Ayurveda

Ayurveda (/ˌɑːjʊərˈveɪdə, -ˈviː-/)^[1] is an alternative medicine system from the Indian subcontinent.^[2] The word "ayurveda" is from the Sanskrit: आयुर्वेद, Āyurveda, and means knowledge of life and longevity.^[3]

Ayurveda is pseudoscientific.^[4][5][6] Ayurvedic texts say: the gods of Hindu mythology gave medical knowledge to legendary Hindu philosophers, who then gave the knowledge to human physicians.^[7] However, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) says the practice of modern medicine by Ayurveda is quackery.^[8]

History

According to Ayurveda, Dhanvantari (the Hindu god of Ayurveda), made himself into a human king by incarnation. He was king of Varanasi, and taught Ayurvedic medicine to a group of physicians. One of these physicians, named Sushruta, wrote the Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), an Ayurvedic text that includes this story.^[9][10] People have used many different Ayurvedic therapies through the history of India.^[2]

Some people say Ayurveda existed in prehistoric times.^[11][12] Some ideas in Ayurveda may have existed when the Indus Valley civilization did, during the Bronze Age in India.^[13]

During the Vedic period, Ayurveda went through many developments. Outside the tradition of the Vedas, Buddhism and Jainism also shared some ideas with the Ayurvedic texts from ancient India.^[13] By around two thousand years ago, Ayurveda had developed some of its ideas for surgery and drugs.^[14]

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ayurveda also changed for consumption in the Western world.

Therapies

Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia. These therapies have included herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils.^[15]

In ancient India, Ayurvedic texts gave explanations for surgeries and for the stitching of wounds to help wound healing. The ancient Indians knew how to take out kidney stones and how to do rhinoplasty (plastic surgery for the nose).^[16][17]

Medicines are typically based on chemical compounds taken from plants, minerals, and metal substances (perhaps because of the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasa shastra).

Effectiveness

There is no good evidence that Ayurveda works or helps for any disease.^[18]

Some Ayurvedic products are dangerous and contain lead, mercury, and arsenic.^[19] In 2008, nearly 21% of Ayurvedic products sold on the internet and made in India and the United States contained lead, mercury, and arsenic (heavy metals) in quantities that are toxic.^[20] There may be public health dangers that result from this, but that is not known.^[20]