India has established itself as a prominent medical hub thanks to an important number of high tech medical facilityies and many seasoned cardiologists willing to treat international patients.

Still, as anylayman from Europe, for me India looks like a new country on the medical map trying to surf on the BPO (business process outsourcing) tidal wave.

HOW WRONG AM I!

India has in fact one of the most documented medical tradition through ayurveda. Ayurveda is an ancient holistic medicine theory having its roots in Northern India - Nepal. What is so interesting beyond the cultural difference is that ayurvedic medicine is yielding very different results from traditional European medicine:

  • In terms of Diagnosis
  • in tems of Disease Management

First let’s explpain Ayurvedic Diagnosis:

An Ayurvedic diagnosis starts with determining you body type among three metabolic body types called doshas(vata, pitta, kapha). Your looking for a free membership card, ayurveda is there!

dohas.GIF 

According to ayurveda I m a Vata and a little bit of pitta. What about you?

One’s doshas and the characteristics that reveal it clarify why one person will react to such product (milk, chili) or event (loud noise, humidity). Ayurvedic Physicians have traditionnaly relied on observation more than on medical equipment: they will question the patient on his medical history as well as his family medical history, listen to the heart, lungs and intestines, paying attention to the tongue, the nails, the eyes. Ayurvedic medicine distincts not one but three types of pulses (vaa, pitta, and kapha). The skills required are pretty impressive as a seasoned ayurvedic doctor can distinguish twelve different radial (or wrist) pulses!

The tongue is a major diagnostic site: the discoloation or sensitivity of the surface of the tongue can hint at the dysfunctionality of an internal organ. For instance, a whitish tongue indicates a disruption of kapha and accumulation od mucus; and a black to brown discoloration indicates a vata disturbance. A dehydrated tongue is symptomatic of a decrease in the plasma, while a pale tongue indicates a decrease in red blood cells.

tongue.jpg

In a tongue you can find your lungs, your heart, your intestines and even your spinal cord

Ayurvedic medicine has also introduced urine analysis way before the occidental medicine. the color can indicate dysfunctionalities (blackish borwn indicated an imbalance of vata, dark yellow for pitta, if it s cloudy it’s kapha) as well as the smell (a foul odor indicates toxins in the system, a sweet smell diabetic condition).

In a word, Ayurvdic diagnosis is a precursor to current prevemntive care diagnostics as well as an excellent complement to the western version of diagnosis as they go through their own path while yielding similar or additive results. I personally find it a great differentiation factor if explained well and done smoothly (people would be surprised to see no medical equipment involved). A tweener version between traditional ayurvedic diagnosis and western style would certainly help Indian hospitals dveloppinig a Best Practice that will help them gaining steam on the international medical market.

Indian Hospitals are now keeping track on the evolution of ayurvedic medicine and are increasingly opening dedicated clinics under the tutellage some medical teams. Disease prevention from ayurvedic medicine can tremendeously help pre and post operative care, yet there is a lack of integration today as indian practitionners a re carefully following wetserner guidelines. Yet, one could wonder how ayurveda would be factored in if Indian practionners were chosing to follow their own way and create an INDIAN model starting from preventive medicine and going up towards post surgery medical management.