Ayurvedic Herbalism: Comparison of Ayurveda and Western Medicine

♦ Home

Part I: Ayurveda

♦ Introduction & History

♦ Indian Cosmology

♦ The Human Body

♦ Health & Sickness

Part II: Ayurvedic Herbalism

♦ Humans & Plants

♦ Food Energies

♦ Plant Classification

♦ Herbal Preparations

♦ Herbal Usage

♦ Common Herbs

Part III: Future of Ayurveda

♦ Limits to Ayurveda

♦ Ayurveda-Western Medicine Comparison

♦ Ayurveda as CAM

♦ Conclusion

Ayurveda vs. Western Medicine Comparison

The following is a table to organize and clarify the different aspects of Ayurveda and Conventional Medicine in a visual format (1):

	Ayurveda	Conventional Medicine
Philosophical Approach	Holistic (multi-dimensional)	Reductionist (allopathic; uni-dimensional)
Aspect of Person Focused on	Body, mind, emotion, & sould	Body alone, sometimes mind
Goals:	Maintain health; Prevent illness	Cure immediate illness
Patient Participation	Active contributor to healing; Body is self-healing	Passive receiver of treatment; Body is worked on
Nature of Disease	Disease is a necessary process	Disease is an undesirable entity
Causation of Disease	Personal; Imbalances with Cosmic Intelligence	Environmental; Pathogens (virus, bacteria, allergens)
Image of Physician	Physician is a guide	Physician is an expert
Methods of Treatment	Lifestyle changes; Diet changes; Herbal Treatments	Drugs; Surgery
Nature of Treatments	Individualized- Unique for each dosha	Standardized- Targets disease, not person
Nature of Diagnosis	Qualitative- Relies on subjective patient report and physician's intuition	Quantitative- Relies on test results
Body-Mind Relationship	Interconnected; Both affect each other	Separate; Mental illnesses cured separately

References:

1. Ellis, John Spenser. "Compare Western and Eastern (Allopathic and Holistic) Methods of Wellness and Health Care". John Spenser Ellis Enterprises. http://www.johnspencerellis.com/compare-eastern-and-
western-medicine-allopathic-holistic.html. 2006. (Accessed: December 3, 2006).