5 Reasons Why You Should Choose A Personalized Ayurvedic Treatment

Personalized medicine, also known as precision medicine, uses information about an individual’s genes, including his or her dinucleotide sequence, to prevent, diagnose or treat diseases by prescribing better and safer drugs. Although the concept of personalized treatment is gaining wider approval in modern times, Ayurveda, India’s vast and timeless medical knowledge, as well as other traditional systems of medicines (Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Traditional Korean medicine or (SCM) Sasang Constitutional medicine) have long practiced personalized medicine since hundreds of years.

Differing treatment approach of Modern medicine and Traditional medicine

Modern medicine treats the disease irrespective of gender, age, race, individual symptoms, a bit of one drug fits all approach, whereas traditional medicine is based on the needs of an individual’s unique condition.

Traditional systems of medicine (Ayurveda, TCM, and SCM) believe that an individual’s body constitution plays a major role in determining disease susceptibility. Body constitution is also considered when prescribing drugs or other treatment modalities.

So, in a traditional treatment approach, different people can receive different treatments even if they suffer from the same disease. In fact, Hippocrates, considered the father of western medicine, was a believer in practicing a personalized approach for treating a disease.

Western allopathic medicine has proven extremely effective in treating acute medical emergencies, but Ayurvedic treatments have been found to be successful in managing chronic disorders (diabetes, arthritis, in some cases even cancer etc.) which modern medicine has struggled to cure.

Ayurvedic medicine and concept of personalized treatment

Ayurveda states that the three dynamic energies or tridoshas – namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha – are the basis of all body functions. The Vata dosha, the most significant of the three, as it is primarily associated with all movement, including those of the nervous system and Musculo-skeletal systems. Pitta dosha governs the digestive functions, metabolism and the agni/digestive fire of the body whereas the Kapha dosha is responsible for maintenance of biological strength and stability.

The interplay or the proportion of each dosha decides the basic body constitution or ‘Prakriti’ of an individual and is the result of a unique combination of fixed amounts of these three doshas at birth. Thus Prakriti is distinct to each individual, similar to genotype in modern medical terms.

Individuals are said to be one of three Prakriti types namely – Vata prakriti, pitta prakriti or kapha prakriti – depending on the dominance of the particular dosha. Ayurveda states that one’s Prakriti may be influenced by multiple factors including the environment, mother’s diet & lifestyle, and the age of parents at the time of conception.

The Prakriti of a person may be fixed, but the tridoshas are adaptable and maintaining the balance between the tridoshas is essential for good health. Any imbalance or abnormality in the interactions between doshas are the root causes of all diseases.

Ayurvedic treatment not only focuses on Prakriti or is based on adapting ahara (diet), vihara (lifestyle), and aushadhi (medication) as per individual requirements but also on racial, ethnic, or geographical considerations.

Ayurvedic medicine believes that treatment of disease should be highly individualized as every individual is unique and has a different constitution. Ayurveda classifies people’s Prakriti into three types related to specific dosha, and states that the degree of susceptibility to various diseases also varies depending on the dominant dosha.

Ayurveda categorizes drugs according to the rasapanchaka or the ayurvedic pharmacology . The rasapanchaka states that the drug action is dependent on certain attributes present in the drug such as Rasa (taste), Guna (property), Virya (potency), Vipaka (post digestive taste), and Prabhava (effect). Whereas modern treatments credit the drug action to the chemical structure of a molecule.

Why choose a personalized Ayurvedic treatment?

Ayurveda, practiced since thousands of years, has withstood the test of time and delivered safe and effective personalized medicine to treat various chronic diseases. Choosing personalized Ayurvedic treatments can have numerous advantages including

• Disease prevention –

  Ayurveda is a holistic method of treatment that gives equal importance to prevention and cure. Ayurvedic treatments are highly beneficial in preventing diseases before they become acute disorders. Prevention and cure of diseases will naturally lead to a reduction in morbidity and mortality rates, improving public health care.

• Less side effects –

  Ayurvedic medicines are made using natural ingredients (herbs) and may have lesser side effects on the body compared to modern medicines.

• Better management of chronic disorders –

  Personalized Ayurvedic medicines or drugs are designed for maximum efficiency and safety for particular chronic disorders. An Ayurvedic doctor prescribes the medicines taking into consideration patient needs and risk factors for individual chronic conditions (diabetes, arthritis, heart problems etc.) resulting in better management of chronic diseases.

• Effective drug development & diagnosis –

  Personalized Ayurvedic medicines not only minimize adverse drug reactions, they also help reduce the time, cost and failures of pharmaceutical clinical trials, which adopt a trial-and-error approach of health care. Utilizing emerging technologies and newer approaches for more effective drug development of single and polyherbal products will only improve the efficacy of personalized treatments.

• Affordable primary medical care –

  Modern healthcare is often quite expensive and out of reach of the common man. Comparatively, personalized Ayurvedic healthcare is far more affordable for people of diverse economic strata, especially for communicable and chronic diseases.

• Promotes holistic health and longevity –

  Ayurveda is the science of life and believes in taking a holistic approach to health and recommends adapting diet (ahara) & lifestyle (vihara) to nature’s cycles (ritus) for optimum and all year good health. Ayurveda focuses not only on physical health but also on promoting mental and emotional well being of an individual to lead healthy, happy, long lives.

Consult an expert Ayurvedic Vaidya for personalized health management including diet and health plans as well as Prakriti diagnosis.