DIAGNOSIS
Time-tested tests
Ayurveda does not differentiate between an age-old disease such as fever or a new one such as AIDS. It has an elaborate system of examination and diagnosis before which it prescribes a treatment. The Dasavidha pariksha, or the ten-fold examination, helped the physician arrive at the right conclusion then. And now
A
yurveda has been in practice for more than 4000 years, taking care of people’s health. It is still a vibrant branch of medical science, is part of the human fight against diseases, helps men and women keep healthy. At times it comes up with solutions to problems for which modern science has very little to offer. All in a natural way. It has enjoyed a flawless continuity of legacy. How does Ayurveda, which had its origins when there was little opportunity for chemical examinations and colleting empirical evidence, has been successful in keeping up its legacy? How is it that its remedies work regardless of age, time, region and sex? It is told that a pupil once asked Acharya Charaka: “You have taught us all about diseases, their origins, their cures, specifications about medicine etc. But what if we meet a new disease, which you have not described yet? What should we do then?” To this Charaka is said to have answered as follows: “All diseases change. Some disappear, other appears in new forms and new diseases arise. We cannot learn all about the disappeared, existing and newly ap41