Chikungunya And Ayurveda

What is Chikungunya fever?
Chikungunya is a form of viral fever spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, a breed largely active during the day that lasts for 5-7 days. The virus is hardly life threatening, but frequently causes intense joint pain that persists for a long period of time.
Chikunguniya symptoms:
Common symptoms of the illness such as fever upto 102.2 °F, petechial rashes, spots on the trunk and limbs and arthritis affecting multiple joints are very common. Other nonspecific symptoms like headache, conjunctivitis, remote photophobia and insomnia etc may occur soon after the incubation period. While most symptoms usually last for 5 – 7 days, the fever rapidly subsides in two days.
Chikungunya history In India
Chikunguniya has emerged as a serious health threat in India. States such as Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi were the most affected parts of the country. Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded a staggering 752,245 and 258,998 numbers of cases, making these largest affected states in India. (Who: 2006)
Preventive Measures
There is no real vaccine for the virus, but the best method to prevent the virus is to avoid mosquito bites. It is absolutely necessary to take preventive measures to avoid or eliminate mosquito breeding friendly spot’s such as rain-filled containers, water storage units, open food containers, saucers under potted plants, drinking bowls for domestic animals and discarded tyres in the vicinity of the workplace and residential areas. (WHO: 2006).
Management of Chikun gunya – In Ayurveda:
Line Of Treatment is Like Amavata (Pachana,Deepana,Rookshana,Mridu ShodhanaBrihmana.)
In the acute phase of illness, the prime intent should be to control fever. Medicines such as Amrithothara kashaya, Shaddharana choorna, Sudarshana vati,Vettumaran gulika,Nimbamrithadi Eranda,Avipatti Choorna and Amritharishta have reflected effectiveness in combatting fever.

In the post fever phase, Chikungunya leads to arthralgia/arthritis that causes swelling & pain that could persist for a period of six months to a year. Therefore it becomes vital to control post-fever arthritis in the very early stage of symptoms. Ayurveda medications & therapies are found to be extremely effective in treating this condition.
Medication
Classical medicines such as Rasnaerandadi kashaya, Punarnavadi kashaya, Chandraprabha gulika and Punarnavasava, Kaishora guggulu,Raasnagugul ,Balaguloochyadi Kashaya have been found quite effective in managing post-fever pain & swelling.
Therapies combined with ingestible medication can give faster & effective result in treating the symptoms of Chikungunya.
The following therapies are used to treat the symptoms of Chikungunya.
1. Choorna Sweda
2. Valukasweda
3. Dhanyamla Dhara
4. Dasamoolam KashayaDhara
5. Lepana With Jadamayadi Choorna,Grihadhoomadi Choorna,Ellunishadi Choorna...

Sprouts

" The Hidden Power In Sprouts "

Seeds are life just waiting to be born.Sprouts are an "explosion of life".Srouted seeds are a staple diet of several oriental civilisations and are well known for their powerful nutritive and healing properties.

Sprouting is the practice of soaking,draining and then rinsing seeds at regular intervals till they germinate or sprout.

Nutrition facts:

Sprouts bear the largest relative amount of nutrients per unit of intake of any food known to amn.They have enough first quality proteins to be classified as a "Complete Food".Sproys are rich in Vitamins,Minerals and Proteins.But some legumes can contain toxins which can be reduced by soaking,sproyuting and cooking.

Many sprouted seeds such as those of Alfaalfa and sunflower contain all the essential amino acids in their Free state.which means that more nutrients reach the cells with less food.Sprouting increases the vitamins content of a seed dramatically.

Sprouts comtain more Vitamin C than oranges.Ina discovery the Vitamin Lactrile, known for its success in cancer therapy was found to increase over a 1000% in the sprouted seed.Enzymes,considered the key to logevity are greately activated in the sprouting process.

Sprouts are the best "Living Food".In fact they are so alive that they are still growing when you eat them.

By :

Dr Sandeep KM

NEVER SKIP YOUR BREAKFAST

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day’

In Ayurveda Charakacharya, Sushruthachrya, and other Legends say we should not make upavasa with the morning breakfast.The modern science recently found that skipping a morning breakfast will cause the life taking diseases.
The frequency of heart attack ,sudden death and sroke peaks between 6 am and noon, with the highest evidence being between 8 am to 10 am .Platelets the tiny element in the blood that keep us from bleeding to death if we get a cut,can clump together inside our arteries due to cholesterol or laque buildup in the artery lining.It is in the morning hours that platelet become the most activated and tend to form these internal blood clots at the greatest frequence.However eating even a very light breakfast prevents the morning platelet activation that is associated with heart attacks and strokes.Eating a light very low-fat breakfast was found critical in modifying the morning platelet activation.
So having breakfast will keep your platelets from sticking together,keep blood clots from forming and perhaps head off a potential Heart attack or stroke .So never skip breakfast.

Food And Diabetes...!!

Diabetes....In Your Hand!!!

Diabetes Mellitus unlike debilitating disease tuberculosis was present among or confined to th4e so called well bread society. The recent increase in the incidence of diabetes even not so well –to-do sections of society is something to be viewed seriously.The current trend of the disease in India or else where attributed to the changing life styles and increased intake of processed food in daily life. When everything else fails mother nature doesn’t. Hence there has been an ever increasing demand for natural agents for the management of chronic elements as no ailment is no longer completely curable.
Insulin is a harmone produced by islets of Langerhans cells in pancreas and this harmone is implicated to play a vital role in the metabolism of carbohydrates and utilization of glucose.Diabetes is characterized by a defective synthesis of insulin.
Base on the mode of onset and the extent of damage to the insulin producing cells diabetes is clinically classified into 2 types.Type first is termed as DDM and NDDM second.

Purva roopa(prodormal symptoms)
Excessive sleep, fatigue, apathy, lack of pleasure, excessive growth of nails and hairs, sweet taste in the mouth, dryness of the palate and throat ,thirst, attraction to cold objects, greasiness of feet ,honey like urine

C S Ni 4/47, S S Ni 6/5 ,A H Ni 10/38-39

General Features
Excessive urination and turbidity

S S Ni 6/6, A H Ni 10/7

Complications
Reccurent infections,development of carbuncles,excessive thirst are some of the symptoms for which the disease person reports to a medical person.

Sushrutha --- Constipation as a commonly observed complication as the body of the diseased person is loaded with fatty tissue, hence they do not respond to common purgation is usual doses. Physiologists attribute this complication to the involvement of autonomous nervous system.

Charaka—Thirst diarrhea fever burning sensation debility anorexia indigestion abscess etc are complications.
Diabetic Diet

Diet plays very important role in the management of DM.A strict regimen of diet should be initiated to bring down body weight if obese. The first step is preparing dietary regimen, is to map out a time table of the patients routine including a description of usual meals. This is an essential step which is too often ignored. The total daily requirement of calories must next be decided.

The diet must be nutritionally adequate for the patients needs and it must therefore estimated for each individual patients.

Types of diet ---2

1.Measured –in which the amount of food to be eaten at each time of the day is specified.
2.Unmeasured-in which the patient is given a list of foods grouped in 3 categories.
Food with high sucrose content which is to be avoided altogether like sugar, sweets, jam ,cakes, fruits like mangoes ,grapes, jackfruit and dates etc.
Foods containing carbohydrates in the form of starch like bread, biscuits,custard ,milk ,potatoes ,peas, cereals ,pulses etc.
Foods to be eaten as desired like white meat, fish, boiled eggs ,lemon juice and tomato soup.
Vegetables which can be taken as desired are bitter guard ,fenugreek leaves and seeds, knolkol, beans ,cabbage ,Brussels, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower ,spinach, pumpkin, French beans, onions, mushroom ,cucumber, tomato, onion raddish, barley, ladies finger ,mustard leaves ,coriander leaves.
Fruits like jambu, grape, goose berry, lemon ,melons, coo cuts, black bill berry ,strawberries, orange, papaya etc.

Cereals pulses which can be used are

Ragi –
Ragi kanji with butter milk in the morning is a diet in diabetes.
Ragi is very wholesome ,highly proteinious and nourishing.Ragi is said to be more nutritious than wheat

Masha/black gram
It is a demulcent and cooling as weel as nutritious of pulses.Blachgram baked on steam is a night diet for diabetes.

Mudga/Moomg

he ripe green coloured pulse is eaten boiled whole or split and used as dal.it is parched with butter and made into spice balls. It is given to relieve thirst. Soup made of is a good diet for diabetic patients with enlarged spleen and liver and after prolonged illness.

Chana/Bengal gram

The rise in insulin levels was decreased after Bengal gram dal(red beans),kidney beans,wheat and rice as compared with dextrose.Bengal gram being the most effective in this respect.More over Bengal gram decreased the mean peak insulin rise by 70.5%,red kidney being by 68.2%,wheat by 48.6%,rice by 47.4%
But potatoes increased the mean peak insulin rise by 33%

Bitter guard
It contains a fixed oil an insulin like peptide ,glycocides(mormordin and charantin),the peptide is known to lower sugar levels in the blood and urine.
25ml of bitter guard juice should be taken twice daily in empty stomach.
Dry powder of karela seeds 2-3grams taken twice daily.

Thingalavare/French beans
Powder acts as hypoglycemic,reducing blood glucose levels in the treatment of diabetes.

Gorikayi/Cyamopsis psoralioides
Pods and seeds stabilizes sugar levels in blood and is useful in prediabetic conditions and in the early stages of late onset diabetes.

Lasuna/Garlic
It reduces cholesterol,helps in circulatiry disorders such as high blood sugar level makes it a useful dietary addiction in late onset diabetes.

Palandu/onion
It boasts a long list of medicinal actions,diuretic ,antibiotic,anti inflammatory ,analgesic expectorant.It also has hypoglycemic actions(extract will increase insulin like activity of the plasma)

The effect of the juice of garlic and onion on glucose utilization was studied in rabbits by using the glucose tolerance test.The hypoglycemic effect was compared with that of tolbutamide and hypoglycemic effect of glucose feeding as assessed by the maximum percentage and fall in blood sugar.

Fenugreek/Curry leaves/Jamoon/Bamboo shoots
Fenugreek administration increases plasma insulin levels in- vivo,its major amino acid 4 hydroxy-insuline stimulates insulin secretion from perfused pancreas in in-vitro.
Blood sugar lowering effect of fenugreek in NIDD was seen after taking powdered fenugreek seeds when taken twice daily for 12 mionths continuiously showed significant blood sugar lowering effect in the established cases of NIDD.The powdered seeds soaked in water reduced the subsequent post prondial glucose levels.


Yava/Barley
Barley a good cholesterol- lowering source of fibre.
Manufacturers sell a “Green Food” supplement made of barley grass. They bill it as an immune system booster, an antioxidant,a chlorophyll source and a preventive agent and are for cancer,diabetes,arthritis,heart diseases and many other ailments.
The grains vitamin and amino acids rich husk polished to produce ‘pearl’ barley, the form in which most people consume it ( the husk fiber material remains in it,)

Draksha/Grapes
Taken orally as a dietary supplement for its active components(procyanidolicoligomars)PCO’s or pro-arthocyanidin can protect against tumor formation, improves circulation ,control peripheral vascular diseases, control diabetic retinopathy and fight the breakdown of collagen which can occur with aging and a number of inflammatory collagen diseases.

Eating??? ...no tension....!!!!

“Antidotes for incompatible food combinations”

If the negative effects of food items are known, they can be made wholesome by combining them with appropriate counteracting food items or antidotes as given below.
1. Cheese increases congestion and mucous. It aggravates pitta and kapha.To counteract this, you can add black pepper.
2. Eggs in cooked form increases pitta and in raw form increases kapha.Termeric and onions are the antidotes.
3. Ice cream increases mucous and causes congestion. If taking ice cream is inevitable, then top it with clove and cardamom.
4. Curd increases mucous and causes congestion. Cumin and ginger will take care of the ill-effects of curd.
5. Fish increases pitta . Coconut, lime and lemon are the remedial measures to counteract the bad effects of fish.
6. Meat is heavy to digest. Cloves or pepper powder makes the digestion easier.
7. Alcohol has both stimulating and depressing effects. Chewing a pinch of cumin seeds or 1-2 cardamom seeds may minimize these undesirable effects.
8. The bad effects of tea can be lessened with ginger. In the same way ill effects of coffee can be kept at bay with nut mug powder.
9. It is a known fact that sweets increases congestion .Addition of dry ginger powder to the sweet meals will decrease the congestion.
10. Tobacco aggravates pitta and stimulates vata . Brahmi, Calamus most are used as antidotes to tobacco.
11. Rice and wheat increase kapha and fat. Clove and ginger are used to enhance the beneficial effects of these cereals.
12.Legumes produce gas and distention .Garlic , cloves , black pepper , ginger ,rock salt, or chilly powder are the antidotes.
13. Cabbage produces gas due to its sulpher content .Cook in sunflower oil adding turmeric and mustard seeds.
14. Garlic increases pitta. Grated coconut and lemon counteract this effect.
15.Green salad produces gas. Cooking reduces the gas formation but at the same time its therapeutic BENEFITS MAY ALSO BE LOST, If you want to have salad in raw form, add a little quantity of lemon juice to it.
16. Onion also produces gas .To prevent this either you should take it in cooked form or you should add salt,lemon,curd and mustard seed powder to it.
17.Potato, due to its high carbohydrate content, produces gas. This can be reduced with ghee and pepper.
18. Tomato increases kapha. Lime and cumin are the antidotes to it.
19.The ill-effects like increase in kapha of banana can be counteracting with cardamom.
20. Mango produces diarrhea. Adding ghee with cardamom in the remedy.
21.Melon causes water retention Grated coconut with coriander is the solution to this.
22. Almost all those who consume nuts and peanuts, experience gas and burning sensation in the stomach. As a remedial measure, either you should soak them overnight or cook them with sesame oil, ginger, roasted cumin powder and pepper.

References from Astanga hridaya...