Traditional Asian medicine is a collective term for several types of traditional medicine practiced in Asia. [1]
These include the medical traditions of:
- South Asia
- Ayurveda
- Tamil Nadu (Siddha)
- West Asia
- Middle East (Unani)
- Iran
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Traditional Asian medicine is a collective term for several types of traditional medicine practiced in Asia. [1]
These include the medical traditions of:
The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten genera and 42 species are currently recognized.
Turmeric is a flowering plant, Curcuma longa of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, that requires temperatures between 20 and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered each year for their rhizomes, some for propagation in the following season and some for consumption.
Anise, also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia.
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. They are native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice. Cloves are available throughout the year owing to different harvest seasons in different countries.
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta; the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II alias Vikramaditya. The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others......
Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association labels Ayurvedic practitioners who claim to practice medicine as quacks. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using it.
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Traditional medicine comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies before the era of modern medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness". Traditional medicine is often contrasted with scientific medicine.
Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean.
Unani or Yunani medicine is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific.
Ipomoea aquatica is a semi-aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. This plant is known in English as water spinach, river spinach, water morning glory, water convolvulus, or by the more ambiguous names Chinese spinach, Chinese watercress, Chinese convolvulus or swamp cabbage, or kangkong in Southeast Asia and ong choy in Cantonese. Its place of origin is not known.
Nigella sativa is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern Europe and western Asia, but naturalized over a much wider area, including parts of Europe, northern Africa and east to Myanmar.
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Bile bears, sometimes called battery bears, are bears kept in captivity to harvest their bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, which is used by some traditional Asian medicine practitioners. It is estimated that 12,000 bears are farmed for bile in China, South Korea, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Demand for the bile has been found in those nations as well as in some others, such as Malaysia and Japan.
Archidendron pauciflorum, commonly known as djenkol, jengkol or jering is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, where the seeds are a popular dish. They are mainly consumed in Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Indonesia and prepared by frying, boiling, or roasting and are also eaten raw. The beans are mildly toxic due to the presence of djenkolic acid, an amino acid which causes djenkolism. The beans and leaves of the djenkol tree are traditionally used for medicinal purposes such as purifying the blood. To date, djenkol is traded on local markets only.
Eastern world, also known as the East or the Orient, is an umbrella term for various cultures or social structures, nations and philosophical systems, which vary depending on the context. It most often includes at least part of Asia or, geographically, the countries and cultures east of Europe, the Mediterranean region and Arab world, specifically in historical (pre-modern) contexts, and in modern times in the context of Orientalism. It is often seen as a counterpart to the Western world, and correlates strongly to the southern half of the North–South divide.
Varma Kalai is an Indian traditional art of vital points. It originated in present-day kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. It combines massage, alternative medicine, traditional yoga and martial arts in which the body's pressure points (varmam) are manipulated to heal or cause harm. The healing application called Vaidhiya Murai is part of Siddha medicine.
Ampelopsin, also known as dihydromyricetin and DHM, when purported as an effective ingredient in supplements and other tonics, is a flavanonol, a type of flavonoid. It is found in the Ampelopsis species japonica, megalophylla, and grossedentata; Cercidiphyllum japonicum; Hovenia dulcis; Rhododendron cinnabarinum; some Pinus species; and some Cedrus species, as well as in Salix sachalinensis.
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Cressa cretica is a species of flowering plant in the morning glory family. It is found in northern and central Africa, southern Europe and western Asia, as well as parts of southeastern Asia and Australia. It has long been used in traditional medicine and research has demonstrated that it has some therapeutic effects.