A Complex, Nonlinear Dynamic Systems Perspective on Ayurveda and Ayurvedic Research

Abstract

The fields of complexity theory and nonlinear dynamic systems (NDS) are relevant for analyzing the theory and practice of Ayurvedic medicine from a Western scientific perspective. Ayurvedic definitions of health map clearly onto the tenets of both systems and complexity theory and focus primarily on the preservation of organismic equanimity. Health care research informed by NDS and complexity theory would prioritize (1) ascertaining patterns reflected in whole systems as opposed to isolating components; (2) relationships and dynamic interaction rather than static end-points; (3) transitions, change and cumulative effects, consistent with delivery of therapeutic packages in the reality of the clinical setting; and (4) simultaneously exploring both local and global levels of healing phenomena. NDS and complexity theory are useful in examining nonlinear transitions between states of health and illness; the qualitative nature of shifts in health status; and looking at emergent properties and behaviors stemming from interactions between organismic and environmental systems. Complexity and NDS theory also demonstrate promise for enhancing the suitability of research strategies applied to Ayurvedic medicine through utilizing core concepts such as initial conditions, emergent properties, fractal patterns, and critical fluctuations. In the Ayurvedic paradigm, multiple scales and their interactions are addressed simultaneously, necessitating data collection on change patterns that occur on continuums of both time and space, and are viewed as complementary rather than isolated and discrete. Serious consideration of Ayurvedic clinical understandings will necessitate new measurement options that can account for the relevance of both context and environmental factors, in terms of local biology and the processual features of the clinical encounter. Relevant research design issues will need to address clinical tailoring strategies and provide mechanisms for mapping patterns of change that account for the contiguous, self-replicating, cumulative, and synergistic theories associated with successful Ayurvedic treatment approaches.