James Chacko

AN AYURVEDIC MULTI MODAL INTERVENTION IN KNEE JOINT OSTEOARTHRITIS: A CASE STUDY

Osteoarthritis is characterised by gradual loss of cartilage which mostly affects the weight bearing joints such as knees and hip. The symptoms of OA such as pain, swelling, stiffness of joint and restricted range of movements, resembles with Sandhigatavata mentioned in Ayurveda as a vatavyadhi (disorder of biological humour). The current management for this condition proves to be of little effect. Yogaratnakaram, treatise of Ayurveda, had specially mentioned a chikitsa soothra (line of treatment) for its management, which seems to be more practical and effective. This is the case study of a 61-year-old woman, who complained pain and swelling in mutual knee joints and had limited movements. By the clinical presentations, she was diagnosed as a case of Sandhigata vata and got screened based on Kellgrens radiological scale. Blood investigations was done to exclude other inflammatory conditions. Treatment planned was Swedana (sudation), upanaha (warm poultice), sthanika abhyanga (local massage with oil) and mardana (massage) externally and internally – mathravasthi (oil enema) and shamanoushadhi (pacifiers) yogaraja guggulu tablet with Rasna kashaya (decoction of Alpinia galanja) as anupana (adjuvant). Assessment of the condition of the patient before and after treatment was done based on Visual analogue scale for pain, and Womac scale for physical activity grading in order to evaluate efficacy of the treatment. After assessing the parameters, noteworthy improvement was seen in the subjective symptoms and objective – womac scale, on the completion of 30 days programme of treatment. The physical activity grading also improved significantly suggesting the relevance of the present study on a commonest, chronic degenerative disorder.

A REVIEW ON AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVE OF NEOPLASTIC DISORDERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LEUKEMIA

Neoplasm is defined as a mass of tissue that is formed by an abnormal, autonomous and excessive proliferation of cells. Neoplasms can be basically categorized into benign (Tumor) and malignant (Cancer) types. Leukemia is a type of malignant neoplasm, having malignant clonal expansion of immature myeloid or lymphoid blast cells characterized by increase in circulating WBCs. A review of Ayurveda samhitas (treatises) provides us with only some basic classification of arbuda, which is the nearest possible correlation for neoplasm available. An in-depth analysis of our classics shows that Raktaja arbuda described by acharyas is fundamentally different from the modern leukemia. An attempt to delve deep into the pathogenesis of leukemia, particularly various kinds of leukemia and possibly correlate the different stages to many multitudes of diseases described by Ayurveda acharyas is done. Leukemia is widely regarded as a manageable disease with good prognosis, if detected early. In spite of this, certain types of leukemia have a tendency to spread rapidly with unpredictable behavior. We have to assess the role Ayurveda can play in the management of Leukemia.

An exploratory clinical study to determine the utility of heart rate variability analysis in the assessment of dosha imbalance

The present study is a comparison of the data of spectral analysis of heart rate variability with clinical evaluation of pathological state of doshas. The calculated cardiointervalography values are combined into three integral indexes, which according to the authors opinion reflect the influence on heart rhythm of vata, pitta and kapha, the regulation systems of the body known as doshas in Ayurveda. Seven gross dosha imbalances were assessed to test the agreement between the two methods in this study. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) spectral data was collected from 42 participants to make the comparison with the clinical assessment of dosha imbalance. Clinical method of dosha assessment and method of calculating integral indexes by cardiointervalography data showed substantial agreement by Kappa coefficient statistic (k = 0.78) in assessment of gross dosha imbalance. The results of the data generated from this pilot study warrant further studies to rigorously validate the algorithms of HRV analysis in understanding dosha imbalance in Ayurvedic clinical practice and research settings.