Karl Marxs Influence on Sociology and Political Thought...

There can be no doubt over the wide-ranging influence of Karl Marx’s theories on sociology and political thought. His concept of communism overcoming the socioeconomic pitfalls of capitalism has not been a theory that has seen the light of day in the way that he may have hypothesised. There have been many throughout history that have misrepresented Marx’s writing, which begs the question, if pure communism in the original Marxist sense is at all possible given that humanity appears to have an innate ‘need’ for hierarchy and a thirst for power. Capitalism appears to satisfy the ‘need’ for power and acquisition above all else, and the evidence is seen in the growth of global wealth, which certainly does not amount to equal wealth. The†¦show more content†¦Marx rejected Hegel’s dialectics based on a movement of human thought and ideas, and argued that dialectics involved contradictions based on an economic system, otherwise known as dialectical materialism. Therefore, the dynamic for change eventually created by a process of dialectics lies in the conflict between two opposing factors (Lee and Newby 2000, pp. 114 - 119). Marx conceived the base and superstructure approach that defines capitalist society. The base relates to all that is a function of production in society and conversely, the superstructure, which can be said to be derived from the base, relates to the values, culture, ideology and the governing bodies of society. The former creates and supports the latter by a process of legitimisation of the economic activities, and in turn, the superstructure ensures the processes remain in place. Class domination plays a large part in this process of organisation; for example, private education providing better opportunities for advancement and primary socialisation into the higher echelons of society. However, a counter argument claims that the state is just as involved in the stresses and â€Å"struggles of civil society’’ as opposed to being a mere extension of it for the pure benefit of a particular class interest (Held 2001, in Hall and Gieben 2001, p 113). According to Marx, the act of production and means of organisation thereof, including the relationship between members of theShow MoreRelatedKarl Marx And Max Weber1324 Words   |  6 PagesKarl Marx and Max Weber were influential sociologists that paved the way for modern sociological school of thought. Both, Karl Marx and Max Weber contributed a lot to the study and foundation of sociology. Without their contributions sociology would not be as prominent as it is today. From the contribution of how sociology should be studied, to how they applied their theories to everyday life has influenced many sociologists. Predominantly, both of these theorists’ discussed the effects of capitalismRead More Karl Marx Essay1742 Words   |  7 Pagesone renowned philosopher stands out amongst the crowd, and that person is named Karl Marx (1818-1883). In this essay I aim to explore and critically assess his ideas, theories, and studies in his contribution to sociology, and if his ideas, th eories and studies are useful to this contribution to sociology. Sociology began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Western Europe. Around this time, the political and economic systems in Europe were changing. Things like the Monarchy, (whichRead MoreAnalysis of the Main Strengths and Weaknesses of Marx’s Sociological Thought1676 Words   |  7 PagesAnalysis of the Main Strengths and Weaknesses of Marx’s Sociological Thought â€Å"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles† Marx and Engels (1967, p.67) Born in 1818, Karl Marx, using his philosophical and socialist ideas, attempted to show how conflict and struggle in social development were important in the development of a society. The works of Marx were influenced by three distinct intellectual traditions: German idealist Read MoreMarx: The Economic Basis of Human Societies 1093 Words   |  5 Pagesagency of historical change† (Collins English Dictionary, 1994: 959). In this assignment the worldview of Karl Marx will be discovered and the crux of Marxism will be uncovered. Marx’s Life and Work Karl Marx was born in 1818 in Germany during an oppressive time. His Jewish father who; under the discriminatory laws had to convert to Christianity in order to become a lawyer. Although Karl Marx was raised as a Protestant he soon abandoned religion. He ventured on to the University of Berlin as aRead MoreHow Karl Marx Accounts for the Industrialization of Society Essay1304 Words   |  6 PagesHow Karl Marx Accounts for the Industrialization of Society Sociology has been classified as the last in a long line of emerging scientific disciplines which people have developed and explored in order to make sense of their world. Early theories such as the positivist approach of Comte, the functionalist views and the conflict perspectives of Karl Marx have offered a view of why human beings behave as they do and how they fit together in society. In the eighteenthRead MoreJean Comte, Emile Durkheim And Karl Marx Essay2122 Words   |  9 PagesOne would be justified in viewing Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx as giants in the field of sociology. Apart from influencing many great thinkers who came after them, these men have stirred revolutions (sometimes even from the grave) and remodelled the world itself. It is through the works of such men that sociology has crafted patterns of behaviour in society, hence their marking on history cannot be removed nor can their carving be easily surpassed. A complete discussion of their worksRead MoreKarl Marx s Theories Of History And The Theory Of Human Nature Essay1714 Words   |  7 PagesKarl Marx was a nineteenth century philosopher, born in Trier, Prussia (Germany) in 1818 to a middle class family and later died in 1883. Karl Marx’s philosophies on society, politics and economics is collectively understood as Marxism. He was a materialist and an atheist who had a profound impact on the world of intellectual thought. This paper will aim to discuss and determine with reference to Marx’s deterministic theory of history and the theory of human nature, if human beings are essentiallyRead MoreTheories of Karl Marx1427 Words   |  6 PagesINTRODUCTION Karl Marx, also a philosopher was popularly known for his theories that best explained society, its social structure, as well as the social relationships. Karl Marx placed so much emphasis on the economic structure and how it influenced the rest of the social structure from a materialistic point of view. Human societies progress through a dialectic of class struggle, this means that the three aspects that make up the dialectic come into play, which are the thesis, antithesis and theRead MoreConflict Theory926 Words   |  4 Pagessocial, political or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism. Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast historically dominant ideologies. It is therefore a macro level analysis of society. Karl Marx is the father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of the 4 paradigms of sociology [1]. CertainRead MoreKarl Marx And The German Political System1427 Words   |  6 PagesKarl Marx was born on May 5th 1818 in Trier, Germany, which was then known as the Kingdom of Prussia. Karl was a philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His work in economics laid the basis for much of the current understanding of labor and it’s relation to capital, and subsequent economic thought. He was born into a wealthy upper middle-class family. He attended school at the University of Bonn and later he studied law and philosophy at the University of Berlin

The Rights Of Same Sex Marriages By John Baxter And Jeff...

Abandoned in a dumpster at five months old, little Freddie started out life on the streets. After being found and rescued by a garbage truck driver, Freddie was bounced around from foster home to foster home. By 1999, when he was four years old, he had been a part of twelve different families in three states. The future looked very bleak for Freddie until a young, ambitious couple came along. Nevertheless, although they were looking to adopt Freddie, the adoption agency told the couple that they had to be married. The problem was they could not get married. John Baxter and Jeff Forshay are at the forefront of a fight staged by gay and lesbian activists to get the government to permit same-sex marriages. Activists say this is just part of their hard-fought battle for public acceptance; the movement has gone on for at least twenty years. At the same time, remarkable transformations have changed the general makeup of the typical family in the United States: â€Å"[T]he traditional fami ly model, . . . in which the father is the only breadwinner for his wife and their biological children, comprised a majority of U.S. families in the 1950s. Today, however, almost three-quarters of families are classified as ‘nontraditional’† (â€Å"Same-Sex Marriage† 1-2). Many of today’s married couples both work and receive benefits not generally available to unmarried couples. Marriage, however, is not an option for people like John and Jeff. Although not currently permitted under the United States

Auditing Chapter Two Free Essays

(TCO 4) To succeed in an action against the auditor, the client must be able to show that: Student Answer: the auditor was fraudulent. the auditor was grossly negligent. there was a written contract. We will write a custom essay sample on Auditing Chapter Two or any similar topic only for you Order Now there is a close causal connection between the auditor’s behavior and the damages suffered by the client. Instructor Explanation: Page 121 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 2. Question : (TCO 4) The principal issue to be resolved in cases involving alleged negligence is usually: Student Answer: the amount of the damages suffered by plaintiff. whether to impose punitive damages on defendant. he level of care exercised by the CPA. whether defendant was involved in fraud. Instructor Explanation: Page 119 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 3. Question : (TCO 4) A third-party beneficiary is one which: Student Answer: has failed to establish legal standing before the court does not have privity of contract and is unknown to the contracting parties. does not have privity of contract, but is known to the contracting parties and intended to benefit under the contract. may establish legal standing before the court after a contract has been consummated. Instructor Explanation: Page 121 P oints Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 4. Question : (TCO 4) The objective of the ordinary audit of financial statements is the expression of an opinion on: Student Answer: the fairness of the financial statements. the accuracy of the financial statements. the accuracy of the annual report. the accuracy of the annual report. Instructor Explanation: Page 142 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 5. Question : (TCO 4) The responsibility for adopting sound accounting policies and maintaining adequate internal control rests with the: Student Answer: board of directors. company management. financial statement auditor. company’s internal audit department Instructor Explanation: Page 143 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 6. Question : (TCO 3) Which of the following statements is most correct regarding errors and fraud? Student Answer: An error is unintentional, whereas fraud is intentional. Frauds occur more often than errors in financial statements. Errors are always fraud and frauds are always errors. Auditors have more responsibility for finding fraud than errors. Instructor Explanation: Page 145 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 7. Question : (TCO 3) Which of the following is not one of the conditions for fraud described in SAS No. 99? Student Answer: Attitudes/rationalization. Opportunities. Incentives/pressures. Each of the above is a condition for fraud. Instructor Explanation: Page 337 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 8. Question : (TCO 3) Fraudulent financial reporting may be accomplished through the manipulation of: Student Answer: assets. liabilities. revenues. all of the above. Instructor Explanation: Page 336 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 9. Question : (TCO 3) Which of the following is a factor that relates to incentives to misappropriate assets? Student Answer: Significant accounting estimates involving subjective judgments. Significant personal financial obligations. Management’s practice of making overly aggressive forecasts. High turnover of accounting, internal audit and information technology staff. Instructor Explanation: Page 339 Points Received: 2 of 2 Comments: 10. Question : (TCO 3) Auditors may identify conclusions during fieldwork that change or support a judgment about the initial assessment of fraud risk. Which of the following conditions should alert an auditor about the initial assessment? Student Answer: Missing or conflicting evidence. Discrepancies in the accounting records. Unusual relationships between the auditor and management. All of the above. How to cite Auditing Chapter Two, Papers

Focus of Medicine and Health Care Tended

Question: Consider how the components of a healing hospital might influence your philosophy of caregiving? 1) describe the components of a healing hospital and their relationship to spirituality.? 2) What are the challenges of creating a healing environment in the light of the barriers and complexities of the hospital environment? 3) Include bibical aspects that support the concept of a healing hospital? Answer: 1. Healing Hospital and its Paradigm Introduction: In the past centuries the focus of medicine and health care tended to change to a more caring and service based theory to a more cure-oriented model and advanced technological model. The advanced technology has resulted in the development of new medicines which had an increase in the ability to prolong the life span of every individual. However, most of the physicians have attempted to balance their ways of care in a more spiritual way and recognize the modern times spirituality which is linked with health care. This compassionate and spiritual care involves serving an individual in terms of the social, spiritual, emotional and physical manners. Serving the patients in a spiritual way usually involves gestures like holding their hands, talking about things that are important to them and also spending time with them. This has a very big impact on the patients as they value these experiences with their physicians. Many of the researches and studies showed that the people who exercise r egular spiritual practices usually live longer. A healing environment in a health care organization helps to reduce stress and promote healing to the patients. It is also said that the way the hospitals have been designed according to their choice of very bland color schemes, small and cramped patient rooms, huge halls that echo contribute to the increase in stress of the patients. This not only hinders the ability of a patient to heal but also can affect the staffs productivity. Also because of the poor structure and designing of the hospital the staff and the nurses spend a lot of time in collecting the care products and spend time walking from one end to another. If these facilities were designed more effectively the staff will be able to save time and spend it more with the patients. 2. Challenges of creating a healing environment in a hospital: The physical environment of a hospital and its healthcare design is guided mainly guided by the researches to benefit the patients and the staff of the hospital. Many studies proved that how a good hospital design can make a positive impact on the clinical outcomes. There are many of factors that were considered like the use of eco-friendly furniture, the noise levels, type of lighting and good ventilation. Studies also proved that these improved hospital designs resulted in reduced patient stress and outcomes, increased the safety of the patients, reduced the stress and fatigue of the staff and also improved the overall quality of the healthcare. In many of the critical environments like the operation theatres and Intensive care units to create a healing environment it takes a lot of specialized methods and techniques so that they can meet the requirements of the patients and overcome all the barriers and obstacles. These facilities which are to be given to the sick patients could b e obstructed by factors like low technology, financial problems and inadequate infrastructure of the hospital. Hence it is useful sometimes to provide financial as well as technological support to the expertise in order to meet the necessary requirements. The environments of the hospital should also be a calm and quiet place but certain times the noise pollution surrounding it can very difficult to control as few hospitals are being constructed in the town areas where they experience noises produced by a lot of crowd of people, automobiles and chaos. It can also be seen that many different patients face a lot of difficult challenges of the society who are suffering from different serious ailments and diseases and this results in the need for an appeal by different individuals in various manners and thus complicates to create a healing environment. Therefore its very difficult to make a balance between the demands of certain cultures and the advancements of science faces many challen ges in creating a healing environment. It also requires the ability to differentiate between the comforts and habits needed by the patients from the several options that are available to them. Hence to provide all these standard requirements by the hospitals can also lead to complicate the creation of a healing environment. The hospital is a very safe and secured place for the patients as well as for the working staffs therefore to ensure this safety is a very difficult task and a big challenge to the hospital. To create a healing environment to meet the needs of the majority of the patients can also be very challenging in the areas of their completion and sustainability. It is also seen that many individuals who want to help in creating a healing environment are faced by many challenges like the critics and other opposite views of people who tend to get jealous of their growing projects and want to hinder their growth. 3. A Biblical perspective on healing: There are many Biblical themes that are related to the creation of a healing environment and health issues. For example it can be seen that in the bible the Law of Moses refers to many different management and diagnosis for all the infectious diseases. The people were the ones assigned as priests to diagnose the diseases and confirm healing to the patients. There were also many such laws which were related to the public health and hygiene issues which were very adverse in those times. In a verse in the Bible states that God told Moses that if we listen carefully to the voice of God to do what is right in his eyes and also pay attention to his commands then we would not face the trouble of any of the diseases as the Lord is the One who heals all. However this is believed to be partly because of the fact that by obeying these laws it helps the people to be healthy and also that God brings blessing to the patient who needs healing whereas disobedience brings only curses that includes al l the diseases that comes to the person. References Brady MJ, Peterman AH, Fitchett G, Mo M, Cella D A case for including spirituality in quality of life measurement in oncology Psychooncology.1999 Hendrich A, Fay J, Sorrells A. Effects of acuity-adaptable rooms on flow of patients and delivery of care. Am J Crit Care 2004 Kaldjian LC, Jekel JF, Friedland G. End-of-life decisions in HIV-positive patients: the role of spiritual beliefs.AIDS.1998 Marberry S. Improving Healthcare with Better Building Design Chicago, IL: Health Management Press; 2006. Parsons R, Hartig T. Environmental Psycholphysiology. In Handbook of Psychophysiology, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press; 2000 Samueli Institute Optimal Healing Environments Available at: www.siib.org/research/research-home/optimal-healing.html Accessed February 21, 2008.

Presidential Campaigns Essays - Politics Of The United States

Presidential Campaigns E Band Presidential Campaigns Then presidential elections of the years past have had a major impact on the world existing today. In my report I researched the election of 1860. Abraham Lincoln's victory in this election enabled Black People to be free in our society today. There were four major candidates in this election. The choice for the Republican Party was Abraham Lincoln. He was an excellent speaker who gained recognition during the Lincoln- Douglas debates. In his first major political appearance he won the support of many Americans through his powerful and famous speech at Cooper Union in New York City. In his speech, Lincoln deplored slavery and condemned violence. Lincoln won the nomination for his party because he was the only one acceptable to all of the different factions that existed in the Republican Party. There also was a division within the Democratic Party. The popular choice for the Northern Democrats was Stephen Douglas. He was a spokesman for policy of National Expansion. His views supported family farming and free labor, which was a very significant issue at the time. The Southern Delegates nominated John Breckinridge of Kentucky who was also the Vice President of the United States. He advocated plantation economy and also supported slavery. Breckinridge caused the Southern Democratic delegates to form a Constitutional Union party because they did not agree with his politics. Therefore, they nominated a fourth candidate whose only cause was to preserve the union and attempted to rally the former Whigs. His name was John Bell of Tennessee. Bell wished to preserve the constitution (thus the constitutional union party). Many different tactics were used by the candidates to gain votes. From time to time in United States history, presidential nominees of the major parties engage in debates. Some of the most famous debates in American political history, were those between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1858. At times, specific issues and slogans dominate presidential campaigns, such as morality of slavery and economic issues did during the 1860 elections. Both Lincoln and Douglas were excellent speakers and their debates helped display a side of the nominees that you did not think was there. For instance, you would not have thought that Douglas would be a powerful speaker. Lincoln seemed to be the quite type, but when he did speak his words were more powerful than his silence. These debates created a National reputation for Lincoln that propelled him toward the presidential nomination. During his acceptance speech for the Republican senatorial nomination in June 1858, Lincoln expressed the view that the nation would become either all slave or all free: A house divided cannot stand!. Not only did it denounce a divided society, but it also acquired the attention of the population. People became interested in the opinions of the candidates and withstood all types inclement weather just to hear them speak. The debates also informed the American people where each candidate stood on the issues of that time. Abraham Lincoln won the election with only forty- percent of the popular vote. He received one hundred and eighty electoral votes, a majority. Breckinridge followed with the entire Deep South on his side, with seventy-two votes. Bell received thirty-nine and Douglas twelve. It is interesting to note that not one of Lincoln's electoral votes was won in a Southern state. This did not entirely represent the will of the majority, being that Lincoln did not win by a landslide. However, in this election we see four serious party challengers where a candidate has been elected president by less than a majority of the popular vote. We see this happen again when Woodrow Wilson won the election in 1912, when Harry S. Truman won the election in 1948, and with the incumbent Bill Clinton's recent victories in 1992 and 1996. In my opinion, the best man won. Knowing the outcome of Abraham Lincoln's presidency, I can definitely say that he benefited the country, up until this very day. He truly saved the country from drowning in a sea of slavery. If I were a voter living in the 1860's, I might have a different perspective. Depending on my social status, I might not have voted for him. My view

Professional Design Helped Me Through the Wild West of Indie Publishing

Professional Design Helped Me Through the Wild West of Indie Publishing How Professional Design Helped Me Through the Wild West of Indie Publishing Adam Bender's debut novel takes place in the Wild West. According to him, the landscape of self-publishing bears some similarities with that setting. In this article, he talks about how professionals  helped him design his book and successfully navigate this new territory. Mark sent me a draft of the interior and asked me to scan for problems. It looked great, but we went through a few rounds weeding out little imperfections. He responded quickly and in days we had a PDF ready for printing. He then helped me convert the print book into an eBook fit for a Kindle. This isn’t as simple as sticking the print version into an app and clicking â€Å"Change to eBook.† Some elements had to be simplified to work for digital reading. There were a few bugs, including some issues related to page breaks and spacing, but Mark quickly sorted them out. I was just glad it wasn’t me poring over the code!The pride you feel when your book looks 100% professional? PricelessThe Wanderer passed a big first test when I received the proof of the paperback. The first thing I thought when I saw Ben’s cover was, â€Å"Hey, this actually looks like a book I’d want to read!† And when I opened it up, it looked like a real book too! I could se e that the work of my diligent editors, Rachel Gluckstern and Jim Spivey, and Mark’s clean layout had been worth the investment.Soon afterward, I scored a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and five-star ratings from five separate critics who reviewed the novel early on Readers’ Favorite. I couldn’t have done that without my gang of Reedsy collaborators. "This new frontier of self-publishing can often feel a little like the Wild West."  @WatchAdam Not only did using Reedsy pay off for this novel, but the professional relationships I’ve built will continue to be valuable down the road. Even after finishing their jobs, my collaborators have been available for advice, and they’ve helped spread the word. Next time I venture out into the self-publishing frontier, it’s heartening to know I won’t be riding alone.The Wanderer and the New West is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle!  Please share your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Adam Bender in the comments below!

How effectively the systems and processes being deployed within the Essay

How effectively the systems and processes being deployed within the organization have aligned to deliver the organizations performance objectives - Essay Example The paper presents business operations as the function which plans and estimates the day to day activities within an organization. Operations refer to the most important functions in an organization, as it manages all the activities in the organization. Ideally, business operations ensure the following factors. ï  ¶ All internal groups are integrated into the same plan with well prescribed roles and responsibilities ï  ¶ All internal operating groups perform together as one unit, to make sure operational integrity, development of business, risk management and resource management, allocation of resources, and overall the finest practices. ï  ¶ Successful communication among other functional departments within the company. ï  ¶ Participating in business planning for developing strategies. ï  ¶ Working within the constraints of an integrated budget, and combining all fiscal practices, while following other recognized policies, procedures and controls. â€Å"While operations are generally well understood and structured in most large organizations, business operations in many small to medium sized companies tend to be less clear. It is not unusual to see functional lines or boundaries blur together or; departmental responsibility and accountability shared by many people within one organization†. The systems and processes play a very significant role in accomplishing the goals and objectives of the organization. The organizations emphasize in their reports about how much they rely on the operation and systems. The operations of business changes from organization to organization. It concentrates on the volume and character of the business. It depends, whether the company focuses on products or services, and whether the operation is small or large. Here we have accepted SAMBRO International as our choice for the organization analysis. â€Å"Sambro International Ltd is a private company categorized under Hobby, Toy, and Game Shops and located in Manchester, United Kingdom† (Sambro International Limited 2012). It has established as one of the major companies in toy manufacturing in Britain. It is a privately owned manufacturing firm, founded in 1996. The company has two different sections. 1) New World Toys 2) Stocklot. New World Toys produces and distributes their elite certified goods, and their own brand goods. Stocklot is the company which deals in clearaning stock in European and UK countries, through multiple retail channels. Stocklot mainly focuses on the trading of big brands, and children's character merchandise at very low prices. The company keeps growing with its innovative operation technologies and us e of advanced systems, to develop production processes. The processes and systems are executed to attain strategic goals of the industry. The mainly significant thing is that they should make sure that these processes are in line with the envisaged strategic goals. Emphasis on design, execution, and measure are necessary for the improvement of business operations and processes. The cycle of this process is a never ending process and an ever lasting process, as it aims at continuous improvement. Certain steps and taken in designing and executing the right technology based machineries for document supervision, project application, integration, and workflows, to assist process administration and alter process. These are the theories followed by the Sambro International for their uninterrupted flow of production. â€Å"One frequent question is how operations differ from project managers. The main difference is that, project managers are focus on the success of their projects, while the operational wing focuses on the success of the office† (Barry 2010). The Role of Operations in Business: The role of operations within an organization is

Famine in Southern Sudan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Famine in Southern Sudan - Essay Example The history of civil wars in Sudan is long and has its beginning in the middle of the last century. But Sudanese have never before been faced to such massive famine. The number of victims is varied in the estimations made by the different agencies and scientists – the limits could be presented as 100,000 – 250,000 lost lives (Creusvaux H. et al., 1999). The actions of the Sudanese government were directed not only against rebels but also against their social base, i.e. civilians. The violations of human rights became a general rule in Southern Sudan. â€Å"Divide et empire† – this principle of Roman Caesars was successfully applied in the conditions of one of the poorest countries of the world. Since the beginning of civil war complicated with local ethical conflicts, the rural population of Southern Sudan was pauperized by driving cattle out, burning crops, massacres and seizing Dinkas and Jur people as war booty (HRF, 1998). Mass murdering of civilians and pauperizing make people leave their homeland and increased dependence of refugees on the external relief. Nevertheless, the Sudanese government prohibited all relief flights into the rebel-held province of Bahr El Ghazal. The ban lasted several months and many people did not get urgently needed food because of the political ambitions of Sudanese Muslim leaders. But even after ban canceling the situation was not changed for better - the start-up lag time was too significant. People did not get not only foodstuffs but also seeds for planting (FAO, 1998).

The death penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The death penalty - Research Paper Example Notably, the rate of death penalty punishments is decreasing although some countries are still practicing it. Indeed, Amnesty International notes that USA, Japan, some African states, China, many Asian and Middle Eastern countries retains the death penalty punishment (Amnesty international 1). As such, death penalty exists in many countries and many American citizens, political leaders, and religious leaders have been victims of the death penalty. The continued use of the death penalty is because of its effectiveness in controlling capital offences and rendering justice. Various countries and religions have different definitions of crimes that may lead to a death penalty as well as distinct methods of carrying out the punishment. Crimes that may lead to a death penalty include murder, treason, rape, terrorism, and even adultery in the Muslim religion. However, in all cases, intentional murder leads to a death penalty. Methods of executing a death penalty include hanging, stoning, lethal chemicals, firing squad, and beheading. Nevertheless, in all religions, there must be enough evidence against a convict in a due court process for the court to prescribe a death penalty where the burden of proof rests with the complainant or the prosecutor. There have been numerous debates and opinions in support and against the death penalty where Amnesty international condemns the death penalty in all cases regardless of the characteristics of the offender, nature of crime, or the method of execution (Amnesty international 1). Moreover, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that death penalty is a denial of the right to life (Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty 1). Indeed, it confirms that the death penalty is a violent practice, and does not accord justice to either the accused or the offended (Center for Constitutional Rights 1). Proponents of

Sympathy for the betrayers and the betrayed Essay Example for Free

Sympathy for the betrayers and the betrayed Essay More than would be imagined, it is sometimes more difficult to sympathise with the victims of infidelity; easier than we might have imagined to sympathise with the betrayers themselves. To what extent do you agree with this estimation in relation to the three texts chosen? In none of the three texts can it be said that the adulterers elicit or deserve greater sympathy than the victims of adultery. Despite this imbalance, it would unconsidered and possibly rather supercilious to simply judge the betrayers on their actions without meditating on the reasoning behind the actions and the circumstances in which the adulterers have found themselves. All the adulterers within the text (apart from Jerry in Betrayal (1978), and Rodolphe in Madame Bovary (1857)) merit a degree of sympathy, yet despite this, their actions cannot be wholly justified, and the characters cannot, therefore, be fully exonerated. The savage destruction of Emma Bovary by Flaubert, and Cresseids gruesome infliction of leprosy are certainly a cause for sympathy in both cases. Emma Bovarys death is a painfully drawn out event in which she turned whiter than the sheet at which her fingers kept clawing and soon began to vomit blood. Her limbs were contorted, her body covered with brown blotches. It is interesting to note the contrast between the description at the beginning of the novel in which Flaubert erotically describes the tip of her tongue poking between her beautiful teeth, delicately licking the bottom of the glass and the description post-arsenic in which her entire tongue protruded from her mouth; her rolling eyes dimmed like lamp globes as they fade into darkness. Notably, Flaubert focuses on the body and its indignities, which is in contrast to Madame Bovarys romanticism Similarly, in The Testament of Cresseid, Henryson depicts a disease so realistic and visceral that, as early as 1841, Sir J. A. Y. Si mpson was able to diagnose the exact type of disease Cresseid has. (1) Henrysons detailed description gave rise to at least one suggestion that he himself was a physician. The Gods marred her, declaring, Your eyes so bright and crystal I make bloodshot / Your voice so clear, unpleasing, grating, hoarse / Your healthy skin I blacken, blotch and spot / With livid lumps I cover your fair face. Cupids declaration of, Your mirth I hereby change to melancholy is one of a series of semantically opposite, yet alliterative words, which in this instance, are used to display the unfavourable contrast of Cresseids existence before her punishment and afterwards, whilst also augmenting the malicious and sadistic nature of the Gods. In Heaneys translation he writes, your high estate is in decline and fall. The is a reference to Edward Gibbons work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (1776) the literary allusion conveying the suddenness and inexplicability of Cresseids physical decline. The bleakness of her situation is summarised in the descri ption of her having to make do with a cup and clapper. They remain Her whole life has been reduced to this alliterative phrase, whilst the caesura indicates the sudden nature of her loss. Not only does Cresseid receive a gruesome affliction, the reader is also left with the feeling that her punishment is undeserved. The reason for her sentence is blasphemy, since whoever blasphemes all Gods offer insults. Betrayal is heavily frequented with profanities such as Good God, yet nothing results. In Madame Bovary, Charles addressed curses to the heavens, but not so much as a leaf quivered. The triviality of Cresseids offence in contrast to the magnitude of her chastisement displays an injustice in the name of justice, and this is borne true in the lack of consequence fastened to blasphemy in the other two texts. When Cupid retorts indignantly of Cresseids claim that I was the cause of her misfortune, one notes an irony given that all the Gods share an overwhelming involvement in all her actions and hence her misfortune. Cresseid is a puppet of the pagan Gods whims, and her lack of volition means that she should not be blamed. Fate is recurrently referred to, in for example, the lines, Cresseids most miserable and fated death (fatall destenie), Of Troy and Greece, how it could be your fate, and Fate is fickle when she plies the shears. This predestination is not a problem with which the adulterers in the other two texts must face. Further, the scornfully humorous description of the Gods, particularly Saturn who behaved in a churlish, rough, thick-witted manner, and had a rucked and wrinkled face, a lyre like lead and a steady nose run creates a further sympathy for Emma, since those that condemn her are rendered in an absurd, grotesque and humorous light. Henryson goes further when he describes Cupid as a boar that whets its tusks, he grinds and fumes, since it goes beyond anthromorphism to zoomorphism; and the description of Gods that raged, grimaced, rampaged and bawled and scoffed is a display of Gods that have unlimited power and limited judgement. Whilst Madame Bovary does not have to contend with predestination, her actions are still restricted by societys ambits and the limitations placed on women in the mid-nineteenth century. In societal terms, she has to live in the mediocrity of her provincial surroundings. It is important to note that the novels sub-title is Provincial Manners they frustrated Flaubert, and he used Emma Bovarys disgust with her class as a way of conveying his own hatred for the banality of the middle-classes. Madame Bovary shows how ridiculous the attitudes of the bourgeoisie can be. Homaiss haughtily flamboyant speeches are used by Flaubert to display the pretensions of the bourgeois. The less grandiose act by a woman who received a 25 franc award for 54 years of service giving it to our curà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ so he can say some masses for me leads the reader not to see this as remarkable, rather to see it as a sign of fanaticism, thus challenging fidelity as a certain good. Madame Bovary longs to be more ref ined and sophisticated than her environment allows her. Flauberts depiction of a black chalk drawing of the head of Minerva in the middle of a wall whose green paint was flaking from the damp is a visual metaphor for Emma Bovary, a Roman goddess amongst the banalities of life. A recurring leitmotif in the novel is that of Emma Bovary looking with her head against the window pane, gazing into the garden; it is a poignant allusion to her aspirations for a more interesting existence and also her locomotive desires, in which the garden has both a metaphorical and physically restrictive quality. Her affairs represent her both breaking out of an existence as humdrum and circumscribed as that of their hens and their dogs (2) and that she had no qualms about mistaking cul for coeur.'(2) The Emma of Betrayal has a greater degree of freedom than the other two protagonists, she, after all is running a gallery. Nevertheless, it could be argued that she is a player in amongst Jerry and Roberts game of one-upmanship; their self-absorbed competitiveness being encapsulated in their games of squash (note the punning effect with the verb squash and Rodolphes remark that he will squash him (Charles) like a fly in Madame Bovary). This remark of Rodolphes shows that he also gets enjoyment from stamping on other mens power, which is backed up in the imagery of Rodolphes Mounted stags heads in his study he gets a thrill from male conquest as well as female conquest. Harold Pinter himself commented that Betrayal is a play about two close friends perhaps Emma is simply within Jerry and Roberts story, a victim of psychological determinism, rather than Madame Bovarys societal determinism and Cresseids cosmic determinism. Both Emma Bovary and Cresseid share an existence in a patriarchal world, which Emma from Betrayal is not a part of. Madame Bovary, for example, is blessed with artistic gifts that cause Charles to proudly display her work to whoever chooses to visit his abode. However, given the restrictions placed on women during the period, the Bovary households wall would be the only dwelling for any art she may happen to create; this can be contrasted to Betrayals Emma who actually owns her own art gallery and who also has the benefit of the possibility of travelling anywhere she wants (the film notes her possession of a car: making her an agent of mobility), and is not confined to the ennui of a rustic Rouen. Madame Bovarys gender-founded restrictions are expressed in the structure of the novel. The novel initiates with a depiction of Charles schooldays, and indeed, starts with the nous form, thus centralising Charless character. At the end of the novel, Homais becomes the centre of attention, as his mounting successes are described by Flaubert, finally climaxing in Il vient de recevoir la croix dhonneur (he has been given the Legion of Honour). Emmas story is therefore trapped between Charles and Homais; the structure of the novel is mimetic of her entrapment in a male-dominated world, and these restrictions should evoke sympathy in the reader. Similarly, Cresseid is subject to male authority, which is made clear in the line Yet whatever men may think or say contemptuously, and the traditionally accepted belief of her as being merely a lustfully encumbered individual is challenged by the way in which her punishment is portrayed as having resulted from blasphemy. The popular portrayal of Cresseid in both Chaucers Troilus and Cresseid (C. 1380) and Shakespeares Troilus and Cressida is challenged by the Testament of Cresseid (1475) and evoke sympathy in the reader. Madame Bovary and Emma are mutually unique from Cresseid in that their adulterous other halves are base to a level which subtracts from the potential criticism of the primary adulterers themselves. Jerry is emotionally detached from Emma, yet still has a vulgar, sexual interest in her, as indicated in the final (yet chronologically foremost) scene in which he declares, I should have had you, in your white, before the wedding, I should have blackened you, in your white wedding dress. He later articulates, youre banishing me to, a state of catatonia, and frequently proclaims youre beautiful, youre incredible etc. However, earlier in the play, he makes short remarks and responses to Emmas questions an indication that he has no real emotional interest in her. Jerry also fails to recall with accuracy certain events relating to their relationship. For example when Jerry recalls throwing Emmas daughter in the air he believed it to be in Emmas kitchen, to which she replied, it was your kitchen. When Jerry calls her darling she responds, dont say that, because she knows that this term of endearment is not meant by Jerry. Emma puts in a lot of effort into the affair, as indicated by her yearning for a continuation of their romantic escapades: you see, in the past, we were inventive, we were determined, Jerrys disinterested response is, It would not matter how much we wanted it if youre not free in the afternoons and Im in America. This is extremely similar to Rodolphes remark Youre mad, you really are! How could we do that?, when Emma puts forward the idea of a sojourn in Paris, and is indicative of the contrasting levels of commitment between the adulterer and the adulteress. When they finally decide on their trip to Paris, Madame Bovary asks, I am counting the days. Arent you? There is also a link between that and Emmas question will we ever go to Venice? She answers her own question in Betrayal in Madame Bovary, nothing is said at all. Emmas desire for something more in their relationship is indicated in her wish for a shared home with Jerry. She is saddened by the fact that the crockery and the curtains and the bedspread have been left for so long. She later says to Jerry you didnt ever see it as a home in any sense did you?, to which Jerry replied, no, I saw it as a flat you know. Emma correctly acknowledges Jerrys desires when she finishes off his sentence with the words for fucking, despite Jerrys protestation of for loving. Emmas inability to let go of the relationship is indicated in the scene where she struggles to take her ring from her keyring and ends up throwing it to Jerry to take it off Jerry would be happy to end the relationship. Rodolphe is an even more heinous character, as indicated in his objectification of Emma: This one had seemed pretty to him, the word one rather than she makes her merely one of his many inamoratas. Even more striking is when he says, how to get rid of it afterwards (admittedly, the French elle can mean both she and it, but Margaret Mauldons Oxford translation, unlike that of the Penguin edition uses the wholly unkind it, which is much more effective in making Rodolphe appear objectionable). In both cases, the deplorable adulterers create sympathy when scrutinising the adulteresses and this is not a factor that exists in The Testament of Cresseid. If one were to be overtly cynical, it could be argued that Jerry and Rodolphe are partly correct in their views on the affair. Is an affair really all that romantic, after all? Vargas Llosa would be quick to point out the dangers of equating lust with love. Perhaps the two Emmas are looking for too much in the relationship, and are making it out to be more than it really is. Emmas amorous adventures activate an abundance of lies, yet Stephen Heath empathizes with her fabrications. He states that Emma lies, but everything lies'(3), he talks of how the narrating voice enters to state a distance from her, but Flaubert also cuts such statements, reduces their number(3). At times, the narration drifts into sympathy with Emma, at other times it condemns her. The use of a style indirect libre causes the narration to be ambiguous, and the truth of description becomes indistinguishable from the subjectivity of opinion. A characteristic example of this is when Flaubert talks about Rodolphe in the 3rd person Rodolphe had heard these things so many times that they had nothing original for him. He then reverts into Rodolphes mind: one has to make allowances, he thought, exaggerated declarations masking mediocre affection. One gets the impression that Flaubert reverts back to the narrative in the ending lines human language is like a cracked cauldron on which we beat out tunes to make a bear dance when we would move the stars to pity, however, this is just an assumption the non-use of quotation marks means the reader can never know when a characters thoughts have ended, and one gets the impression that the narrator imparts some of his own reflections into the characters thoughts. This free and indirect style not only creates a sympathy with regards to her fallaciousness, it is also creates a benignancy by virtue of the way the narration supports her own views. An example of this is when the narration wafts from she wondered if by some other workings of chance it might not have been possible for her to meet another man to a sort of agreement from the narrator in the line he might have been handsome, witty, distinguished, attractive. Heath describes this free and indirect style as a way in which the the writer and the reader become Emma, are taken up in her reverie, her imaginings. The novel, therefore, often cultivates its own sympathy by virtue of its style, which causes the writer and reader to become one with the protagonist and to experience Madame Bovarys own feelings. This can be paralleled to Henrysons voice of sympathy The Testament of Cresseid. Henryson is so derisory of the unreasonable nature of the Gods ruling that he impulsively breaks into the se cond person when he declares: Your doom is hard and too malicious, thus interrupting the sentencing and displaying contempt of court Cresseid and Madame Bovary are dissimilar to Emma in so far as they experience a development as a result of their infidelity, the former explicitly and the latter implicitly. Cresseid talks about herself in the second person when she says, Where is your chambers cushioned chair and screen / And handsome bed and hand-embroidered linen? The wine and spice, the supper that you supped on. The use of the second person is suggestive of self-derision rather than self-lamentation. She understands her situation and she profoundly remarks, All wealth on earth is wind that flits and veers. She also criticised herself: I myself will be my own accuser. This development from Cresseid makes her worthy of not so much sympathy but respect. Madame Bovarys development happens in a moment, which makes it more like an epiphany, thus lacking the cognitively prolonged nature of Cresseids development. It is also a very implicit moment in which she began to laugh, a ghastly, frenzied, despairing laugh after hearing the voice of the blind beggar. At this point, she realises the meaning of the beggars words love is unseeing (thus rendering the beggar as an representation of Cupid. Whilst Cresseid and Madame Bovary cannot be justified in their actions, their realisations do rouse respect from the reader. The Emma of Betrayal experiences no such development. An aspect of the equation still wants, namely the victims. It is certainly true that the adulterers garner a notable degree of sympathy, yet it would be very mean-spirited to identify more with them than the victims. In the Testament of Cresseid, the affected person is Troilus. Although there are only 2 paragraphs focusing on Cresseids betrayal of Troilus, they themselves being sped along by the use of enjambment, this is done more out a desire not to repeat a story successfully written by Chaucer, but also to alleviate the readers judgment of Cresseid. Later in the poem, Henryson writes of Troilus in glowing terms, describing him as having beaten down, by war and jeopardy, / The Grecian knights, and in a moment of great largesse past where Cresseid with lepers made abode and A girdle he took out, / A purse of gold and many shining gemstones / and threw them down into Cresseids dress. Troilus certainly elicits a huge amount of sympathy from the reader, especially after he for grief a lmost fell down when recalling Cresseids physical deformations. In both Madame Bovary and Betrayal, the victims of adultery are children. Jerrys lack of concern over his children is encapsulated in his gnomic description of his son Sam: Hes tall. Quite tall. Does a lot of running. Hes a long distance runner. Wants to be a zoologist. The waiter in the restaurant scene is similarly an innocent bystander who is subjected to Roberts frustrations: wheres our lunch. This place is going to pot. Same glass. Wheres our lunch? Richard Martin, in his letter to The Times Literary Supplement argued that he sees not just displaced emotion in Roberts aggression towards the waiter but the waiter himself as a displaced version of Judith: for she is the hapless, indeed dumb, waiter (4). Judith, the children, and the waiter, are all correlated because they are all affected onlookers, but they know not what by. It is interesting to note that the children do not feature physically in the play, but in the 1983 film (by David Jones), the children feature in negative-co nsequences of the characters adultery-borne vented frustrations; for example, when Jerry hollers at his son for playing music too loudly. This is paralleled in Madame Bovary, where her daughter is a victim of her infidelity. This is evidenced in the scene where Madame Bovary says to Berthe Oh, for heavens sake, leave me alone, shoving her away with her elbow. As a result, Berthe fell against the foot of the chest of draws, cutting her cheek on the brass fitting. At the end of the novel, Berthe makes her keep at a cotton mill. The chief victim of infidelity in the three texts is Charles Bovary. Despite being unsophisticated, dim-witted and a frighteningly bad doctor (his operation on Hippolytes club foot, resulting in amputation, as an example), he is still one of the novels most moral and sincere characters and he genuinely loved Emma whilst she was having licentious liaisons. Emma is often very unkind to Charles, for example, when she says; he carries a knife in his pocket like a peasant. I cannot help but parallel this to the narrator in Robert Frosts poem Mending Wall who describes his neighbour as Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top / In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. It is a particularly significant line, since Rodolphe wields a knife at one point, and this fails to elicit the same response from Emma. One strikingly poignant scene is when Charles finally sees all the letters from Emmas lovers: his deep despondency caused general amazement. He no longer went out, he saw no one, he even refused to visit his patients. People began saying that he shut himself off to drink. The final description of him is as a long-bearded, wild-looking man in filthy clothes who paced up and down noisily. For all Charles faults, it seems unthinkable to sympathise more with Emma than Charles. In all three cases, the victims garner more sympathy than the b etrayers. One should not nonchalantly accept the three primary adulterers actions as morally reprehensible; but we should acknowledge that their actions are borne out of something more complex than it would at first appear. The greatest sympathy should be given to Cresseid because her life was subject to fate; she lacked all volition owing to Henrysons depiction of the all-encompassing control of the Gods. I say Henrysons depiction because Chaucers original has been manipulated by Henryson such that it rapidly avoids the issue of her affair whilst also removing all her volition. Madame Bovary represents the repressed sensuality within us, and the reader can certainly feel for her more than the prudish and monotonous environment she inhabits (ironically, it was a puritanical society that condemned Flauberts novel for being too sympathetic to an adulteress). It is difficult to sympathise with Betrayals Emma. It is true that she longed for a more meaningful relationship with Jerry, but her dedication to Jerry is severely questioned given the initiation of her additional affair with Casey. One would have to question the disposition of any individual who sympathises with the adulterers more than the victims of adultery, as any reader of Madame Bovary would attest to. 1. http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/testaint.htm 2. The Perpetual Orgy (Vargas Llosa) 3. Madame Bovary (Stephen Heath) 4. Letter from the Times Literary Supplement Word count with quotes: 3720 Word Count without quotes: 2895

Sociology and Disabilities :: Sociology Essays

â€Å"If the technology became available for the deaf to hear completely, would you want your deaf child to have this technology?† It is every parent’s dream for their child to grow up healthy and happy. There are so many children in the world that do not have the ability to hear, and it is a horrible thing. Many would think it wrong for a parent to not want to give their child the gift of sight. If I had a child that was deaf, I would do everything in my power to help them get their hearing. If the technology was there to fix this disability, why wouldn’t anyone want their child to have it? â€Å"840 babies are born with a permanent hearing loss every year.†(NDCS of UK). This is a horrible number to hear, that so many children will never be able to hear. If there was any technology able to restore a child’s hearing it would be a shame if the parents didn’t get it. â€Å"Deaf children face tremendous difficulties learning to read, write and communicate with the hearing world around them.†(NDCS of UK). Not only would you be giving your child the gift of hearing by using this technology, but you will also help child to be able learn on the normal level of other children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is also true that we can change and enhance our body features through elective cosmetic surgeries. Many people choose to undergo these surgeries because they are unhappy with their appearance. I feel that these procedures are unnecessary, and that you shouldn’t undergo surgery unless you need it for your health. I believe that people go through these procedures purely because they have low self-esteem. Society tells them that there is something wrong with their body, and they feel that they need to change it to fit in. I think that this is a way to see if someone is truly happy with themselves, as we all should. No one is perfect, so no one should try to be it. It’s just a waste of time and money on their part all so they can fit in, which I think is pathetic. It is always a risk to undergo surgery, and there is no reason to put yourself in unnecessary risk. I think that it is ridiculous to put yourself through something like that. If I had a ten year old dark-skinned African American daughter who wanted blue contact lens, have her skin chemically lightened, and straighten her hair, I definitely say no.

Neuropsychological Testing

Clinical neuropsychology is a field with historical origins in both psychology and neurology. The primary activity of neuropsychologists is assessment of brain functioning through structured and systematic behavioral observation. Neuropsychological tests are designed to examine a variety of cognitive abilities, including speed of information processing, attention, memory, language, and executive functions, which are necessary for goal-directed behavior.By testing a range of cognitive abilities and examining patterns of performance in different cognitive areas, neuropsychologists can make inferences about underlying brain function. Neuropsychological testing is an important component of the assessment and treatment of traumatic brain injury, dementia, neurological conditions, and psychiatric disorders. Neuropsychological testing is also an important tool for examining the effects of toxic substances and medical conditions on brain functioning.Before the introduction of neuroimaging te chniques like the computed tomography (CAT scan) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the primary focus of neuropsychology was diagnosis. Since clinicians lacked non-surgical methods for directly observing brain lesions or structural abnormalities in living patients, neuropsychological testing was the only way to determine which part of the brain was affected in a given patient. Neuropsychological tests can identify syndromes associated with problems in a particular area of the brain.For instance, a patient who performs well on tests of attention, memory, and language, but poorly on tests that require visual spatial skills such as copying a complex geometric figure or making designs with colored blocks, may have dysfunction in the right parietal lobe, the region of the brain involved in complex processing of visual information. When a patient complains of problems with verbal communication after a stroke, separate tests that examine production and comprehension of language help neu ropsychologists identify the location of the stroke in the left hemisphere.Neuropsychological tests can also be used as screening tests to see if more extensive diagnostic evaluation is appropriate. Neuropsychological screening of elderly people complaining of memory problems can help identify those at risk for dementia versus that experiencing normal age-related memory loss. As neuropsychological testing came to play a less vital role in localization of brain dysfunction, clinical neuropsychologists found new uses for their skills and knowledge.By clarifying which cognitive abilities are impaired or preserved in patients with brain injury or illness, neuropsychologists can predict how well individuals will respond to different forms of treatment or rehabilitation. Although patterns of test scores illustrate profiles of cognitive strength and weakness, neuropsychologists can also learn a great deal about patients by observing how they approach a particular test. For example, two pat ients can complete a test in very different ways yet obtain similar scores.One patient may work slowly and methodically, making no errors, while another rushes through the test, making several errors but quickly correcting them. Some individuals persevere despite repeated failure on a series of test items, while others refuse to continue after a few failures. These differences might not be apparent in test scores, but can help clinicians choose among rehabilitation and treatment approaches. Performance on neuropsychological tests is usually evaluated through comparison to the average performance of large samples of normal individuals.Most tests include tables of these normal scores, often divided into groups based on demographic variables like age and education that appear to affect cognitive functioning. This allows individuals to be compared to appropriate peers. The typical neuropsychological examination evaluates sensation and perception, gross and fine motor skills, basic and c omplex attention, visual spatial skills, receptive and productive language abilities, recall and recognition memory, and executive functions such as cognitive flexibility and abstraction.Motivation and personality are often assessed as well, particularly when clients are seeking financial compensation for injuries, or cognitive complaints are not typical of the associated injury or illness. Some neuropsychologists prefer to use fixed test batteries like the Halstead-Reitan Battery or the Luria-Nebraska Battery for all patients. These batteries include tests of a wide range of cognitive functions, and those who advocate their use believe that all functions must be assessed in each patient in order to avoid diagnostic bias or failure to detect subtle problems.The more common approach today, however, is to use a flexible battery based on hypotheses generated through a clinical interview, observation of the patient, and review of medical records. While this approach is more prone to bia s, it has the advantage of preventing unnecessary testing. Since patients often find neuropsychological testing stressful and fatiguing, and these factors can negatively influence performance, advocates of the flexible battery approach argue that tailoring test batteries to particular patients can provide more accurate information.Lezak, Muriel Deutsh. Neuropsychological Assessment. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Mitrushina, Maura N. , Kyle B. Boone, and Louis F. D'Elia. Handbook of Normative Data for Neuropsychological Assessment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Spreen, Otfried and Esther Strauss. A Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests: Administration, Norms, and Commentary. 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Walsh, Kevin and David Darby. Neuropsychology: A Clinical Approach. 4th edition. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1999.

Medicine and Ayurveda

Ayurveda  (Sanskrit:   ;  Ayurveda, â€Å"the knowledge for long life†;  /? a?.? r? ve? d? /[2]) or  ayurvedic medicine  is a Hindu system of  traditional medicine native to  India  and a form of  alternative medicine. The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the  Vedic period  in India,[3]  i. e. , in the mid-second millennium BCE. The  Susruta Sa? hita  and the  Charaka Sa? hita, encyclopedias of medicine compiled from various sources from the mid-first millennium BCE to about 500 CE,[4]  are among the foundational works of Ayurveda.Over the following centuries, ayurvedic practitioners developed a number of medicinal preparations and surgical procedures for the treatment of various ailments. [5]  Current practices derived (or reportedly derived) from Ayurvedic medicine are regarded as part of  complementary and alternative medicine. [6] Safety concerns have been raised about Ayurveda, with two U. S. studies find ing about 20 percent of Ayurvedic Indian-manufactured  patent medicines contained toxic levels of heavy metals such as  lead,  mercury  and  arsenic.Other concerns include the use of herbs containing toxic compounds and the lack of quality control in Ayurvedic facilities. At an early period[when? ], Ayurveda adopted the physics of the â€Å"five  elements† (Devanagari: [ ] ); earth (P? thvi), water (Jala), fire (Agni), air (Vayu) and space (Akasa) that compose the  universe, including the human body. [9]  Ayurveda describes seven types of tissues of the body, known as thesaptadhatu  (Devanagari: ). They are plasma (rasa dhatu), blood (rakta dhatu),  flesh  (ma? a dhatu), adipose (medha dhatu),  bone  (asthi dhatu),marrow  and nervous (majja dhatu), and reproductive (semen  or  female reproductive tissue) (sukra dhatu). [10]  Ayurvedic literature deals elaborately with measures of healthful living during the entire span of life and its vario us phases. Ayurveda stresses a balance of three elemental energies or  humors:Vayu / vata  (air & space – â€Å"wind†),  pitta  (fire & water – â€Å"bile†) and  kapha  (water & earth – â€Å"phlegm†). According to ayurvedic medical theory, these three substances —  do? as (Devanagari: —are important for health, because when they exist in equal quantities, the body will be healthy, and when they are not in equal amounts, the body will be unhealthy in various ways. One ayurvedic theory asserts that each human possesses a unique combination of  do? as  that define that person's temperament and characteristics. Another view, also present in the ancient literature, asserts that humoral equality is identical to health, and that persons with preponderances of humours are proportionately unhealthy, and that this is not their natural temperament.In ayurveda, unlike the Sa? khya philosophical system, there are 20 fund amental qualities,  gu? a  (Devanagari: , meaning qualities) inherent in all substances. [11]  While surgery and surgical instruments were employed from a very early period, Ayurvedic theory asserts that building a healthy metabolic system, attaining good  digestion, and proper  excretion  lead to vitality. [11]  Ayurveda also focuses on exercise,  yoga, and  meditation. [12] The practice of  panchakarma  (Devanagari: is a therapeutic way of eliminating toxic elements from the body. [13] As early as the  Mahabharata, ayurveda was called â€Å"the science of eight components† (Skt. a a? ga,  Devanagari: ), a classification that became canonical for ayurveda. They are:[14] 1. Internal medicine  (Kaya-cikitsa) 2. Paediatrics  (Kaumarabh? tyam) 3. Surgery  (Salya-cikitsa) 4. Opthalmology  and  ENT  (Salakya tantra) 5. Psychiatry  has been called  Bhuta vidya  . [3] 6. Toxicology  (Agadatantram) 7. Prevention of diseases and improvi ng  immunity  and  rejuvenation  (rasayana) 8.Aphrodisiacs  and improving health of progeny (Vajikaranam) In Hindu mythology, the origin of ayurvedic medicine is attributed to  Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods. [15] ————————————————- Practices Several philosophers in India combined religion and traditional medicine—notable examples being that of  Hinduism  and ayurveda. Shown in the image is the philosopher  Nagarjuna—known chiefly for his doctrine of the  Madhyamaka  (middle path)—who wrote medical works  The Hundred Prescriptions  and  The Precious Collection, among others. [16] [edit]BalanceHinduism  and  Buddhism  have been an influence on the development of many of ayurveda's central ideas – particularly its fascination with balance, known in Buddhism as  Madhyathmaka  (Devanagari: ). [17]  Bal ance is emphasized; suppressing natural urges is seen to be unhealthy, and doing so claimed to lead to illness. [17]  However, people are cautioned to stay within the limits of reasonable balance and measure. [17]  For example, emphasis is placed on moderation of food intake,[9]  sleep, sexual intercourse. [17] [edit]Diagnosis Ayurvedic practitioners approach diagnosis by using all five senses. 18]  Hearing is used to observe the condition of breathing and speech. [10]  The study of the lethal points or  marman marma  is of special importance. [11]  Ayurvedic doctors regard physical and mental existence together with personality as a unit, each element having the capacity to influence the others. One of the fundamental aspects of ayurvedic medicine is to take this into account during diagnosis and therapy. [edit]Hygiene Hygiene  is a central practice of ayurvedic medicine. Hygienic living involves regular bathing, cleansing of teeth, skin care, and eye washing. 10] [edit]Treatments Ayurveda stresses the use of plant-based medicines and treatments. Hundreds of plant-based medicines are employed, including  cardamom  and cinnamon. Some animal products may also be used, for example milk,  bones, and  gallstones. In addition, fats are used both for consumption and for external use. Minerals, including  sulfur,  arsenic, lead,  copper sulfate  and gold are also consumed as prescribed. [10]  This practice of adding minerals to herbal medicine is known as  rasa shastra. In some cases, alcohol was used as a  narcotic  for the patient undergoing an operation.The advent of Islam introduced  opium  as a narcotic. [14]  Both oil and tar were used to stop bleeding. [10]  Traumatic bleeding was said to be stopped by four different methods:  ligation  of the  blood vessel;  cauterisation by heat; using different herbal or animal preparations locally which could facilitate  clotting; and different medical preparation s which could  constrict  the bleeding or oozing vessels. Various oils could be used in a number of ways, including regular consumption as a part of food, anointing, smearing,  head massage, and prescribed application to infected areas. 19][page  needed] [edit]Srotas Ensuring the proper functions of channels (srotas) that transport fluids from one point to another is a vital goal of ayurvedic medicine, because the lack of healthy srotas is thought to cause  rheumatism,  epilepsy,  autism,  paralysis,  convulsions, and  insanity. Practitioners induce sweating and prescribe steam-based treatments as a means to open up the channels and dilute the  do? as[clarification needed]  that cause the blockages and lead to disease. [20] ————————————————- [edit]HistoryOne view of the early history of ayurveda asserts that around 1500  BC, ayurveda's fundamental and applied principles got organized and enunciated. In this historical construction, Ayurveda traces its origins to the  Vedas,  Atharvaveda  in particular, and is connected to Hindu religion. Atharvaveda  (one of the four most ancient books of Indian knowledge, wisdom and culture) contains 114 hymns or formulations for the treatment of diseases. Ayurveda originated in and developed from these hymns. In this sense, ayurveda is considered by some to have divine origin.Indian medicine has a long history, and is one of the oldest organised systems of medicine. Its earliest concepts are set out in the sacred writings called the Vedas, especially in the metrical passages of the  Atharvaveda, which may possibly date as far back as the 2nd millennium BC. According to a later writer, the system of medicine was received by  Dhanvantari  from  Brahma, and Dhanvantari was deified as the god of medicine. In later times his status was gradually reduced, until he was credited wi th having been an earthly king[10]  named  Divodasa. 22] Underwood ; Rhodes (2008) hold that this early phase of traditional Indian medicine identified â€Å"fever (takman), cough,  consumption, diarrhea,  dropsy,  abscesses,  seizures, tumours, and skin diseases (including  leprosy)†. [10]  Treatment of complex ailments, including  angina pectoris,  diabetes,  hypertension, and  stones, also ensued during this period. [5][24]  Plastic surgery,  couching  (a form of cataract surgery), puncturing to release fluids in the  abdomen, extraction of foreign elements, treatment of  anal fistulas, treating fractures,  amputations,  cesarean sections, and stitching of wounds were known. 10]  The use of herbs and surgical instruments became widespread. [10]  The  Charaka Samhita  text is arguably the principal classic reference. It gives emphasis to the triune nature of each person: body care, mental regulation, and spiritual/consciousness refinement. Other early works of ayurveda include the  Charaka Samhita, attributed to  Charaka. [10]  The earliest surviving excavated written material which contains references to the works of Sushruta is the  Bower Manuscript, dated to the 6th century  AD. The Bower manuscript is of special interest to historians due to the presence of Indian medicine and its concepts in Central Asia. 25]  Vagbhata, the son of a senior doctor by the name of Simhagupta,[26]  also compiled his works on traditional medicine. [10]  Early ayurveda had a school of physicians and a school of surgeons. [3]  Tradition holds that the text  Agnivesh tantra, written by the sage Agnivesh, a student of the sage  Bharadwaja, influenced the writings of ayurveda. [27] The Chinese pilgrim  Fa Hsien  (ca. 337–422 AD) wrote about the health care system of the  Gupta empire  (320–550) and described the institutional approach of Indian medicine, also visible in the works of C haraka, who mentions a clinic and how it should be equipped. 28]  Madhava (fl. 700), Sarngadhara (fl. 1300), and Bhavamisra (fl. 1500) compiled works on Indian medicine. [25]  The medical works of both Sushruta and Charaka were translated into the  Arabic language  during the  Abbasid Caliphate  (ca. 750). [29]  These Arabic works made their way into Europe via intermediaries. [29]  InItaly, the Branca family of  Sicily  and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques of Sushruta. [29] British physicians traveled to India to see  rhinoplasty  being performed by native methods. 30]  Reports on Indian rhinoplasty were published in the  Gentleman's Magazine  in 1794. [30]  Joseph Constantine Carpue  spent 20 years in India studying local plastic surgery methods. [30]  Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the western world in 1815. [31]  Instruments described in the  Sushruta Samhita  were further modified in the Western World. [31] ————————————————- [edit]Current status [edit]India According to some sources up to 80 percent of people in India use some form of traditional medicines, a category which includes Ayurveda. 32] In 1970, the Indian Medical Central Council Act which aims to standardize qualifications for ayurveda and provide accredited institutions for its study and research was passed by the  Parliament of India. [33]  In India, over 100 colleges offer degrees in traditional ayurvedic medicine. [12]  The Indian government supports research and teaching in ayurveda through many channels at both the national and state levels, and helps institutionalize traditional medicine so that it can be studied in major towns and cities. [34]  The state-sponsored  Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences  (CCRAS) has been set up to research the subject. 35]à ‚  To fight  biopiracy  and unethical patents, the  Government of India, in 2001, set up the  Traditional Knowledge Digital Libraryas repository of 1200 formulations of various systems of Indian medicine, such as ayurveda,  unani  and  siddha. [36][37]  The library also has 50 traditional ayurveda books digitized and available online. [38] Central Council of Indian Medicine  (CCIM) a statutory body established in 1971, under  Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy  (AYUSH),  Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,  Government of India, monitors higher education in ayurveda. 39]  Many clinics in urban and rural areas are run by professionals who qualify from these institutes. [33] [edit]Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan tradition of Ayurveda is very similar to the Indian tradition. Practitioners of Ayurveda in Sri Lanka refer to texts on the subject written in  Sanskrit, which are common to both countries. However, they do diff er in some aspects, particularly in the herbs used. The Sri Lankan government has established a Ministry of Indigenous Medicine (established in 1980) to revive and regulate the practice within the country[40]  The Institute of Indigenous Medicine (affiliated to the  University of Colombo  currently ffers undergraduate, postgraduate, and MD degrees in the practice of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery, and similar degrees in  unani  medicine. [41] There are currently 62 Ayurvedic Hospitals and 208 central dispensaries in the public system, and they served almost 3 million people (approximately 11 percent of Sri Lanka's total population) in 2010. In total there are currently approximately 20,000 registered practitioners of Ayurveda in the country. [42][43] Many Sri Lankan hotels and resorts offer Ayurveda themed packages, where guests are treated to a wide array of Ayurveda treatments during their stay. edit]Outside South Asia Due to different laws and medical regulations in the rest of the world, the unregulated practice and commercialization of ayurvedic medicine has raised ethical and legal issues; in some cases, this damages the reputation of ayurvedic medicine outside India. [44][45][46] ————————————————- [edit]Scientific appraisal In studies in mice, the leaves ofTerminalia arjuna  have been shown to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. [47] As a  traditional medicine, many ayurveda products have not been tested in rigorous scientific studies and  clinical trials.In India, research in ayurveda is undertaken by the statutory body of the  Central Government, the  Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha  (CCRAS), through a national network of research institutes. [48]  A systematic review of ayurveda treatments for rheumatoid  arthritis  concluded that there was insufficient evidence, as most of the tri als were not done properly, and the one high-quality trial showed no benefits. [49]  A review of ayurveda and  cardiovascular diseaseconcluded that the evidence for ayurveda was not convincing, though some herbs seemed promising. 50] Two varieties of  Salvia  have been tested in small trials; one trial provided evidence that  Salvia lavandulifolia  (Spanish sage) may improve word recall in young adults,[51]  and another provided evidence that  Salvia officinalis  (Common sage) may improve symptoms in  Alzheimer's  patients. [52]  Many plants used as  rasayana  (rejuvenation) medications are potent antioxidants. [53]  Neem  appears to have beneficial pharmacological properties. [54] ————————————————- [edit]Safety Rasa shastra, the practice of adding metals, minerals or gems to herbs, may have toxic heavy metals such as  lead,  mercury   and  arsenic. 7]  Adverse reactions to herbs due to their pharmacology are described in traditional ayurvedic texts, but ayurvedic practitioners are reluctant to admit that herbs could be toxic and that reliable information on herbal toxicity is not readily available. And there is communication gap between modern medicine practitioners and Ayurvedic practitioners[55] According to a 1990 study on ayurvedic medicines in India, 41 percent of the products tested contained arsenic, and 64 percent contained lead and mercury. 32]  A 2004 study found toxic levels of heavy metals in 20 percent of ayurvedic preparations made in South Asia and sold in the Boston area, and concluded that ayurvedic products posed serious health risks and should be tested for heavy-metal contamination. [56]  A 2008 study of more than 230 products found that approximately 20 percent of remedies (and 40 percent of  rasa shastra  medicines) purchased over the Internet from both US and Indian suppliers co ntained lead, mercury or arsenic. 7][57][58]  In 2012 Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Washington states in its report that Ayurvedic drugs has links to lead poisoning on the basis of some cases presented where some pregnant woman had taken Ayurvedic drugs toxic materials were found in their blood. [59] Ayurvedic proponents believe that the toxicity of these materials is reduced through purification processes such as  samskaras  or  shodhanas  (for metals), similar to the Chinese  pao zhi, although the ayurvedic technique is more complex and may involve prayers as well as physical pharmacy techniques.However, these products have nonetheless caused severe  lead poisoning  and other toxic effects. [7][57] Due to these concerns, the Government of India ruled that ayurvedic products must specify their metallic content directly on the labels of the product,[8]  but, writing on the subject for  Current Science, a publication of the  Indian Academy o f Sciences, M. S. Valiathan noted that â€Å"the absence of post-market surveillance and the paucity of test laboratory facilities [in India] make the quality control of Ayurvedic medicines exceedingly difficult at this time. [8]Ayurveda can be defined as a system, which uses the inherent principles of nature, to help maintain health in a person by keeping the individual's body, mind and spirit in perfect equilibrium with nature. What is the Origin of Ayurveda? : Widely regarded as the oldest form of healthcare in the world, Ayurveda is an intricate medical system that originated in India thousands of years ago. The fundamentals of Ayurveda can be found in Hindu scriptures called the  Vedas  Ã¢â‚¬â€ the ancient Indian books of wisdom. The  Rig Veda, which was written over 6,000 years ago, contains a series of prescriptions that can help humans overcome various ailments.What does Ayurveda do to you? : The aim of this system is to prevent illness, heal the sick and preserve li fe. This can be summed up as follows: * To protect health and prolong life (â€Å"Swasthyas swasthya rakshanam†) * To eliminate diseases and dysfunctions of the body (â€Å"Aturasya vikar prashamanamcha†) What are the Basic Principles of Ayurveda? : Ayurveda is based on the premise that the universe is made up of five elements: air, fire, water, earth and ether. These elements are represented in humans by three â€Å"doshas†, or energies:  Vata, Pitta  and  Kapha.When any of the  doshas  accumulate in the body beyond the desirable limit, the body loses its balance. Every individual has a distinct balance, and our health and well-being depend on getting a right balance of the three  doshas  (â€Å"tridoshas†). Ayurveda suggests specific lifestyle and nutritional guidelines to help individuals reduce the excess  dosha. A healthy person, as defined in  Sushrut Samhita,  one of the primary works on Ayurveda, is â€Å"he whose  doshas  are in balance, appetite is good, all tissues of the body and all natural urges are functioning properly, and whose mind, body and spirit are cheerful†¦ What is ‘Tridosha' or the Theory of Bio-energies? : The three  doshas, or bio-energies found in our body are: * Vata  pertains to air and ether elements. This energy is generally seen as the force, which directs nerve impulses, circulation, respiration, and elimination. * Kapha  pertains to water and earth elements. Kapha  is responsible for growth and protection. The mucousal lining of the stomach, and the cerebral-spinal fluid that protects the brain and spinal column are examples of  kapha. * Pitta  pertains to fire and water elements.This  dosha  governs metabolism, e. g. , the transformation of foods into nutrients. Pitta  is also responsible for metabolism in the organ and tissue systems. What is ‘Panchakarma' or the Therapy of Purification? : If toxins in the body are abundant, then a clean sing process known as  panchakarma  is recommended to purge these unwanted toxins. This fivefold purification therapy is a classical form of treatment in ayurveda. These specialized procedures consist of the following: * Therapeutic vomiting or emesis (Vaman) * Purgation (Virechan) Enema (Basti) * Elimination of toxins through the nose (Nasya) * Bloodletting or detoxification of the blood (Rakta moksha) The roots of ayurveda| | | | Ayurveda,the oldest system of medicine in the world, traces its roots to the Vedic period in ancient India. The  Vedas  contain practical and scientific information on various subjects beneficial to the humanity like health, philosophy, engineering, astrology etc. Vedic Brahmans  were not only priests performing religious rites and ceremonies, they also became the  Vaidyas (Ayurvedic Physicians).The Sage- Physician- Surgeons of that time were the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people , who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said, that they received their training of  Ayurveda  through direct cognition during meditation. In other words, the knowledge of the use of various methods of healing, prevention, longevity and surgery came through Divine revelation . These revelations were transcribed from the oral tradition into book form, interspersed with the other aspects of life. | | |   |   | | | Consequently  Ayurveda  grew into a respected and widely used system of healing in India.Around CA. 1500 Before. Common era. Ayurveda  was delineated into eight specific branches of medicine and there were two main schools –  Atreya, the school of physicians, and  Dhanvantari  , the school of surgeons. These two schools made  Ayurveda  a more scientifically verifiable and classifiable medical system. People from numerous countries came to Indian Ayurvedic schools to learn this medical science. They came from China, Tibet, Greece, Rome, Egypt ,Afghanistan, Persia etc. to le arn the complete wisdom and bring it back to their own countries.Ayurvedic texts were translated in Arabic and   physicians such as Avicenna and Razi Sempion, who both quoted Ayurvedic texts , established Islamic Medicine. This medicine became popular in Europe and helped to form the foundation of the European tradition in medicine. In the 16th  Century Europe , Paracelsus , who is known as the father of modern Western medicine, practiced and propagated a system of medicine which borrowed heavily from  Ayurveda.. | | Principles of Ayurveda| | | | |   |   |   | | | Ayurveda  is a holistic healing science which comprises of two words,  Ayu  and  Veda.Ayu means life and  Vedameans knowledge or science. So the literal meaning of the word  Ayurveda  is the science of life. Ayurveda  is a science dealing not only with treatment of some diseases but is a complete way of life. Ayurveda  aims at making a happy, healthy and peaceful society. The two most importan t aims of  Ayurveda  are:   + To maintain the health of healthy people + To cure the diseases of sick peopleA Person is seen in  Ayurveda  as a unique individual made up of five primary elements. These elements are ether (space), air, fire,water and earth. Just as in nature, we too have these five elements in us.When any of these elements are imbalanced   in the environment , they will in turn have an influence on us. The foods we eat and the weather are just two examples of the influence of these elements . While we are a composite of these five primary elements, certain elements are seen to have an ability to combine to create various physiological functions. The elements combine with Ether and Air in dominence to form what is known in  Ayurveda  as  Vata Dosha. Vatagoverns the principle of movement and therefore can be seen as the force which directs nerve impulses, circulation, respiration and elemination etc. The elements with Fire and Water in dominence combi ne to form the  Pitta Dosha  . The  Pitta Dosha  is responsible for the process of transformation or metabolism. The transformation of foods into nutrients that our bodies can assimilate is an example of a Pitta function. Pitta  is also responsible for metabolism in the organ and tissue systems as well as cellular metabolism. Finally, it is predominantly the water and earth elements which combine to form the  Kapha Dosha. Kapha  is responsible for growth, adding structure unit by unit.It also offers protection , for example, in form of the cerebral-spinal fluid,which protects the brain and spinal column. The mucousal lining of the stomach is another example of the function of Kapha Dosha protecting the tissues. |   Ã‚  | | We are all made up of unique proportions of  Vata,Pitta and Kapha. These ratios of the Doshas vary in each individual and because of this  Ayurveda  sees each person as a special mixture that accounts for our diversity. Ayurveda  gives us a model to look at each individual as a unique makeup of the three doshas and to thereby design treatment protocols that specifically address a persons health challenges.When any of the doshas become accumulated,  Ayurveda  will suggest specific lifestyle and nutritional guidelines to assist the individual in reducing the dosha that has become excessive. Also herbal medicines will be suggested , to cure the imbalance and the disease. Understanding this main principle of  Ayurveda  , it offers us an explanation as to why one person responds differently to a treatment or diet than another and why persons with the same disease might yet require different treatments and medications. | | |      Ã‚  |   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  |      Ã‚  Ã‚  | Other important basic principles of  Ayurveda  which are briefly mentioned here are: 1. Dhatus- These are the basic tissues which maintain and nourish the body. They are seven in number namely- rasa(chyle), raktha(blood), m amsa(muscles),meda(fatty tissue), asthi(bone), majja(marrow) and sukla(reprodutive tissue). Proper amount of each dhatu and their balanced function is very important for good health. 2. Mala- These are the waste materials produced as a result of various metabolic activities in the body. They are mainly urine, feaces, sweat etc.Proper elimination of the malas is equally important for good health. Accumulation of malas causes many diseases in the body. 3. Srotas- These are different types of channels which are responsible for transportation of food,  dhatus,malas  and  doshas. Proper functioning of  srotas  is necessary for transporting different materials to the site of their requirement. Blockage of  srotas  causes many diseases. 4. Agni- These are different types of enzymes responsible for digestion and transforming one material to another. All these factors should function in a proper balance for good health.They are inter-related and are directly or indirectly respo nsible for maintaining equilibrium of the tridoshas. Balance and Harmony of the Three Doshas When the three Doshas are well harmonised and function in a balanced manner, it results in good nourishment and well-being of the individual . But when there is imbalance or disharmony within or between them, it will result in elemental imbalance , leading to various kinds of ailments. The Ayurvedic concept of physical health revolves round these three Doshas and its primary purpose is to help maintain them in a balanced state and thus to prevent disease.This humoral theory is not unique to the ancient Indian Medicine : The Yin and Yang theory in chinese medicine and the Hippocratic theory of four humours in Greek medicine are also very similar. |   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  | | The Qualities of the Three Doshas The three Doshas possess qualities and their increase or decrease in the system depends upon the similar or antagonistic qualities of everything ingested. Vata  is : dry, cold, light, mobi le, clear, rough, subtle Pitta  is : slightly oily, hot, intense, light, fluid,free flowing, foul smelling. Kapha  is: oily, cold, heavy, stable, viscid, smooth, soft Both  Vata  and  Pitta  are light and only Kapha is heavy.Both  Vata  and  Kapha  are cold and only Pitta is hot. Both  Pitta  and  Kapha  are moist and oily and only Vata is dry. |   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  | | Anything dry almost always increases  Vata  , anything hot increases  Pitta  and anything heavy ,  Kapha. Puffed rice is dry, cold light and rough – overindulgence in puffed rice therefore is likely to increase Vata in the overindulger. Mustard oil is oily , hot , intense , fluid , strong-smelling and liquid and increases Pitta in the consumer. Yoghurt , which , being creamy, cold, heavy, viscid, smooth and soft , is the very image of Kapha , adds to the body's Kapha when eaten.All Five elemets , as expressed through  Vata, Pitta and Kapha  , are essential to life, working together to create health or produce disease. No one dosha can produce or sustain life – all three must work together , each in its own way. | | | PURIFICATION THERAPY| | | ‘Health is purity and disease is impurity So purification is the treatment. ’   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (old Indian saying)| | | Purification therapy is a unique feature of  Ayurveda  by which the  complete cure and non recurrence of disease is made possible.The functional components (doshas, namely  vatha, pitha & kapha  ) move all around the body through the channels of circulation to do the normal physiological activities. The disease is the result of imbalance in the quantity and quality of the doshas. During the disease process, the unbalanced doshas get lodged in the weak parts of the channels of circulation and produce the disease symptoms. If the channels of circulation are pure and healthy, even the aggravated doshas cannot loc ate anywhere and produce disease   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ayurveda  offers two measures in the management of a disease 😠 | | . Pacifying therapy  :-  in which the unbalanced  doshas  are pacified with in the body itself. As this therapy don’t cleanse the channels of circulation, there is the possibility of reprovocation when exposed to similar causative factors. This therapy is suited in conditions in which there is not much vitiation of the doshas. 2. Purification therapy  :-  It is aimed at the complete expulsion of the unbalanced  doshas  and the purification of the channels of circulation. As the channels are cleansed and strengthened by this process, the chance of recurrence is nil.   |   | Purification therapy can be implemented not only for curing diseases but to maintain health. No other systems of medicine can offer such an effective treatment measure. So we can proudly declare our superiority of Ayurveda to any other systems on account of its purification therapy. The purification otherwise called  Ã¢â‚¬ËœPancha karma therapy'  is    implemented in five ways. | | | 1. Enema therapy :-  It is best for vatha imbalance. 2. Purgation therapy :-  Best for pitha imbalance. 3. Emesis therapy :-  For kapha imbalance. 4. Nasal drops :-  For all diseases above the neck. 5.Blood letting :-  Best for removing blood impurities. | | |   |   | | Stages of the treatment|   | | First stage  :-  This includes the external and internal application oils followed with fomentation or sudation. By this the unbalanced doshas lodged in the weak parts of the channels are liquified and loosened. Main or second stage  :-  In this stage the loosened and liquified doshas are expelled out of the body by the appropriate purifactory procedure. Post therapy  :-  This includes the regimens to be practised after the purification. This is mainly intended to augment the digestive fire. | |