This chapter discusses concepts and definitions of health, wellness, illness, and medicine. A discussion on determinants, indicators, and dimensions of health help to understand the limitations of the definition of health. The authors highlight health as a positive concept where an individual actively participates in a process of attainment of health; treatment of disease is a passive process where doctors and hospitals have larger roles. The individual's quest for health is based on many factors including lifestyle, behavior, attitudes, and philosophy of life. The authors suggest that mainly due to reasons of convenience, our current health care approach focuses on diseases and treatments, which has led to the medicalization of society. The authors discuss concepts of health and disease from the viewpoints of modern and traditional medicine. The Ayurvedic concept of health is holistic at the levels of body/mind/spirit, where the three Dosha are in a homeostatic state leading to well-being and bliss. Ayurveda and Yoga emphasize lifestyle, cultural practices, and harmony with nature. They offer advice for seasonal changes in lifestyle, daily activity, diet, and meditation practices. Health as a transborder subject has to be considered from individual to planetary levels.
...MoreBook Bhushan Patwardhan; Gururaj Mutalik MD; Girish Tillu (2015) Integrative Approaches for Health: Biomedical Research, Ayurveda and Yoga.
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