-Dr Jupitora Dutta |
Although Ayurveda has been gaining popularity recently, people have more delusions than awareness about this ancient system. Many people find it hard to believe that Ayurveda does miracles and is equally effective in providing efficient treatment/therapies. Despite the fact, that modern medicine is effective yet comes with a dash of its own side-effects; people are yet to adopt our ancient system of medicine – Ayurveda.
Ayurveda is not just a health system, rather it’s a way of life. Ayurveda has its own style and rules of healing that believes in preventing than curing a disease. The ancient nature along with long tradition is misunderstood quite a lot. The major misunderstanding that is always quoted is time; you want quick relief from your distress. Who wants to wait for more time while having a splitting headache; all you need is instant relief and that’s why you gobble painkillers? And so, you hesitate and are not ready to accept Ayurvedic medicines as the first line of treatment. Isn’t this thought true? Actually, no one has the patience to allow Ayurvedic medicines to show its effect.
We come across a lot of myths associated with Ayurveda. It’s mainly because of lack of awareness and proper knowledge about this.
1.Ayurveda is not a banner holder of certain malpractice of the society namely the stinky almost torn dawa khana with a speaker dictating the ailments and their treatment in a very lucid manner, every other bus stop you’ll see self acclaimed diabetologist, sexologist , dermatologist promising humongous health benefits from a degree which doesn’t have any minute of its existence in CCIM regularised syllabus.
2.Ayurveda is unequivocally not those cosmetics that claim it’s purity with hint of neem, kumkum and haldhi or your dishwash bar and detergent.
Gulping out some herbs from your kitchen garden without knowing it’s chemical and physical constituents as well your body Constitution is not Ayurveda.
3.There are appalling claims in Rural India specifically in Assam that groups of self styled hoax in the frame of Graduate from Ayurveda College March door to door to sell Ayurveda products , On contrary no such practice are not acknowledged by the institutions itself and are termed fraudulent.
4.Acquiring knowledge in plants, watching a YouTube video or inheriting some domestic ‘Gharelu nushkhein’ and burping out remedies for disease every hour in the social media doesn’t certify any one as a Ayurveda Physician , for being a registered Physician you’ve to appear for NEET-UG entrance examination, get yourself selected , complete your Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery degree under the CCIM approved syllabus and Institution for a protracted period of 5 and half years , this doesn’t end the bubble here, you need to earn a Post Graduation Degree for Specialisation which is another stretch of 3 years resting aside the strain and torment of being in a Medical school for this whole 8 years or more. So you say prescribing a drug without knowing it’s repercussions is just a fool game here for both the side..One consuming and the other prescribing.
Baba Ramdev’s untimely comments on the counterpart system of medicine has done a disservice to Ayurveda. This episode reinforced all the modern stereotypes of traditional medicine — that of mumbo-jumbo peddled by charlatans and quacks. Specifically, it buttresses an old but ill-informed scepticism about Ayurveda, that while it might have a strong knowledge of plants and their medicinal value, it is not evidence-based, that it has unstructured concepts that are not believable, and that it cannot explain how it knows what it knows.
Ayurveda, the practice of healing has been used for ages to treat various conditions. It focuses on healing both the mind and body. While Ayurveda has been part of our household for generations, it has become quite popular lately since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. But the lack of awareness and knowledge has led to the birth of many ayurvedic myths.
Here are three myths related to Ayurveda that you must not believe.
1.Ayurvedic treatment takes longer to work .This is one of the most common misconceptions that surround Ayurveda. Any treatment, even if it follows an allopathic way of medicine or the ayurvedic way, cannot cure one instantly. There are no instant results for any ailments be it mild or severe. For every cure, certain prevention methods should be followed to ensure the best results as they enable the medication to work faster and effectively. Though in terms of treatment, Ayurveda does take longer but unlike other treatments, Ayurveda is one of the safest paths as it does not impact your health in the long run by damaging any tissues or organs.
2.Ayurvedic medicines do not have any side effects
Not everything works the same for everyone. There is no one size fits all in Ayurveda as it works differently for different people.
3.Ayurvedic medicines are less harmful than other medicines due to organic herbs in them, there still may be some side effects.
Tussle between IMA and Baba Ramdev spawns allopathy vs Ayurveda debate.The confrontation between Baba Ramdev and the IMA has inevitably sparked a debate between which is the better way of treatment—Ayurveda or allopathy. Several people have jumped into the debate, either in support of the Ayurveda and against the allopathic way of treatment or vice versa. The conversation surrounding the medical treatment has polarised to such an extent that it has turned seemingly binary—either you are with Ayurveda or allopathy—there is no room for people who possibly think either of the methods is beneficial in their own right.
The conflict between allopathy and Ayurveda is centuries old. It is widely believed that the use of modern medicine started in India in the 16th century. During that time and before that, there were hardly qualified doctors and patients were treated by millennia-old Ayurvedic methods. Ever since the advent of modern medicines, there is an enduring debate over which is the more effective way of treatment.
In wake of the fact that despite the availability of advanced technologically aided western medicine system, our society is witnessing a rise in various lifestyle disorders, chronic diseases and development of resistance to the existing remedies; integration of ayurveda with allopathy seems the need of the hour. A novel comprehensive system, if generated by fusion of rich traditional therapies with western medicine system, can utilize the best of both the systems without disrespecting any and can provide care in disease management, disease prevention, preservation, protection and health rejuvenation. Amalgamation of ayurveda with allopathy will certainly be able to create a healthy society by developing a healthcare system that is more effective than either system used alone as well as less expensive and less toxic.
( Dr Jupitora Dutta, PGT, Dept of Kayachikitsha , Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital, Guwahati )