FAQ
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Q: How can a Lancaster consultation offer me what is missing from my current health care program?
An Initial Consultation at a Lancaster Ayurveda Medical Center is the first step on the path to regaining balance in life because every consultation is based on Vedic knowledge. Vedic medicine is based on the principle that the human physiology is the expression of Veda, the holistic value of life. At the Lancaster centers, you will encounter Jay Glaser, MD, a physician conversant in both the holistic world of Veda and the modern world that puts constant demands on our time and energy. Dr. Glaser will consider all of the interrelated factors that concern your health and will prescribe a program that fits your lifestyle.
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Q: Is Lancaster a well-known and experienced clinic?
Lancaster is the oldest ongoing Ayurveda medical institution outside the Indian subcontinent. The British magazine, Harpers & Queen has rated Lancaster among the top ten natural health centers in the world -- the only North American center to receive this rating.
Originally occupying a large estate in Lancaster, Massachusetts, ten miles north of Worcester, the Lancaster Ayurveda Medical Center has become the flagship of Ayurvedic healing centers. Lancaster has literally made Ayurveda a household word, with people coming from all continents to participate in programs for both healing and spiritual development.
The Lancaster center plays a critical role in the world's urgent need for a new approach to health not only by being the most established and eminent institute utilizing Vedic medicine, but also by pioneering techniques for implementing Vedic medicine into clinical practice.
With the owner's decision to sell the original property in December 2000, Dr. Glaser moved its headquarters to a spacious new facility two miles away and has expanded its unique programs. You can now receive Ayurvedic consultations from Dr. Glaser and standard western medicine under the same roof.
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Q: Where are consultations offered?
Consultations are available in person at the new site of the Lancaster clinic in Sterling, MA (just off exit 6 of Interstate 190, 8 miles north of Worcester). You can also have telephone consultations.
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Q: What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a complete science of health based on the classical Ayurvedic knowledge of ancient India. It is complete in the sense that no aspect of life falls outside its scope since it approaches health through consciousness, physiology, behavior, and environment. It simultaneously improves the health of both the individual and society, and views the two as interdependent.
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Q: What does the word Ayurveda mean?
The word, Ayurveda, comes from the Sanskrit roots ayus meaning span of life and veda meaning knowledge. Ayurveda is thus the knowledge of the span of life, including techniques for promoting longevity and rejuvenation, spiritual growth, prevention of disease, and development of a person's full mental and physical potential.
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Q: Is Ayurveda more oriented toward prevention or treating diseases?
Ayurveda is a complete health system and deals with the treatment of chronic disorders resistant to therapy as well as with enabling anyone to live their full potential in life. Ancient Ayurvedic texts deal with the full spectrum of medical disciplines, including surgery, gynecology, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, dermatology, beauty and cosmetology, sexuality, exercise physiology, and toxicology.
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Q: Are there other Vedic sciences besides Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is only one aspect of Vedic medicine, a field that includes 40 fields or sciences based on Veda and the Vedic literature, all of which support Ayurveda's purpose of creating wholeness of life. These other disciplines include yoga, Vedanta, the Vedic science of environmental and architectural design (sthapatyaveda), Vedic music therapy (gandharvaveda), Vedic veterinary medicine and agriculture (vrkshayurveda), defense of the community (dhanurveda), and most importantly, the Veda itself together with the sciences devoted to its application and preservation for future generations.
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Q: Who is responsible for providing this complete understanding of Vedic medicine?
The knowledge of the full range of Vedic disciplines as an integral part of Ayurveda was restored beginning in 1980 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in consultation with Vedic experts from India and western physicians including Lancaster's medical director, Jay Glaser, MD. Prior to this restoration, these other Vedic technologies were not widely applied and used in Ayurveda. In designing your treatments, Dr. Glaser will consider not only all eight branches of Ayurveda, but also other appropriate Vedic sciences.
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Q: What is Lancaster's unique approach to Ayurveda?
Lancaster's completely modern, verifiable approach to Ayurveda is characterized by careful attention to the preservation of ancient principles, which skilled Ayurvedic physicians found to be safe and effective. Lancaster keeps the Veda in Ayurveda. There has also been an interest among clinical investigators to document the benefits of this system for contemporary medical practice, as well as among laboratory-oriented researchers in discovering the mechanisms through which the different therapeutic techniques produce effects. Dr. Glaser has been in the forefront of this scientific effort.
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Q: Has there been documentation of the results of treatments at Lancaster?
Lancaster patients report significant results using these treatments. In fact, 65% of 400 consecutive patients in a pilot study, who came to Lancaster with long-standing chronic diseases not helped by standard medicine, reported significant improvements in their health condition within the first two months. Most importantly, patients avoid the pitfalls of modern medicine.
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Q: What is involved in an initial consultation at a Lancaster center?
Your initial consultation can take up to 2 1/2 hours: you will be received by the Ayurvedic health educator, and have a one hour consultation with the doctor, followed by a meeting with the health educator. When you make your appointment, you will be offered the option of filling out our health history form at home, to assure that all your medical concerns will be addressed during the consultation. This form is available on this website (See Download Forms). Dr. Glaser will assess your health from both Western and Ayurvedic perspectives, including performance of conventional and Ayurvedic physical examinations where appropriate, as well as Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis.
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Q: What kind of diagnoses and prescriptions will the doctor make?
Dr. Glaser will make sure that you understand your imbalances and diagnoses from both the western and Ayurvedic perspective, since this understanding will help you to follow through with your Ayurvedic program. He will prescribe techniques for both the management and the prevention of chronic disorders including diet, exercise, daily routines and herbal preparations. In an Ayurvedic consultation, a well-trained physician may also recommend techniques for stress reduction, achieving one's full potential and development of higher states of consciousness.
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Q: After my consultation, will someone help me get started with the program?
Following your session with Dr. Glaser, you will have a consultation with a health educator, who will explain how to implement the prescribed program. You will receive written materials we have prepared to simplify your daily routine, to make dietary changes easy and delicious, to make exercise and yoga programs comfortable. In addition, for many specific conditions, we have prepared comprehensive recommendations. Instructions about herbal preparations and where they can be procured will be given at this time. Our staff has the attitude that an effective program must be pleasant as well as simple enough to be followed for a lifetime.
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Q: If questions come up after my consultation, can I contact you easily?
We encourage you to call us anytime questions arise. If you leave a message for us after switchboard hours, our educators will return your call with a response from the doctor.
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Q: Are follow-up consultations advisable?
In a follow-up consultation, you can address any difficulties and Dr. Glaser can modify the program based on your response. After your initial consultation you can reserve an appointment for a follow-up consultation. For people who live at a distance, this can be done by telephone.
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Q: Can I have a consultation by telephone?
If you cannot come to one of our clinics, but want to enjoy the benefits of Ayurveda right away with a phone consultation, Lancaster makes it easy. We provide you with a form on which you can detail your medical problems and lifestyle for Dr. Glaser's review before your appointment. You can also supply a copy of your tests and medical records. During the interview, you can add information from your side and Dr. Glaser can ask you more detail questions. He will then explain your condition from the Ayurvedic perspective and provide you with written recommendations. After you receive and review your patient education package, the Ayurvedic educator will meet with you by phone to clarify any aspect of the program.
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Q: Can I have a consultation by e-mail?
We have found that a consultation by phone is much more productive than one carried out over the internet. Ayurveda is an art as well as a science, and the physician's ability to determine your constitution and your imbalances is much greater if he can hear your voice and assess your grasp of his questions and recommendations. In addition, a phone consultation is much more cost-effective for the patient.
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Q: Who is Jay Glaser, MD and who are his Vedic teachers?
Jay Glaser, MD is a specialist in internal medicine and is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Glaser is a member of the medical staffs at St. Vincent Hospital and the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, MA and the UMass Memorial--Clinton Hospital. He studied at Dartmouth College and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. In 1972, while researching infectious diseases in India, he encountered Ayurvedic medicine and wrote one of the first treatises on Ayurveda from the perspective of a Western scientist. While working as an Attending Physician at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital in 1978, he took a radical departure from the traditional career path of an academic physician, making Vedic medicine his career and beginning to study Vedic Medicine under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Dr. Glaser has made research and teaching about the diverse physiological and clinical effects of Vedic Medicine a high priority, publishing and presenting numerous scientific papers on the influence of Ayurvedic herbs and therapeutics on chronic disorders and on the Transcendental Meditation technique.
Dr. Glaser credits Maharishi and the eminent Ayurvedic physicians from India with whom he has worked and studied for the successes of Lancaster's clinical programs. These physicians include Dr. V.N. Dwivedi, Dr. Brihaspati Dev Triguna, Dr. Balraj Maharshi, Dr. H.S. Kasture, Ashtavaidya Devakaran Moos, and the late Dr. P. Deshpande, with whom he studied and practiced Ayurvedic surgery in India.
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Q: Who is Danielle Glaser, the Ayurveda Educator?
Danielle Glaser had a successful career as coordinator of public health and ambulatory services at Laval University Hospital in Quebec City when she became a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program in 1976. Since then, she has instructed over a thousand individuals in this technique. She completed a two-year Masters level course in Ayurvedic Medicine at the Maharishi International Institute of Vedic Sciences in Cambridge, MA in 1992.
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Who should have a consultation at a Lancaster clinic?
- Totally healthy people who want to live their full potential
- People with chronic diseases
- People concerned about aging
- People seeking spiritual growth
For people with less than ideal health, Ayurveda is an ideal option to relieve chronic disorders resistant to standard medicine. For acute disorders requiring urgent intervention and certain other disease processes, standard medicine should considered first.
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Q: What are some examples of chronic disorders in which Ayurveda is especially useful?
Gynecology: PMS, menopause, menstrual disorders, decreased libido, fibrocystic breast disease (We do routine GYN exams). Neurological problems: insomnia, fatigue, headache, MS, Parkinson's, stroke prevention or recovery. Cardiac and respiratory problems: High blood pressure, coronary disease, high cholesterol, asthma, bronchitis. Digestive disorders: Irritable bowel, constipation, heartburn and acidity, food intolerance, colitis. Mental
Disorders: anxiety, depression, phobias. Joint disease: Osteoarthritis, stiff or painful joints, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis. Skin diseases: acne, rosacea, psoriasis, eczema, wrinkles, aged or sun-damaged skin. Metabolic problems: weight management, chronic fatigue, diabetes, thyroid disease. Autoimmune disease and allergies: hay fever, sinusitis. Pediatrics: ADD/ADHD, recurrent ear infections, developmental and behavioral disorders.
Urology: prostate problems, erectile and other sexual dysfunction, stones, incontinence. Oncology: Immunomodulation, nutrition, complications from chemotherapy and radiation. Sports Medicine: We specialize in prescribing and coordinating fitness programs for people with chronic conditions and healthy people seeking longevity and well being through exercise.
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Q: What are the Ayurvedic therapies used at the Lancaster Ayurveda Health Centers?
- Dietetics and Nutrition
- Herbal Preparations
- Rasayana Therapy (Tonics)
- Daily, Monthly and Seasonal Routines
- Panchakarma (Purification)
- Vedic Music Therapy (Gandharvaveda)
- Hatha Yoga Asanas
- Pranayama (Respiratory Integration)
- Speech and Language
- Vedic Recitation
- Acharasayanas or "behavioral tonics"
- Transcendental Meditation technique
- Vedic Exercise and Conditioning
- Vedic Environmental Design
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