Search

This introduction to a special section brings together three papers first presented at a panel, 'Medical Professions in South Asia: Historical and Contemporary Analyses', at the 26th European Conference on South Asian Studies, held in Vienna, Austria and online, in July 2021. All three papers deal with aspects of the professionalisation of biomedical doctors in India since its independence in 1947. The authors bring together historical and sociological approaches to illuminate the growth of specialisms, patterns of practitioner–patient interactions and efforts to maintain occupational closure and maintain status in the face of growing challenges. The introduction concludes with a discussion of the relevance of these papers for the sociology of health and illness in India and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chat programs has opened two distinct paths, one enhancing interaction and another potentially replacing personal understanding. Ethical and legal concerns arise due to the rapid development of these programs. This paper investigates academic discussions on AI in medicine, analyzing the context, frequency, and reasons behind these conversations. Methods: The study collected data from the Web of Science database on articles containing the keyword "ChatGPT" published from January to September 2023, resulting in 786 medically related journal articles. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed articles in English related to medicine. Results: The United States led in publications (38.1%), followed by India (15.5%) and China (7.0%). Keywords such as "patient" (16.7%), "research" (12%), and "performance" (10.6%) were prevalent. The Cureus Journal of Medical Science (11.8%) had the most publications, followed by the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (8.3%). August 2023 had the highest number of publications (29.3%), with significant growth between February to March and April to May. Medical General Internal (21.0%) was the most common category, followed by Surgery (15.4%) and Radiology (7.9%). Discussion: The prominence of India in ChatGPT research, despite lower research funding, indicates the platform's popularity and highlights the importance of monitoring its use for potential medical misinformation. China's interest in ChatGPT research suggests a focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI applications, despite public bans on the platform. Cureus' success in publishing ChatGPT articles can be attributed to its open-access, rapid publication model. The study identifies research trends in plastic surgery, radiology, and obstetric gynecology, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and reliability assessments in the application of ChatGPT in medical practice. Conclusion: ChatGPT's presence in medical literature is growing rapidly across various specialties, but concerns related to safety, privacy, and accuracy persist. More research is needed to assess its suitability for patient care and implications for non-medical use. Skepticism and thorough review of research are essential, as current studies may face retraction as more information emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonial medical education and public health policies emerged from an intriguing discourse of negotiation between the government and the people. These 'structured conflicts', rooted in the politics and the debates of the colonial institutions not only provided opportunities for creative thinking about public health but also for imposing constraints. The colonial and post-colonial India medical legislative debates revealing a new language of protest, assumed greater significance with the growing nationalist movement and the general (though variegated) intellectual polarisation – western and indigenous systems of medicine. Problematising the historiographic assertion of medical modernisation in colonial India to be a part of 'civilising mission', this paper argues that legislature emerged as a platform of activism and protest against the colonial and post-colonial State's appropriation of modernity. While some members appealed for extending the benefit of 'modern' western medicine to the general Indian population, some debated in favour of introducing the indigenous medical systems to the terms of modern professionalisation. The post-colonial policies reveal the true significance of the legislative debates in reviving the position of indigenous systems of medicine in the context of professional modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes quantitative and qualitative dimensions of nanomedicine research studies in India. The study is based on research publications data in nanomedicine research (1491 publications) as covered in Scopus data base for the period 2002-20. The study finds that nanomedicine research in India registered a high 73.7% growth with an average of 22.93 citations per paper. The nano-oncology subfield accounted for the highest share (48.49% share) in the national output, followed by seven other nanomedicine subfields. Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi, Panjab University, Chandigarh and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi lead as the most productive organizations in the country. The paper also lists the most productive authors in nanomedicine research. The most productive research journals that reported nanomedicine research in India include Nanomedicine, International Journal of Nanomedicine and Current Pharmaceutical Design. In addition, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, International Journal of Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Today topped in the list of most cited research journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicine is one of the most critical contributors to life expectance. However, essential medicine is the foremost cause of death and disability in developing countries that can be prevented, cured, and improved with cost-effective essential medication. Besides this, thousands of people don't have access to essential medicine. The majority of the people spent their huge share of income on medicine, which traps them into a vicious circle of poverty. The huge prescription of medication is a leading cause of treatment delay. Further, essential medicines save lives and enhance the health of the population but only when they are accessible at an inexpensive, reasonable, and affordable cost and used properly. Despite certain policy measures and programs, a huge chunk of the population doesn't have access to essential medicine, and this remains the pivotal public health issue in India. The availability of harmless, effective, affordable, and quality medicines for all is one of the most important targets for sustainable development goals. For acquiring universal health coverage, access to safe, effective, and affordable essential medicine is a paramount aspect. The main aim of this paper is to examine the significance and factors of irrational prescription. It also analyzes the trends of the burden of medical cost and its socio-economic impact on households. This paper is based on a secondary date. It is estimated that by improving access to existing essential medicines and vaccines, about 10 million lives per year could be saved. The studies revealed that as much as 25%-70% of overall health expenditure in developing countries is spent on medicines whereas, around 10% of health expenditure in most high-income countries is consumed by medicines. In India, medicines consumed a higher share of total health expenditure, over 43%. However, several studies depict that more than three lakh crore rupees that households spent on health, and about 42% of the total out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) went in the procurement of medicines. Moreover, households spent around 28% of the OOP spending in private hospitals, and this constitutes 62.6% of the total OOP health spending in India, both government and private sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of research on India's plural health care market, the practices of many local health traditions outside the allopathic and codified traditions are under-studied. Drawing on interview and observational data, this paper explores the space in which indigenous traditional Khasi healers in Meghalaya state, northeast India, practice. Khasi indigenous healers describe themselves as doktor sla, plant doctors, to distinguish themselves from doktor kot, or book doctors. This distinction operates as a rhetorical resource, utilised to carve a distinct sphere of expertise in relation to the allopathic sector, and to mark claims for the specifically local appropriateness of traditional practices within a shifting market of state-sponsored provision. Khasi healers are a heterogeneous group who treat a wide variety of conditions, including physical ailments which have no obvious correlates in biomedical systems, and musculoskeletal disorders, with which they have recognised expertise. In addition to claiming these discrete strengths, healers also present themselves as accommodating deficiencies in biomedicine, including inherent generic weaknesses of allopathic care as well as specific local gaps in rural health care provision. Thus, the expertise niches of traditional healers have evolved through their interactions with, and the needs of, the community, but also through managing a shifting boundary with biomedical practitioners, who are explicitly sceptical of their efficacy, but tacitly accepting of the ways in which they manage the gaps in biomedical provision. While codified non-biomedical traditions in India have engaged in universalising professionalising projects, in this setting at least, non-codified practitioners have instead utilised discourses of localism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author traces two parallel movements of institutionalized Ayurvedic psychiatry, an emergent field of specialization in Kerala, India: the ‘work of purification’ and the ‘work of translation’ that Latour has described as characteristic of the ‘modern constitution.’ The author delineates these processes in terms of the relationship of Ayurvedic psychiatry to (1) allopathic psychiatry, (2) bhutavidya, a branch of textual Ayurveda dealing with spirits, and (3) occult violence. The aim is to offer a model of these open and hidden processes and of Ayurvedic psychiatry's positioning within a hierarchical mental health field characterized simultaneously by biopsychiatric hegemony and a persistent vernacular healing tradition. Through these processes, Ayurvedic psychiatry emerges as a relevant actor. It demarcates itself from both allopathic and vernacular epistemologies and ontologies while simultaneously drawing upon aspects of each, and, in this way, shows itself to be both deeply modern and highly pragmatic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious-spiritual (R/S) education helps medical students cope with caregiving stress and gain skills in interpersonal empathy needed for clinical care. Such R/S education has been introduced into K-12 and college curricula in some developed nations and has been found to positively impact student’s mental health. Such a move has not yet been seen in the Indian education system. This paper aimed to examine perspectives of teachers and parents in India on appropriateness, benefits, and challenges of including R/S education into the school curriculum and also to gather their impressions on how a R/S curriculum might promote students’ health. A cross-sectional study of religiously stratified sample of teachers and parents was initiated in three preselected schools in India and the required sample size (N = 300) was reached through snowballing technique. A semi-structured questionnaire, with questions crafted from “Religion and Spirituality in Medicine, Physicians Perspective” (RSMPP) and “American Academy of Religion’s (AAR) Guidelines for Religious Literacy,” was used to determine participants’ perspectives. Findings revealed that teachers’ and parents’ “comfort in integrating R/S into school curriculum” was associated with their gender (OR 1.68), education status (OR 1.05), and intrinsic religiosity (OR 1.05). Intrinsic religiosity was significantly (p = 0.025) high among parents while “intrinsic spirituality” was high (p = 0.020) among teachers. How participants’ R/S characteristics influence their support of R/S education in school is discussed. In conclusion, participants believe R/S education will fosters students’ emotional health and interpersonal skills needed for social leadership. A curriculum that incorporates R/S education, which is based on AAR guidelines and clinically validated interpersonal spiritual care tools would be acceptable to both teachers and parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the process through which ayurveda is historicized as the classical tradition of Kerala (and India), at the cost of a variety of practices or ayurvedas. By the twentieth century, medical practice gained a respectful status and became an earning profession. The negotiation and competition to control a commonly shared public space of medicine led to various public interventions. Individual body became a social body and an object of knowledge around which a variety of debates begin to occur. These formations, along with print culture, changing economic relations, new associations and institutional frameworks emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth century India acted as an umbrella space for the intermingling of a range of practices in their renegotiation with knowledge and power. In these processes ayurveda attained the role of a professional classical tradition with various kinds of validations or accepted conditions to become a knowledge system while adhering to its own tenets. Some others such as nattuvaidyam got pushed to the margin as folk medical practices. The analysis is done by reading the first indigenous health magazine, Dhanwantari published from the British Malabar from 1903 onwards for a span of twenty three years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API) is a unique book of standards describing the quality, purity and strength of selected drugs that are manufactured, distributed, and sold by the licensed manufacturers in pan India. It is developed in two parts; the part one comprises of mono-monographs of medicinal substances of natural origin and part two includes selected compound formulations sourced from the schedule – I books under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 comprising of popular Ayurvedic classics of different period of times. The first part of the Ayurvedic Formulary of India was published in 1978 and thereafter, the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (mono-monograph) Part-I, Vol. I was published in the year 1989 and subsequently, the other volumes were published with their legalized status under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Aim of the study The study was aimed to bring out the existing knowledge on the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia with its chronological development reviewed from the ancient Vedic Compendia with its continuum in Ayurvedic classics of different period of time till recent past. Materials and methods A literary search based on the ancient origin of Ayurveda was carried out. The drug making from the natural resources and utility of the knowledge exist in classical Ayurvedic works of different period of time till composition of the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India and its importance as official documents of Govt. of India for Standards of Ayurvedic Drugs and its perspectives have been discussed. Results The present paper reviews on the systemic development and different aspects of drug-making (Pharmacopoeia) with evidence lying in the 5000 years old work of India. During the systematic review of the various works of different period of times (ancient, medieval and modern), it was found that the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India has its development during 20th Century as an official document of Govt. of India comprising of single drugs monograph and compound formulations. Conclusion In India, the development of the Indian Pharmacopoeia started in 20th Century on the recommendation of the Col. R.N. Chopra Committee and in 1978 the first part of the Ayurvedic formulary of India was published. Subsequently, the amendment in the drugs and cosmetics Act 1940 was brought in 1964 for regulation of the drugs in Indian Systems of Medicine (Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha). Later on the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (Mono-Monograph) Part-I, Volume I, was published in the year 1989 and the other volumes were published subsequently in different years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic inquiry into Ayurvedic commodification in Kerala revealed the prevalence of a distinct regional pharmaceutical market dominated by physician-manufacturers, oriented towards supplying classical medicines to Ayurvedic doctors. This stands in sharp contrast to mainstream Ayurveda that is observed to have undergone biomedicalization and pharmaceuticalization. This paper argues that Kerala's classical-medicine-centric pharmaceutical market constitutes an alternative modernity because it provided Kerala Ayurveda with a different route to modernization impervious to the biomedical regime, as well as endowing it with the institutional power to safeguard its regional identity. Although physician-entrepreneurs are its key architects, it is sustained by value regimes shaped by a unique regional medico-cultural milieu. Even when industrially produced, classical medicines remain embedded within Ayurveda's socio-technical network; unlike proprietary drugs sold as individual product-identities through non-Ayurvedic channels, they travel together as a pharmacopeia, distributed through exclusive doctor-mediated agencies. This clinic-centric distribution format is best conceptualized as an open-source business model as it made low-margin generics viable by packaging them with therapies and services. Besides ensuring better access and affordability, it provided resistance to pharmaceuticalization and intellectual property concentration. By keeping the doctor in the loop, it prevented medicines from degenerating into de-contextualized commodities; the service component of Ayurveda therein preserved went on become the unique selling point in the health-tourism market. The tourism-inspired proliferation of Brand Kerala eventually triggered a paradigm shift in mainstream Ayurveda – shifting focus from ‘pharmaceuticals’ to ‘services’ and from ‘illness’ to ‘wellness’. Furthermore, interacting with hybrid Ayurvedas in transnational markets, Kerala Ayurveda co-produces new alterities countervailing the structurally dominant biomedical paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

India is home to some of the oldest civilizations, during which period the local communities domesticated indigenous plant species for food and agriculture and medicinal uses. In this process, they also bio-prospected and/or absorbed potentially valuable exotic plant species, making them integral part of Indian culture, including the traditional medicinal system, the Ayurveda. The present paper discusses the absorption of 26 plant species of exotic origin, before 8th century, as evidenced by archaeological sculptural or botanical remains and documentation of such plants in Sanskrit, the Vedic language. Occurrence and/or introduction of such plants at such distant places in ancient times is visualized as a result of geographical continental fragmentation followed by drift, natural or man-made transoceanic movement, and cultural and trade exchange of plant material over time and space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This is an invited paper for a special issue with the objective to provide information on neuropsychology in India.Method: Information was gathered from a literature search and personal communication with professionals working in the field of neuropsychology.Results: Neuropsychology as a specialization started in India approximately 40 years ago. The early years witnessed the use of Western tools for assessing patients with organic brain damage. Subsequent years saw the development of indigenous tools for use with the vast majority of the Indian population and also a few Western tests adapted to suit the needs of the unique Indian clientele. The starting of the Neuropsychology unit at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore in 1975 resulted in changing of the course of training and practice of Neuropsychology. The field of assessments has witnessed indigenous tests being developed, while rehabilitation programs have brought about a decline in cognitive deficits in several clinical conditions. Currently, work within the field of neuropsychology has focused on child, geriatric, acquired brain injury, and forensic populations with a development of unique rehabilitations to suit needs of several clinical conditions. However, there are very few neuropsychologists in the country, and only one nodal training center, which limits the availability of training to the large population of the country.Conclusion: Despite the shortcomings, the field of neuropsychology has received much attention in the recent years with the number of referrals and professionals increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper discusses a comparative study of h and g indices of prominent scientists from India in five selected subject fields viz. Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Engineering and Medicine. It throws light on various indices proposed by different scientists from 2006 to 2015. The analysis of the present study is based on publications and citations data extracted from the Web of Science for the time span 1999-2014. It is evident from the study that almost all authors' g-index is higher than that of h-index. The average g/h of all subjects' authors is around 1.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human from ancient times have been used plants and their products to various ailments because plant products cause minimal or no side effects. In the present paper we review five traditional Indian medicinal plants used for ethanomedicinal and pharmacological in India traditional medicinal system (Ayurveda), several researchers of have been explored different activities of these plants includes Citrullus colocynthis, Delonix regia, Kiglia pinnata, Martynia annua and Pongamia pinnata. These plants have been used for several medicinal and pharmacological activities like as anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial, antioxidant, analgesic or anti-proliferative, antifertility and abortion etc in different parts around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder linked to type II diabetes and the leading cause of female infertility worldwide. Despite being considered a “lifestyle” disease, PCOS has received scant attention in the social science literature. In India, media accounts citing prominent doctors have expressed concern that the syndrome affects a growing number of urban middle-class Indian women. The general public, doctors, and afflicted women all attribute the condition to stress, lifestyle changes, “Westernization,” modernization, and disrupted circadian rhythms. These factors are associated with changes in diets, gender roles, and aspirations since 1991, when the introduction of neoliberal reforms opened up the country to processes of globalization. Women with PCOS have come to be seen as living embodiments of the biosocial stresses associated with modern urban middle-class living, and discourse about PCOS serves as commentary indexing anxieties about social and political–economic shifts in the country. In this paper, based on ethnographic fieldwork in Mumbai, India, with 141 participants from 2012 to 2014, we point to local understanding of PCOS as corresponding to an ecosocial perspective that highlights the structural vulnerabilities of urban middle-class women. Whereas most research on structural vulnerabilities and health has centered on economically and otherwise disadvantaged groups, we use PCOS as a case study to draw attention to the rise of lifestyle disorders linked to the impact of globalization and the pressures of “modern” identities and aspirations among middle-class populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the many forms and representations ofcyavanaprāsh, Ayurveda's best-selling medicine, already mentioned in Caraka's Compendium (c. 200 CE). The medicine's compositions, applications, and meanings, change over time and from locality to locality. Cyavanaprāshis, for example, a patriotic formula, a booster of the immune system, a modern geriatric drug, and one of the elements in canonical Ayurvedic treatments. In the beginning of the 19th centurycyavanaprāshwas a patriotic formula for fortifying Indian bodies and the nascent Indian nation. Nowadays the medicine is a Fast Moving Consumer Good (FMCG) and a money maker for Dabur India Ltd., the world largest Ayurvedic manufacturer. Instead of vitalising the nation its consumption now promises to make urban middle class consumers effectively modern. Branding and modern science must make Dabur Chyawanprash attractive in the eyes of these consumers. Ayurveda and cyavanaprāshare also part of a global counter culture marked by neo-Orientalism and Ayurvedic medicines as facilitators of spirituality. The marketing ofcyavanaprāshby India's largest Ayurvedic manufacturer is used as a case study for discussing the proliferation of Ayurvedic brands and its critics. The imaging of Ayurvedic brands such as Dabur Chyawanprash threatens to obscure the fact that Ayurveda represents a unique way of looking upon health, disease and the human body. The proliferation of brands also makes Ayurvedic medicines more expensive and puts pressure on the natural environment as the main supplier of Ayurvedic ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive psychology is a recent branch psychology primarily concerned with using the psychological theory, research and intervention techniques to understand the positive, adaptive, creative and emotionally fulfilling aspects of human behaviour. Mental health in India has become a priority for the people, community, and the state in the last two decades. In place of focusing and concentrating on the negative aspect of a person, a trend is developing to promote positive aspect of one's personality. This paper explores the possibility of application of positive psychology in the area of mental health, specifically in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]