Tuesday, February 16, 2016

AYURVEDA, MODERN MEDICINE SHOULD INTEGRATE TO PROMOTE HEALTH: S.Y. NAIK

Ground Report
February 12, 2016
Jaipur, Rajasthan India

The Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) and Health & Family Welfare Mr. Shripad Yesso Naik has said that it is essential to integrate the traditional Indian Medicine System into Modern Medicine system. Mr. Naik inaugurated the National Symposium on Child Health Care through Ayurveda at the NIMS University at Jaipur on Feb 11.

Speaking at the occasion, the AYUSH Minister said that India is famous the world over for its AYUSH systems of medicine including Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa & Homoeopathy. All these systems of medicine must be used in an integrated manner to promote a healthy life.

Mr. Shripad Naik informed that the AYUSH Ministry has proposed the integration of Allopathic and Ayurvedic systems to give better results for treatment of various illnesses.

Several specialists expressed their thoughts at the symposium on Ayurveda including Dr. Harland Winter from the US and Dr. Anil Dhawan from the UK.

PM MODI: AYURVEDA GLOBALLY RELEVANT DUE TO HOLISTIC APPROACH


One India
Kozhikode, Kerala India
Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Ayurveda is globally relevant due to its holistic and comprehensive approach to health, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. "Today, ayurveda is globally relevant because of its holistic and comprehensive approach to health. The ayurvedic 'dincharya' (daily routine) helps to bring about peace and harmony in one's life. Ayurvedic daily routines are meant to enhance the health of a human being, both mental and physical," Modi said at the ongoing Global Ayurveda Festival here.

He said non-communicable as well as lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and cancers had become the greatest health challenges to the world community. Modi said the escalating cost of treatment and side effects of allopathic medicines had prompted medical experts to think of widening their horizons to traditional systems of medicine. "The World Health Organisation estimates that non-communicable diseases kill about 38 million people each year and almost three-fourths of these deaths, that is 28 million, occur in low and middle income countries. It is in managing these that ayurveda offers solutions," the prime minister said. He said India has had a long tradition of saints and hermits who evolved the indigenous systems of health care like ayurveda, yoga and siddha. However, Modi said, the real potential of ayurveda remained untapped due to inadequate scientific scrutiny and concerns regarding standards and quality.

If this problem is resolved, India could be a leader in making affordable, holistic healthcare available to the world, the prime minister said. He said that his government was fully committed to the promotion of ayurveda and traditional systems of medicine.

After the BJP formed the government at the Centre, the AYUSH department was upgraded to the status of a union ministry and the National AYUSH Mission launched to promote AYUSH medical systems through cost effective services, he said. "We are committed to promote the use of traditional medicines in our public health system through regulation of research and appropriate integration of quality products, practices and practitioners into the health system. Our efforts are to tap the real potential of ayurveda and other AYUSH systems in imparting preventive and holistic healthcare to the people," Modi said. He also called upon young entrepreneurs to find a lot of opportunities in holistic healthcare.

"Traditional medicines are affordable to many rural people. It is available to local communities and time-tested for its safety and efficacy. Above all, it imbibes the culture and eco-system of the communities within which it grows," said Modi. He pointed to developments in the traditional medicine sector in China and said India too should learn from the experience of other countries, and ensure that ayurveda and other Indian systems of healthcare were propagated and popularized.

WORLD CANCER DAY: USING AYURVEDA TO REDUCE PAIN, CHEMOTHERAPY SIDE-EFFECTS


The Indian Express (Anuradha Mascarenhas)
Pune, Maharashtra India
Thursday, 4 February, 2016

Cancer is the second biggest killer after heart disease in India. Data from the WHO World Cancer Report released in 2015 indicates that in India, there are 7 lakh new cancer cases every year, killing more than 3.5 lakh people. Ahead of World Cancer Day on February 4, experts fear that the count is expected to rise in the next ten years.

Dr Chaitanya Koppiker, managing trustee of Prashanti Cancer Care Mission and medical director of Orchids breast health, who has been instrumental in conducting marathons featuring film stars and launching several awareness drives, said that the focus is on prevention, diagnostics and clinical research.

The theme for this year is “We can: I can.” As part of their sustained effort to prevent and treat cancer, Koppiker’s research team at Orchids has tied up with National Chemical Laboratory, University of Pune and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER). “We see as many as 350-400 cases of all types of cancer every year and the age group is getting younger,” he says.

“As part of our research efforts, we are specially looking at the use of certain ayurvedic drugs that can alleviate pain and reduce side-effects of chemotherapy and also improve the quality of life. We are also researching on whether the use of polymer technology can help in reducing other side-effects like fibrosis after reconstructive breast surgery along with NCL,” Koppiker said.

A tie up with Tata Trust and Tata Memorial Cancer Centre in Mumbai has also placed Orchids breast health care on the cancer grid so that the latter can undertake research and clinical studies on prevention of cancer. “We have recently been recognised by the government as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and further tie-ups have been planned with East Anglia University to introduce an educational course on oncoplastic surgeries in Pune,” Koppiker added.

Meanwhile, an Indus health plus report says that 15 per cent of the younger population in the age group of 25-30 years are at a higher risk of oral and lung cancer. The sample size for the study was 23,145 people who underwent preventive health check-up during January-December, 2015. The report states that over the last two years, risk of cancer has been increasing among people in the middle and younger age groups by 12%.

According to Dr Tushar Patil, Medical Oncologist, Sahyadri Hospital, “20% of the women are at a higher risk of breast cancer followed by cervical cancer. Ovarian cancer and colon cancers are also increasing in females. Wrong eating habits, settling for junk food, increasing cases of obesity and heavy smoking especially amongst females have given rise to such cases.”

SAI AYURVEDIC COLLEGE (MIAMI) INITIATES DOCTORAL PROGAM, AUTUMN 2016

In April of 2013, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) approved tentative standards for the implementation of a third year add-on program for graduates of two-year Ayurveda practitioner programs to qualify for a newly created professional membership category of “Ayurvedic Doctor.” This category includes Ayurvedic professionals who have specific specialized training in Ayurveda with overview training in conventional medicine that enables them to interface with Western medical practitioners and provide comprehensive Ayurvedic healthcare to their clients. Note that the use of the term “doctor” may be limited by individual state licensure statutes and regulations.

Because many of Sai Ayurvedic College’s two year graduates (among others) have expressed a desire to advance their education beyond its current level, Sai Ayurvedic College has formulated a plan to offer beginning in approximately October 2016 a third year Doctoral level program in Ayurveda. In addition to meeting the needs of our graduates, this program may also be beneficial to graduates of other two-year programs as well as Indian university Ayurvedic graduates holding the degree of BAMS or higher, in orienting them toward practice in a North American environment. This third year Doctoral program will be offered in the classroom as well as via live webcast. We have upgraded our audio system to a high-tech high band UHF communication system so as to facilitate distance learners’ participation in this and other College programs.

Doctors of Ayurveda are competent at understanding disease from an Ayurvedic perspective, while possessing a working knowledge of Western medical diagnostic and treatment terminology and practices, sufficient to enable them to correlate those terms and diagnoses into Ayurvedic understanding and practice. Doctors of Ayurveda therefore have a working knowledge of Western Medical Pathology, Pharmacology, Diagnostic reports and treatments, in order to interface with the Western medical community.

In addition to the obvious requirement of completion of the first and second years of the program, NAMA has interposed an additional requirement, viz., the completion of a minimum of 6 semester hours (9 quarter hours) of university level instruction in Anatomy and Physiology for admission to the program. Nearly every university, college and community college in the USA offers this particular sequence of courses, i.e., Anatomy & Physiology I & II. Students are not limited in any way as to their choice of institution in which to study these. Graduates and attendees of university or professional school programs in Medicine, Dentistry, Podiatry, Acupuncture/Oriental Medicine, Optometry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physician Assistance Studies, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy and Naturopathic Medicine have almost certainly already met this requirement as a consequence of graduation. Graduates of programs in Occupational Therapy, Veterinary Medicine and other allied health programs may have met this requirement as well, depending on the specific nature of their coursework completed.

Graduates of foreign institutions will have their status assessed on a case-by-case basis.

For detailed information, please contact the College’s Academic Dean, Bill Courson, at wcourson@saiayurvediccollege.com.