Union Minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal Thursday inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) project in the Department of Integrative Medicine at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru. The primary objective of the project is to conduct clinical trials in neuro-psychiatric disorders to establish the efficacy, safety and proposed mechanism of integrated Yoga and Ayurveda (IYAM) treatment principles.
According to NIMHANS, the CoE also aims to train and develop clinician-scientists who have niche skill sets in examining brain-health from both traditional and modern scientific approaches.
In a statement, NIMHANS said, “The proposed Centre for Excellence will bring together a team of researchers and physicians across modern and traditional disciplines to comprehensively evaluate efficacy, safety and proposed mechanisms of an integrated Yoga and Ayurveda (IYAM) treatment approach in four selected neuropsychiatric disorders that affect individuals across the life-span. These include schizophrenia, mood disorder, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s Dementia.”
“There has been increased interest among researchers in exploring the healing potentials in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders seeking Traditional Complementary and Alternative systems of medicine (TCAM) like Ayurveda and Yoga (A&Y),” the statement said.
It added, “The pathophysiology of these disorders remains elusive and they respond only partially to conventional biomedical treatments. Studies have demonstrated the neuroprotective, plasticity enhancing, and inflammation-reducing effects of yoga in various neuropsychiatric disorders. However, despite being popular and used by many, systematic studies documenting the success of Yoga and Ayurveda in treating these neuropsychiatric disorders are minimal, particularly neurobiologically informed studies.”
“There is a need to provide proof of concept of Ayurveda and Yoga biological explanations by viewing it through modern scientific lens and to integrate such explanations. This is because comprehensive and holistic descriptions and effects of Ayurveda and Yoga are best understood when the explanations are interpreted using modern scientific methods and followed through,” the statement further said.
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