This document provides an overview of the key concepts in Ayurvedic medicine, including: - Ayurveda is one of the major traditional medical systems used in India, along with Siddha and Yoga. It views health as a balance between the body, mind and spirit. - The core concepts include the five elements (earth, air, fire, water, space), the three doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), and srotas channels that allow substances to flow through the body. Imbalances in doshas or blocked srotas can lead to disease. - Diagnosis evaluates the pulse, urine, and a person's prakriti (constitutional type)

1. Rachel Coddington, Katie Criss, Emily Gilfert, Erica
McNinch, & Anna Wood

2.  Ayurveda: science of life;
longevity
 Derived from Greco-Arabic
medicine
 Three major medical systems
used in India:
 Ayurveda
 Siddha
 Yoga

3.  Vedic: 1200-800BC
 Religious scriptures in Atharvaveda and Rigveda
 Magicoreligious healing
 Incantations
 Classical
 Similar to traditional Ayurvedic medicine
 Syncretic
 Combination of Unani, Sidda, and other influences
 Using pulse and urine to diagnose
 “New Age Ayurveda”
 Influenced by modern science, physics, and
biomedical science

4.  Earth
 Air
 Fire
 Water
 Space
 Elements combine with
the act of forces (doshas:
Veta, Pitta, Kapha)

5.  Srotas: channels
throughout the body that
allow substances to pass
through them
 Intestines
 Arteries
 Capillaries
 Uterus
 If these channels are
blocked, disease results

6.  Constitutional Type (prakriti):
determined at conception and
never changes
 Four factors:
 Father
 Mother
 Womb
 Season
 The prakriti of a person
determines what treatment
option will most likely cure
their disease

7.  Three categories of disease:
 Adhyatmika (from within the body)
 Adhibhautika (from outside the body)
 Adhidaivika (from supernatural sources)
 Disease is named based on one of six characteristics:
 Condition produced
 Main symptom
 Main sign
 Nature
 Main dosha involved
 Organ involved

8.  In Ayurvedic medicine,
digestion is the most
important process
 Anything that suppresses
digestion causes the
production of ama
 Ama circulates throughout the
body, and causes obstruction
in a srota
 Wherever the srota occurs,
this is the site of origin

9.  Holistic: mental and physical
 Pulse
 Vata: snake-like
 Pitta: frog-like
 Kapha: swan or peacock-like
 Urine
 Vata: pale yellow and oily
 Pitta: yellow, red, or blue
 Kapha: white, foamy, and
muddy
 Combination of doshas: black
 Ama: lime juice or vinegar-
like

10.  Vata: coldness, dryness, roughness,
cracking
 Pitta: hotness, redness
 Kapha: wetness, whiteness, coldness

11.  Prevention
 Therapy
 Prophylaxis of disease
with:
 Diet
 Medicine
 Therapeutic Purification
 Emetics
 Purgatives
 Enemas
 Head purgation
 Leeches

12.  https://www.google.com/search?q=ayurveda&biw=747&bi
h=708&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikq_
PKjLnJAhXBej4KHSftBpUQ_AUICCgD&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch
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M%3A
 https://www.google.com/search?q=ayurveda&biw=747&bi
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wO0CGSStVhzwM%3A
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PKjLnJAhXBej4KHSftBpUQ_AUICCgD&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch
&q=constitutional+types+of+ayurveda&imgrc=FCcpx9aOs
3xZEM%3A

13.  https://www.google.com/search?q=ayurveda&biw=747&bi
h=708&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikq_
PKjLnJAhXBej4KHSftBpUQ_AUICCgD&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch
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ahUKEwjOpJORmLnJAhXCpR4KHQ0UCKwQ_AUIBygC&
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mgrc=4dKwV9CSjNgMzM%3A

14.  https://www.google.com/search?q=ayurveda+srotas&
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gC&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch&q=vascular+system&imgrc=W
pNQ0uth_EUcZM%3A
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