FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH IN AYURVEDA - A REVIEW ON THE AREAS, TOOLS AND METHODS

Asst. Professor, Dept of Kriyasareera, Govt. Ayurveda College, Tripunithura.Dr. Abhilash M.

fundamental research in Ayurveda.

Research is a natural process that goes on with everything in this universe with the passage of time. By following a scientific methodology, this research can be made fruitful and beneficial to the society. The

1first and foremost thing in research is to avoid bias in every sense . This is most important in case of Ayurveda since we use many complicated concepts to study a disease or a treatment and rely upon many subjective parameters for assessing the outcome. Hence, researches in Ayurveda, if made genuine and fruitful; the acceptance and applicability of the results are several times increased. This should be kept in mind in planning each and every research.

This attitude should be reflected in our preference setting. When we set our preferences in a research process, the order must be Humanity- Medical Profession – Ayurveda – Speciality –Self. Utmost priority should be given to the mankind or the humanity. Anything which is against the humanity should be rejected in the first step itself, even though it is going to enrich the medical science. Similarly, medical profession should be given preference ahead of the individual system, whether it is Ayurveda or modern medicine. A lot of references are there in Ayurvedic texts which do not fit in the current scenario of clinical practice even though they were suitable for that time period. Following our principle in preference setting, these can be termed as ‘outdated’ and should no longer be practiced or researched upon. Focusing on

KEYWORDS:

INTRODUCTION

Ayurveda, Fundamental, Research, Concept, Methodology, Kriyasareera.

ABSTRACT:The amalgamation of the concept of

Ayurveda into the practice of research is a herculean task; same as with the application of modern concept in Ayurvedic practice. Fundamental research is the stepping stone into the vast field of research in Ayurveda. But, as the case with almost all the objective parameters in Ayurveda, the field and scope of Ayurvedic fundamental research have not been defined yet. This article is a humble effort to define and design the role of

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Ayurveda, the area of interest of a researcher should be enrichment of knowledge database of Ayurveda in a holistic way or ultimately to the practice of Ayurveda and not merely upon enrichment of a speciality or personal benefits. This entire concept, developed from the basic principles of Ayurveda, can address the entire ethical issues in the modern day health research and hence should be the driving force in planning various researches in Ayurveda.

The entire field of research in Ayurveda, can be divided into three – fundamental research, drug research and clinical research. Any kind of research which is used to enlighten the basic concepts can be

2defined as fundamental research . Researches intended to standardize the identity, processing and usage of a drug comes into the purview of drug research. Clinical research includes the application of the knowledge in a clinical scenario, whereby the results from the other two types of research can be tested.

Another classification considers research under two headings; fundamental and applied. A research work is fundamental if it deals with a problem as it is and does not try to modify it. The results of this type of research need to be tested by the second category of research. In applied research, we try to modify the problem by bringing the element of clinical testing into consideration. As far as Ayurveda is concerned, these classifications are relative; since some fundamental researches may have applied elements or demand clinical settings for their perfection, meanwhile clinical studies may need huge fundamental background for exploration. So, fundamental research can be more clearly defined as any type of research which provide research problem for applied research.

A system of medicine should have a fundamental support to grow and propagate. The more strong the fundamental support, the faster will be the growth of the system. As far as research is concerned, the strength lies in the scientific outlook. So, Ayurveda has to be equipped with more scientific tools (more objective parameters) to make it competent with the fast growing modern medical science. In other words, the scenario of research, as now, revolves around the modern clinical and biochemical parameters and their adaptation into the Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic fundamental principles are either reiterated or modified so that they can be precisely and judiciously practiced.

The fields of fundamental research can be attributed mainly to four departments – Samhita-Siddhanta, Kriyasareera, Swasthavritta and Roganidana. These departments may conduct studies in their specific areas or in general areas also, but focusing on their respective areas. Samhita-Siddhanta department should focus on the padarthas, especially the factors like desa, kaala etc; Kriyasareera can focus on the laboratory investigations, assessment of agni etc; Swasthavritta can focus on the epidemiological parameters, ritucharya, dinacharya etc; while Roganidana may focus on the disease-specific investigations, grading of aama etc. We can consider each of them separately.

The root of Ayurveda can be traced out to the darsanas. The boundary of fundamental research, hence, is drawn to the application, modification and standardization of darsanik principles. A darsanik

3principle, say karya-karana siddhanta , can be tested in two ways; first one by collecting the references or examples of karya-karana siddhanta and then by analyzing them statistically (i.e., the occurrence of karya together with karana is significant or not). Another method of testing karya-karana siddhanta is by adding some applied elements to it. We can consider a clinical condition and test whether any of its nidana is significant or not. i.e., the relation between vatarakta (karya) and sukumara (karana) can be studied in this way. Even though some applied elements are present, this is also a fundamental research since our intension is primarily to validate a concept or principle.

Another area of fundamental research, which has a pivotal role in determining the destiny of

FIELDS OF RESEARCH IN AYURVEDA

AREAS OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

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Ayurvedic research, is related to kriyasareera as it can connect the ultramodern developments with the Ayurvedic concepts in a dependable manner. Its role is in defining a fundamental principle or its application in terms of some objective parameters. Can some hematological or biochemical parameters be used to study the status of a dosha or dhatu. This study can be conducted in apparently normal individuals, when they are subjected to seasonal or age related stress that can cause an increase in a particular dosha and

4vitiate a dhatu (say kaphakopa and thereby rasadushti in vasantha ritu may be compared with Blood – RE, Absolute esinophil count etc.). This study can also be conducted in a kaphaja disease like allergic asthma. If this gives positive result, we can move further or can cross check it by another study. i.e., By adding more applied elements, we can conduct a study on whether a classical kaphasamana drug has any effect on these hematological parameters. Here, the fundamental interest is preserved since we are aiming at widening our spectrum of understanding on ‘dosha’ and making it universally acceptable.

The dinacharya – ritucharya protocol has to be updated by a series of fundamental researches. Again, this can be studied in either normal individuals (preventive aspect) or in diseases (effect on recovery period and secondary prevention). The fundamental interest in these studies is that the age old diet and lifestyle regimens of Ayurveda5, when tested with the epidemiological principles and made suitable for the current scenario, the spectrum of these Ayurvedic concepts get widened.

Moving further, individual diseases should also be considered for fundamental research, since concepts such as srotodushti, aama etc can only be studied based upon a specific disease process. If the former types of researches are done correctly and the conclusions are incorporated into our science, it becomes easier to compare and analyze these disease specific parameters with their modern counterparts. This also solves the issue of ‘contradictory statements’ as far as drug research and clinical research are concerned. So, as already mentioned, area of fundamental research covers all the areas whereby the platform for drug research and clinical research are being created.

The main limitation of the current curriculum in Ayurveda is that it is not clinically oriented or clinically updated. The clinical and academic interest should coincide with each other in order to make the Ayurvedic education and training fruitful. Each wing in Ayurveda should get a feedback from the clinical practitioner and should modify their functioning accordingly. Similarly each practitioner should update himself with the current trends from the academy and should practice accordingly.

As evident from our Samhitas, the practice followed by the great Acharyas in nurturing the science of Ayurveda was a retrospective one, i.e. deducing the theoretical position from the clinical observation. For example, the concept of srotas was explained based upon the clinical observation of treatment response in diseases affecting different dhatus. This is the reason why the normal physiology of a srotas has not been explained anywhere, even though the factors vitiating the srotas and symptoms of srotas vitiation are mentioned in detail. The reason for going from effect to cause may also be the scarcity of tools (objective) for conducting experiments and for the analysis.

The ultramodern laboratory and radiological investigations combined with the appropriate research methodology can fill this vacuum of objective clinical and research tools.

The conceptual inventions in the Ayurvedic classics can be analyzed by the apt form of fundamental research to reiterate or revalidate the concepts and thus can add some materialistic elements to make them clearer and finer. Again, to make a better comparison, it is reasonable to follow the same methodology as

CLINICAL AND ACADEMIC INTERESTS

FROM CLINICS TO FUNDAMENTALS – REINVENTION OF AYURVEDA

CONCLUSION

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done by the Acharyas, but with the application of modern objective parameters. i.e. enriching the concept by analyzing it in a disease condition and thus retrospectively standardizing the concept. Remembering the proverb, “Rome wasn't built in a day”, the outcome of many researches will collectively contribute to the upgradation of not only Ayurveda but the entire medical science, provided they are done in a synchronized, sequential and synergistic manner.

1.Mahajan B K. Methods in Biostatistics. Jaypee Medical Publishers New Delhi 2004; 6: 94-962.Kothari C R, Garg Gaurav. Research Methodology Methods and Techniques. New Age International Publishers New Delhi 2016; 3: 2-43.Agnives C R. Ayurvedeeya Padaartha vijnaanam. Publication Department of Harisree Hospital Thrissur 2013; 1: 417-4214.Pandit Hari Sadasiva Sastri Paraadakara. Ashtanga Hridaya with Sarvanga Sundara and Ayurveda Rasayana teeka. Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan Varanasi 2010; 1: 42-445.Ibid 1: 23-50

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