Veda is a Sanskrit word which is a synonym for knowledge. Veda is often translated as science due to this logical progressive development. Knowledge in this sense implies understanding. True understanding cannot be had intellectually or by study alone. Veda implies the kind of knowledge that comes from entering existentially into life itself.
Understanding can only come from actual personal experience.
Veda is that logical form of knowledge that comes from living and exploring the profoundness of life - of Ayur. Hence, one can see that Ayurveda is an alive progressive system. It is not a dead or ancient method. The very fact that it has remained in use for over five thousand years attests to this fact. Sometimes one may hear negative things about Ayurveda like the notion that women were isolated during menstruation because they were 'polluted'.