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'''Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health''' (MVAH)<ref>''Contemporary Ayurveda, Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayur-Veda'', H. Sharma MD and Christopher Clark MD, 1998, Title Chapter 13 </ref><ref> Schneider, R and Fields, J: ''Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health'', Basic Health Publications, Inc. 2006 </ref> (also known as Maharishi Ayurveda<ref>''The Physiology of Consciousness'', Robert Keith Wallace, Ph.D.pp 64-66, Institue of Science and Public Policy 1986</ref><ref>''Contemporary Ayurveda, Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayur-Veda'', H. Sharma MD and Christopher Clark MD, Churchill Livingstone 1998.</ref> and Maharishi ] Medicine<ref> ''Conquering Chronic Disease through Maharishi Vedic Medicine'', Kamuda Reddy MD and Linda Egenes, Samhita/Lantern Books 2002</ref>) was founded internationally in the mid 1980s by ], who developed the ] (TM) technique. ] has been in existence for centuries. In recent times Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is said to have restored and revived some aspects of Ayurveda and called it Maharishi Ayurveda. In 1997 Maharishi Ayurveda was recognized by the All India Ayurvedic Congress. Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health is considered an ] and aims at being a complementary system to modern ].<ref>''Medical Guides to Complimentary and Alternative Medicine'', Contemporary Ayurveda, Preface, Marc Marcozzi, M.D. PhD, Churchill Livingstone 1998. </ref> Practitioners of MVAH describe the system as one that helps to restore balance in the physiology, eliminate toxins and impurities, and awaken the body's natural healing mechanisms.<ref>http://articles.pointshop.com/alternative/16026.php </ref> '''Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health''' (MVAH)<ref>''Contemporary Ayurveda, Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayur-Veda'', H. Sharma MD and Christopher Clark MD, 1998, Title Chapter 13 </ref><ref> Schneider, R and Fields, J: ''Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health'', Basic Health Publications, Inc. 2006 </ref> (also known as Maharishi Ayurveda<ref>''The Physiology of Consciousness'', Robert Keith Wallace, Ph.D.pp 64-66, Institue of Science and Public Policy 1986</ref><ref>''Contemporary Ayurveda, Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayur-Veda'', H. Sharma MD and Christopher Clark MD, Churchill Livingstone 1998.</ref> and Maharishi ] Medicine<ref> ''Conquering Chronic Disease through Maharishi Vedic Medicine'', Kamuda Reddy MD and Linda Egenes, Samhita/Lantern Books 2002</ref>) was founded internationally in the mid 1980s by ], who developed the ] (TM) technique. ] has been in existence for centuries. In 1997 Maharishi Ayurveda was recognized by the All India Ayurvedic Congress. Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health is considered an ] and aims at being a complementary system to modern ].<ref>''Medical Guides to Complimentary and Alternative Medicine'', Contemporary Ayurveda, Preface, Marc Marcozzi, M.D. PhD, Churchill Livingstone 1998. </ref> Practitioners of MVAH describe the system as one that helps to restore balance in the physiology, eliminate toxins and impurities, and awaken the body's natural healing mechanisms.<ref>http://articles.pointshop.com/alternative/16026.php </ref>


==Aspects of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health== ==Aspects of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health==

Revision as of 17:43, 27 September 2009

Main article: Transcendental Meditation

Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) (also known as Maharishi Ayurveda and Maharishi Vedic Medicine) was founded internationally in the mid 1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique. Ayurveda has been in existence for centuries. In 1997 Maharishi Ayurveda was recognized by the All India Ayurvedic Congress. Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health is considered an alternative medicine and aims at being a complementary system to modern western medicine. Practitioners of MVAH describe the system as one that helps to restore balance in the physiology, eliminate toxins and impurities, and awaken the body's natural healing mechanisms.

Aspects of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health

According to co-authors/researchers, Robert Schneider, M.D. and Jeremy Z. Fields, Ph.D., Maharishi Mahesh Yogi sought to revive the ancient Vedic system of health care. The authors explain that Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health uses forty approaches, each of which is based on one of the forty aspects of the age-old Vedic literature. Each of these forty aspects of Vedic literature is thought to have a direct correlation in terms of its structure and function to various aspects of the human physiology. These forty approaches are further reduced to three areas of practical application: mind, body, and environment, all of which are considered in treating the patient, and all of which are said to have a common source in Nature's intelligence.

The Mind

Transcendental Meditation, a technique introduced in 1957, is the main modality for improving mental health in MVAH. Studies have suggested a positive correlation between practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique and various health-related behaviors and physiological parameters including decreased cigarette smoking, decreased alcohol use, decreased anxiety, decreased insomnia, reduction of high cholesterol, improvement in lung function for patients with asthma, and an effect the researchers termed "younger biological age". Reduced illness and medical expenditures and decreased outpatient visits have also been observed in TM practitioners. It also has been used to prevent and treat a variety of disorders, including ADHD, pain, diabetes, and congestive heart failure. The National Institutes of Health, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the National Center for Research Resources have funded research on the Transcendental Meditation program. Further research is on-going and researchers have been particularly interested in its potential usefulness in treating heart disease and hypertension, especially among African-Americans, and in promoting longevity.

The Body

The "Body Approach" involves reconnecting physiological functioning with the body's inner intelligence by reducing and eliminating impurities and imbalances, which are thought to be the cause of disease. The MVAH practitioner uses pulse diagnosis (also known in Sanskrit as "nadi vigyan") to non-invasively determine the levels of imbalance and impurities in the patient, and, taking the person's natural physiological tendencies into account, offer procedures and recommendations related to herbal preparations, diet, daily and seasonal routines, exercise, and physiological purification. Procedures that strengthen digestion and proper nutrient absorption are also given importance. Practitioners of MVAH believe that the pulse can be used to help detect subtle imbalances before an actual disease has manifested. It is thought that herbal remedies, dietary adjustments and changes in routine initiated at this stage can prevent these subtle imbalances from ever developing into significant health problems.

Another aspect of the body approach of MVAH is a series of purification therapies known as Maharishi Panchakarma. One of the purification therapies is "abhyanga", the Sanskrit word for a highly regimented oil massage. Preliminary research suggests that these Maharishi Panchakarma therapies, when used in concert with one another, may be effective in reducing cholesterol, reducing fat soluble toxins and creating an improved sense of well being.

The Environment

MVAH also addresses health concerns from an environmental perspective. It considers the patient's immediate environment (home, office, etc.), the collective influence of the society in which one lives, and the distant environment of the sun, moon, stars, and planets. The authors explain that since the same cosmic intelligence underlies all these environments as well as the patient's own state of health, optimization of their positive influences also favors personal health. Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, a system of Vedic architecture, is the main modality for improving the immediate environment. For promoting collective health, MVAH recommends group practice of Transcendental Meditation and the more advanced TM-Sidhi program, and Maharishi Vedic Astrology (also known as Maharishi Jyotish) is said to optimize planetary influences on individual health.

Schneider and Fields (2006:211-216) report that MVAH has also systematized the use of sound therapy for healthcare. It offers three main modalities: the Vedic Literature chanted in Sanskrit, Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology (MVVT), and Maharishi Gandharva Veda Music, all of which must be delivered by native experts in these traditional practices. In the first case, the patient listens to chanting of the specific aspect of the Vedic Literature that corresponds to that area of the body that is unwell. In the second modality, a rather unconventional program called the Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology, the MVVT expert whispers within themselves some specific traditional Vedic sounds that have been chosen to address the health concerns of that individual, and then administers the sound vibrations by blowing on the affected area of the person's body. The authors explain that since the frequencies of sound that the patient listens to are believed to give rise to that particular group of cells at the time of creation of the body, hearing those frequencies is thought to enliven the intelligence of that area of the body and aid in the healing process.

The third of the Maharishi Vedic Sound therapies reported on by Schneider and Fields (2006:215) is Maharishi Gandharva Veda Music. In this therapy the patient is only required to listen to certain recorded music that is purported to integrate and harmonize the cycles and rhythms of the body, for example, those of the cardiovascular system.

Reception

In 1991, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published an article on the benefits of Maharishi Ayur-Veda titled Letter from New Delhi: Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Modern Insights into Ancient Medicine, authored by Hari Sharma, M.D., of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Brihaspati Dev Triguna, of the All India Ayur-Veda Congress, and Deepak Chopra, M.D., of the American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine.

A subsequent article in JAMA alleged that the authors of the first article had not disclosed their financial ties with organizations that sell the products and services about which they wrote. The article also investigated the marketing practices surrounding Ayur-Veda products and services. It was felt that the media had been intentionally deceived for financial gain. It also countered the Sharma et al. claim that Maharishi Ayur-Veda was more cost effective than standard medical care.

Additionally, the article reported that in the late 1980s, herbal researcher Tony Nader, at the time a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had been criticized for using his position to promote Maharishi Ayurveda Products International (MAPI) herbal products. Nader also drew the ire of the organizers of the Annual Meeting of the Society for Economic Botany, which was held at the University of Illinois in Chicago in June 1987. According to the organizers, Nader submitted a research abstract for a presentation that they said was a promotion for the herbal remedies of Maharishi Ayurveda Products International.

The second article quotes a former TM teacher and chair of the TM center in Washington, D.C., as saying that he had been told to deceive the media.

In 1992, in response to the second article, including the actions surrounding its writing and subsequent actions, the Lancaster Foundation and the American Association for Ayur-Vedic Medicine filed a $194 million dollar libel suit against the author of the article and the editor of JAMA, alleging in part that statements in the article were false and defamatory. Pursuant to a settlement agreement, in 1993, the suit was dismissed by the judge at the request of the plaintiffs, with the option of reinstating pending completion of the settlement.

According to a 2008 study published in JAMA (JAMA. 2008;300(8):915-923), "One-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic." More than 230 products were included in the study and two of those products were obtained from Maharishi Ayurveda Products International Inc.

A letter by Maharishi Ayurveda Products International Inc. published in response to this study, stated that all MAPI herbal products are tested both in India and in the USA, and are within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits for public consumption.

References

  1. Contemporary Ayurveda, Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayur-Veda, H. Sharma MD and Christopher Clark MD, 1998, Title Chapter 13
  2. Schneider, R and Fields, J: Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health, Basic Health Publications, Inc. 2006
  3. The Physiology of Consciousness, Robert Keith Wallace, Ph.D.pp 64-66, Institue of Science and Public Policy 1986
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  5. Conquering Chronic Disease through Maharishi Vedic Medicine, Kamuda Reddy MD and Linda Egenes, Samhita/Lantern Books 2002
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  56. The Lancaster Foundation, Inc., The American Association for Ayur-Vedic Medicine, Inc. vs. Andrew A. Skolnick, George D. Lundberg, M.D.,; in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, No. 82 C 4175; Judge Kocoras
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