We cure….an insight into Ayurvedic diagnosis and treatment planning

Ayurveda started emerging as Indian Medical Science after freedom from British rule. Since then Ayurveda has always been a treatment option for chronic diseases and for diseases which has limited treatment in modern medical science.
Not any more
There is increasing evidence and awareness about the effectiveness of Ayurveda in diseases both acute and chronic, various infections, neurological diseases and many more.
In any medical science perfect diagnosis is key to the cure. In Ayurveda perfect diagnosis is derived from principles of Ayurveda, history of the patient, examinations and keen observations. If these are followed meticulously even the new age diseases including all kinds of infections like dengue, malaria, typhoid, flu, etc. can be diagnosed and treated effectively. Ayurvedic diagnosis may not always be the same as that of Modern science diagnosis as terminologies and concepts differ in both sciences. Ayurveda has stipulated five-step diagnostic tool to ensure perfect diagnosis also called as निदानपंचक.
निदानपंचक
1. Pre-disease symptoms/premonitory symptoms

These signs or symptoms are specific which occur even before the appearance of the actual disease. These provide us with an opportunity to prevent the disease from flaring or reduce the intensity if treated in time. For example, localized swelling is a precursor of the abscess. If this swelling is identified and treated appropriately it will not develop into an abscess. They also give the insight to determine the prominent dosha and help to understand the pathology. For example, experiencing chills before fever is a sign that vata dosha in involved whereas hot flushes before fever is a sign of pitta dosha.
2. Symptoms of diseases

Symptom assessment helps us to determine the specific disease, pathological factors involved in disease and the extent of damage to the body. They also give an idea about the curability of the disease. For example, fever with cough indicates the involvement of rasa dhatu, improper agni and kapha dosha, single joint pain with swelling and restricted movement indicates sama kapha dosha, sandhigata kapha dushti.
3. Effect of previous treatment

Positive or negative effect of previously tried treatments like home remedies confirms the pathological factors involvement inferred by the first two steps. For example, if kapha dosha or sama dosha are involved symptoms of cough will be relieved after drinking hot water, oil massage will not produce in relief of joint pain or might worsen the symptoms if sama dosha is involved.
4. Stage-wise pathology

This is a detailed step by step progress of the disease starting from causative factors to the appearance of signs and symptoms. This is derived from information given by the patient, observations by Vaidya and pathologies explained in Ayurveda texts. This gives us vaidyas unique insight into disease pathology which is then used to formulate treatment course.
5. Nidan-final diagnosis

Considering all the above steps we reach to a diagnosis specific to that person. For example, PCOD in modern science may have Ayurvedic diagnosis as vata dosha provoked by sleeping late at night, improper diet practices and suppression of urges affecting rasa dhatu and shukra dhatu.

This diagnosis allows us to pick an appropriate medicines, herbs or formulations or any other therapies like panchakarma. As for the above example diagnosis we will advise vata pacifying diet and lifestyle, vata pacifying medicines which particularly have favorable effects on rasa dhatu and shukra dhatu. We at Dhanvantari Chikitsalaya finalize treatment plan with three goals ahead of us Such as
1. Removal of root cause (हेतु) – The root cause can be any of your diet practices, lifestyle
practices, environmental factors, external trauma, infections and toxins. We advise you best possible diet and lifestyle changes to help you remove the root cause. If the cause is not removed medicines will only relieve the disease temporarily and symptoms might return after some time.
2. Reversal of pathology – As disease progresses it harms bodily structures and affects functioning of organ systems to cause symptoms. We advise herbal and herbo-mineral classical ayurvedic medicines to reverse the pathology and thus gives you relief of symptoms. These medicines also bring back the normal functioning ability of body systems.
3. Restore the immunity – Sometimes, the cause also impairs the disease fighting system of the body which forms immunity. If this system is not restored it can cause recurrence of the similar diseases. We advise you diet, lifestyle and few medicines to restore this immunity.

To achieve these goals, obedience of patient towards following the advice and follow up is very important. We are here to hold your hand through the process but Success is not possible without U.