Ayurveda’s conceptual and practical framework include all that is necessary to promote a man’s health and happiness. It covers the study of moral behavior, or dharma, which is essential to the well-being of the society in which man lives. Additionally, it addresses the philosophical side of life, which is a vast source of comfort and enjoyment for all people. Ayurveda recognizes the limitations of human endeavors on a philosophical level. However, it continues to discuss ways to energize and extend life.
Ayurvedic medicine primarily aims to treat illnesses in addition to maintaining good health. These well-defined goals are attained in a traditional manner by means of rationally devised methods. The essence of Ayurveda can be divided into two categories based on the stated goals:
- The science of positive health: the healthy man’s regimen (svasthavrittam)
- Patient’s regimen (aturavrittam).
Healthy man’s regimen
One of Ayurveda’s distinctive features is its emphasis on the idea of pleasant health. The modern medical community is encouraged to investigate the empirically developed ayurvedic approaches for the maintenance of positive health, given the significant change in the definition of health. In this context, Ayurveda suggests following a systematic daily routine (Dinacharya), living in harmony with the seasons (ritucharya), and adhering to meticulously planned diet and exercise regimens. According to Ayurveda, keeping good personal, social, and civic hygiene is essential for the orderly maintenance of good health.
Ayurveda acknowledges the tremendous power of the mind in both causing and curing illness. Thus, it is believed that morality and rigorous mental discipline are prerequisites for good health. As a result, the ethical foundation of life (sadvrttam) is regarded as a crucial system of health support.
Vyadhikshamatvam, or the natural ability of a person to fend against sickness, is widely acknowledged and has both beneficial and detrimental effects on health. The methods that have developed in this area are immune system enhancers for humans.
Experts emphasize the recommendations for maintaining good health as preventative measures against exogenous (such as environmental pollution) and endogenous (such as ageing) ailments and highlight their effectiveness in bolstering cellular function in the human body. These findings are consistent with the current understanding of prohost therapy and the application of cytoprotective agents.
Medicine
Obviously regular or periodic use of rejuvenative therapy (rasayanachikitsa) also finds a place in the maintenance of positive health because of its therapeutic potentials to delay the process of ageing and also to improve quality of life.
In a nutshell, Ayurveda recommends socio-economic adjustments, modification of personal habits, protection against trauma, control of infection, control of pollution, and prophylactic medication for the maintenance of positive health.
Patient’s regimen
Patient’s regimen (aturavrttam) deals with the curative and palliative measures employed for the medical and emotional care of the patient. It includes definition of the disease, etiology, clinical picture, patho-physiology, prognosis and line of treatment consisting of drugs, diet and life style..
In patient’s regimen
A condition of disease is caused by either internal (bodily) or external (environmental) factors. Diseases can have somatic or psychic cause factors. Ayurveda insists that more often than not every ailment will have a psychosomatic etiology. More importantly, the therapeutic approach is focused not exclusively at the ailment as such, but it is directed at the patient as a human being. Thus, the Ayurvedic approach to a patient and his cure is often termed as holistic.
The Ayurvedic therapy is either palliative (samanam) or purificatory (sodhanam). The palliative approach stresses on the use of medicaments. The famous Panchakarma therapies and the supportive Kerala special therapies belong to the purificatory approach. In both cases, proper control of food and behavioral habits is a necessary component for achieving perfect cure.
The human constitution and the condition of his ailment are ensconced in a three-factorial humoural (tridosha) frame-work which itself is a derivation from the five-factorial (panchabhautic) macrocosmic frame-work. Medicaments, the tools for dealing with a condition of ailment, are also perceived to belong to these two axiomatic frame-works.