Alternative Medicine in Current Scenario

Pramod C Baragi; Jyothi P Baragi

Alternative medicine means using instead of standard medical treatment. The term “alternative medicine” is subjective. While doctors in one part of the world might regard a practice as mainstream, doctors elsewhere might view the same practice as alternative[1].

About 40% of the whole world rely one or the other way on Alternative medicine[2]. Alternative medicine includes Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Body manipulation etc. According to World Health Organisation data world health spending is to a new high of US 9 trillion dollar (approximately 11% of global GDP)[3].

Out of this huge budget most of the amount is spent on Personalized medicine, Preventive Care and Geriatric Care all over the world. Here in the further paper it is dealt in detail on the India perspective in relation to Alternative medicine and Ayurveda as a whole. Today’s modern world is revolutionizing in health care system. Out of many, few trends are on Personalized medicine, Preventive Care and Geriatric Care which includes all the system of medicines.

In western world Ayurveda is considered one among the alternative system of medicine. But being a popular health care system in India, Ayurveda is considered under main stream. The marginal increase in the budget shows the importance given to Ayurvedic system of medicine in today’s scenario.

Ayurveda has given importance to Preventive Care, Personalized medicine, Geriatric Care and others. Ayurveda stresses on “Prevention is better than cure”. It is concerned with maintaining health of every individual rather than only treating the diseases.

Editorial

Today’s modern world is revolutionizing in health care system. Out of many, few trends are on Personalized medicine, Preventive Care and Geriatric Care in India, total Union health budget is allocated through ministries of AYUSH, health and family welfare and finance. Considering the allocation through all three ministries, Rs 1,06,654 crores has been allocated to health for 2023-24.(4) which includes all system of medicines. In western world Ayurveda is considered one among the alternative system of medicine. But being a popular health care system in India, Ayurveda is considered under main stream. According to Ministry of AYUSH has received an increase of 19.6% in the 2022-23 Union Budget, a sum of ₹3,647.5 crore versus the previous budget estimate of ₹3,050 (5). The marginal increase in the budget shows the importance given to Ayurvedic system of medicine in today’s scenario.

Ayurveda is an ancient Indian practice that originated thousands of years ago. In Sanskrit, Ayurveda translates to “The Science of Life” and is often referred to as the “Mother of All Healing.” This practice was passed down verbally and very few written documents are accessible today(2). Ayurveda has given importance to Preventive Care, Personalized medicine, Geriatric Care and others.

Ayurveda stresses on “Prevention is better than cure”. It is concerned with maintaining health of every individual rather than only treating the diseases. Ayurveda defines a healthy person as mentioned in Sushruta Samhita (6)

Sama Dosha Samagnischa Samadhatu Mala Kriyaha |

Prasanna Atma Indriya Manaha Swastha Ityabhideeyate ||

A person is considered to be healthy when his Doshas (three humours), Agni (digestive fire), Dhatus (tissues) and Malas (excretory products), are properly functioning along with cheerful and happy Atma (soul) Indriya (senses) and Mana (mind) .

The Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) must be in a balanced state in order to keep a person healthy. When the balance of the Doshas is disturbed, either aggravated or decreased (vitiated) it causes disease.

Agni (digestive fire) is responsible for digestion, metabolism and transformation in our body. Agni is regarded as the most influential factor for the wellbeing of a person. A vitiated Agni is responsible for various diseases.

The Sapta Dhatus ( 7 tissues) like Rasa (lymph, plasma), Rakta (blood), Mamsa (muscle), Meda (fat), Asthi (bones), Majja (bone marrow) and Shukra (semen) are vital for the functioning of our body. The essence of these 7 tissues is considered as ‘Ojas’ which is responsible for maintaining immunity in our body. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that all seven tissues are in a healthy state.

The Tri Malas (3 excretory products), are Purisha (feces), Mutra (urine) and Sweda (sweat). The normal excretion of these Tri Malas everyday helps in keeping the person healthy and free from diseases.

The above verse also talks of wellbeing with cheerful and happy Atma (soul) Indriya (senses) and Mana (mind). So Ayurveda gives importance to physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing [6].

Personalized medicine references are available in Ayurveda since from Charaka Samhita which speaks regarding the Prakruti of an individual person. This Prakruti is depending upon the Tridosha Theory. The concept of personalized medicine goes in parallel with the concept of Prakruti based medicine which is now being popularly denoted as Ayurgenomics. Charaka Samhita quotes as (7)

Purusham Purusham Veekshyam Sa Gneyo Bhishak Uttamaha ||

A physician is considered to be best, when he treats the patient by examining and treating every patient as individual entity.

Prakruti based treatment plays a pivotal role through Ahara (food), Vihara (lifestyle pattern) and Oushadha (medicine) which are considered as pillars of Prakruti, making it a holistic science.

Geriatric care which is also known as elder care or senior care is specially dedicated to provide high quality, patient centered care for older adults.

Geriatric care is called as Rasayana (rejuvenation therapy) in Ayurveda. This Rasayana deals with nutrition, promotes healthy longevity, delays ageing and reduces geriatric degeneration[8]. There are various Rasayana Dravyas (drugs) explained in Ayurveda, like Dugda (Milk), Amalaki (Phyllanthus emblica), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Shankhapushpi (Convolvulus prostratus) , Yasthimadhu (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri ), Chyavanaprasha etc. Selective Panchakarma therapies are also used, which includes Abhyanga (oil massage), Sarwanga Dhara (pouring liquid medicine all over body), Shirodhara (pouring liquid medicine on forehead) , types of Basti (medicated enema) etc.

Ayurvedic treatment along with Yoga and Pranayama if performed correctly under a proper Guru (teacher or instructor), has also great role in Preventive Care, Personalized care and Geriatric Care. So Ayurveda has to play a vast role and is playing in these today’s trending problems of human life. So alternate medicines are the answer for these types of health care problems. These are locally available, cost effective with least side effects[9].

Reference

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538520/?report=classic

2. https://www.ncaer.org/news/budget-2023-24-even-post-covid-india-needed-health-budget-hike

3. Jennifer Huizen. What is alternative medicine, and does it work?. Medical News Today. July 6, 2021. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/alternative-medicine

	Section Editorial
	Ayurveda
	Volume 10 Number 1 Title Jan-Dec 2023
E-ISSN:2349-3275 P-ISSN:2349-5502 www.biomedicalreview.in
Alternative Medicine in Current Scenario C Baragi P^1, P Baragi J² Alternative Medicine in Current Scenario Abstract Alternative medicine means using instead of standard medical treatment. The term “alternative medicine” is subjective. While doctors in one part of the world might regard a practice as mainstream, doctors elsewhere might view the same practice as alternative[1]. About 40% of the whole world rely one or the other way on Alternative medicine[2]. Alternative medicine includes Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Body manipulation etc. According to World Health Organisation data world health spending is to a new high of US 9 trillion dollar (approximately 11% of global GDP)[3]. Out of this huge budget most of the amount is spent on Personalized medicine, Preventive Care and Geriatric Care all over the world. Here in the further paper it is dealt in detail on the India perspective in relation to Alternative medicine and Ayurveda as a whole. Today’s modern world is revolutionizing in health care system. Out of many, few trends are on Personalized medicine, Preventive Care and Geriatric Care which includes all the system of medicines. In western world Ayurveda is considered one among the alternative system of medicine. But being a popular health care system in India, Ayurveda is considered under main stream. The marginal increase in the budget shows the importance given to Ayurvedic system of medicine in today’s scenario. Ayurveda has given importance to Preventive Care, Personalized medicine, Geriatric Care and others. Ayurveda stresses on “Prevention is better than cure”. It is concerned with maintaining health of every individual rather than only treating the diseases. Keywords:* Alternative Medicine, Ayurveda, Personalized medicine, Preventive Care, Geriatric Care	^1* Pramod C Baragi, Professor, BLDEA’S AVS Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya Hospital and Research Centre, Vijayapur, Karnataka, India. ² Jyothi P Baragi, Associate Professor, BLDEA’S AVS Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya Hospital and Research Centre, Vijayapur, Karnataka, India. Email Cite this Article C Baragi P, P Baragi J. Alternative Medicine in Current Scenario. Biomed Rev J Basic Appl Med Sci. 2023;10(1):1-3. Available From https://www.biomedicalreview.in/alternative-medicine-in-current-scenario-section-editorial Meta History 2023-12-20 Submission Recieved 2023-12-23 1^st review 2023-12-26 2^nd review 2023-12-29 3^rd review 2023-12-31 Accepted and Published Declaration 24% Plagiarism. Authors state no conflict of interest. Non Funded. The conducted research is not related to either human or animals use. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. Evidence in Context What Know: Alternative medicine means using instead of standard medical treatment. The term “alternative medicine” is subjective. While doctors in one part of the world might regard a practice as mainstream, doctors elsewhere might view the same practice as alternative. What New: Here in the further paper it is dealt in detail on the India perspective in relation to Alternative medicine and Ayurveda as a whole. To view © 2023 by C Baragi P, P Baragi J and Published by Siddharth Health Research and Social Welfare Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ unported [CC BY 4.0].