Ayurvedamagazine

Author: admin

  • AIIA Launches ‘AyurVarta’ Digital Series Ahead of Ayurveda Day

    The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) has launched a new digital dialogue series, ‘AyurVarta’, to promote wider public engagement with Ayurveda through discussions on its traditional knowledge, scientific foundations and contemporary relevance.

    The initiative, launched in New Delhi on September 1, ahead of Ayurveda Day on September 23, will feature conversations with Ayurveda experts, physicians, academicians, scientists, researchers and policy specialists from India and abroad. The series will cover topics ranging from research and education to public health, innovation, and Ayurveda’s expanding role in global healthcare.

    The inaugural episode brought together Professor (Vaidya) P. K. Prajapati, Director of AIIA, and Professor (Dr.) Mahesh Vyas, Dean, Ph.D., AIIA, for a discussion on the theme, “Why is Ayurveda Day celebrated on 23 September?”

    A key focus of the discussion was the decision to move the annual observance of Ayurveda Day from Dhanvantari Jayanti, traditionally associated with Dhanteras, to a fixed date of September 23.

    According to the AIIA, a fixed date is expected to provide greater consistency to the annual observance and strengthen Ayurveda Day’s national and international identity. Prof. Prajapati said the move was part of broader efforts to strengthen Ayurveda as a healthcare and knowledge system with growing relevance globally.

    Prof. Vyas highlighted another dimension of the date, noting that September 23 falls around the Autumnal Equinox, when day and night are approximately equal in duration. He linked this natural equilibrium with Ayurveda’s emphasis on balance, harmony and equilibrium as important principles of health and well-being.

    AIIA said ‘AyurVarta’ will continue as an ongoing digital platform for informed conversations on Ayurveda. Upcoming episodes are expected to examine its scientific foundations, contemporary research, education, public health, technology and innovation, medicinal plants, preventive healthcare and integration with modern medical sciences.

    The series will also explore evidence generation, international opportunities and Ayurveda’s potential contribution to global health.

    Episodes will be distributed through AIIA’s official digital and social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, X and Instagram, making the discussions accessible to students, healthcare professionals, researchers, academicians and the general public.

  • 10 Days of Yoga, Months of Calm? Study Finds Lasting Shift in Stress System

    Ten days of an intensive programme combining yoga, naturopathy and dietary modification may leave a physiological imprint that lasts for months, according to a randomised controlled trial involving 262 people with hypertension.

    Researchers at the SDM College of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences, Ujire, Karnataka, tracked changes in heart-rate variability (HRV)—a non-invasive marker of how the autonomic nervous system regulates the heart. Participants underwent supervised yoga and naturopathic therapies alongside a DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) -based diet for just 10 days, while a control group continued its usual medication. Researchers assessed HRV before the intervention, immediately afterwards, and again nine months later. 

    The striking finding was not simply that participants changed after 10 days, but that the difference in autonomic regulation remained detectable nine months later. The intervention group showed higher high-frequency HRV and lower low-frequency activity and LF/HF ratio—patterns interpreted by the researchers as a shift towards greater parasympathetic, or “rest-and-digest”, activity. 

    That matters because hypertension is not only a problem of elevated blood pressure. It is also intertwined with the autonomic nervous system, which continuously adjusts heart rate and cardiovascular function in response to stress and other demands.

    The study, published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies,  offers a more tangible measure than the familiar claim that yoga simply “reduces stress”. The researchers were able to follow a physiological marker of autonomic regulation long after the 10-day programme ended. 

    But the findings should not be stretched into a claim that ten days of yoga can permanently reset the body’s stress system—or replace hypertension treatment. The study examined people with hypertension, and the intervention was a package of yoga, naturopathy and diet rather than yoga alone. The authors themselves call for further research. 

    The more intriguing message is narrower: a relatively brief, structured lifestyle intervention may influence the body’s autonomic balance beyond the period in which it is actively delivered. Whether that effect translates into sustained improvements in blood pressure or long-term cardiovascular outcomes remains a question for larger and longer studies. 

    The trial was registered in India’s Clinical Trials Registry (CTRI/2019/01/016883). 

  • Kerala’s Medical Manuscripts Enter the Digital Age

    Hundreds of rare medical manuscripts preserved for generations at the Sevadhi Museum and Indological Research Institute (SEMIRI), Kumaranalloor, Kottayam, Kerala, are set to enter the digital domain under a new collaboration aimed at protecting Kerala’s traditional medical heritage from the risks of age and physical deterioration.

    The National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage (NIIMH), Hyderabad, under the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush, has signed an MoU with SEMIRI for the systematic digitisation and cataloguing of its medical manuscript collection on August 14.

    The initiative is significant for Kerala’s history of Ayurveda and scholarship. SEMIRI, managed by the Kumaranalloor Ooranma Devaswom, holds more than 30,000 manuscripts, including temple records. Among them are rare texts dealing with Ayurveda and allied traditions, offering primary material on therapeutic practices, materia medica, diagnosis and the evolution of medical thought.

    The project goes beyond simply photographing old manuscripts. CCRAS-NIIMH will prepare a detailed descriptive catalogue recording, wherever available, information such as title, author, subject, script, language, material, dimensions, folio details, condition and provenance. The records will follow the format of the Ayush Manuscripts Advanced Repository.

    For researchers, that catalogue could prove as important as the digital images themselves. It will make scattered and often difficult-to-identify sources easier to locate, compare, and study, opening the way for research in Ayurveda, manuscriptology, the history of medicine, and Indian Knowledge Systems.

    The digitisation will also reduce repeated handling of fragile originals. High-quality digital surrogates can preserve the intellectual content of manuscripts while allowing researchers to consult them without placing additional physical stress on ageing material.

    The project comes against the backdrop of the Gyan Bharatam Mission and wider government efforts to document and digitise India’s manuscript heritage. Medical manuscripts occupy a distinctive place in that effort because they preserve not only texts, but records of how medical knowledge was transmitted, interpreted and practised across generations.

    Prof. Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General of CCRAS, described the preservation of medical manuscripts as more than an archival exercise, stressing their importance for safeguarding India’s intellectual heritage and enabling evidence-based research.

    SEMIRI president Dr. C.S. Unni highlighted the collaboration as an opportunity to bring the manuscript heritage of Kumaranalloor and the wider Kottayam region into greater scholarly visibility. Dr. Goli Penchala Prasad, Head of CCRAS-NIIMH, highlighted the ongoing challenges in manuscriptology and the need for systematic approaches to documenting Ayurveda’s textual heritage.

    The work has already moved from agreement to implementation. A specialist CCRAS-NIIMH team, working under the institute’s Collection, Digitization and Cataloguing of AYUSH Manuscripts and Rare Books project, has begun on-site digitisation.

    The eventual resource could serve as more than a digital archive. Properly catalogued and made accessible, these manuscripts may provide the raw material for critical editions, textual comparisons and new studies of Kerala’s medical traditions.

    For Kerala, the significance lies in rescuing a largely inaccessible body of knowledge from remaining confined to fragile physical collections. For scholars, it offers the prospect of discovering primary sources that have survived largely outside the mainstream of modern academic research.

    The MoU thus represents a shift in how Kerala’s medical past is preserved: not simply by keeping manuscripts safe on shelves, but by documenting them systematically and creating a durable digital record through which future scholarship can engage with them.

    Reference: PIB

  • Could Cocoa Help Protect the Brain? New Review Points to Mood Benefits, but Cognitive Gains Remain Uncertain

    Cocoa may offer more than a pleasurable taste. A new review published in Frontiers in Nutrition examines growing evidence that cocoa polyphenols—particularly flavanols and procyanidins—could influence brain health, mood and some aspects of cognitive function.

    Researchers note that neurological and depressive disorders involve complex processes such as inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired production of neurotrophic factors including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Because diet can influence several of these pathways, cocoa has emerged as a potential source of neuroprotective compounds.

    Cocoa flavanols may improve blood flow to the brain, support vascular function and influence neuroinflammation. One of the best-studied compounds, epicatechin, has also improved learning and spatial memory in animal experiments. But whether these effects translate into meaningful benefits for people remains less certain.

    Mood appears to be the more promising area

    The review found some of the strongest—although still preliminary—evidence for improvements in mood and depressive symptoms.

    Several clinical studies have reported benefits from dark chocolate or cocoa-rich products. In one trial involving overweight or obese middle-aged adults, depressive symptoms declined after four weeks in both cocoa and control groups, while cocoa consumption was also linked to increased levels of the dopamine-related metabolite homovanillic acid.

    Other studies have reported reduced depression among menopausal women consuming dark chocolate, improved calmness and contentment following cocoa-polyphenol beverages, and better mood and reduced fatigue among people with chronic fatigue syndrome.

    The type and concentration of chocolate may matter. In one study, eating 30 grams a day of 85% dark chocolate for three weeks improved negative affect, whereas 70% cocoa chocolate did not produce the same effect.

    Intriguingly, researchers also observed changes in the gut microbiome, including greater microbial diversity and shifts in specific bacterial species. The findings lend support to the possibility that the gut-brain axis could partly explain cocoa’s effects on mood. However, the study showed an association—not proof that microbiome changes caused the improvement in mood.

    Cognitive benefits are far less consistent

    Evidence for improvements in memory, attention and other cognitive abilities is considerably more mixed.

    Animal studies have produced encouraging results, with cocoa administration linked to better spatial and recognition memory, reduced neuronal degeneration and greater hippocampal plasticity. Such findings suggest that cocoa polyphenols may influence processes involved in learning and brain resilience.

    Human trials, however, have been inconsistent. Some studies have reported improvements in verbal memory, processing speed or cognitive flexibility following dark-chocolate or cocoa interventions. Others found no meaningful improvement in working memory, attention, reaction time or cognitive accuracy.

    Longer-term research has similarly failed to establish a clear cognitive advantage. In some studies, even high-cocoa products produced only modest improvements in selected cognitive measures rather than broad improvements in overall cognition.

    Promising science, but not a prescription for chocolate

    The review suggests that cocoa polyphenols may influence the brain through several interconnected pathways, including blood flow regulation, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, neuroplasticity and potentially the gut-brain axis.

    Yet much of the mechanistic evidence comes from laboratory and animal studies. Human research remains relatively small, varied in its methods and inconsistent in its outcomes. Importantly, the review does not establish that eating chocolate prevents neurological disease or treats depression.

    The researchers call for larger, longer and better-standardized clinical trials to determine which cocoa compounds may be beneficial, at what doses, and for whom.

    For now, the science offers an intriguing possibility: cocoa’s most credible brain-related benefit may lie in its potential influence on mood rather than in a proven boost to memory or overall cognitive performance. The findings are encouraging—but hardly a licence to regard chocolate as medicine.

    Reference: News Medical 

  • CCRAS, BIS Pact Aims to Give Ayurveda Global Quality Edge

    India’s efforts to strengthen the scientific credibility and global acceptance of Ayurveda received a boost with the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop quality standards, conformity assessment systems, research protocols and capacity-building initiatives for the Ayush sector.

    The agreement brings together the Ministry of Ayush’s apex research organisation and India’s national standards body, to integrate traditional Ayurvedic knowledge with internationally recognised systems of quality assurance and scientific validation.

    The MoU was signed by CCRAS Director General Prof. (Vaidya) Rabinarayan Acharya and BIS Deputy Director General (Standardisation-II) Sanjay Pant in the presence of Ayush Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha on August 7 in New Delhi.

    The partnership will focus on developing standards for Ayurveda and other Ayush systems, strengthening laboratory quality and conformity assessment mechanisms, and promoting scientific validation of traditional knowledge. It is also expected to enhance India’s participation in international standardisation initiatives.

    Kotecha described quality as the foundation of credibility and said the collaboration could help create robust, science-driven standards for Ayurveda. Such standards, he noted, would strengthen public confidence, encourage innovation and reinforce India’s leadership in evidence-based traditional medicine.

    For CCRAS, the agreement builds on its ongoing efforts to align research and laboratory practices with internationally recognised quality systems. Acharya said several CCRAS institutes and laboratories are already accredited under NABL and ISO standards. The partnership with BIS, he added, would further improve research standardisation, laboratory practices and the development of scientifically validated benchmarks benefiting researchers, industry and the public.

    The MoU also marks a significant milestone for BIS. According to Pant, it is the organisation’s 100th memorandum of understanding and its first with an Ayush organisation.

    Pant said the scientific expertise of CCRAS researchers would strengthen the standards-development process. He said CCRAS scientists could serve as Project Leaders, helping accelerate the formulation of robust Indian Standards for Ayurveda.

    The scale of standards development in the sector underlines the potential significance of the collaboration. Dr. Raghavendra Naik of the BIS Ayush Department said 128 Indian Standards are currently under the Ayurveda Sectional Committee, while 243 standards covering different Ayush domains have been developed over the past three years.

    Vaidya Jayant Deopujari, Chairperson of the BIS Ayurveda Sectional Committee, said scientific standardisation was essential to building confidence in Ayurveda at both national and international levels. The partnership, he said, combines research expertise with standards-setting capabilities to create a stronger framework for quality assurance.

    Officials from both organisations attended the signing, while scientists and officers from all 30 peripheral CCRAS institutes and centres joined virtually.

    The agreement comes as Ayurveda seeks wider acceptance beyond India. Its broader significance lies in an attempt to make traditional knowledge more measurable, verifiable and compatible with global quality systems—potentially giving Indian Ayurveda a stronger foundation for international recognition.

    Reference: PIB

  • More Donors, More Lives: India’s Organ Donation Gap Calls for Urgent Public Action

    India’s growing transplant needs have brought the country’s persistent shortage of donated organs into sharp focus, with healthcare experts calling for greater public awareness and participation in organ donation.

    Speaking at an event held on the eve of World Organ Donation Day, which falls on August 13, in New Delhi, experts from Fortis Escorts, Okhla, and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) stressed that increasing the availability of organs from deceased donors remains a challenge in India’s transplant ecosystem.

    NOTTO Director Dr Anil Kumar said a single deceased donor could save up to eight lives through organ donation, while tissue donation could improve the quality of life of many more. He underlined the need to dispel misconceptions surrounding brain death and encourage more people to pledge their organs.

    The scale of the shortage is stark. India’s organ donation rate remains below one donor per million population, while nearly 90,000 patients were on the national transplant waiting list as of March 2026. Between 2020 and 2024, as many as 2,805 patients died while waiting for an organ transplant, according to the information shared at the event.

    Despite an increase in the number of transplants, deceased-donor organs account for only about 18 per cent of transplants in the country. Experts said this highlights the urgent need to expand the pool of deceased donors and ensure that potentially life-saving organs do not go unused.

    Dr Z S Meharwal, Chairman and Head of Adult Cardiac Surgery at Fortis Escorts Okhla, said greater awareness and participation could help reduce the number of patients who remain on waiting lists simply because a suitable organ is unavailable.

    India is progressing in transplant medicine and logistics such as the use of green corridors to transport organs rapidly between hospitals. However, experts noted that sophisticated medical infrastructure could only go so far if the supply of donated organs remains inadequate.

    The challenge, therefore, is not merely technological but also social. Addressing myths about organ donation, improving awareness about brain death and encouraging families to discuss donation could play a crucial role in closing the gap between patients waiting for transplants and organs available for transplantation.

    For thousands of patients battling serious organ failure, the difference between waiting and receiving a transplant can be the difference between life and death. Experts said greater participation in organ donation is essential if India is to turn advances in transplant medicine into more lives saved.

    Reference: PTI; ET Healthworld

  • SANJEEVANI 2026 Roadshow in Kochi

    As part of SANJEEVANI – Bharat Health Global Expo 2026, a special roadshow will be held on 13 August 2026 from 3 pm to 5 pm at IMA House, Kochi. The event is being organised in association with HOSPEX India. The roadshow aims to position India’s healthcare sector for global patients, international healthcare networks and overseas markets. 

    The Kochi roadshow marks the South India leg of the international healthcare and wellness event scheduled for September 7 to 9, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Organized by the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, it aims to promote India’s medical value travel, wellness industry, and traditional AYUSH systems.

       With Medical Value Travel gaining momentum, the session will focus on how hospitals, wellness centres, healthtech companies and MVT operators can explore Healthcare Services Exports from India. According to the organisers, the event will provide insights into global opportunities, international partnerships, and pathways to take India’s healthcare and wellness capabilities to the world.

    Hospitals & healthcare providers, wellness centres, medical tourism/MVT operators, digital health & healthtech companies, and allied healthcare service providers can participate. 

    Ayurveda and Health Tourism and Medical Tourism are media partners.

    For details contact:

    Mr. Benny Thomas – +91 9846121715 ;

    Soumya TS – 90800 78447.

  • Steps Afoot to Turn Kerala into Global Ayurveda Tourism Hub

    Kerala’s long-standing reputation as an Ayurveda destination is getting a fresh policy push, with the Centre stepping up measures to promote Ayush-based medical and wellness tourism and position India as a global hub for traditional healthcare.

    The Centre has introduced Ayush Visa for international visitors seeking treatment. It has partnered with India Tourism Development Corporation to promote Medical Value Travel in Ayurveda and other traditional systems.

    Kerala figured prominently in the Centre’s Southern Zone Medical Value Travel Summit held in Chennai in May 2025, alongside Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry.

    The State has a sizeable Ayush research network too. The work of two CCRAS institutions—the National Ayurveda Research Institute for Panchakarma at Cheruthuruthy, and the Regional Ayurveda Research Institute in Thiruvananthapuram—ranges from medicinal plants and traditional diets to clinical and botanical studies.

    Kerala is home to research institutions in homoeopathy, Unani and Siddha as well. The National Homoeopathy Research Institute in Mental Health, Kottayam, currently has 34 research programmes, while the Siddha Regional Research Institute at Poojapura focuses on clinical research, drug standardisation and scientific validation of traditional formulations.

    The Centre is supporting Kerala’s Ayush infrastructure through the National Ayush Mission, providing funds for medicines, manpower, equipment and the construction, renovation and upgrading of healthcare facilities. Two Centres of Excellence have also been approved in the State under the Ayurswasthya Yojana.

    Quality and international accreditation are emerging as another key plank of the strategy. Kerala has 77 Ayush healthcare organisations accredited by NABH, while the Ayush Quality Mark Programme, launched in 2025, seeks to improve quality assurance and strengthen the international competitiveness of Ayush products and services.

    The Centre is facilitating WHO certificates for eligible Ayush drugs and promoting Ayush Standard and Ayush Premium Marks through third-party assessment.

    With Ayurveda and Yoga being taken up under international standardisation mechanisms, and Kerala constituting a State-level Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani standardisation committee, the State is increasingly positioned at the intersection of traditional healing, modern quality systems and medical tourism.

    With its established Ayurveda ecosystem, research institutions and healthcare infrastructure, Kerala could emerge as one of India’s strongest gateways for global Ayurveda and wellness travel.

  • Bridge Lab and Market to Make Ayurveda Global, Says Jadhav

    Young researchers and startups should play a leading role in transforming Ayurveda from laboratory research into commercially viable products, said Union AYUSH Minister Prataprao Jadhav, stressing that innovation must ultimately benefit society through affordable, evidence-based healthcare solutions. 

    Addressing researchers, entrepreneurs and stakeholders at the 27th Meeting of the Governing Body of the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) in New Delhi, Jadhav said India possesses a rich repository of traditional medicinal knowledge, and its true potential can only be realised when scientific discoveries are translated into market-ready products. He called upon startups to bridge the gap between research institutions and industry by developing high-quality Ayurvedic formulations backed by modern scientific validation. 

    He highlighted that the government was strengthening the innovation ecosystem through research support, startup incubation, quality certification and collaboration between academia, industry and regulatory agencies. He noted that robust scientific evidence, standardisation and clinical validation are essential for enhancing global confidence in Ayurvedic products and expanding their international footprint. 

    Jadhav said India’s growing emphasis on evidence-based Ayurveda offers significant opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop new medicines, wellness products, digital health solutions and value-added herbal products. He added that commercialising laboratory innovations would not only improve public healthcare but also generate employment and strengthen India’s position as a global leader in traditional medicine. 

    The minister also encouraged young innovators to utilise government-supported incubation centres, startup schemes and research programmes to convert promising ideas into scalable enterprises. He said closer cooperation among scientists, educational institutions and industry would accelerate the development of safe, effective and internationally competitive Ayurvedic products. 

    Reiterating the government’s commitment to promoting innovation in the AYUSH sector, Jadhav said integrating scientific research with entrepreneurship would ensure that India’s traditional knowledge creates tangible health and economic benefits while reinforcing the country’s leadership in the global wellness market.

    Reference

    PIB, PTI, ET Health

  • Why learning slows down: Scientists find the brain’s built-in ‘stop’ mechanism

    The reason learning feels effortless at
    first—and then suddenly hits a wall—may lie in a little-known structure
    surrounding brain cells.

    Researchers have identified a physical
    mechanism that appears to regulate not only how the brain learns, but also when
    it decides that enough learning has been done.

    The key player is the extracellular
    matrix    , a scaffold-like network surrounding brain cells. According to
    researchers, this structure is far more dynamic than scientists had previously
    assumed.

    During the early stages of learning a new
    skill, the matrix temporarily loosens after practice, creating a window in
    which the brain can adapt. Within roughly a day, however, it rebuilds itself.
    As the skill becomes more familiar, this remodelling cycle gradually
    weakens—and eventually stops.

    In effect, the brain appears to shift from ‘learn’
    mode to ‘protect’ mode    .

    “For the first time, we’ve been able to see
    that the remodelling process changes as you gain experience,” said Melissa
    Caras, assistant professor of biology at the University of Maryland and senior
    author of the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of
    Sciences    .

    The finding challenges the older view of
    the extracellular matrix as largely a rigid structure that restricts change,
    particularly in the adult brain. Instead, the researchers found that it can
    rapidly reorganise in response to training.

    The team tracked these changes over much
    shorter intervals than earlier studies. Their observations showed a recurring
    pattern: the matrix loosens following practice, allowing learning to occur, and
    then rebuilds to stabilise what has been learned.

    The researchers also tested what happens
    when the matrix is deliberately disrupted. Breaking it down impaired the
    ability to learn and master a skill. More disruption produced greater
    impairment. Conversely, disrupting the matrix even after a skill had been
    mastered caused performance to deteriorate.

    The implication is striking: a learning
    plateau may not simply mean that the brain has run out of capacity. It may mean
    the brain has actively closed the window for further change in that particular
    circuit.

    Caras suggested that the mechanism could
    eventually help explain familiar experiences such as plateaus in language
    learning. Brain regions involved in acquiring a skill may progressively move
    from a state primed for change to one designed to preserve existing learning.

    The study is still at an early stage and
    does not offer an immediate treatment or learning hack for humans. But it adds
    a new dimension to the understanding of learning: the brain may not merely
    absorb information—it may also possess a biological system that decides when
    to open the door to change and when to shut it to protect what has already been
    learned    .

    Reference: Press Trust of India (PTI)

    ET Healthworld