AYURVEDIC DOSHA PHYSIOLOGY AND TREATMENT PRINCIPLES

Ayurveda portrays human physiology and pathology through a distinct functional model known as the Tridosha theory which includes Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. These Doshas are dynamic biofunctional principles that are the ones that maintain homeostasis at physical, metabolic, psychological, and spiritual levels. Health is the state in which the Doshas, Dhatus, Malas, and Agni are in equilibrium along with mental and sensory well-being. When the balance of tridoshas are disturbed due to wrong diet, lifestyle, environmental factors, psychological stressors, or genetic predisposition body gets diseased. The chapter elaborates in a very detailed and systematic manner about the physiology of Dosha (Dosha Kriya), the mechanisms involved in the Dosha imbalance (Dosha Vaigunya), the principles of diagnosis, and the treatment plans of Ayurveda based on Chikitsa Siddhanta. Descriptions of the classics from Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, and Ashtanga Hridaya are critically reconsidered and integrated with the present, day evidence from PubMed, Scopus, and Lancet, indexed biomedical literature. Considerable work has been done to correlate the functions of Dosha with modern concepts such as neuroendocrine regulation, metabolism, immunity, inflammation, psychosomatic interactions, and systems biology. The main purpose of the chapter is to provide a Dosha physiology and treatment principles understanding that is backed by the evidence, academically rigorous, and clinically relevant to researchers, clinicians, and scholars of integrative medicine.