Ayurveda and medicalisation today: The loss of important knowledge and practice in health?

ABSTRACT

Ayurveda translates as ‘life science’. Its knowledge is not limited to medicine, cure or therapy and is forlaypersons, households, communities, as well as for physicians. Throughout its evolutionary history,Ayurveda and Local Health Traditions have reciprocally influenced each other. In modern times, theinfluence of biomedicine on Ayurveda is leading to its medicalisation. Over the past century, theintroduction and perspective of biomedicine into India has made the human being an object for positiveknowledge, a being who can be understood with scientific reason and can be governed and controlledthrough medical knowledge. This paper explores how this shift towards medicalisation is affecting theknowledge, teaching, and practice of Ayurveda. It examines the impact and contribution of processes likestandardisation, professionalisation, bio-medicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation on Ayurveda education, knowledge, practice and policies. To maintain health and wellbeing Ayurveda's ancient knowledgeand practice needs to be applied at individual, community and health care provider levels and not belimited to the medical system. The current over medicalisation of society is a potential threat to humanhealth and well-being. Ayurveda and LHT knowledge can provide essential teachings and practices tocounter-balance this current trend through encouraging a population's self-reliance in its health.© 2018 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Publishing Services byElsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).