Charak, also spelt Carak born c. 300 BC in a family of one of the principal contributors to the ancient art and science of Ayurveda, a system of medicine and lifestyle thought to be developed about 5000 years ago in Ancient India.
Acording to him, health and disease are not predetermined and life may be prolonged by human effort and attention to lifestyle.
The following statements are attributed to Charak:
These remarks appear obvious today, though they are often not heeded, and were made by Charak, in his famous Ayurvedic treatise Charaka Samhita. The treatise contains many such remarks which are held in reverence even today. Some of them are in the fields of physiology, etiology and embryology.
Charaka was the first physician to present the concept of digestion, metabolism and immunity. According to him, a body functions on three principles (dosh), namely movement (vata), transformation (pitta) and lubrication and stability (kapha). The dosh are bile, phlegm and wind. These dosh are produced when dhatus (blood, flesh and marrow) act upon the food eaten. For the same quantity of food eaten, one body, however, produces dosh in an amount different from another body. That is why one body is different from another.
Further, illness is caused when the balance among the three dosh in a human body is disturbed. To restore the balance he prescribed medicinal drugs. He was also aware of germs in the body, he did not give them any importance.Charaka knew the fundamentals of genetics. For instance, he knew the factors determining the sex of a child. A genetic defect in a child, like lameness or blindness, he said, was not due to any defect in the mother or the father, but in the ovum or sperm of the parents (an accepted fact today).
Charaka studied the anatomy of the human body and various organs. He gave 360 as the total number of bones, including teeth, present in the body. He considered that heart had a controlling centre. He claimed that the heart was connected to the entire body through several main channels. Then there were countless other ones of varying sizes which supplied not only nutrients to various tissues but also provided passage to waste products. He also claimed that any obstruction in the main channels led to a disease or deformity in the body.
Around 800 BC Saint Agnivesa had written an encyclopedic treatise. Charak revised this treatise which gained popularity and came to be known as Charakasamhita. It has been translated into many foreign languages, including Arabic and Latin.
Acording to him, health and disease are not predetermined and life may be prolonged by human effort and attention to lifestyle.
The following statements are attributed to Charak:
"A physician who fails to enter the body of a patient with the lamp of knowledge and understanding can never treat diseases. He should first study all the factors, including environment, which influence a patient's disease, and then prescribe treatment. It is more important to prevent the occurrence of disease than to seek a cure."
These remarks appear obvious today, though they are often not heeded, and were made by Charak, in his famous Ayurvedic treatise Charaka Samhita. The treatise contains many such remarks which are held in reverence even today. Some of them are in the fields of physiology, etiology and embryology.
Charaka was the first physician to present the concept of digestion, metabolism and immunity. According to him, a body functions on three principles (dosh), namely movement (vata), transformation (pitta) and lubrication and stability (kapha). The dosh are bile, phlegm and wind. These dosh are produced when dhatus (blood, flesh and marrow) act upon the food eaten. For the same quantity of food eaten, one body, however, produces dosh in an amount different from another body. That is why one body is different from another.
Further, illness is caused when the balance among the three dosh in a human body is disturbed. To restore the balance he prescribed medicinal drugs. He was also aware of germs in the body, he did not give them any importance.Charaka knew the fundamentals of genetics. For instance, he knew the factors determining the sex of a child. A genetic defect in a child, like lameness or blindness, he said, was not due to any defect in the mother or the father, but in the ovum or sperm of the parents (an accepted fact today).
Charaka studied the anatomy of the human body and various organs. He gave 360 as the total number of bones, including teeth, present in the body. He considered that heart had a controlling centre. He claimed that the heart was connected to the entire body through several main channels. Then there were countless other ones of varying sizes which supplied not only nutrients to various tissues but also provided passage to waste products. He also claimed that any obstruction in the main channels led to a disease or deformity in the body.
Around 800 BC Saint Agnivesa had written an encyclopedic treatise. Charak revised this treatise which gained popularity and came to be known as Charakasamhita. It has been translated into many foreign languages, including Arabic and Latin.
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