Of late, I am the odd man out in discussions where my Indian colleagues and friends quote godmen, gurus and medical men who propound that moden medicine is very immature, treats only symptoms in an attempt to fight disease and is nowhere as developed as ancient Ayurveda which helped men to live healthy and long - up to 120 years and more, as it was a holistic system.
I have problems with this type of thinking. Let me first state that I have been in the medical equipment industry for 30 years and have dealt with the best surgeons and physicians in India and abroad. But I have also seen the crass commericialisation of modern medicine by the unscrupulous. I am aware of how industry and trade has been hell-bent on pushing unwanted and unnecessary scanners and pills, and how doctors have been harvesting their investments by exploiting hapless patients.
I am also often a witness to cynical patients and families who avoid treatments and accuse doctors of malpractice whenever they advise someone to undergo angioplasty or surgery. There are also associations and doctors who conduct camps to "Treat your Heart without Surgery" and who strenuously advocate life-style change and natural methods to resolve heart ailments. So I am not surprised by everyone's urge to go back to ancient Ayurveda. In fact I also tried it a few times before.
Ayurveda, purportedly given to us by Lord Dhanvantari and practised successfully for thousands of years by Indians for longevity and good health, has seen a resurgence now. Today's pollution, adulteration and pills-for -every-symptom approach are pointed to be the reason for the explosion of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in India. Now we all long to go back to pure and natural and wise Ayurveda!
In this context, I am an upholder of modern medicine. Here are my reasons:
- To judge medicine, we have to see its best proponents and practitioners, rather than the over-commercialised version. Like everything around us, there are good doctors and bad doctors.
- Modern medicine is the evolution of a science and is not opposed to Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Yunani or anything else. Down the ages, the science has been growing through cross-fertilizing ideas. Greeks surely learnt from ancient Indian sages during Alexander's travels.
- The language of science is mathematics. The Greek and Roman terminology employed in modern medicine, coupled with medical statistics, is a robust scientific platform. Perhaps this level of rigour is missing in most traditional methods.
- Modern medicine believes firmly in tried and tested methods. It believes in data-driven diagnoses. There has been no real data-driven research in tradional methods. Thus they are unable to submit the required data for US FDA or international patents.
- The key to successful Ayurveda practice is standardisation of training, medicine production, and
"peer-reviewed" professionalism. That will go a long way in proving its success. - The first principle of medicine is "do no harm". So like Ayurveda, modern medicine in its pure form is conservative. Life-style changes and food habits are to be addressed first before medication. It is unfortunate that we run after doctors who dish out instant remedies.
- The body cures itself. That is the power of life. The will power to cure oneself works wonders. That can also be called the placebo effect. Psychology functions particularly in life-style diseases and chronic diseases where more than a cure, we want alleviation and management of symptoms.
- Yoga is totally focussed on psycho-physical activity. It is the peak of human endeavour to heal oneself and evolve. It is the method for achieving well-being here and hereafter. But Yoga should not be confused with Ayurveda.
- Yoga has four elements - Asana, Pranayama, Mudra and Bandha. It can always be combined with modern medicine without any issue.
- If holistic medicine and life-style management as propounded by Yoga is adopted, this is NOT AGAINST modern medicine. Just as the ancients believed in Aushadi, Pathya, and Kriya, medicine can absorb and benefit from the wisdom of "healing oneself".
- As I said before, the body can be helped to heal itself rather than dump treatment and medication. That is an important attitude we can cultivate within the context of any school of medicine. Today's "good" Ayurveda practioners are doing this and their positive results are based on that holistic approach.
- Health and Well-being are goals. We set goals as a part of our modern lives. That is no different from the old philosophy of yuktaahara-vihaarasya...yogo bhavati dukkhahaa ( Bhagavadgita Ch. 6)
