Each individual is born with a particular dosha predominating his or her constitution that is determined at conception. Thus permutations of vata, pitta and kapha during fertilization determine his/her constitution or Prakrti. There are thus seven basic types of Prakrti namely vata, pitta, kapha, vata-pitta, vata-kapha, pitta-kapha and vata-pitta-kapha. These basic traits are also shaped by other important factors such as diet, lifestyle, behaviour, emotions and seasons. Depending on lifestyle choices, this predominant dosha, quite apart from genetics, age, environment and dietary factors may make an individual susceptible to a certain disease.

Ayurveda teaches that the origin of most diseases is found either in exogenous or endogenous dosha imbalance or an inherent or acquired weakness of the tissues. Therefore a successful treatment or prevention of disease consists of normalizing cellular functions through correcting any dosha imbalance or by improving inherent tissue vitality. It stresses on one’s responsibility for one’s well-being and emphasizes lifestyle behavioural modification procedures and biopurification procedures that strengthen the indigenous immune system. This innate ability of the body to bounce back to a healthy equilibrium is referred to as Swabhavaparamavada.

Unlike current medical science, the focus of Ayurveda is not as much about disease as it is about healthy living and maintenance of the same. Its tenets thus largely emphasize the different modalities of prevention of disease causation. Disease is considered a preventable consequence and the event of its occurrence is then dealt with – as a last resort through drugs and other options aimed at restoring the balance of the tridoshas.

In Ayurveda there is little emphasis on differentiation of disease states and it classifies only the causes of disease. It does not seek to understand the minutiae of the human body nor does it pretend to have an objective perspective. In contrast modern medicine because of fragmentation of knowledge is becoming increasingly specialized, so much so that today it is rare to find a medical doctor with skills in a variety of specialities. Ayurvedic physicians however traditionally worked with all kinds of disease in both genders, young and old and even treated domesticated animals. This was possible because this ‘knowledge of life’ comes from a deep understanding of the manifestation of a basic life principle and all the living bodies that arise from it as a natural consequence.

Disease is understood on the basis of relatively simple principles and thus it lays minimal stress on classification, disease nomenclature or even the complexity of pathological definitions. As such, it may seem perplexing fact that there are quite a few disease forms according to Ayurveda. In other words from an Ayurvedic perspective any disease is understood as disorientation of certain simple principles regarding the body as a whole and grasping the flux manifested in the doshas is the basis of identifying disease causation. A seemingly paradoxical outcome of this is the fact, however, that there could be as many diseases as there are people experiencing them, for, each state of illness arises from unique physical, emotional, mental and spiritual factors. Stated simply, as per Ayurveda, disease forms are few, but disease types are limitless.

Thus for example at the root of diabetes lies vitiation of dosha largely due to external factors aggravated by inherited debilitation of certain tissue systems. The innate prakrti of the individual determines the treatment protocol, as each type has a different prognosis and hence a different treatment strategy. Using the same example, diabetes in a vata individual has poor prognosis and spectrum of presenting features of the disease could be vascular derangement, neuritis, arthropathy, renal diseases, insomnia, hyperactivity etc. In a pitta constitution while the prognosis is intermediate, liver and cardiac complications could be the presenting features. Asthma and bronchitis will invariably be the associated complications in a kapha individual with diabetes for whom the prognosis is much better than the other two types. Thus drugs and dietary recommendations are also different for each of these types.

Medicinal therapy in Ayurveda is thus highly individualized. The choice and dose of medicine are influenced not only by disease but by the individual’s constitution and the environmental conditions likely to affect that individual’s doshas. Treatment in Ayurveda eradicates the illness from its roots thus minimizing the risk of relapses and side effects. It is beyond the scope and context of this book to go into the methodology of diagnosis and treatment in Ayurveda. However the details presented are meant to give a little ‘peep through the window’ into this vast knowledge.

The subject matter of Ayurveda thus goes on to enumerate the basic factors that affect doshas and has elaborate clinical methodology to formulate a diagnosis based on an eight-pronged examination protocol including nadi pariksha or pulse diagnosis. A systematic diagnosis of a patient is expected to take into consideration a multiplicity of factors ranging from the status of the patient’s various physiological states to inferences drawn based on the natural habitat in which the patient resides, his/her constitution (prakrti), mental state and dietary habits.

Further treatment strategy is through various modes of therapy depending on the patient’s constitution as well as disease process. Modalities include dietary alterations, plant drugs, minerals, animal products, exercise, yoga, meditation, counselling and surgery.