Information about diabetes in traditional ayurvedic medicine

Abstract

The article is devoted to a little-studied question of the history of medicine – the description of diabetes mellitus in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. The article presents information contained in the fundamental written sources of Ayurvedic medicine – «Charaka-Samhita» and «Sushruta-Samhita», as well as links to a few modern studies. Special attention is paid to the «Charaka-Samhita», which contains information about the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical picture of the disease, as well as methods and means of preventing and treating diabetes. Individual typological (constitutional) features of the course of diabetes mellitus, confirmed by modern research, are also mentioned. General ideas about this disease, as well as its compliance with modern nosological units, are presented. The article contains data on external and internal factors that contribute to the development of diabetes. Two variants of diabetes mellitus development are identified: congenital and acquired, and different approaches to prevention and treatment of each of these variants are prescribed. New terms in Sanskrit have been introduced into the scientific history of medicine to denote diabetes mellitus itself, as well as previous deviations in the state of health. While studying Ayurvedic texts, methods for diagnosing diabetes mellitus were described with the identification of twenty types of diabetes. The connection between diabetes mellitus and various pathological conditions, including all types of urinary infections, obstructive uropathies, kidney failure, etc., described in Ayurvedic texts should be noted separately. The article enriches the history of medical science with new data and contributes to the formation of a complete picture of the development of world endocrinology.