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AAPRA
Sources of Theoretical and Scientific knowledge of AMI
Following
Ayurvedic Texts are the chief sources of information. Texts considered the basic treatises in
AMI called Senior Triad. The first
is Charak Samhita (100-400 AD)
which deals with medicine. It has description of 200 diseases and 150
pathological conditions which compare well with the current knowledge, the
second is Susrut Samhita (300-400 that describes surgical procedures, and
the third is Ashtang Hridaya Samhita
(700 AD) which is a concise version of Charak
Samhita and Susrut Samhita.
The second set of books are known as the Junior Triad and includes Madhav Nidan Samhita (1200 AD) which
dealt with diagnosis of diseases, Sarangdhar
Samhita (1400 AD) and Bhava Praksh Samhita (1500 AD) which
dealt with Materia Medica. In addition, there are three other
equally important books: Kahyap Samhita which dealt with
pediatrics and obstetrics, Dravyagun
Samagraha dealt with medicinal plants and metals, and Raj Nighantu which also dealt with
medicinal plants. All these books
are available in English translation and used as text books in ayurvedic
Schools in India. In addition there are many books
available on ayurvedic medicine: 1. overview, 2. diagnosis of diseases, 3.
other ayurvedic specialties
In
recent years, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India
(The Controller of Publications, Civil Lines, Delhi-110054, India,
2000-2003) has published the following books that are used in Ayurvedic
colleges as official source of information and standards.
1. The Ayurvedic Formulary of India. It has 441 Ayurvedic Text formulas which
include aqueous liquids, oils, powders, tablets, pills, and others (Asava,
arishta, ark, avaleh, kvath, curn, guggulu, grita, taila, dravak, kshara,
lepa, vati, gutika, rasayana, parpati, bhasma, mandura, rasa yoga, and
lauha), 27 single drugs of animal origin, 42 single drugs of mineral
origin, 271 single drugs of plant origin accompanied with disease
indication index.
2. The
Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India
has included 326 Ayurvedic plants out of over 1000 ayurvedic herbs
cited in the Text books with botanical names and identification criteria,
standards for the parts of the plant used, physical tests and
determinations, quantitative data for vegetable drugs, limits for arsenic,
chlorides, heavy metals, mercury, iron, lead, sulfated ash, and sulfates
present in the drugs with complete official testing methods
3. Treatise on Indian Medicinal Plants by
Chatterjee, A., Pakrashi, S.C (1991) is a five volume, 180 to 325
page/volume treatise. This book has
over 800 medicinal plants discussed
in Senior and Junior triads. There
have been many scientific studies and clinical trials conducted on
ayurvedic therapies during the last 50 years. Much of this work has been summarized in a recent book, Scientific
Basis of Ayurvedic Therapies, Mishra L.C. Editor, CRC Press Florida,
2003.
4.
Compendium of Indian Medicinal Plants by Ram Rastogi and B.N. Mehrotra. (
Vol 1. 1960-69) (Vol. 2. 1970-79) (Vol. 3. 1980- 84) (Vol. 4. 1985-89)
(Vol. 5, 1990-94) (518 to 1016 pages per volume)
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