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Mejia is one of a growing number of Americans taking an interest in ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old holistic system of health that in Sanskrit means "knowledge of life." It uses combinations of herbs, purgatives, rubbing oils and other elements to treat diseases.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a proponent of transcendental meditation, brought ayurveda to the United States three decades ago, and Dr. Deepak Chopra exposed it to the masses in his bestseller "Perfect Health" (Harmony Books, 1991). Now, the California Assn. of Ayurvedic Medicine, a professional group based in Foster City, Calif., is sponsoring its first Ayurveda Awareness Day on Feb. 13
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Research into ayurveda is in its infancy in this country, but as interest grows, so does funding. The National Institute of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine allocated $3.5 million in grants last year to study its safety and efficacy.
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Ayurveda teaches that each person is made up of a combination of five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth, says Dr. Vasant Lad, a prominent Indian-trained physician who is chairman of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque. These elements combine to create three predominant doshas, or governing principles of the body: vata, pitta and kapha. Each person's constitution is one of these doshas, or a combination of them.
According to ayurvedic practice, vata people tend to be thin; they have cold hands and feet, dry skin and they are more likely to suffer from anxiety, insomnia, arthritis and constipation. Pitta types are "hot," with medium builds and oily skin; they have strong appetites, controlling natures, sharp intellects and quick reactions. They get inflammatory diseases, rashes and ulcers. Kapha types are frequently overweight. They move slowly, love salty and sweet foods, have thick hair and big eyes and are prone to colds, congestion and diabetes, Lad says.
Each of these groups has different dietary and lifestyle needs, which also vary by season. Disease in ayurveda is an imbalance in one's natural doshas, caused by improper diet and digestion, negative emotions and stress, which lead to a buildup of toxins in the body called ama.
Ayurvedic practitioners believe that this needs to be corrected through lifestyle changes, as well as panchakarma treatments, including a special diet, laxatives, herbal oil massages, sweat treatments, herbal enemas, nasal therapies and shirodhara, the pouring of oil onto the forehead for roughly 30 minutes. These treatments are typically performed in certain seasons and continue for three to 10 days.
In India, practices such as vomiting and bloodletting also are used for specific illnesses, but these are rarely done in the U.S. Some practitioners also incorporate sound, color and aromatherapy.
"All tools are at the disposal of ayurveda, but we recognize the tool is not the cure," says Marc Halpern, founder of the California College of Ayurveda in Grass Valley, Calif. "Western medicine controls the symptom. Ayurveda looks at the root causes in terms of lifestyle and consciousness."
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While ayurveda is often used in India by people too poor to receive Western medicine, panchakarma treatments in the U.S. cost $1,500 to $3,500 a week and are mainly the province of the wealthy, devoted or desperate. ....
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But ayurveda also is attracting people with chronic health problems who have become frustrated with Western medical techniques that haven't helped them, and those with alcohol and drug problems who want to detox quickly. One Los Angeles lawyer with chronic pain and sleeplessness from damaged spinal disks used ayurveda to kick a growing reliance on sleeping pills and says panchakarma was not about getting pampered.
"By the fifth day, you are enema-ed out…. ," said the lawyer, who asked that her name not be used. "It's not a fun procedure. If you're interested in going to a spa and getting a facial, this is not for you."
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Although ayurveda is still relatively new in Southern California, such attitudes are gradually changing as ayurveda is subjected to the rigors of Western science. It's difficult to conduct double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, the gold standard of scientific research, because ayurveda is a holistic system that treats individuals differently with multiple methods. Some studies have isolated specific components of ayurveda, which advocates of ayurveda say misses the point.
But last fall, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine awarded a two-year, $283,000 grant to establish an Ayurvedic Center of Collaborative Research to study ayurveda as it is practiced in India. Overseen by researcher Leanna Standish at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash., scientists from Johns Hopkins University and UCLA will work with doctors in India to conduct controlled clinical trials on ayurvedic treatments for rheumatoid arthritis. Eventually, they hope to study treatments for hepatitis C, osteoarthritis and diabetes.
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"If ayurveda were perfect, [Western] allopathic medicine would never have come along," she says. "If allopathic medicine were perfect, the world of alternative medicine wouldn't have come into place."
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..... Although acupuncturists and doctors of Oriental medicine must be certified and licensed in California and many other states, there are no standards for training or for practicing ayurveda. .....
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Although it's hard to imagine someone being harmed by oil massages, Gerson says ayurvedic treatments performed by the unqualified can have "serious consequences," including headaches, bowel dysfunction, irregular respiration, fatigue and psychological problems. Enemas are "invasive" and when performed improperly can cause colon spasms. "The biggest harm that can be done is the withholding of proper treatment," says Wynn Werner, the administrator of the Ayurvedic Institute.
Gerson cites the case of a well-known ayurvedic doctor who treated a woman in her mid-40s complaining of fatigue and muscle aches. "He took her pulse, looked in her eyes and diagnosed a vata imbalance," Gerson said. Prescribing some herbs, dietary changes and yoga, he sent the woman away. A few months later, the family informed him she was diagnosed with leukemia. "Because the ayurvedic doctor did not integrate a blood test," he says, "this was missed." But as long as people are prudent, most ayurvedic lifestyle changes have stress-reducing benefits and little chance of harming one's health, Halpern says.
