<unk>  () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of<unk>  is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes<unk> c practitioners who claim to practice medicine as quacks.<unk>  is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population report using it.<unk>  therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia. Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils.<unk> c preparations are typically based on complex herbal compounds, minerals, and metal substances (perhaps under the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasashastra). Ancient<unk>  texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, kidney stone extractions, sutures, and the extraction of foreign objects. The main classical<unk>  texts begin with accounts of the transmission of medical knowledge from the gods to sages, and then to human physicians. In Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), Sushruta wrote that Dhanvantari, Hindu god of<unk> , incarnated himself as a king of Varanasi and taught medicine to a group of physicians, including Sushruta.<unk>  has been adapted for Western consumption, notably by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and Maharishi<unk>  in the 1980s. Some scholars assert that<unk>  originated in prehistoric times.<unk>  developed significantly during the Vedic period and later some of the non-Vedic systems such as Buddhism and Jainism also developed medical concepts and practices that appear in the classical<unk>  texts. In<unk>  texts, Dosha balance is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness.<unk>  treatises describe three elemental doshas viz. vāta, pitta and kapha, and state that balance (Skt. sāmyatva) of the doshas results in health, while imbalance (viṣamatva) results in disease.<unk>  treatises divide medicine into eight canonical components.<unk>  practitioners had developed various medicinal preparations and surgical procedures from at least the beginning of the common era. Cancer Research UK has stated that there is no scientific evidence to prove that<unk>  is effective to treat or cure cancer. Some<unk> c preparations have been found to contain lead, mercury, and arsenic, substances known to be harmful to humans. A 2008 study found the three substances in close to 21% of U.S. and Indian-manufactured patent<unk> c medicines sold through the Internet. The public health implications of such metallic contaminants in India are unknown.
Ayurveda
Unani medicine
Space medicine
Traditional medicine
Allopathic medicine
Iranian traditional medicine
Traditional African medicine
Georgian folk medicine