27 Feb 2023 • The harsh criticism follows NCISM's introduction of astrology as an optional subject in the five-year degree programme in Ayurvedic medicine. Scientists slammed the National Council for Indian Systems of Medicine on Wednesday for including medical astrology in Ayurvedic medicine graduation curricula, claiming that _"distant objects like planets have no effect on human physiology or psychology in any way." _ The inclusion of Medical Astrology as a subject (even as an elective) at BAMS is, indeed,highly retrogressive. 'Astrology' has never been rigorously tested experimentally, and it remains a mystical field that can cause severe harm to patients who are treated based on 'astrological' predictions," says SC Lakhotia, one of India's most respected Ayurvedic scientists. This NCSIM action deserves to be withdrawn immediately, he emphasized. According to the NCISM's website, astrology was once a thriving branch of study. There are numerous documented cases of accurate prediction of future events throughout history. Medical astrology is a subject that discusses one's likely diseases based on birth charts and planetary positions. The course consists of 25 video lectures spread out over 10 months that offer astrological analyses of abdominal diseases, fever, heart disease, and tuberculosis, among other health disorders, as well as connecting medicinal properties with planets and constellations. According to the NCISM, India's Ayurvedic medicine regulator, more than 700 students have registered for the course so far. According to GL Krishna, an Ayurveda physician and Homi Bhabha Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, there are sporadic references to the use of astrology in forecasting and managing illnesses in the Ayurveda classics.

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