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	Basic Principles of Ayurveda

	History of Ayurveda

	Astanga Ayurveda

	Ayurvedic Concept of Diseases

	Diagnosis in Ayurveda

	Prakriti - Constitutional Type

	Ayurveda in Life Style

	Panchakarma

	Rasayana

	Ayurvedic Education

	Ayurvedic Books & CDs

	Current Status of Ayurveda

	Complementary Therapies

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In the early 20th century, Ayurvedic physicians began to organize into professional associations and to promote their case for national recognition and funding. This began to become a reality after Indian independence in 1947.

Ayurveda is now a statutory, recognised medical system of healthcare like other medical systems existing in India. The Central Council of Indian Medicine {CCIM} governs and recommends policies for the research and development of the system. In India, practitioners in Ayurveda undergo 5 and 1/2 years of training including 1 year of internship in select Ayurveda Medical Schools wherein they earn the professional doctorate degree of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery[B.A.M.S.]. After Higher Secondary (10+2) in Science with major [Physics, Chemistry, Biology] students are elegible for taking up the course. Apart from this, there are separate Entrance Examinations in different States of the Country for admission into the BAMS courses in various Institutions.

Select Institutions like Gujarat Ayurved University in Jamnagar, Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, National Institute of Ayurveda in Jaipur and several others prestigious Health Universities offer Graduate, Postgraduate and Higher doctorates and training such as MD [Ayurveda] which includes a 3 year residency and a dissertation similar to the MD/MS degrees in modern systems of medicine. Higher Doctorate degree offers Ph.D. degree.

In the United States, the National Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine (established by Scott Gerson) is an example of a research institute that has carried out research into Ayurvedic practices. Gerson has published part of his work on the antifungal activities of certain Ayurvedic plants in medical journals.

As a result of strong regulations in medical practice in Europe and America, the most commonly practiced Ayurvedic treatments in the west are massage and dietary and herbal advice.

Several Pharmecutical companies and Academic Institutions in the west have come into conflict with Indian academic institutions and traditional Ayurvedic practitioners over the intellectual property rights of herbal products researched by the western agencies. The Ayurvedic practitioners have known about the efficacy of such products for centuries and so contend that they carry precedence with regards to patent rights on such products.

On December 1993, the University of Mississippi Medical Center had a patent issued to thby U.S patents and trademarks office on the use of turmeric (U.S. patent No. 5,401,504) for healing. The patent was contested by India's industrial research organization, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (C.S.I.R), on the grounds that traditional Ayurvedic practitioners were already aware of the healing properties of the substance and have been for centuries, making this patent a case of bio-piracy.

After a complex legal battle, the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office ruled on August 14, 1997 that the patent was invalid because it was not a novel invention, giving the intellectual property rights to the principle back to the traditional practitioners of Ayurveda. R. A. Mashelkar, director-general of the CSIR, was satisfied with the result, saying:

"This success will enhance the confidence of the people and help remove fears about India's helplessness on preventing bio-piracy and appropriation of inventions based on traditional knowledge"

The turmeric patent was just one of the hundreds that the several academic organizations and Pharmecutical companies in the west have claimed by ignoring Ayurvedic knowledge. Vandana Shiva, a global campaigner for a fair and honest Intellectual Property Rights system, says patents on herbal products derived from Ne, Amla, Jar Amla, Anar, Salai, Dudhi, Gulmendhi, Bagbherenda, Karela, Erand, Rangoon-kibel, Vilayetishisham and Chamkura also need to be revoked.

Seven American and four Japanese firms have filed for grant of patents on formulations containing extracts of the herb Ashwagandha. Fruits, leaves and seeds of the Indian medicinal plant withania somnifera have been traditionally used for the Ayurvedic systemas aphrodisiacs, diuretics and for treating memory loss. The Japanese patent applications are related to the use of the herb as a skin ointment and for promoting reproductive fertility. The U.S based company Natreon has also obtained a patent for an Ashwagandha extract. Another US establishment, the New England Deaconess Hospital, has taken a patent on an Ashwagandha formulation claimed to alleviate symptoms associated with arthritis. It is clear that the Ashwagandha plant is catching the attention of scientists and more patents related to Ashwagandha are being filed or granted by different patent offices since 1996.

Ayurvedic wisdom originated in the main Vedas as a part of way of life - a spiritual connection with spirit and nature. This is most evident reading Atharva Veda. Ayurveda was used to remove obstacles on one’s path to Self-Realization. At some point the medical aspects began to take priority over the spiritual forms of healing (ie, focusing on lifestyle, dharma and moksha. Today, these spiritual aspects of Ayurveda have taken a back seat to the medical focus. As Ayurveda becomes a more commercially viable career, the spiritual aspects may continue to lose ground. Yet there are a growing number of practitioners who practice mainly these spiritual therapies and find better results than limiting their approach to the medical, physical realm.

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