Ayurveda. An ancient medical system

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Medicine - Alternative Medicine, grade: 2,0, Hochschule für Gesundheit und Sport, Ismaning, language: English, abstract: If people living in the western civilization think about medicine the first thoughts coming to their minds may be medical scrubs, syringes, illness, science and a lot of complicated words they don¿t understand. Terms like philosophy, prevention, responsibility and being in tune with one¿s self and the environment aren¿t directly related to the orthodox medicine. But that¿s what Ayurveda, mankind¿s oldest medical system, is all about. Ayurveda is the doctrine of longevity, it¿s a religious based science of how to live one¿s daily life. This over 3000 years old scheme, invented by wise men who got together at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains looking for methods to cure diseases, recognizes a close relationship between human and a universe where everything (plants, rocks, animals) is inspired.

On the following pages I will look at Ayurvedic medicine, with its basic assumptions, most important forms of therapy, remedies and its special nutrition system.