Challenging the Indian medical heritage

It is a well-known fact that throughtout our country there exists numerous folk traditions of local health care in all walks of life. There are two schematically distinguished of health in India. One refers to the written traditions of the great classical systems of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and the other one is orally transmitted folk practices, which lacks proper documentation. These traditional practices deal with a number of basic health techniques like treatment of common ailments and home remedies. In some communities there also exist special traditions like bone setting, visha chikitsa, treatment for certain chronic ailments, diagnostic methods such as naadi pareeksha. It is a fact that inspite of their great potential the paramparas are today in a weakened state. It is however, our conviction that a revitalization of these traditions can be brought about by encouraging an interaction of these traditions with the organized Indian system of medicine. The book is an attempt to introduce to the lay reader the medical traditions that exist in India. This attempt is along two lines. The first path is a general introduction to the codified system of medicine. It includes their recent history and their theoretical foundations. Examining one such system, Ayurveda, will do this. The second path addresses the realization that medical traditions are being ignored and that urgent action is called for to counteract this. The latter part of this book describes the work being done to document and revitalize the folk medical tradition.