Ayurveda: Traditional medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent

Ayurveda is [pseudoscientific]. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) says the practice of modern medicine by Ayurveda is quackery. Ayurvedic texts say, the gods of Hindu mythology gave medical knowledge to legendary Hindu philosophers, who then gave the knowledge to human physicians. The word "ayurveda" is from the Sanskrit: आयुर्वेद, Āyurveda, and means knowledge of life and longevity.

Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia.Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils. Medicines are typically based on complex herbal compounds, minerals, and metal substances (perhaps under the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasa shastra). Ancient Ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, kidney stone extractions, sutures, and the extraction of foreign objects.

In Ayurveda, the story is that Dhanvantari, the Hindu god of Ayurveda, made himself into a human king by incarnation. He was king of Varanasi, and taught Ayurvedic medicine to a group of physicians. One of these physicians, named Sushruta, wrote the Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), an Ayurvedic text that has this story in it.

Most Ayurvedic therapies are made from chemical compounds taken from plants, from minerals, and from metals. In ancient India, Ayurvedic texts gave explanations for surgeries and for the stitching of wounds to help wound healing. The ancient Indians knew how to take out kidney stones and how to do rhinoplasty (plastic surgery for the nose). People have used many different Ayurvedic therapies through the history of India. Ayurveda has changed for more than two thousand years. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ayurveda also changed for consumption in the Western world.

Some people say Ayurveda comes from Prehistory. Some ideas in Ayurveda may have been in existence at the time of the Indus Valley civilization, during the Bronze Age in India. During the Vedic period, Ayurveda went through many developments. Outside the tradition of the Vedas, Buddhism and Jainism also shared some ideas with the Ayurvedic texts from ancient India. By around two thousand years ago, Ayurveda had developed some of its ideas for surgery and drugs.

There is no good evidence that works or helps for any disease. Some Ayurvedic products have lead, mercury, and arsenic in them. In 2008, nearly 21% of Ayurvedic products sold on the internet and made in India and the United States had in them lead, mercury, and arsenic (heavy metals) in quantities that are toxic. There may be public health dangers that result from this, but that is not known.