Ayurvedic Medicine for Westerners

Book excerpt: This textbook explains clearly the Ayurvedic understanding of pathology and how to diagnosis the different stages of disease in the body and mind. Based on the functional nature of Ayurvedic Anatomy & Physiology Ayurvedic pathology recognizes several steps before disease as we know it in the West manifests. Hence, a profound understanding of pathology allows Ayurveda to prevent disease before it becomes “disease”. Ayurveda is truly a preventive medicine when understood correctly. This book contains color photos to help students understand diagnosis better. Pulse and tongue diagnosis are clearly explained in a simple manner. There is also a special section on clinical psychology as per the Caraka Samhita. All the classical methods of understanding disease are explained in this textbook which is the result of the authors 27 years of practice.Perhaps the most important aspect of Ayurveda today is the rich variety of therapeutic approaches integrated in the system. Therapeutics in Ayurveda is not a hodgepodge of different therapies; rather it is a comprehensive vision of health and well-being supported by nature's abundant wealth of therapeutic substances. The fundamental vision of therapeutics is based on the functional vision of Ayurveda. This textbook explains in a clear, linear manner the two main approaches and many different categories of treatments available in Ayurvedic medicine, the basis of which is lifestyle therapies.“Pathology and Diagnosis in Ayurveda” by Vaidya Atreya Smith is Volume Two in a four volume series of textbooks for Western students of Ayurveda.