end of topic - final word

[Guest guest]

(As promised I am allowing this post as the last word on this topic. Some

sentences have been edited since they would evoke responses from group members.

I appeal to all to not post anymore on this topic. However as put forward by Dr.

Mankikar, posts on Oja-ksaya and auto immune disorders are welcome.

Cybervaidya)

 

Dear Cybervaidya, whoever you are, you do raise good points. The course was not

taught only by the likes of David Frawley, but a number of husband and wife

Ayurvaids from Pune. All principles including Rasayanas and Panchakarmas were

taught, including and especially Ayurvedic herbology, and not just Ritucharya or

Dinacharya. Granted, the BAMS student studies more and knows more. And that is

why, we called Dr Mahadevan from Kerala, who is PhD in Ayurveda to conduct

further courses on specialized subjects like Neurological management,

Gynecologic management, Pulmonary management, Pain management, Skin Diseases and

their management etc. He classified all of these according to their Vata

Prakopa, Pitta Prakopa or Kapha Prakopa, etc and their treatments.

 

Since I am an anesthesiologist, although I attended all of these courses very

seriously, I have primarily looked at Pain management from an Ayurvedic

perspective along with Panchakarmas. A Gynecologist friend of mine, who has also

studied similarly, practices Ayurvedic Gynecology along with Modern Medicine,

and some patients seem to accept this approach. My primary interest is in

spreading Ayurveda in the West and we have taken it to the next level as

Alternative Medicine Committee of the American Association of Physicians of

India. We have courses and lectures at various seminars. Even the average

American has accepted Yoga and Meditation. That to him or her is apart from

Modern Medicine or Alternative medicine, and is in a separate class of

its own. The acceptance level for Ayurvedic treatment is increasing, but is

still sub-optimal..

 

Dr Bapat, who runs Starseed, may be in a better position to answer your basic

question of one's ability to practice Ayurveda only. As far as I know, there is

still scepticism with the practice of only Ayurvedic Medications, as they are

still labelled as Herbal supplements, and not as medications, and especially

since there is a paucity of double blind study or any kind of study, barring a

few studies on anti-hypertensives. As far as I know, Starseed also has courses

only and no actual treatments.

 

Unfortunately, the hype that came with popularization of Deepak Chopra, was not

long lasting and many of these courses have had their natural death from lack of

interest.There is also a tremendous Legal climate in the US, as you may be quite

aware, and patients can claim that their symptoms were exacerbated. It is

heartening to note that some patients have persisted with Ayurvedic treatment

and have been able to wean themselves off of SSRI medications.

 

I liked your joke, albeit an old one. The best part about this particular joke

is that both can stand and shell nonsense at each other. However, both can come

together and see what works in each other's philosophies to take care in acute

stages and what works in chronic stages of a disease. I prefer the latter. That

would be real progress. I particularly like this challenge from Jagannath in

terms of Ojas Kshaya. After all, all disease sets in when Ojas decreases to a

certain level, and the body cannot protect itself, especially in AIDS, which by

definition is Immune Deficiency Disorder, and an Auto-immune at that !! You

should really throw this challenge to all of your readers and rs to see

what they come up with. That will be a new level for this esoteric and diverse

group. We always talk about how we can "TREAT", but that does not automatically

translate into " how much do we actually CURE ".

 

Lastly, thanks for the offer to Moderate this group. I am truly involved with

more things than I can handle right now, and when I did Moderate for the couple

of weeks, I found out how much work this truly entails, and I would differ it to

another day. May be in a couple of years, when I have more free time, I shall

dedicate myself to this cause.

 

Dr. Mankikar