This story is from June 20, 2015

Blending traditional, modern medicine systems key to resolving health issues

Integration of traditions from ancient systems like Ayurveda and Yoga into modern medicine can help resolve many modern day health issues including chronic ailments like diabetes, obesity and other degenerative and autoimmune diseases.
Blending traditional, modern medicine systems key to resolving health issues

PUNE: Integration of traditions from ancient systems like Ayurveda and Yoga into modern medicine can help resolve many modern day health issues including chronic ailments like diabetes, obesity and other degenerative and autoimmune diseases.
A book on the subject titled Integrative Approaches for Health: Modern medicine, Ayurveda and Yoga' was recently released in the city.
It has been jointly authored by Bhushan Patwardhan, head of the interdisciplinary school of health sciences at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), and researchers Gururaj Mutalik and Girish Tillu. The book offers a fresh perspective on blending of modern and traditional medicine systems.
Speaking to TOI, Patwardhan said, "Despite spectacular advances, modern medicine faces formidable global challenges in several key areasnotably the persistence of major killer diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, and newer threats including HIV/AIDS, resistant infections, and Ebola."
"As such, modern medicine has not led to a significant decrease in chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and other degenerative and autoimmune diseases," he said. The new book is an attempt by the authors to highlight their belief that modern medicine needs a paradigm shift, an integration of traditions�in particular from the ancient systems like Ayurveda and Yoga, he added.
The book brings together the basic principles of interdisciplinary systems approach for an evolving construct of future medicine.

"Such an approach is already emerging at the cutting edge of current research in genomics, proteonomics and other omics technologies, bioinformatics, computational and systems biology. Several leading institutions of medicine have adopted yoga and complementary medicine to widen their reach, and deepen effectiveness in therapeutic practices," he said.
The amalgam of modern medicine, with its strengths in scientific rigour, blended with the basic principles of life drawn from Ayurveda and Yoga might evolve into a medicine of tomorrow, he added.
The authors represent three generations of scientific progress from the days of dreadful epidemics like plague and small pox to the development of biomedical sciences and emergence of omics technologies and the growth of information technology and artificial intelligence, when the world is realizing value of systems view, ethics and peace.
National research professor Raghunath Mashelkar released the book at a function held at the National Center for Cell Sciences. SPPU vice-chancellor W N Gade presided over the session while eminent personalities like clinical pharmacologist Ashok Vaidya, Nutrition Foundation of India president Prema Ramachandran, former UGC chairman Arun Nigavekar, Bharati Vidyapeeth vice-chancellor Shivajirao Kadam and D Y Patil University founder president P D Patil were present.
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