asthma.