PrintA team representing six top United States medical schools will visit India on an Ayurveda study tour, starting January 27.
The team is taking the trip following an invitation from the Indian government, thanks to the efforts of Dr Navin Shah, former president, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. The schools represented include Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown universities.
The delegation, led by Shah and comprising six directors of complementary alternative medicine and integrative medicine programs, is to hear evidence-based presentations by experts on Ayurveda, yoga, meditation and oil massage treatments, January 28 through February 3, in New Delhi.
Shah, a practicing urologist in Maryland, told India Abroad the meetings, organized by the Indian government's ministry of health, would "focus on treatment benefits of Ayurveda in five major diseases and also benefits of five herbs - either simple or in combination - in treatment of various diseases. There will be also special lectures that will deal with the role of diet in both health and diseases."
One of the five days is allotted for the presentation of 10 proposals for Indo-US research efforts.
Shah said the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, "has shown interest in such joint projects" and that the US delegation would discuss ways to conduct the research and get material published in US journals.
He said the delegation would also visit the Ayurveda Medical College and Hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan, "to get a sense of the kind of Ayurveda education and patient care ... and the vast network of Ayurveda institutions in India." There are more than 150 Ayurveda colleges, 50 post-graduate Ayurveda institutions and 75,000 students, 10,000 faculty members and 3,000 Ayurveda hospitals in India.
He said the program for the delegation will include a visit to an Ayurveda pharma factory to study the methods of drug formulation, production, preservation, safety and research. The last day, the presenters and participants are to brainstorm to plan future interactions and activities.
Shah said in October, two Ayurveda professors will visit six US institutions and provide evidence-based lectures over three days each to medical students, faculty members and practicing physicians and discuss possible joint IndoUS research projects.
David Eisenberg, director, Osher Research Center and director, Division for Research and Education in Integrative Medical Therapies, Harvard Medical School, has served as the adviser to the National Institute of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federation of State Medical Boards on complementary and alternative medicine. He told India Abroad he was keenly "interested in evaluating a systematic review of Indian herbal remedies."
From 2003-2005, Eisenberg served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee responsible for the Institute of Medicine report titled, 'The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public,' which, according to some estimates, is a $45 billion industry.
Aviad Haramati, professor and director of education, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University School of Medicine, told India Abroad of plans to develop a comprehensive training program for physicians that incorporates all aspects of medicine and health, including those currently considered outside the mainstream.
Haramati said the upcoming trip would help the visitors become familiar with Ayurvedic medicine to determine what is needed to educate US medical students and where the potential lies for meaningful research collaborations.
Anastasia Rowland-Seymour, assistant professor of integrative medicine at Johns Hopkins University, spoke of how she had been "quite involved with medical student education and have been afforded a chance to introduce some material to medical students about mind-body practices and integrative medicine in general."
She said, "I am particularly interested in broadening this exposure for medical students. Ayurvedic medicine is something to which medical students at my institution have no exposure."
Rowland-Seymour acknowledged that "while it may be difficult to incorporate all of Ayurveda, I believe therapeutic yoga might offer a readily incorporated modality that would broaden student exposure to other forms of medicine."
Benjamin Kligler, vice chair, Department of Integrative Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told India Abroad that "although we have made great progress in helping American physicians in training begin to understand some of the basics of Chinese medicine, of the use of botanical and nutritional supplements, and of the importance of mind-body medicine in health, we have done very little to educate them about Ayurvedic medicine."
He said the practice was one of the world's most ancient and most widely used systems of health care.
"In my view, this is a major gap in our teaching so far - a gap explained largely by the lack of knowledge of medical educators such as myself about the potential of Ayurveda," he added.
Kligler said his research group studied the effect of yoga on asthma and'found significant benefit.
"As a family physician..., I am interested in learning about the use of Ayurveda in children with chronic illnesses such as asthma as well," he said, adding that there is very little published on this in the medical literature and so he looked forward to learning the material directly from the experts in India.
Victoria Maizes, executive director, Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, is part of a movement, that combines conventional modern health practices with alternative and complementary treatments.
She said she "looks forward to deepening my knowledge and experience during this unique trip."
Andrew Weil, the physician who popularized the concept of integrative medicine and a bestselling author of a number of books on the subject, has described Maizes as 'an upand-coming pioneer of integrative medicine, a leader in the transformation of medical education, medical practice and health care, with a growing international reputation.'
Also taking the trip is Anne Nedrow, associate professor, Oregon Health and Science University's Center for Women's Health and Primary Care and Integrative Medicine.
Shah predicted that "the takeaways of this high-powered delegation with their impeccable credentials could be the turning point of Ayurveda in the United States and any skepticism about complementary alternative and integrative medicine."
More importantly, he said, although US medical schools provide information about Ayurveda and its derivatives such as yoga and meditation, "there is not yet a recognized course on Ayurveda taught in US medical schools."
Shah said, "If these top-notch educators and researchers are convinced by the evidence-based presentations about the credibility of Ayurveda, then perhaps there is every chance that in the near future, Ayurveda could become a course of study in the medical curricula."
SIDEBARAyurvedic medicines made of cowdung and cow urine on sale in New Delhi, April 5, 2005
