A quick word before my note on this weekend’s three-day perambulation through tiger territory:

From this morning’s Hindu—

Personalised Ayurvedic interventions have demonstrated clinically significant improvement in rheumatoid arthritis on a par with allopathy treatment with the added advantage of lesser side-effects, according to a study…

“We cannot make any tall claims with the results since it was a pilot study and the sample size was small. However, the study got a major stimulus when Dr. Edzard Ernst, the first professor of complementary medicine, called it a blueprint for research in Ayurveda,” Dr. Ram Manohar told The Hindu over telephone…

While the study was specific to rheumatoid arthritis, it also looked into whether complex Ayurvedic interventions could be studied in a clinical trial. The double-dummy, double-blind randomised clinical study has clearly shown the feasibility of further studies of this kind.

I haven’t mentioned in previous posts (though Gourvjit has) that Cardamom County Resort houses an Ayurvedic center, nor have I spent time detailing the history of this local art of healing and wellness. I ought to have, however, because this ‘alternative medicine’ is a conspicuous presence in Kerala, and is one reason many travelers are compelled to come here. Although this study doesn’t prove Ayurveda’s general validity from a scientific perspective, it is a first step in bridging the acceptance-gap between allopathic, Western medicine and this traditional, holistic approach.

Take a look at the article, and look out for future studies on Ayurveda’s efficacy!