Singing AYUSH carol in the land of Nicolas Copernicus – parallax error or lack of pragmatism

Whenever we raise any doubt or question about the science and merit of AYUSH, immediately the answer will be the great legacy & tradition of AYUSH. Always such discourses come with the following addendum such as AYUSH has rich empirical evidence, it is time tested, gifted by God, holistic etc.

The question is where can we find the data/proof to verify that over one lakh AYUSH formulations are tested properly and that is how they were developed, upon how many patients they were tested, for which were the diseases they were tested etc. Such questions always fall on deaf ears as no one would either hear such questions or would come forward to answer.

Certainly AYUSH was in existence when science was in the nascent stage. With the advent of science and scientifically proven allopathic system, the existence of AYUSH got shifted from merit to faith thanks to its religious, ethnic, linguistic roots. When political patronage and sponsorship of Government were available to AYUSH owing to its religious origin, instead of developing science, spirituality, faith, divinity etc., becomes the jingle lines for promoting AYUSH.

AYUSH practices were prevalent at the time when there were no laboratories, in vitro test methods, animal experimentation wisdom or safety evaluations protocols like that of OECD or ICH were available. It means all the over one lakh AYUSH products would have been proven and evaluated directly on human beings obviously without any IEC approval, consideration of inclusion, exclusion criteria, protocol, investigators brochure, statistical analysis etc, Perhaps such products would have developed intuitively than scientifically.

Therefore, it can be assumed with a limited sense of science and common sense that most of the diseases also would have been diagnosed based on some prominent clinical features and therefore how accurate the diagnosis of various diseases would have remained a billion dollar question. Many different diseases do evoke similar symptoms.

The big question entire nation wants to know is how over one lakh AYUSH products would have got tested and safety and efficacy of all those products would have been proven but no documentation?

In the complete absence of the above details still we have plenty of obsessed lovers of AYUSH who are willing to notarize all AYUSH products may be for poor people in the society.

In the absence of any such document of clinical trial data, how we can claim that all these AYUSH formulations are drugs, safe, effective, have empirical evidence etc?

How we have translated and transmuted such AYUSH practices and products as drug and cure based medical science and started producing graduates from such system as a doctor by imitating the style education of allopathic medicine? This concern was raised even by Dr.GG Gangadharan, former Director of FRLHST.

It is also clearly mentioned in Siddha system that the product Rasaghandhi mezhu a siddha preparation composed on Mercury, Lead, Arsenic, Copper sulphate etc can cure over 4000 diseases! Even the petrol sold these days is unleaded!!!

If the above claim about Rasaghandhi mezhu is true, then where is the need for several other Siddha preparations claimed to have effects against several diseases?

Another question also begs answer is why the descriptions of most Siddha products and the treatment methods are written in poetry form? Some Siddha experts asserted that remembering poems even by the common man is quite easy and hence the ancient Siddhars would have written the entire narratives of most Siddha products and the usage instructions in poetry form.

If the ancient Siddhars have considered Siddha products as drugs, how they would have thought that even the common man should remember them? Won’t such endeavor amounts to promoting self-medication that would demean the role of vaidyas in the society, their scholarliness, the importance of drug, disease diagnosis etc.

The answer to the above question is presumably easy. Siddhars would not have considered Siddha products as drugs as defined by science. They would have treated those products more for remedial and paramedical benefits and hence would have described them in easiest way so that even the common man could remember and benefit from such product when required. Further, the paramedical benefits of various preparations are likely to be lost easily and hence the ancient Siddhars would have made it in simple poetry form so they would not get lost in the course of time.

Ancient AYUSH scholars would have had the knowledge in differentiating the products having some medicinal values were totally and completely different from drugs.

If they were drugs and were effective, where is the need for over one lakh products in AYUSH?

If we look at the list of animals, animal excreta and urine used in the preparation of various AYUSH products one may wonder which animal on earth the ancient AYUSH scholars have left untouched for treating human ailments!!!!

Does this sound factual or fictitious to think that all these animal products were chosen based on strong rationale, tested on a large number of human beings against various diseases, measured their efficacy and safety by comparing with untreated control or placebo treatment? Is it to be believed that through series of the iterative process only these formulations were developed?

When we raise such scientific questions, instead of seeing such questions in context, more often are treated as offensive, oppressive, regressive and demeaning.

The point is not about discarding AYUSH in toto. But can we absorb AYUSH entirely as sacred science gifted to mankind by God? Therefore, AYUSH should not be questioned, its merit and scientific credence need not be verified and it can be followed the way it is.

Why is AYUSH being questioned so brutally? It is pure because of some AYUSH vaidyas in private practice and the present system that is responsible to promote AYUSH has failed miserably.

On one side large number of AYUSH vaidyas are conveniently engaged in cross pathy and they use allopathic drugs to hide the weakness of AYUSH products and on the other end, AYUSH products are promoted the same way as scientifically proven allopathic drugs instead of using the AYUSH jargons like how these AYUSH products would correct Tridosha imbalance, how the effect of such products can be evaluated through pulse reading etc.

When the proponents of AYUSH claim the therapeutic effects of various AYUSH products exactly like that of allopathic drugs, naturally questions will be raised about their efficacy and safety in comparison with scientifically proven allopathic drugs. Instead of explaining the science, the responsible people often divert the question by mixing tradition and faith.

Time has come the Government must verify the scientific merit of AYUSH threadbare before attempting to either promote it as universal health care solution or as proven science.

We should not follow what has been followed in the past (since independence).

Modiji has come as Prime Minister of India not as an alternative choice but as an absolute answer to the hope and expectations of many Indians. When we make our country cashless through digitalization, how we can give prominent space and recognition to AYUSH as medical science? As on date, AYUSH stands more as the occult, faith-based practice than scientifically proven the truth.

AYUSH must be renamed as Indian Traditional System of Medicine and the graduates of such system as Indian Traditional System of Medicine Practitioner with their specialization as Siddha, Ayurveda etc. This is how the Peoples Republic of China is promoting Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The prefix doctor is highly restricted to TCM practitioners in China.

AYUSH must be promoted for its strong paramedical benefits and should not be promoted as Medical Science. As long as our decisions and policies are influenced and dictated by political advantages and poll arithmetic than science and a true spirit of human welfare, we will be only resurrecting pre-Nicolas Copernicus age where those who question faith with scientific facts are mocked and punished.

Dr S Ranganathan