Médecine ayurvédique et prévention du vieillissement : de la vérité révélée aux exigences de la science moderne, une doctrine médicale pleine de vitalité

Ayurvedic medicine, the major traditional Indian medicine, has founded the first systemic preventive anti-ageing approach. This medical principle is based on a philosophy, which considers human beings as an open system in line with nature and has been structured thanks to VIth and VIIth century Indian logic. Therefore, Ayurveda gives priority to prevention. Each individual, determined by a morpho-psychological bio-typology, has a corresponding if not true, at least rational, customized anti-ageing program. An Ayurvedic practitioner is dedicated to preventing disharmony between the individual's vital strengths that could lead to illness. The practitioner implements a multidimensional interventional program dealing with nutritional and lifestyle prescriptions, yoga, and massage, reinforced if needed by the Indian pharmacopeia. The Ayurvedic doctor treats human beings from every angle. Today, this approach has stimulated a strong pharmacological and clinical research program, initiated by a trend willing to integrate modern scientific knowledge. The objective of this review is to explain the rational foundations of this preventive medicine, which could explain its persistence over the Ages, to describe its major characteristics and to summarize recent PubMed references.