Western Medicine and Ayurveda

 

Difference between Western Medicine and Indian system of Medicine

Western medicine works on the principle of using active ingredients from different sources such as herbs, minerals, petroleum products by extracting the basic chemicals which act directly on the invading germs, microorganisms or cancerous cells or by making use of surgical and other invasive therapies like laser (making cuts or punctures), there are other noninvasive methods like lithotripsy and some types of radiations.

Ayurveda works on humours or doshas and thereby correcting the vitiated doshas

Doshas are energy packs which run the body (physiological factors)

In western medicine most of the treatments are symptomatic and mostly do not address the real underlying cause (root cause), so they rely on symptomatic, corrective (like surgery) and palliative type of treatments.

Ayurveda has two types of treatments one is symptomatic type and another detoxification treatment.

Symptomatic treatment address symptoms directly.

What makes Ayurveda unique is their ‘shodana’ or detox treatment popularly known by the name panchakarma. Sometimes panchakarma is a used as a misnomer; it includes all procedures of Ayurveda which help eliminate toxins which cannot leave our system by normal ways of excretion.

As far as medicines in Ayurveda is concerned all the medicines are taken directly from nature, whether it be plant, animal or mineral origin. The demarcation between food and medicine is very thin in Ayurveda. So sometimes a controlled food itself act as medicine. At the same time some ayurvedic herbal medicines are fast acting and potently dangerous if given in wrong does and to the wrong patient (like purgative and emetics).

 Spices has a very big role in Ayurveda pharmacopeia; but extracting only the active chemical ingredient is not done in Ayurveda.

One of the advantages of Ayurveda is that it does not have side effects except in medicines of mineral or metallic origin.

The main problem with a western drug/medicine is its side effects when a new drug is introduced to body, body cells respond in  different way and sometimes the toxic effect cannot be eliminated fully.