In the territory of modern India, several medical traditions coexist, the most common of which are Ayurveda, unani (a Greek tradition based on the teachings of Hippocrates and Galen and presented in areas of India where the Islamic population predominates), siddha (associated with Dravidian culture, predominates in the south of India among the Tamil-speaking population), Tibetan medicine (common in border areas, in the Himalayas among the Buddhist population), allopathy, homeopathy, naturopathy. Of all the traditional systems of medical knowledge, Ayurveda is the most well-known both in India and abroad. The classic period of the history of this branch of medicine is represented by the works of three great "elders" - Charaka, Sushruta, Vagbhata. It should be noted that there are usually two main schools of Ayurveda: atreya (the school of doctors, i.e. it is closest to our concept of "therapist") and dhanvantari (the school of surgeons). Charaka represented the first school and dealt primarily with the problems of physiology, anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis and diagnosis of various diseases, their treatment, and life extension, which was reflected in his treatise "Charaka Samhita". Sushruta is a representative of the school of surgeons, so in his work "Sushruta Samhita" he describes in sufficient detail the surgical equipment, gives a classification of abscesses, burns, fractures, wounds, etc. In his treatise, more attention is paid to the anatomy (and even embryology) of a person, how bones, nerves, heart, blood vessels, circulatory system, and various vital points are arranged, including for massage. The text of the Ashtangahridaya Samhita, written by Vagbhata in the sixth century, was used in the study. It is this work that is considered a universal textbook on Ayurveda: it was memorized by representatives of medical dynasties in ancient times; it is based on and referenced to this day; it became a kind of link between the Indian and Tibetan traditions, since the ... Read more