Written by John Immel, Asheville, NCFundamental to Ayurveda's theory of medicine is the assessment and treatment of dysfunction using biocharacteristics (hot, cold, wetness, dryness, fluid thickness, thinness, etc.) Under this system, disease and dysfunction are described as an imbalance (deficiency or excess) in biocharacteristics. Food, lifestyle, and herbs are also classified according to their qualitative effects on your biology (increasing heat or coldness, for example). Generally, remedies used will have opposite biocharacteristics to the disease. For example, a cooling herb may be used to treat a hot rash.

The biocharacteristic theory of medicine was the dominant medical model for nearly 1,800 years lasting until the 1,600s A.D when it was abruptly abandoned due to advancements in biochemistry. It was adopted in different forms by nearly all silk road cultures from Europe to China.

The biocharacteristic theory of medicine offers a rich, but user-friendly system of wellness for physicians & lay people to alleviate disease, improve quality of life, and harmonize their body using natural substances from their environment.

The goal of the biocharacteristic theory of medicine is to improve health & wellness by calibrating diet & lifestyle to balancing the biocharacteristics of the client. Here are the main components:

Assessment of Dysfunction Using Biocharacteristics

• Assessment of the ideal measure (quantity) of key therapeutic biocharacteristics natural to the individual's constitution. The characteristic measured differs from western medicine in that it is a quality present in the tissue, not a substance. Examples of biocharacteristics include heavy, light, hot, cold, sharp, dull, wet, and dry.
• Assessment of biocharacteristics that have become disordered, by increase or decrease in their intensity (quantity), or by corruption (vitiation in quality or displacement).

Temper the above imbalances back to the ideal by

• Removing ill-suited habits (causes of excess or deficient deficient biocharacteristics, or of their vitiation or displacement)
• Removing unnatural matter & biocharacteristics (cleansing) accumulated from dysfunction. This step can also include remedies to dislodge the unnatural matter & biocharacteristics for elimination.
• Introducing habits & materials that reduce excess (with opposites)
• Introducing habits & materials that support deficiency (with similars)

How Biocharacteristics Improves Health

This method restores function by:

• Reducing stressors on the body, specifically stressors to homeostasis
• Supporting the individual's unique bodily character
• Opposing the biocharacteristics of a disease (i.e. using characteristics to create an inhospitable environment for the disease to thrive)

Strengths

• Palliative / Quality of Life - Supporting the body reduces the severity of many symptoms.
• Convalescence - Biocharacteristic theory greatly speeds the recovery rate.
• Strengthens overall health and wellness.
• Curative - Supporting, cleansing, and strengthening bodily function is often curative.

Treatment Hypothesis

The biocharacteristics theory of medicine has value if treating categories of "bodily processes" leads to improved health outcomes when compared with the benefits, costs, and accessibility of other modalities.

An example where western medicine uses biocharacteristics theory is the use of steroids to reduce a range of inflammatory or immune system activity.

Limitations

Some factors cannot be cured by simply recalibrating a person's biocharacteristics. In these cases, biocharacteristic therapy can be palliative. For example:

• Diseases of discontinuity or degeneration - A broken bone or severed nerve is a not only a qualitative change in organ function, but also structural.
• Allergies, Auto-immune - Biocharacteristic theory can temper the immune response, but may not completely eliminate it.
• Infection - The practitioner can oppose the biocharacteristics of the infectious pathogen to aid expel, weaken, or kill the organism, but live pathogens also have defense mechanisms.
• Genetic Disorders - Biocharacteristic theory can support function, but cannot change the DNA.

List of Fundamental (Simple) Biocharacteristics

Here is a list of most common biocharacteristics recognized across various medical traditions that use this theory:

• Weight (Light/Heavy)
• Penetration (Sharp/Dull)
• Temperature (Hot/Cold)
• Moisture (Dry/Wet)
• Density (Thin/Thick)
• Continuity (Degenerated/Intact)
• Tension (Hard/Soft)
• Solvency (Dissolved/Precipitated)
• Mobility (Mobile/Still)
• Size (Small/Large)
• Manifestation (Subtle/Gross)
• Opacity (Clear/Cloudy)
• Processed (Raw/Cooked)

List of Complex (Derived) Biocharacteristics

Biocharacteristics often have a functional relationship with each other. For example, dryness creates degeneration, heat softens and causes penetration of tissues, oily foods cause heaviness, etc. Because of these functional relationships, simple biocharacteristics frequently appear in predictable combinations, giving the practitioner insight and perspective into pathogenesis of disorders. Practitioners record these combinations and study them. These subtypes are typically classified by biocharacteristics. Here are some examples:

• Doshas (in Ayurveda)
  • Vata - Dry, light, cold, rough, subtle, mobile
  • Pitta - Oily, sharp, hot, light, sour, spreading, thin
  • Kapha - Oily, Cold, Heavy, Dull, Soft, Still
• Temperaments (in Unani Tibb / Greek Medicine)
  • Sanguine (Blood) - Hot & wet
  • Yellow Bile - Hot & dry
  • Phlegmatic - Cold & wet
  • Black Bile - Cold & Dry

In the above examples, doshas represent different types of protective or immune responses. Vata immune responses often involve mobility. Pitta immune responses often involve heat, bile and inflammation. Kapha immune responses often involve mucus. A dosha, therefore, is a strategic set of reflexes (faculties) used by the instinct to restore health and buffer the body against stressors. The range of reflex faculties under each dosha represent a strategic set of responses judged by the instinct as favorable or good for healing in a circumstance. Some kinds of stimuli provoke one dosha's set of responses. Others provoke another dosha's set of responses. Some people tend to respond with one dosha's set of reflexes, others with another. This is why we say some individuals have one body type, and others another.

In each particular reflex response, a biochemical vehicle carries out the restorative & buffering action. For example, inflammation markers. The practitioner learns how to treat the phenomenon even when the biochemicals are unknown or complex.

The instinct uses these reflexes attempt to regulate health by buffering a stressor on the body (such as the body's response to cold weather). The reflexes also have side effects (Example: Vata hyperactivity, Pitta inflammation, Kapha mucus buildup). These side effects frequently need to be cleared or cleansed from the body as they build up, or else they cause harm (example: byproducts of inflammation).

The instinctual response may be excessive, insufficient, or entirely unhelpful in a circumstance (Example: cytokine storm). Thus, to support the body, the practitioner will attempt to guide the instinctual response and temper it. Treatment is accomplished by stimulating or reducing a biocharacteristic (both simple, or complex).

Treatment will target the entire set of similar reflexes (the dosha). The treatment will generally stimulate, or downregulate the response (increase or decrease it), or cleanse the side-effects, or may improve the quality of the response. The biocharacteristic theory of medicine groups phenomena strategically for ease of treatment of a range of bodily phenomenon.

Recognizing Biocharacteristics

The presence of a biocharacteristic is known by observable signs and symptoms. For example, a red rash is a sign of heat. Pale or blue skin is a sign of coldness. When a practitioner sees many signs of a biocharacteristic, the practitioner may conclude the biocharacteristic is aggravated systemically.

Classifying Disease

In a consultation, a practitioner will assess the overall constitution in terms of biocharacteristics. The practitioner will then review various signs and symptoms to determine a primary diagnosis. Having a primary diagnosis, the practitioner further specifies one of several common subtypes - according to the pathogenesis of the disorder. For example, in Ayurveda there are 8 types of fevers. Note how each "type of fever" is expressed as a combination of biocharacteristics.

Alongside biocharacteristics, causes are also extensively classified by type so all contributing factors can be addressed. The time of onset or recurrence, place of deposition, presence of exogenous factors, and movement of biocharacteristics are all essential to pinpointing a the appropriate remedies and treatment strategy. These circumstances may even identify a disease subtype. All circumstances of health, disease, and each biocharacteristic is itself analyzed (recursively) to determine its biocharacteristics. A senior practitioner will have memorized the subtypes and circumstances of many different kinds of disorders.

Educational Levels

A beginning practitioner learns how to assess the biocharacteristics of the client and restore balance as a health coach. The intermediate practitioner will strive for specific knowledge of each disease subtype. An advanced biocharacteristics doctor also knows how to safely administer the cleansing process. History of the Biocharacteristic Theory of Medicine Exploring Your Biocharacteristics My Saved Articles | Most Popular