Arthritis / Bone / Joint Health Archives | Page 53 of 64

How Ayurveda Deals With Rheumatoid Arthritis (Ra)

Arthritis is a very common disease that has affected millions of people throughout the globe either in the form of osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that primarily affects small joints of hands and feet, further it involves the bigger joints. It is a progressive disease that disturbs the normal chores of individuals and usually it affects females than males. Those who are affected by rheumatism presents with stiff and inflamed joints along with pain. Initially, it affects joints further it can affect the other organs also.

According to Ayurveda

According to Ayurveda rheumatoid arthritis is called as Aamavata. Here, in this condition, the main involved entities are – Agni, Vata and Ama.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS?

Weak immune system
Improper diet and lifestyle
Genetic factor
Risk factors-
Obesity
Age above 50 are more prone to rheumatoid arthritis.
Smoking and alcohol

FAST FACTS ON RA

Swelling and pain increases during the rainy season and cold weather.
RA initially affects small joints, with time it affects large joints too.
Usually, stiffness occurs in the early morning and as the day passes, person feels better.
Stiffness often relieves with mild physical activities.
Sometimes symptoms tend to disappear but relapse after a short period of time.
It also affects other systems of the body.
Initially, RA affects interphalangeal joints, further it can affect bigger joints.

SYMPTOMS

(Reference – Bhavaprakasha / Madhyam khanda / Chikitsa sthana / Chapter no. 26 / Shloka no.7)

In this shloka symptoms of Amavata (Rheumatoid arthritis) are explained, they are

Angamarda (Body pains)

Vrishchak damsha vat vedanam” means the character of pain is same as of scorpion bite.

This is the cardinal sign of rheumatoid arthritis.

Aruchi (Loss of appetite due to mandagni)
Trishna (Increased thirst)
Goravam (Heaviness all over the body)
Jwara (Low-grade fever)
Apaka (Indigestion)
Inflammation – Usually swelling is present in all affected joints, especially more at knees.
Tenderness
Itching – Mostly itching is present along with swelling. Itching occurs due to kapha.
Stiffness – Early morning stiffness is also a cardinal sign of amavata. Gentle physical activities relieve stiffness
Warm – On touch, the inflamed area is hot /warm.
Weakness
Decreased sleep
Reduced mobility or functional deformity of affected joints
In severe cases, joint deformity (swan neck deformity), arthritis mutilans and nodules can occur.

DIAGNOSIS

Alone on a clinical basis, we can’t confirm the diagnosis, we need to take the help of some other diagnostic tools to confirm rheumatoid arthritis.

These diagnostic tools are:

Rheumatoid factor
ESR (Erythrocyte sedimentation rate)
C-reactive (CRP)
X–ray
MRI

MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The main cause of amavata is Mandagni so, the management starts with Agni

Management Strategy includes:

Increasing digestive fire
Detoxifying the body
Symptomatic management
Restoring functional deformity.
Boosting Immunity

TREATMENT ACCORDING TO AYURVEDA

Treatment includes palliative care as well as detoxifying procedures, they are

Panchakarma

Among purification procedures Patra pinda swedana or Valluka Sweda, Upanaha sweda, Virechana, Vaitarna basti or Kshaar basti are helpful. They help to remove toxins and restore the functional deformities.

PALLIATIVE CARE

Internal medicines are required to remove toxins, manage the symptoms and eradicate the cause of rheumatoid arthritis. Thus, Planet Ayurveda offers herbal supplements to manage rheumatoid arthritis by the name of ‘RA CARE PACK’, that includes – Boswellia curcumin, Aamavatantak churna, Joint aid plus, Ashwagandha and Rumogin 5 capsules.

Let us go through their action

BOSWELLIA CURCUMIN

These capsules contain Shallaki (Boswellia serrata) and Haridra (Curcuma longa). Shallaki is a well-known herb for its action on joints. It has anti-arthritic and anti–inflammatory properties that help to relieve inflammation, restores the function of affected joints, and reduces the level of cartilage degrading enzyme.
Haridra has anti- inflammatory and anti- histamine properties thus relieves inflammation and infections.

Dosage: 2 capsules twice daily with plain water, after meals.

AAMVATANTAK CHURNA

The constituents of this formulation are – Ashwagandha, haridra, methi, gorakhmundi, surnanjan, shunthi. These herbs help to eliminate toxins, cleanse the channels of body, relieves stiffness and also these herbs act on digestive fire thus work as an appetizer and reduces the production of Aama.

Dosage: ½ to 1 teaspoon twice daily with plain water, after meals.

ASHWAGANDHA CAPSULES

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a health tonic that helps to rejuvenate the body, boosts up immunity and also helps to maintain body strength and vigor. In amavata, ashwagandha alters the surroundings of joints so that the toxins will not gather over them.

Dosage: 2 capsules twice a day with plain water, after meals.

JOINT AID PLUS

These capsules composed of nirgundi, shallaki, ashwagandha, sounth, guggulu and giloy. It is considered as one of the best herbal supplements for rheumatoid arthritis because the herbs possess anti- inflammatory and analgesic properties. Thus, it reduces inflammation of swollen joints and pains by removing aama from the affected joints.

Dosage: 2 capsules twice daily with plain water, after meals.

RUMOGIN 5 CAPSULES

This herbal formulation contains, haldi, shallaki, and trikatu (saunth, maricha, and pippali). Basically, helps to strengthen joints detoxify body

Dosage: 1 capsule twice daily with plain water, after meals.

EXTERNAL APPLICATION

a) Lepa application of medicated paste over affected joints is beneficial. For this, you can prefer – vaishnavar churna, panchakola churna, etc.
b) Abhyanga – Oil massage is helpful you can use vishagarbha taila, dashmula taila, prasarnyadi taila, brihat saindhava taila, etc.

GUIDELINES

YOGA AND PHYSICAL EXERCISES are helpful in this condition to relieve stiffness.

HOME REMEDIES

You can add shunthi (dry ginger) powder in your diet, daily consumption of 1 gm of shunthi with lukewarm water on an empty stomach is proven beneficial in this condition.
Gomutra – Cow urine is helpful in treating rheumatoid arthritis, you can consume 5 ml of cow urine daily.
You can use hot and cold pack compressions alternately.
Castor oil is also helpful.

Diet in Rheumatoid arthritis

Avoid

Curd, milk, black gram, oily foods, all sea foods, citrus fruits, potatoes, brinjal, red meat, fast food, etc.

In Take

Prefer – Shunthi, shigru, rasona, hot water, black pepper, haldi, amla ajwain, hinga, jeeraka, karela, neem, apple, pumpkin, pointed gourd, lentils, etc.

How useful is Giloy in Treating Various Diseases?

Overview

Giloy, (Tinospora cordifolia) the Ayurvedic root of immortality, is the queen of all herbs because of its qualities in healing so many diseases. It is thought to be the nectar of god Indra, that’s the reason why it is called ‘Amrita’ (pious liquid or nectar). It has a history that tells the story of this magical plant’s birth, it is believed during Samundra Manthan, when a pot full of Amrita, came out of the sea, the demons snatched it and ran away.

So while running a few drops of Amrita fell on earth which took the form of a climbing herb called Giloy. It is used in numerous drug formulations. It is a tonic that heals various diseases, basically it is anti-allergic, anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-malarial. It has proven to be an anti-oxidant in modern science.

What are Health Benefits of Giloy?

It has lots of health benefits and helps in preventing and healing numerous diseases.
It is able to restore your holistic wellbeing.
It has immuno-modulatory effects that make the tension and anxiety wither away.
It is quite helpful in Dengue, as it increases the number of platelets in the blood.
Besides all these, it also has many secret benefits too.

Let’s discuss its benefits in detail;

Boosts Immunity

That’s the foremost and most significant job of Giloy, to encourage the immune system to produce more healthy antigens that are always ready to combat with any foreign invaders that harm the body after entering in it.
It thus gives it more power to strongly snap the heels of these harmful rivals and not let any infection settle down in the body and create disease.
It also protects the body’s health by throwing out the toxins and free radicals that linger on the walls of liver & kidneys, the 2 major organs that filter nutrients from wastage. It also combats with urinary tract infections.

Aids Digestion

Giloy works as a tonic to solve digestive disorders and enhance digestion and takes care of irregular bowel movements.

How to Take

Get ½ gram of Giloy powder and some powder of Amla, and have it regularly. It keeps all the disturbances in the digestive system at bay.
Taking Giloy juice with buttermilk will also have positive effects in this case.
This remedy is also beneficial for the patients of piles or it can be mixed with jaggery to heal constipation.

Treat gastro-intestinal disorders

Giloy’s regular use has a bacteriostatic effect on all types of gastro-intestinal disorders. It helps in passing the gas out of your gut area, and thus avoid bloating.

Urinary tract infections

Giloy extract is often used to heal all kind of urinary infection,especially it is too beneficial for people consuming alcohol on a regular basis.

How Giloy is Beneficial in Alcoholism

Alcohol damages the liver and Giloy extract vitalizes the liver tissues, thus safe guarding the liver along with heart and kidneys.

Boosts Memory

The Giloy intake also enhances the spontaneity reaction and enhances memory.

Heart Disorders

Giloy along with another herb, piper nigum can improve cardio health.
It helps in lifting the blockage in the arteries as well as in the heart, thus improve the cardiac function.
It is also able to take care of cardiac conditions like angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart diseases and in some arrhythmias.

Giloy treats cancer:

It activates the production of stem cells in massive numbers and thus enhances the production of white blood cells and bone marrow cells, enhancing the phagocytic activities.
Giloy extract has also proved to reduce the chemo-toxicity, which is created by free radical forming chemicals.
It can be taken orally with other herbal extracts to save from Cyclophosphamide.

Stress Management

In fact, Giloy can be used as an adaptogenic herb as well. Thus it helps in lowering tension from your mind and erases anxiety and change your mood to be happy and full of enthusiasm.
When combined with some other herbs like Amla etc.
it withers away the toxins from your mind, enhances the memory power, keeps you cool and works as a superb health tonic that always keeps you cheerful.

Viral Infections:

The viral menace is caused by mosquitoes that multiply in massive numbers during the monsoon and every year millions are infected by it.
By the onset of winter it deteriorates the whole situation.
Giloy comes as an Ayurvedic angel that can protect your body from this horrible devil.
It reduces the ill effects of this devil that are inevitable on your body, it acts as an Ayurvedic root of immortality, has amazing healing strength.
It has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer and anti-pyretic properties.
It is also safe for kids who attain the age of at least 5 years.

Helps in controlling Diabetes:

Giloy extraction helps the diabetic patients and acts as an agent of hypoglycaemic, especially in type 2 diabetes.
It enhances the production of insulin and improves the ability to burn glucose that is lying in excess.
It also works wonderfully to reduce the high level of sugar present in the blood.
It also lowers the high blood pressure, thus cure of diabetes becomes inevitable, especially the type 2.

Helpful in Arthritis:

Giloy being an anti-inflammatory help in curing arthritis and its many symptoms.
Its extract and decoction can be used to heal the management of rheumatoid arthritis, excess rate deposition and gouty arthritis.
If your joints pain, take some of its powder and mix it in the milk and boil it.
Take it off the flames and let it cool, but drink it when it is still warm.
Ginger powder can be mixed with Giloy powder to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Other Benefits of Giloy

Giloy powder can also be used to clean respiratory canals, treat chronic fever, asthma and it also enhances your vision.
It is considered a super food in the Ayurvedic world as it prevents and treats so many diseases effectively.