Three patients sit in a doctor’s reception. Each suffers from arthritis, yet each is different. The first patient, a tall, thin woman, is the first to see the doctor. As she gets up from the chair, her joints crack; she moves to the examining room in obvious pain and stiffness. After examining the patient and taking her case history, the physician prescribes moist heat,1 a detoxifying diet, and massage with medicated sesame oil. Special attention is given to cleansing the colon with daily castor oil and herbs. After one week, the patient is placed on a diet which restricts the use of fresh fruits and vegetables and is high in dairy products and rich oily foods.
The second patient is a ruddy-faced gentlemen of medium build, who appears to be slightly overheated in a room where everyone else is comfortable. Herbs to calm the digestion are prescribed. A special diet of cooling foods and cold compresses is recommended for his painful joints. His diet includes lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and sweet foods, with restrictions on proteins, oils and fermented dairy products.
The third patient, a large-framed, slightly overweight woman, moves steadily into the doctor’s office on legs that are markedly swollen and edematous (holding water). The doctor prescribes spicy herbs to stimulate the digestion, heating essential oils mixed with alcohol to be massaged into her swollen joints, and a diet in which sugar, dairy and oily foods are strictly avoided.
How could this possibly be? How could three patients with the same disease be treated in such a varied and seemingly contradictory fashion? It is because the physician practices Ayurveda. He doesn’t see three cases of arthritis, he sees three metabolically different people who are all having difficulty with their joints; each with a different set of symptoms and each needing a very different type of treatment.
Extract from:
Ayurveda And Aromatherapy
The Earth Essential Guide To Ancient Wisdom And Modern Healing
— By Dr. Light Miller, Dr. Bryan Miller
“Ayur” from the Sanskrit meaning life, “Veda”, meaning knowledge. The ancient Indian Medicine still practised due your clear and simple educational view of health.
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