Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practiced throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayurveda is pseudoscientific and toxic metals such as lead are used as ingredients in many ayurvedic medicines.
Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) is a form of alternative medicine founded in the mid-1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM). Distinct from traditional ayurveda, it emphasizes the role of consciousness, and gives importance to positive emotions. Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been variously characterized as emerging from, and consistently reflecting, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, representing the entirety of the ayurvedic tradition.
Charaka acharya was one of the principal contributors to Ayurveda, a system of medicine and lifestyle developed in ancient India. He is known as a physician who edited the medical treatise entitled Charaka Samhita, one of the foundational texts of classical Indian medicine and Ayurveda, included under Brhat-Trayi.
Deepak Chopra is an Indian-American author, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine. In the 1990s, Chopra, a physician by education, became a popular proponent of holistic approach to well-being that includes yoga, meditation, and nutrition, among other new-age therapies.
The history of alternative medicine covers the history of a group of diverse medical practices that were collectively promoted as "alternative medicine" beginning in the 1970s, to the collection of individual histories of members of that group, or to the history of western medical practices that were labeled "irregular practices" by the western medical establishment. It includes the histories of complementary medicine and of integrative medicine. "Alternative medicine" is a loosely defined and very diverse set of products, practices, and theories that are perceived by its users to have the healing effects of medicine, but do not originate from evidence gathered using the scientific method, are not part of biomedicine, or are contradicted by scientific evidence or established science. "Biomedicine" is that part of medical science that applies principles of anatomy, physics, chemistry, biology, physiology, and other natural sciences to clinical practice, using scientific methods to establish the effectiveness of that practice.
Andrew Thomas Weil is an American celebrity doctor who advocates for integrative medicine.
Dosha is a central term in ayurveda originating from Sanskrit, which can be translated as "that which can cause problems", and which refers to three categories or types of substances that are believed to be present conceptually in a person's body and mind. These Dosha are assigned specific qualities and functions. These qualities and functions are affected by external and internal stimuli received by the body. Beginning with twentieth-century ayurvedic literature, the "three-dosha theory" has described how the quantities and qualities of three fundamental types of substances called wind, bile, and phlegm fluctuate in the body according to the seasons, time of day, process of digestion, and several other factors and thereby determine changing conditions of growth, aging, health, and disease.
Benedict Lust was a German-American who was one of the founders of naturopathic medicine in the first decades of the twentieth century.
Brihaspati Dev Triguna (1920–2013) was a Vaidya or Ayurveda practitioner and an expert in Pulse diagnosis. He completed his formal ayurvedic studies under the guidance of Rajvaidya Pandit Gokul Chand ji in his Gurukul from Ludhiana.
Siddha medicine is a form of traditional medicine originating in southern India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India.
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) is a professional degree focused on Ayurveda offered in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College, also popularly known as Tibbia College, is an institution under the Government of Delhi, located at Karol Bagh in New Delhi, India. The institution which offers education and training in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine, has its origins dating back to the late 19th century. The college, whose foundation was laid by Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst on 29 March 1916, the then Viceroy of India and was inaugurated by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, on 13 February 1921, offers bachelor's and masters (MD) degrees in Ayurvedic and Unani streams.
The Ministry of Ayush, a ministry of the Government of India, is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of traditional medicine and alternative medicine systems in India. Ayush is a name devised from the names of the alternative healthcare systems covered by the ministry: ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and homeopathy.
Catherine D. DeAngelis is the first woman and the first pediatrician to become editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). She has also edited several additional medical journals. Before assuming the editor's position at JAMA in 2000, DeAngelis was a professor and Vice Dean of Faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
JoAnn Elisabeth Manson is an American physician and professor known for her pioneering research, public leadership, and advocacy in the fields of epidemiology and women's health.
Tony Nader is a Lebanese neuroscientist, researcher, university president, author and leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement. He has a medical degree in internal medicine, received his Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and worked as a clinical and research fellow at a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
The American Meditation Institute (AMI) was founded by Leonard Perlmutter and Jenness Cortez Perlmutter in 1996. The Perlmutters were influenced by Eknath Easwaran and Nisargadatta Maharaj; they were direct disciples of Swami Rama of the Himalaya Mountains, the man who, in laboratory conditions and under the observation of research scientists at the Menninger Clinic, demonstrated that blood pressure, heart rate, and the autonomic nervous system can be voluntarily controlled. These research demonstrations have been one of the major cornerstones of the mind-body movement since the 1970s.
Andrew A. Skolnick is an American science and medical journalist and photographer best known for his investigative reporting on health care issues, alternative medicine, and paranormal claims.
Ayurveda Day, also known as National Ayurveda Day, is observed every year in India and worldwide on the occasion of the birthday of Dhanvantari, the Hindu god of medicine. The Puranas mentioned him as the deity of Ayurveda. In 2016, the Government of India's Ministry of Ayush declared the birth anniversary of Dhanvantari as National Ayurveda Day. The first Ayurveda Day was first celebrated on 28 October 2016.
