KERALA, INDIA, March 19, 2002: Unqualified doctors are exploiting the boom in traditional Indian massage treatments, say some experts. Ayurvedic medicine has been practiced in India for thousands of years. But interest in the technique has been growing in other parts of the world with the general trend towards holistic medicines. It has become a big tourist attraction in the south Indian state of Kerala. Some doctors say the ayurveda offered to tourists is often not genuine — and as well as damaging ayurveda’s reputation, could even harm the patients themselves. Most tourist centers seem geared towards one-hour massages, using oils, and most of the tourists here seem to see it as a chance to relax rather than a real medical treatment. However, the relaxed attitude is not shared by Dr. P. M. Warrier, who leads the medical team of Arya Vaidya Sala, a major ayurvedic hospital in Kerala. The hospital uses massage, but only as part of a holistic approach that also includes changes to diet, lifestyle and meditation. Treatments and medicated oils are prescribed like medicine, tailored to each case — and patients stay for two to four weeks of intensive treatment. Ayurvedic herbs are studied scientifically, and students take seven years to qualify. Dr. Sudha Kumari is a post-graduate student who says a less medical approach could even harm tourists. “According to ayurveda, the treatment differs between each patient and each medicine that we are giving differs with each patient. So I think it will have some ill effect on the patient if the treatment is not handled properly.”
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