When Imbalance Becomes Illness: The Manifestation Stage in Ayurveda

An alert person can feel subtle changes in the body. If the condition is not interrupted at this stage, it will erupt as a full-blown disease. MANIFESTATION In this stage, qualitative changes become apparent. The signs and symptoms of an actual disease appear on the surface; the person becomes sick.

Whether in the lungs, kidneys, liver, joints, heart, brain, or wherever, the seeds of disease now sprout and begin to manifest in the area of the defective tissue. CELLULAR DEFORMITY LEADING TO STRUCTURAL DISTORTION Now the pathological process is fully developed and the disease completely manifested. Structural changes appear, and complications of other organs, tissues, or systems become evident. This is also the stage it which the disease, now fully developed, is therefore most difficult to treat.

In the fifth stage, for example, when aggravated pitta dosha is invading the wall of the stomach, it may manifest as an ulcer. But in the sixth stage, the pitta will perforate the ulcer and cause hemorrhaging, or it may provoke a tumor. Function begins to be disturbed in the fifth stage, but here the structure of the tissue is affected, as well as the surrounding tissues and systems. Obviously, treatment—restoration of balance and normal functioning—is far easier at earlier stages.

That is why prevention is emphasized so strongly in Ayurveda. It is much more effective to treat the illness in its seed stage, before it sprouts and grows. Both health and disease are processes. Disease is a process of abnormal movement of the doshas, while health is a process of their normal functioning.

The wise person understands that the normal rhythm and quality of the process can be reestablished by changing diet and lifestyle and avoiding the etiological factors that cause disease. The key is awareness. The more you are alert to how your mind, body, and emotions are reacting to changing circumstances; the more you are aware of your constitution and the moment-to-moment choices you can make to maintain health, the less opportunity you create for becoming sick. SAMPRAPTI (PATHOGENESIS): THE SIX STAGES OF THE DISEASE PROCESS Part II Putting Ayurveda to Work Chapter 4 How We Can Stay Healthy T he goal of Ayurveda is to maintain the health of a healthy person and heal the illness of a sick person.