We invite you to escape the stresses of your life with
Ayurveda, an extra ordinary Mind-Body medicine.
Epilepsy is a neural disorder due to abnormal electric discharges in brain. It is characterized by recurrent seizures, involuntary body movements and loss of consciousness.
Causes of Epilepsy
• Genetic causes related to congenital birth anomaly and brain abnormalities
• Severe head injury
• Stroke
• Tumors and infections of brain
Ayurvedic view of Epilepsy
Ayurvedic classics like Charaka Samhita and Madhava nidana has references about Apasmara which can be correlated to epilepsy.
Apasmara, the word indicates loss of memory. You feel like entering into darkness, tama pravesha (blackout) and begin to do bibhatsa chesta (violent jerky body movements) during Apasmara.
How Apasmara occurs?
Due to intake of filthy and mutually contradictory diet , indulgence in mentally and physically contempt actions , your mental doshes Rajas and Tamas gets vitiated which affects channels of sanjna , (consciousness).
Before, episodes of apasmara, you may feel contraction of eye brows, irregular movements of eyes, palpiationof heart, delusion and sleeplessness as prodromal symptoms.
Ayurvedic management of Apasmara
Ayurveda advocates use of diet, lifestyle modification, medications and therapies which helps to balance the vitiation of doshas and increase Satva guna , positivity for improving your quality of life . Meticulously following Ayurvedic advices along with Panchakarma therapies help to reduce the associated symptoms and prevent recurrence of episodes of epilepsy.
Dietary advises for Apasmara
• Red variety of Sali rice (Oryza sativa), Sashtika Sali rice ( Navara rice ), wheat, milk, ghee, pomegranate, gooseberry, green gram are suitable to include in diet as per Ayurvedic classics. In general, fresh fruit and vegetables with nutritional content are good to go in your daily diet.
• All the junk and fried, stale foods should be kept away from your diet as these cause dosha vitiation.
Lifestyle advises for Apasmara
• Having cold water bath, hearing soothing music, and taking rest are good to include in your routine. Also say no to physical and mental exertion.
• Maintaining balanced diet and timely routine helps to avoid untimely recurrence of episodes of apasmara.
• Avoiding triggers like high alcohol and caffeine intake which increase Rajas and tamo gunas in the body also helps.
Medications and therapies in Apasmara management
• Ayurvedic herbs which promote intellect and improving memory are mainly used in the treatment of apasmara . Many of these herbs are ingredients in medicated oils, ghee and rasayanas used to manage apasmara.
• Brahmi – Bacopa monneiri
• Shankhapushpi – Clitoria ternataea
• Koosmanda – Benicasa hispida
• Jyotishmati – Celastrus paniculatus
• Amalaki – Emblica officinalis
• Jatamamsi – Nardostachys jatamansi
• Ayurvedic treatments like abhyanga, shirodhara , shirovasti , nasya are helpful in treating apasmara .
Epilepsy is manageable, care yourself more, and remain positive.
Are you in your senility struggling to walk or sit properly? Are you having tremors and memory trouble also? If yes, read this blog carefully. This might be a useful piece of information for you.
Parkinson’s disease – an introduction
Parkinson's disease refers to a clinical condition with symptoms like tremor, rigidity and difficulty in movements. It comes under age related degenerative disorders of Central nervous system. Parkinson’s disease occurs around the age of 60 years or later in life.
Causes of Parkinson’s disease
Primarily Parkinson’s disease occurs due to damage of brain cells which produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter which helps to regulate body movements.
Secondary causes include infections, stroke, tumours of brain, exposure to toxins, certain drugs etc. Genetic and environmental causes also have a significant role in this.
Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
You might be experiencing many of these symptoms too.
• Facial masking or hypomimia- muscles of your face becomes stiff making it difficult to express yourself and even to smile clearly .
• Stooped posture - this occurs due to muscle stiffness.
• Drooling, speech and swallowing difficulties.
• Tremor -
Pill rolling tremor in hand – you might be having tremor like a pill rolling between your thumb and fore finger.
Resting tremor is also seen which decreases during sleep and when your body is moving. Tremors are seen in chin, jaw, legs etc.
• Dizziness , memory problems
• Bradykinesia – difficulty to initiate movements and slowness whole moving.
• Dyskinesia – involuntary jerking kind of movements of face, arms, legs etc.
• Stiffness in either one or both sides of the body.
• Micrographia - Hand writing becomes small and illegible.
• Shuffling gait with small steps
Ayurvedic view of Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is correlated to ‘Kampavata’ in Ayurvedic texts.
The word Kampa means shaking or tremor. Kampa occurs as a symptom when Kapha dosha in the body decreases.
Kampavata occurs due to Vata dosha, wind energy vitiation in the body. It is also accompanied by symptoms like Stambha (rigidity) and Chestasanga (difficulty in movements),Kseenatvam in buddhi and smriti (impaired intellect and memory), vak vikriti (speech abnormalities), vibandham (constipation) etc.
Kampa vata comes under Vata predominant diseases (nanathmaja vyadhis )
How Vata dosha gets deranged?
• Consumption of dry , cold , fried food
• Continuous exposure to dry wind, cold weather
• Excessive physical and mental exertion.
• External trauma
Managing Kampavata through Ayurveda
Ayurveda gives you the hope to sustain your daily life.
Stay hopeful and healthy all again.
Many a times we are hearing about excessive sweating and personal inconvenience due to that. What will happen when you sweat too less? Is it good or bad for your health? Discover more about this in the following blog.
Inspite of all the technological developments, inventions and so called luxuries and comforts, are we healthy? Are we happy? Are we enjoying our life?, The majority will have the answer “NO”. What can be the reason? The answer is simple — STRESS.
Inspite of all the technological developments, inventions, and so called luxuries and comforts are we healthy?? Are we happy? Are we enjoying our life ? The majority will have the answer “NO”. What can be the reason? The answer is simple—STRESS.
Right from the time of birth till the last breath drawn, an individual is invariably exposed to various stressful situations. Whenever a potentially threatening situation appear in front of us stress hormones (Adrenalin and Norepinephrine produced from adrenal gland) are released in our blood stream to endure with the situation. When our ancestors used to face a threat in the form of natural disaster,devastating emotional loss,or an encounter with a powerful predator these stress hormones released in our blood stream where each individual use to addresses and resolve the situation by the effort or the work which they deliver, so that hormonal levels return to normality. In those days this fight or flight latitude was vital which was used in only emergencies.
Now we are living at such a pace that instead of using these stress hormones in emergencies, we activate them all the time they are everywhere, every day a hectic morning, power struggles with adamant children, traffic jams, encounters with road rage, handling your annoyed boss, time-sensitive deadlines, challenging interpersonal dynamics and countless others.
We cannot physically run from our perceived threats. In short if these minor stresses today trigger the full activation of our stress hormones in continuous manner causing us to become aggressive hypervigilant and over reactive. These cause us to act or respond in ways that are actually counter-productive to our survival. Continous activation of stress hormones causes negative effects such as
.Weight gain
.Sleep deprecation
.Gastro intestinal problems
.Cardio vascular disease
.Fertility problems
.Behavioural problems
We know that in this stressful life, it is very difficult in maintaining a discipline life. A true answer for your stress is “Ayurveda “ Ayurveda is the extra ordinary mind-body medicine with its great yogic, spiritual tradition, a tremendous resource for bringing wholeness to all levels of our existence.
Ayurveda recognises four primary levels of healing
1.Disease Treatment-It aims at fixing something already broken
2. Disease prevention-A higher levels of healing is to eliminate disease before they manifest. To reach this stage we must consider the effects of our lifestyle, environment, work and psychological condition.
3. Life enhancement-Aims at improving our vitality and enabling us to live longer.
4.Awareness development-Requires a spiritual approach to life,including meditation.
Here in Kooplicat Ayurveda Hospital we adopted simple logic of management of stress, based on treatment principle in Ayurveda, besides that in order to get relief from any abnormalities we should indulge in activities, regimens, diet and medicines with the qualities opposite to those are manifested in the body in the form of abnormality.
Dr. Deepthi J
Chief Physician
Kooplicat Ayurveda Hospital
Ayurveda, the science of life, prevention and longevity is the oldest and most holistic medical system available on the planet today.
Ayurveda, the science of life, prevention and longevity is the oldest and most holistic medical system available on the planet today. It was placed in written form over 5,000 years ago in India, it was said to be a world medicine dealing with both body and the spirit. Before the advent of writing, the ancient wisdom of this healing system was a part of the spiritual tradition of the Sanatana Dharma (Universal Religion), or Vedic Religion.
Veda Vyasa, the famous sage, shaktavesha avatar of Vishnu, put into writing the complete knowledge of Ayurveda, along with the more directly spiritual insights of self realization into a body of scriptural literature called the Vedas and the Vedic literatures. There were originally four main books of spirituality, which included among other topics, health, astrology, spiritual business, government, army, poetry and spiritual living and behavior.
These books are known as the four Vedas; Rik, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. The Rik Veda, a compilation of verse on the nature of existence, is the oldest surviving book of any Indo-European language (3000 B.C.).
The Rik Veda (also known as Rig Veda) refers to the cosmology known as Sankhya which lies at the base of both Ayurveda and Yoga, contains verses on the nature of health and disease, pathogenesis and principles of treatment. Among the Rik Veda are found discussions of the three dosas, Vayu. Pitta and Kapha, and the use of herbs to heal the diseases of the mind and body and to foster longevity.
The Atharva Veda lists the eight divisions of Ayurveda: Internal Medicine, Surgery of Head and Neck, Opthamology and Otorinolaryngology, Surgery, Toxicology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Gerontology or Science of Rejuvenation, and the Science of Fertility. The Vedic Sages took the passages from the Vedic Scriptures relating to Ayurveda and compiled separate books dealing only with Ayurveda.
One of these books, called the Atreya Samhita is the oldest medical book in the world! The Vedic Brahmanas were not only priests performing religious rites and ceremonies, they also became Vaidyas (physicians of Ayurveda). The sage-physician-surgeons of the time were the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people, who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation.
In other words, the knowledge of the use of various methods of healing, prevention, longevity and surgery came through Divine revelation; there was no guessing or testing and harming animals. These revelations were transcribed from the oral tradition into book form, interspersed with the other aspects of life and spirituality. What is fascinating is Ayurveda use of herbs, foods, aromas, gems, colors, yoga, mantras, lifestyle and surgery. Consequently Ayurveda grew into a respected and widely used system of healing in India.
Around 1500 B.C., Ayurveda was delineated into eight specific branches of medicine. There were two main schools of Ayurveda at that time. Atreya- the school of physicians, and Dhanvantari - the school of surgeons. These two schools made Ayurveda a more scientifically verifiable and classifiable medical system.
One of these books, called the Atreya Samhita is the oldest medical book in the world! The Vedic Brahmanas were not only priests performing religious rites and ceremonies, they also became Vaidyas (physicians of Ayurveda). The sage-physician-surgeons of the time were the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people, who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation.
Swasthavritta is a science of Health, which prescribes the theory, and practice of the maintenance of public and private health. Swasthavritta in Ayurveda means maintenance of the health of an individual. The ayurvedic lifestyle followed during the yester years and the vitality of the people living then is proof in itself on how beneficial following a healthy regime is. The rules and regulations in respect to maintaining proper well being of the physique are two-fold: i) Consumption of diet and ii) Observance of personal, moral, seasonal and spiritual conduct.
Swasthavritta mainly emphasizes on following a proper daily regime as well as seasonal regime. Daily regime deals with instructions for day-to day living like morning routine, basic cleanliness, natural urges, evening routine etc. Apart from this there are added features like the importance of medicinal smoking and tambula chewing. The seasonal changes and climatic changes also have a particularly important effect on the health. Hence Ayurveda has recommended a seasonal specific conduct. These activities help us to cope up with the changes in the environment. Swasthavritta also includes Sadvritta that can be classified into five types i.e. Good mental conduct, Good social conduct, Good religious conduct, Good personal conduct and Good moral conduct.
Food, Sleep and controlled sex are regarded as the pillars or tripods holding life and health. Timely intake of suitable and good quality food, regular sleeping habits and controlled indulgence in sex ensure long and healthy life. Maintenance of one's mental balance is also equally important and Ayurveda offers spiritual and mental treatments for ailments in which no physical relief can be offered. Thus SVASTHAVRITTA means the behaviour or act by which a person can maintain health and lead a healthy life. Health and Longevity are certain to follow, if the rules of maintaining health, as given in Ayurveda, are strictly followed.
"Aturavritta "(Ayurvedic treatment) aims at not just alleviating/removing the problems of the diseased person, but then to see later that the same patient do not recur the same disease. Aushadhi Chikitsa i.e. treatment with medicines, Ayurveda discusses a huge, rich compendium of medication, basically natural in origin. The common myth about Ayurvedic medicines is that they are of herbal origin. But it also comprises medicines of mineral and animal origin such as gold, silver, copper, iron, milk, ghee, honey, musk, pearl, coral etc. and some times with a combination of these three groups. A more interesting part of Ayurvedic treatment is that it discusses its treatment along with four guide lines: AHARA (diet correction), VIHARA (activity correction) ACHARA (lifestyle correction) and VICHARA (thought process correction) In Ahara, Ayurveda has described the properties of different foods, starting from daily food articles such as grains, pulses, and cereals to various other articles such as milk, buttermilk, ghee, water and so on. It gives definite rules about Do's and Don'ts of eating, for healthy eating.
In Vihara, it speaks about certain things that are to be undertaken and some of the things which are to be avoided. For e.g., Ayurveda always mentioned that 'Vyayamam' i.e. exercise, is to be carried out daily but also cautions that if one undertakes heavy, disproportionate work-outs/exercises, it will be harmful to the individual. Also, it also gives hints and do's and don'ts regarding sleeping patterns and several other things. In Achara it stress on the mode of life style which needs correction so that present disease will not reappear later. Here patient has to discuss his lifestyle and has taken proper advice from the Ayurvedic physician for rearranging his styles in life. In Vichara, it stress upon the distressing of the mind, modes of relaxation and how to solve the solvable problems and how to live harmoniously with the non-solvable issues.
Moringa is discovered in Northern India around 2000 B.C. Royal Vaidyas discovered its medical impact and it became an integral part of traditional Ayurvedic Medicine.