Ayurveda practitioner DR PARMESHWAR ARORA makes a strong case for why Ayurveda knowledge cannot be clubbed into a crash course and added to MBBS studies of Allopathy students. Report by REENA SINGH
There is always an ongoing controversy raging between Ayurveda and allopathy – more so since the present government announced the rollout of an integrated health system from 2030 that would see a ‘One Nation, One Health System’ policy that seeks to integrate modern and traditional systems of medicine like allopathy, homoeopathy and Ayurveda in medical practice, education and research.
However, some months ago, Dr Parmeshwar Arora, a well-known Ayurveda doctor spoke of the wisdom of integrating the two systems, but admitted that planning this ‘integration’ was proving to be difficult in practise.
His opinion is that one can’t possibly train budding allopaths in the principles of Ayurveda and ayurvedacharyas in the principles of allopathy. The two sciences are different and so vast that a crash course of six months in either subject would not give anything beyond a broader perspective of another system of medicine.
He quoted his own example, saying that he had studied Ayurveda for 8.5 years and had been practising for more than 21 years, treating almost 100 patients daily. Despite this, he claimed that Ayurveda was so vast that he could not even claim to know more than 10 per cent of this ancient science – and this despite referring to the ancient texts of Charak Samhita and Sushrut Samhita daily.
Dr Arora was talking to delegates of the Indian Medical Association and he quoted an instance when two samples of mercury sulphide – one pure and the other impure — were sent to a lab for testing. The lab identified both samples as the same, while in its purified form, mercury sulphide is regularly used in Ayurveda as a life-saving medication. The impure one is never used.
He quotes the example of water – and says that while allopathy recommends the amount that must be taken during the day, it offers barely any suggestions on how to drink it, what temperature to drink it at, and what time to drink it. Dr Arora opines that Ayurvedic texts outline that there are different effects of drinking water at different times.
Dr Arora has authored a book on water – extracting knowledge from Ayurveda texts on how much and at what time water should be consumed and how it should be taken. Even where the water comes from impacts our health, he explains, saying that the ancient texts say that the source of the water is equally important – whether from a well, river, lake, spring, waterfall or rain. Whether it is seasonal or unexpected rain, even that makes a difference. Whether a river flows from north to east or west to east also impacts the quality of the water.
To all the allopath doctors present at the conference – he had one plea: that we study Ayurveda and take its recommendations, and not ignore the wisdom in these ancient texts or dismiss it as outdated.
He blames the rulers of the nation and its political heads who neglected Ayurveda over the centuries and did nothing to promote it. His belief is that patients with IBS and ulcerative colitis and even of migraine can be treated successfully through Ayurveda. A number of patients have been able to avoid surgery for sciatica and other complications like of the lumbar region.
In that sense, Dr Arora said that integrating medical education by giving a crash course in Ayurveda to MBBS students did not make sense. If the aim is to increase understanding, then it maybe a good idea, but otherwise, the two streams should be kept separate for scholars to pursue. Instead, doctors should have just enough knowledge to direct patients to the right stream for treatment.
Both systems of medicine have their uses. When an emergency crops up, one automatically rushes to a hospital with a well-equipped ICU for 24-hour critical care and trauma treatment. If one is suffering from a lifestyle-related ailment, Ayurveda can score over other systems of medicine. It is also helpful for patients of arthritis.
But as Dr Parmeshwar Arora emphasised at the talk – one must focus on keeping oneself healthy and follow the adage — Prevention is better than cure. “Ayurveda is a complete science,” says Dr Arora.
Earlier this year, Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital flagged off its Integrated Medicine Centre where patients could continue with both sets of treatment – Ayurveda and Allopathy at the same time. Dr Sherwal, the hospital’s medical superintendent noted that it had been seen that ayurveda often benefitted patients suffering from chronic orthopaedic problems, neurological and skin disorders while continuing with allopathy drugs.
More than ten years ago, the Gujarat High Court had ruled that both sets of doctors should be treated at par and given equal pay, but an SC judgement in April 2023 squashed that theory, with the judgement ruling that the two were not at par because Ayurveda doctors did not work in trauma care and were unable to perform complicated surgeries. Neither did they see hundreds of patients a day as doctors do in large hospitals. The two judges who presided over the case also said: “We shall not be understood to mean as though one system of medicine is superior to the other. It is not our mandate nor within our competence to assess the relative merits of these two systems of medical sciences. As a matter of fact, we are conscious that the history of Ayurveda dates back to several centuries….”
In other words, the debate on which system is better – or whether the two can be integrated is nowhere near resolution and will probably continue for many more decades.
Reena Singh has more than 39 years’ experience in senior editorial positions in The Times of India (TOI) and Genpact. She was Deputy Editor with TOI’s spiritual newspaper, The Speaking Tree, where she spent more than nine years.
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This discussion makes me recall my childhood days when within a radius of ten kilometre of my village, there was one Ayurvedic practitioner, Kaviraj as he was called, was catering to the health issues of our locality. More than a lucrative profession, it was a sense of service to people for him so that he would work 24×7 throughout the year as a specialist of every ailment in every way. Very seldom, someone terminally ill only would be taken to the district medical hospital for treatment those days.
But, these days even as a Primary Health Centre is functioning in my locality and two MBBS doctors have opened their own clinics too, people are running to town for treatment.
It is really tragic to note that Ayurveda, which is a safe, non-violent as well as relatively cheaper method of treatment is dying a cold death in the wake of Allopathy. However, in recent time people have started realising that as a negative effect of over medication people are running the risk of drug induced iatrogenic non curable diseases for which there is no medical remedy. It is a medically proven fact that more and more people are today suffering from drug induced drug resistant disease.
It is at this crucial juncture, there is a dire need of holistic method of treatment and healing. Happy note is people have started realising it and the craze for alternative medicines is gaining the wave world wide. Hopefully, people at the helm of affairs sincerely work for interdisciplinary fusion for the sake of the ailing society.