Ayurveda daily regimen practices (Dinacharya): a scientific system model approach suitable as a quaternary prevention strategy for non-communicable diseases

TMR Integrative Medicine

article

Vijay Kumar Rai¹  Varnika Singh²  Shalini Rai³ 

[1] Department of Swasthavritta and Yoga, Government Postgraduate Ayurveda College and Hospital;Department of Roga Nidan Evam Vikruti Vigyana, Prakash Institute of Ayurvedic Medical Sciences and Research;Department of Roga Nidan, All India Institute of Ayurveda

关键词: Ayurveda;    daily regime;    Dinacharya;    non-communicable diseases;    lifestyle;    prevention;   

DOI  :  10.53388/TMRIM202206020

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: TMR publishing group

【 摘 要 】

Background: Non-communicable or lifestyle diseases replaced infectious diseases at the endof the 20th century as the primary burden of disease worldwide, marking the epidemiologicaltransition. The industrial revolution and technological advancements, as well as packagedprocessed foods, have greatly affected lifestyle, causing adverse health effects throughchronic, low-level, and systemic inflammation known as “metaflammation”. The maincontributors to lifestyle-related diseases are poor eating habits, physical inactivity, poor posture, and a disturbed biological clock. The study on lifestyle changes indicates that comprehensive lifestyle changes can prevent disease and reverse the progression of diseaseslike diabetes, heart disease, stroke, prostatic cancer and breast cancer. The concept ofdisease prevention is getting wider acceptability owing credit to early disease detection, better treatment modalities and reduced financial implications. However, the possible harms of over-testing and over-medicalization have led to the propagation of Quaternaryprevention strategies. Ayurveda, too propagates the principle of health preservation, promotion, and disease prevention, along with early diagnosis and holistic disease management strategies, incorporating dietary and lifestyle components such as Dinacharya(daily regimen practices), Ritucharya (seasonal regimen practice). This paper criticallyexplores the scientific relevance behind these ascribed daily regimen practices (Dinacharya) and their suitability as a quaternary prevention strategy and presents it for dialogue andresearch to the scientific community. Method: The classical texts of Ayurveda and theinternet search engines were explored with keywords of relevant terms such as “research”“benefit” and “role in health” combined with the Ayurveda daily regimen terms and their English equivalents as provided in brackets and their different combinations andpermutations, along with net surfing and hand search. The relevant articles were stored andscreened for relevance and the matter is presented systematically for scientific deliberationprincipal findings – Ayurveda recognized the temporal effects of chronobiological cycles on human health and accordingly devised the daily regimen schedule, delineating the principles for healthy living and harmonization. The daily regimen practices of Ayurvedalike timely sleeping, waking up early in the morning, proper defecation, massage, exercise, occupation, social bonding, appropriate dietary practices, etc. adopt a system biologyapproach with synchronization of chronobiological cycles, mind-body integration, systemperformance, and epigenetics, apart from other possible approaches and have considerablescientific evidence for the effectiveness as a quaternary prevention strategy. Conclusion: The adoption of these practices in the daily routine may play a crucial role in healthpreservation and disease prevention at all levels of preventive domains. However, prospective large scale, long-duration randomized controlled trials are yet needed toscientifically further establish the validity of the same.

【 授权许可】

CC BY