Realistic cure prospects for common diseases

AYURVEDA FOR THE PSYCHIC HEALTH CARE

Courtesy : The following experiences are indebted to my teacher and constant guide of psychiatry medicine

Dr. Parvathi Devi, B.A.M.S, Medical officer at the Govt Ayurveda Mental hospital, Kottakkal, Malapuram Dist. drmpp1@rediffmail.com Ph. 0494 - 2681284, 9447276834.


Kerala state holds the unique distinction of having the exclusively Ayurvedic mental hospital where a wide variety of psychic ailments are treated and cured well .The significance of such an institution lies in the fact that patients from national and international level reach there to seek treatments for their ailments and that includes even retired defence personnels who had a scarred psyche in battlefields.

Given the ground reality of immense stress of psychological origin among the the civilised population , the services of the psychiatric speciality of Ayurveda does assume profound importance at preventive, curative and promotive healthcare levels.

Its a common knowledge that Kerala special Panchakarma therapies and the “stress buster” therapies are immensely popular among and sought after by foreign nationals who are generally found to have high levels of mental stress. The outstanding results that are achieved by these therapies naturally ensure that these foreign nationals make regular yearly visits to the Ayurveda health resorts and hospitals of Kerala.

Dr. Parvathi Devi ,B.A.M.S ,Medical officer at the Govt Ayurved Mental hospital, Kottakkal, Malapuram Dist. drmpp1@rediffmail.com has profound experience in treating and curing the ailments of psychic origin and she has been kind enough to teach her experiences in good length to me.

The ailments are classified as per the World Health Organisation criteria of International Statistical classification of diseases and related health problems – ICD 10

The commonly encountered diseases , their treatment response time are mentioned.

Its to be borne in mind that treatments in psychiatry is a challenging aspect and the presence of various variables of etiology, non co-operation of the patient to undergo medications and therapies, denial of the patient to accept that he has an ailment, diverse triggering factors, variation of individual temperaments , circumstances back home and work place etc.. have an impact either way. Thus a specific and precise time duration of response to treatments will not be practically easy.

1. Organic Mental Disorders

Alzheimer’s disease

Mild severity cases - very well managed and immediate memory loss can be cured.

Moderate severity –restlessness can be managed effectively.

Severe cases – no change can be brought to the memory status but associated symptoms can be well controlled and subsided.

Bed ridden case- no hope.

Dementia

Multi infarct vascular dementia and subcortical vascular dementia – no hope-generally poor response.

If Parkinsonism is the etiology – response to treatments is mixed with half the patients responding well the remaining half not responding.

Immediate memory loss responds very well to treatments but remote memory loss has not so encouraging results.

Duration of the therapies – 3 weeks to 5 weeks – but varies from case to case.

2. Mental disorders due to habit forming substances and drug abuse

Very encouraging results are observed soon after the completion of Snehapaana. Withdrawal symptoms are also controlled very rapidly and almost all cases show very good results.

Duration 4 weeks.

3. Schizophrenia

This is characterized by delusions ( thought, emotions and behaviour) and hallucinations.

Halucinations that too auditory respond in the first 5 days itself very quickly to dhoomapana and dhoopana.

But delusions are difficult to be cured off.

Paranoid variety – very good improvement is observed.

Hebephrenic ,Catatonic variety – appreciatable improvement.

Residual variety with negative thoughts – very difficult to cure.

Persistent delusion disorders- much improvement is noted but it will be a bit unrealistic to claim cure for this.

Schizo affective disorder –good improvement is noted.

4. Mood disorder

Duration of treatments - minimum forty days.

This is related much to the emotional state of a person and has seasonal variations.

Manic episode – responds very effectively.

Bipolar – very good improvement noted.

Depressive episodes are generally tough to respond.

Persistent mood disorders respond very quickly to treatments.

Its noteworthy that if the treatments are repeated next year also before any major triggering factor of the disease happens , a lasting impact of the treatments (performed the previous year) is observed.

Its observed that the treatments have a definite strong positive impact on the patient and the recurrence of the ailment is delayed very effectively.

5. Neurotic & Stress related disorder.

Phobic anxiety disorder – treatments alone are not enough , psychotherapy is also needed.

Generalised anxiety disorder – good response to treatments.

Obsessive compulsive – treatment and counseling make a greater impact than mere medicines. Two weeks of thalapodichil gives good relief in mild to moderate cases.

Adjustment disorders and reaction to severe stress - treatment response is tough as the temperament and mental strength threshold varies just like the intensity of the physical or mental trauma. Anxiety can be well controlled by medicines but counseling is also required .

It’s a common incidence in many wars and battles and also specialized trainings of many elite training programs of the special forces all over the world to have such incidences. Indian armed forces is no exception to this.

Disassociative disorders – very good improvement in one month duration.

Disassociative Multiple personality disorder –good improvement is noted.

Somatoform pain disorder –is found in general practice also – mild cases respond very well in two weeks treatments like thalapodichil

6. Behavioural syndrome associated with psychological disturbances

Eating disorders –Anorexia responds well but no comments are available about Bulimia as no cases have been reported yet.

Non Organic sleep disorders – somnambulism, nightmares,hypersomnia are very well manged at the OPD level itself.

Sexual dysfunction – (that not caused by organic lesion) –lack of sexual desire, premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, orgasmic dysfunction ,non organic dysparenunia ,excessive desire are encountered separately and some of them along with an established psychic ailment too.

Bark of araghwadha administered in decoction form for 2-3 weeks is found to be very effective in diminishing the excessive desire.

Most of these are treatable at OPD level and results are evident in 2- 3 weeks time along with counseling.

Mental disorders associated with purperium-

Mild cases respond very quickly to OPD level treatments and severe cases do so to IPD level treatments.

Generally 3- 4 weeks is the maximum duration of recovery.

Acute onset features usually show good prognosis.

Rarely some patients have slipped into the phase of psychotic disturbance which is generally tough to respond.

7. Disorders of adult personality and behaviour

Duration of treatment 4- 5 weeks

Specific personality disorders – very tough prognosis as the patient simply refuses to undergo treatment modalities.

Borderline personality disorder –very good results in two to three weeks by thalapodichil itself. They can continue with OPD level management .


Paranoid personality disorder – only partial relief is observed.

Habit and impulse disorders like Trichotillomania respond well to OPD level medications. But some other patients are not available for proper follow up.

Gender identity disorder – poor prognosis

Some male patients who show feminine features during the course of stay in the hospital get rid of such clinical features .

This compels to make a statement that temporary isolated events of such opposite gender identity are resolved well.

Disorders of sexual preference

Varied response ,cases of fetichism also respond if it happens to be a temporary isolated event.

8. Mental Retardation

There is no cure in Ayurveda.

Salivation will come down and associated signs and symptoms would also come down but overall prognosis is poor.

9. Disorders of psychological development

Generally tough prognosis and medications are required for months at OPD level.

Developmental disorders of speech and language – slight improvement is observed but not satisfactory enough.

Specific disorders of scholastic skill – some parents report an improvement in writing function of the children.

Autism and cerebral palsy - very appreciative improvements are observed and treatments of the duration of 3 weeks are required once in every six months for three years and profound improvement in the physical and emotional functions are clearly noted. Speech becomes much clear and the higher mental functions slowly but surely become better and better.

Interestingly enough, such is the positive impact of treatments to the child that parents of Cerebral palsy and Autism patients make sure of their half yearly visits to hospital of their own without being reminded of it .

Kerala Ayurveda physicians witness lot of such patients from other parts of India and abroad.

10. Behavioural and emotional disorder with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence.

ADHD – Attention deficit hyperactive disorder –
responds very well to 3 weeks of treatments and medication- followed by medications for months or even years depending upon the co existence of cerebral palsy or autism in the child.

It has been found very regularly that clinical features of ADHD, autism and cerebral palsy co exist in the same patient at a given time .

The response is very good results keeping in mind that other system of medicine do not seem to have any cure for this.

Conduct disorder- tough prognosis.

Emotional disorders – treatable with high success rate.

Non organic aneurosis – can be controlled by medicines to a good extent.

Pica tendency – can be controlled by 2- 4 weeks of medication.

Its noteworthy that mental healthcare of poulation is significant.


VISHA CHIKITSA PRACTICE IN KERALA - AYURVEDIC TOXICOLOGY

I owe this article to my friend

: Sri. Brahmadathan Namboodiri, Ullnoor Mana, Thrissur dist.
anudathanu@gmail.com, Ph. 0487 - 2261222, 9388847128

This has been and still continues to be speciality with emergency medical care.The range of conditions that are cured are wide and the response time is the quickest as they are life saving measures.

I have spend time learning this speciality with traditional Vaidyas who still possess clinical acumen to manage life threatening critical situations.

The scope of this lies not only in snake bite case but also in various toxicology condition of the North East Indian jungles were the troops are in lot of hardship due to poisonous flies, mosquitoes and insects bites that are characteristic of dampy , marshy jungle terrains. Even diseases of allergic nature, non healing ulcers caused due to even viper bites are very well managed.

Its noteworthy that these physicians are generally approached after all other systems of medicine have been tried out with no satisfactory results.

Each case of snake bite is unique. The venom targets the weakness in the body physiology of the victim and attacks it. Russels viper bite usually presents with symptoms like severe burning pain in the bite area which usually spreads to other areas, oedema, weakness in the limbs, severe bleeding etc.

The Ayurvedic clinical management of snake bite can be broadly divided into two.

1. Emergency management.

2. Continued medical evaluation and management.

Emergency Management

The first and foremost aim of an Ayurvedic toxicologist is to manage the emergency and stop the further development of pathology which may present the risk of the patient slipping into a coma, systemic failure and ultimately, death. Ayurveda bases its diagnosis and therapeutics on the theory of three humors and it is thus very important for the physician to find out which of the three humors or their combinations have been vitiated. A very bitter tasting drug is pasted on a betel leaf and given to the patient to chew and he is asked to report the taste experienced. It is noted that tastes like sour and even sweet are experienced by victims of snake bites. Based on this, the further development of pathology can be guessed by the physician and needed measures can be adopted. A number of drugs are also given as per the specific diagnosis. If the patient is unconscious or his response to stimuli are dropping, specific therapeutic measures like nasal medications, Anjana( applications in the eye) are adopted to bring the patient back to consciousness.

Once the patient is stabilized and out of the emergency, the stage of continued medical evaluation and management is commenced.

Continued medical evaluation and management

This stage involves with the various therapeutic procedures to counter the systemic and local symptoms which are of lesser severity and is not of direct risk to the life of the patient. Symptoms such as pain, continued bleeding, stupor, weakness, vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty in micturition etc are managed by the spectrum of medicines and therapeutic procedures explained in the traditional texts of Ayurveda and toxicology.

Usually this stage lasts for one week in the case of Krait or Cobra bites, but in the case of Viper bites, this can extend to 90 days as the symptoms have a greater chance of relapsing by even a slight transgression from Pathya or dietary and habitual regimens prescribed by the physician. Medicines are prescribed to alleviate the associated symptoms such as oedema, ulcers, body pain and weakness etc.

Viper bites are usually associated with non-healing ulcers. These usually need medications ranging from 4 weeks to 12 weeks for complete healing. A number of such non healing ulcer cases present to the VISHA CHIKITSA practitioners of Kerala [notable among them are ULLANOOR MANA Vaidya Valloor Sankaran Namboodiri is a very experienced physician of this speciality Smti Vimala Antarjanam, Brahmadattan Namboodiripad , Trissur district, AVANAPARAMPU MANA Shri. Maheshwaran Namboodiripad, Ph : 04884-232910, Trissur & Manmathan Vaidyan in Nilamboor, Ph. 9446247902 Malapurram Dist.]

Some of the non - healing ulcers are 3-4 years chronic and they achieve a complete recovery by Ayurvedic medication within a time span of three months. This is mainly due to Ayurveda’s stress on correcting the impaired body physiology of the patient rather than on the administration of antibiotics which only serve to kill the microbes which infect the immunologically compromised tissues.

A lot of systemic complications can also develop due to venomous snake bites. One of the most common among them is the renal failure commonly developed in the viper bites. An interesting case was presented at Ullannoor Mana a couple of years back, where a young Christian boy was brought straight from a modern allopathic hospital. He had been bitten by a Russels viper 72 days back. A massive dose of Antivenom had saved the boy from immediate fatality, but soon after the bite he had developed renal failure. The doctors had certified that he had severely necrosed kidneys and was in need of immediate transplant of at least one kidney, which due to the financial constraints the family was unable to afford.

The presenting complaints were severe vomiting. The boy was unable to have any solid or liquid food owing to the severe vomiting and was surviving on fluids. He was severely emaciated and there was hardly any micturition.

Ayurvedic treatments were commenced soon after and after a period of three months of strict dietary and habitual regimen and medicines, he recovered completely. Modern laboratory tests revealed the normal functioning of kidneys and the now healthy individual co operates full time in his family profession. It is worthy to investigate further the role of Ayurvedic treatments in the management of such serious and life threatening complications which can develop even independently.

Some of the other cases that present at these VISHACHIKITSA centres are poisonous spider bites, bites of millipedes, wasp and bee stings and other insect bites including those of the millipedes. Usually in a clinical scenario, these are very commonly misdiagnosed as mere allergic reactions and are treated accordingly. It is a common scenario at these centres to have patients who have not responded to such allopathic treatments and when treated for their actual cause 95% of the patients respond well within a couple of days.

Skin diseases are also very common in these clinics for which treatments have worked well within a very short period of time, where modern treatments have failed to produce any result even by prolonged durations. It is experience of Ayurvedic physicians of Kerala that cases of eczema, fungal infections, skin diseases due to other metabolic disorders like Psoriasis respond well to Ayurvedic treatments. Since the treatments for poisons are also dependant on the humoral triad of Ayurveda, they can be easily adopted in any conditions of similar humoral vitiation, even when there has been no direct involvement of a poisonous substance in the development of the presenting pathology. It has an added advantage that, most of the treatments for poisons have been designed with the time factor in mind, most of these treatments can be directly adapted to the modern clinical scenario where time required for healing of diseases is of prime importance owing to the new economical challenges that the new millennium poses.