Hands Off!
“Prevention is the most important thing.”
That quote comes from Dr. Dinesh Katoch, an advisor for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India. But Dr. Katoch’s quote doesn’t refer to prevention of disease – it refers to efforts now underway to prevent Western drug companies from claiming exclusive patents on thousands of Ayurvedic therapies.
Without modern safeguards, the ancient elements of Ayurvedic medicine might be stolen away. But India has a plan.
Ancient secrets
India may be the original “pharmaceutical” giant.
Over the course of five or six thousand years, generations of Indian healers passed along a wide variety of techniques for using thousands of different foods and plants for medicinal purposes.
In many HSI Members Alerts and e-Alerts we’ve told you about botanicals with proven Ayurvedic track records. In a 2004 Members Alert we examined the basic philosophy behind Ayurvedic medicine, which can be summed up in the concept of the three doshas, or sources of energy:
- Vata (from ether and air)
- Pitta (from fire and water)
- Kapha (from water and earth)
According to Ayurvedic doctrine, a deficiency or excess in vata, pitta, or kapha creates a metabolic imbalance in the body. Good health can be restored by eliminating toxins and rebalancing the doshas.
This doctrine may conjure images of bearded shamans crushing herbs with a mortar and pestle, and that image may still be a reality in some parts of India. But the current caretakers of Ayurvedic medicine are using 21st Century tools to protect the hard-won knowledge and expertise of their ancestors.
According to a recent report in the UK newspaper The Independent, there have been thousands of U.S. patents granted to products based on Indian medicinal plants, even though in many cases there were no changes made to the Ayurvedic botanicals or formulas. Once the patents are granted, they’re very difficult to repeal, which is why Dr. Katoch and scores of other Ayurvedic practitioners have spent several years compiling a massive database called the Traditional Knowledge Data Library.
This database – currently more than 30 million pages – is partly intended to put the West and the rest of the world on notice that the Ayurvedic tradition is finally being recorded, and the tradition is not up for grabs.
Point of view
The Independent report notes that scientific, peer-reviewed evidence for the effectiveness of Ayurvedic techniques is scarce. In fact, a 2005 investigation of alternative medicine by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee described Ayurvedic medicine as generally “not proven.” And Max Pittler, M.D., of the department of complementary medicine at Exeter University, told The Independent that there is no good evidence that specific Ayurvedic formulas are beneficial.
Of course, it’s more than a little ironic that drug companies have sought patents on so many Ayurvedic formulas with “no good evidence” behind them.
And in spite of the opinions of Dr. Pittler and the House of Lords, a few modern studies HAVE confirmed the effectiveness of several Ayurvedic therapies.
For instance, in the August 2002 HSI Members Alert, Linda Strowbridge reported on UriCare, a Ayurvedic herbal formula that treats urinary tract infections and kidney stones. In her research, Linda found 19 clinical trials that tested UriCare on more than 1,500 subjects.
Linda: “All the trials took place in India, and (surprise!) managed to escape the notice of American MDswhich probably explains why most of us had never heard of it before.
“After reviewing the study results, we certainly can’t say that UriCare is a wonder cure. The results were mixed. It didn’t work for everyone. In fact, it didn’t work for almost half the participants in one study. But those clinical trials documented hundreds of cases in which UriCare was able to ease and prevent two horribly uncomfortable conditions: urinary tract infections and kidney stones. In many cases, it provided faster relief, fewer side effects, and cheaper treatment than leading pharmaceuticals. In some cases, it augmented the effect of those drugs.”
With results like these its no wonder Western drug companies have attempted to raid ancient remedies and claim them as their own.
Linda’s article is a perfect example of the way the Members Alert keeps HSI members informed about groundbreaking advances in alternative medicine. Use this link to find out how you can keep abreast of treatments you’ll rarely hear about from the mainstream media.
Source:
“The Battle for Ayurveda: India is Racing to Record the Details of its Traditional Medicine” Andrew Buncombe, The Independent, 12/3/07, news.independent.co.uk
