Department of Physiology and Health, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, IA, USA

Dr Wallace published this paper on 30 November 2020, in The Future of Medicine: Frontiers in Integrative Health and Medicine, a special issue of Medicina, the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences issued in collaboration with the Lithuanian Medical Association, Vilnius University, Rīga Stradiņš University, the University of Latvia, and the University of Tartu.

Over the last ten years a new field has arisen in modern medicine, known as P4 medicine. Within the disciplines of modern medicine, P4 medicine is emerging as a new field that focuses on the whole patient. The four Ps are: predictive, preventive, personalised, and participatory. Ayurveda and other systems of traditional medicine have been patient-oriented and predictive, preventive, personalised, and participatory for many thousands of years. Long before the advent of epigenetic and other fields such as nutrigenetics, Ayurveda understood how diet and other lifestyle factors could affect our health. These traditional systems recognised what modern medicine is only beginning to comprehend, that prevention is key to health. Improvements in diet, sleep, exercise, and stress management are crucial for an effective preventative system of medicine.

One of the most difficult challenges today is correlating the ancient concepts of Ayurveda with modern science. Now we have a new way of understanding Ayurveda in light of leadingedge developments in medicine: the new field of “Ayurgenomics” helps give credibility to Ayurveda and other systems of traditional medicine by describing their concepts in terms of modern science.

Ayurgenomics integrates concepts in Ayurveda, such as Prakriti, with modern genetics research. It correlates the combination of three doshas, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, with the expression of specific genes and physiological characteristics. Ayurgenomics also helps to interpret Ayurveda as an ancient science of epigenetics, which assesses the current state of the Doshas, and uses specific personalised diet and lifestyle recommendations to improve a patient’s health.

Dr Wallace’s review in Medicina provides an update of the emerging field of Ayurgenomics. It explores how the development of Ayurgenomics could greatly enrich P4 medicine by providing a clear theoretical understanding of the whole patient and a practical application of ancient and modern preventative and therapeutic practices to improve mental and physical health.

The full text of Dr Wallace’s article is available here: Keith Wallace Ayurgenomics Medicina