Tag: Liver Transplant

Factors Responsible For Liver Failure How Does Ayurveda Deals With It

Abstract

Problems like liver failure has immerse to a great height nowadays. The main reason if it is modernization. People at a very young age of their life start drinking alcohol it could be due to peer pressure or due to any other reason. But this is not the only one factor contributing to liver failure there are so many. Such as in developing countries infections like hepatitis, viruses are the main reason of chronic liver disease & hepatobillary (liver + gall bladder) carcinoma that ultimately leads to hepatic failure.

Ayurveda is the ancient most science that focuses on examining the disease first then going toward the management part. This is beautifully explained in the below mentioned verse.

It states that a physician should try to diagnose the disease first then proceed towards the application of medicine. He should always need to have a detailed knowledge of the ailment.

In this article let put some rays on the factors responsible for liver failure & how ayurveda deals with it does.

Cirrhosis of the Liver

Introduction

Firstly let’s discuss about the liver: Liver- It is an organ situated at the right hypochondrium quadrant of abdomen. It plays major role in maintaining metabolism of the body & in detoxifying the blood. It weighs about 1-1.8 kg in humans.

According to ayurveda we call it “Yakrit” (liver) the main place of ‘Agni’ (digestive fire). It releases various useful enzymes and hormones in the circulation.

How does it originate in humans?

This verse explains that – yakrit (liver) & paliha (pancreas) develops from the blood during the embryonic stage of life.

This yakrit (liver) & paliha (pancreas) are the main seat of Raktavah Srotas (blood containing channels) in the body.

Functions Of Liver

  • It produce albumin (a protein found in blood serum)
  • Helps in synthesis of angiotensinogen (hormone) important for raising the blood pressure.
  • Gall bladder a small pouch that’s present below the liver, produces Bile (contain cholesterol & bile acids) that helps in breakdown of fat.

Definition Of Liver Failure

It means inability of the liver to perform its functions properly there is formation of necrosis (death) in hepatocytes (liver cells).

This is of two types

  • Acute liver failure: There is rapid development of hepatic failure in this due to any underlying pathology or hepatotoxic drugs (e.g. NSAIDS non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, anti depressants)
  • Chronic liver failure: When a person suffering from liver disease from a longer duration of time such as due to cirrhosis, cholestatic jaundice.
  • In regards to our classical text: In rakatavah srotas dushti, vitiation of pitta dosha is usually seen that leads to rakat (blood) toxification.

Causes

As per ayurveda the main reason of raktavah srotas dushti are as follows:

  • Consume vidhai anna (acidity causing food)
  • Over intake of snigdh (soft), ushan (hot), drav (liquid) diet.
  • Excessive exposure to sunlight and fire.

Other causes

  • Halimak vyadhi (chronic obstructive jaundice) – in this there is formation of greenish yellow discoloration in the skin.
  • Kumbh kamla (chronic jaundice with edema) – presence of edema along with the dark yellow coloured urine & stool.
  • Panaki (chronic jaundice complicated with diarrhea).

In modern science

  • Acute viral hepatitis is the most common cause worldwide.
  • Drug toxicity example paracetamol toxicity.
  • Mushroom (Amanita phalloides) poisoning during pregnancy.
  • Excessive consumption of alcohol.
  • Iron and copper overload.
  • Due to underlying autoimmune diseases.
  • Certain carcinoma.
  • Over intake of fat rich diet leads to fatty liver disease.
  • Cholecystitis (inflammation of gall bladder).
  • Cholelithiasis (gall stones).
  • Non alcoholic fatty liver disease.
  • Herditary
  • Obstructive jaundice.

Clinical Features: It means the complaints, patient present in front of physician. They are as follows:-

  • General body weakness.
  • Nausea & vomiting.
  • Clubbing of fingers (abnormal shape of nail bed)
  • Bruising (bluish discoloration of skin) over the body.
  • Jaundice (presence of yellow coloration of skin & sclera of eye).
  • Dilated abdominal veins.
  • Edema (fluid accumulation)
  • Profuse sweating.
  • Low blood pressure.
  • Ascites (fluid in the abdominal cavity).
  • Fatigue.
  • Bodyache
  • Anorexia (loss of hunger)
  • Drowsiness (lethargic)
  • Indigestion
  • Polydipsia (excessive thirst)

DIAGNOSIS

It means how we can identify the disease. There are various methods:

  • Physical examination of the patient: by analyzing the physical signs seen in patient body.
  • History taking: A proper history taking play a role of asset in diagnosing the disease.
  • Laboratory findings: it includes:
    1. Complete blood count.
    2. Liver function test – It includes serum bilirubin, SGOT, SGPT etc.
    3. Toxicology screening of urine.
    4. Prothrombin time becomes prolonged as liver plays a major role in the synthesis of coagulation factors that got hampered in this.
    5. Percutaneous Liver biopsy
  • Past history: Generally there is presence of family history.

According to ayurveda we diagnose the disease

Trividh pariksha (Set of 3 examination)

  • Darshan (diagnosis is made by visual examination of the symptoms)
  • Sparshan (physician use tactile examination to evaluate whether skin is cold/hot)
  • Prashan (physician ask direct question form the patient)

Asthavidh pariksha (Set of 8 examination procedure)

  • Nadi pariksha – by palpating the pulse rate of the patient.
  • Mutra pariksha – by examining the urine of the patient.
  • Mal pariksha – by stool examination.
  • Jivha pariksha – by examining the tongue whether coated or not.
  • Shabad pariksha – by observing the natural sounds within the body like intestinal sound (peristalsis)
  • Sparsh pariksha – by observing the patient skin texture whether it is cool, wet or dry.in psoriasis it is usually dry, rough in texture.
  • Drik pariksha – when physician inspect patient symptoms through his/her eyes. In liver disease patient yellowish discoloration of skin (jaundice) is the prime finding.
  • Akriti pariksha – observing the patient body posture whether lean or obese.

Management

  • Condition like liver failure is usually a non recoverable ailment. If we diagnose it in its early phase then the recovery rate is good. But once it reaches the chronic phase then only management is the final solution we cannot completely cure this.
  • In modern science they recommend you to go for a liver transplant procedure, every individual cannot afford this as it an expensive procedure & you need to find the right donor for this.

But with ayurveda we can manage its growth with certain herbal drugs such as Bhumiamlaki, kalmegh, daru haridra. Etc.

Line of treatment according to ayurveda: as it is pita elevated “tridoshaj vyadhi”

A. Sanshodhan Chikitsa (Detoxification procedure) –

  • Virechan (Purgation) is the best technique to release out the pita dosha from the body by anal route.
  • Raktamokshan (Bloodletting) It is considered as “ardh chikitsa” (As a whole treatment) by acharya shushruta because it helps in purifying the blood by removing harmful toxins from it.

B. SAMSHMAN CHIKITSA (By medication) – in this we control the disease by subsiding dosha with in the body itself

  1. Drink gomutra(Cowurine) – 15 to 20 ml early in the morning
  2. Triphala sawaras early in the morning.
  3. Cowmilk with cowurine (15 to 20 ml) drink it empty stomach after waking up.

Planet Ayurveda offers various formulations that aid in managing the further advancement of this:

Liver Care Pack

Product Description

1. Liver Detox Formula

  • Ingredients: Katuki (Picrorrhiza kurrao), Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata), Kasni (Cichorium intybus) etc.
  • Above mentioned herbs are natural supplement works as hepatoprotective agents (Good for liver), help in lowering the blood pressure, so prove as best medication in liver disease.
  • Dosage: 2 capsules twice daily after meals.

2. Indian Echinacea

  • Ingredients: kalmegha/bhunimab (Andrographis paniculata)
  • It is mentioned as the best herb to enhance the liver function in the body. It has properties like pita sarak (releases pita dosha from the body), krimighan (kill worms)
  • Help in maintaining the immune system and supporting overall health it will provide strength to the patient body in hepatic failure.
  • Dosage: 2 capsules twice daily after meals.

3. Yakritplihantak Churna

  • Ingredients: Is a herbal powder formulation containing herbs like Phyllanthus niruri, Eclipta Alba, Picorrhiza kurro, Andrographis panniculata etc.
  • All these herbs works as natural analgesics (pain killer), appetizer (enhance hunger) & hypotensive (lower blood pressure) thus help in managing further growth of hepatic failure.
  • Dosage: You can boil the powder 1 teaspoonful in 400 ml water, keep it boiling until it remains 50 ml. Strain it and drink the water. Leave the residue. Do it twice daily. Make fresh every time.

4. Phyllanthus Niruri

  • Ingredient: Bhumi amla (Phyllanthus niruri)
  • It posses sheeta virya (cold potency) best suited for lowering the vitiated pitta dosha, also is a hepatoprotective & hypotensive herb, thus help in maintenance of Liver function so effective in liver failure.
  • DOSAGE: 2 capsules twice daily after meals.

In our ancient text it is also mentioned that:

  • If a physician have a good knowledge of curable and non curable disease after that when he precede the treatment in time, he will surely succeeds. But if he try to treat incurable disease even after knowing that it is a non treatable ailment, he will certainly suffers from the loss of arth (wealth), vidya (his/her study), yash (reputation) in the society.
  • The main conclusion of above verse is- it is very important for a doctor to tell his patient that your disease is a non curable one, we cannot treat it completely but we can stop its advancement with herbal medication.

Conclusion

Now we can conclude that liver failure is a condition where disease progress to the advanced stage the only treatment modality for it is liver transplant as per modern science but with ayurveda we can manage its progression by using proper herbal medicine, dietary changes & lifestyle changes.

Planet ayurveda the leading herbal manufacturing unit offers you best herbs and diet charts made under the supervision of ayurveda experts. Products are 100% organic & preservative free. So there is no need to worry when we have planet ayurveda with us. You can contact us through our website www.planetayurveda.com

Yakrit Plihantak Churna Regulates TNF-Alpha & IL1-beta and Reduces Hepatic Inflammation

Overview

As the Ayurveda system of medicines is the oldest and natural medicinal system, a large number of chronic diseases can be treated with Ayurvedic medicines. Ayurvedic medicines are made up of natural herbs only which treat the root cause of the disease in a natural way without showing any side effects. From one of the dreadful disorders, hepatic inflammation is one and affecting a large portion of the population. But to treat this, Yakrit Plihantak churna is used and very positive results of this herbal remedy are observed. In this article, we will study about the disorder hepatic inflammation and how Yakrit Plihantak churna provides relief from this condition.

What Is Hepatic Inflammation?

Hepatic or Liver inflammation can be defined as the reaction occurring after attack by a disease-causing substance or microbes on liver cells. It affects the various digestive functions along with some other activities occurring in the liver and makes the patient uncomfortable due to inflammation. Major functions performed by the liver includes production of bile for converting food into energy, production of hormones, regulating fat storage, cholesterol generation, purifying the blood and excreting toxins from the body including alcohol and drugs. But due to hepatic inflammation, all these activities got disturbed.

The term “Hepatitis” is considered for inflammation of the liver. Most types of hepatitis occur from viral infection and sometimes by auto-immune disorders hat affect the body’s immune system which further begins to attack liver cells and cause inflammation in the liver.

hepatic inflammation

Signs and symptoms observed in the patient of Hepatic inflammation include

  1. Yellowness of the eyes and skin
  2. Intermittent vomiting
  3. Nausea
  4. Pale stool color
  5. Dark urine color
  6. Itchy skin
  7. Swelling in the ankles and legs
  8. Pain and swelling in the abdominal area

What Is Tnf-Alpha?

TNF-alpha stands for Tumor necrosis factor-alpha. It is a cytokine or we can describe it as a small protein brought in use by the body’s immune system for passing signals through the cells. When an infection is detected by the macrophages (certain white blood cells), secretion of TNF is done to alert various other cells of the immune system and various tissues from being infected. This mechanism results in inflammation in the whole body.

When an infection or disease starts to develop in the liver cells, inflammation in the liver is done by TNF-alpha. This inflammation makes the patient troublesome in doing daily routine activities. TNF-alpha is a necessary body compound which protects the other body organs by alerting them but its way of working is found to be annoying to the body. Meanwhile, we can say that inflammation is considered as the good sign of the health of the immune system and shows that the body’s immune system is working wisely.

What Is Il 1-Beta?

IL 1-beta implies Interleukin 1-beta, also recognized as lymphocyte activating factor, mononuclear cell factor, leukocyte endogenous mediator or leukocytic pyrogen. Basically it is a cytokine protein which is encoded by IL1B gene in the human body. IL 1-beta is a part of the interleukin 1 family of cytokines. This cytokine is secreted by stimulated macrophages as a proprotein which further gets converted into an active state by caspase 1 (CASP1/ICE). This cytokine is considered as an essential mediator of the inflammatory response and plays an important role in multiple cellular functions such as cell proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation. This cytokine does the enhancement of COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) enzyme in the CNS (central nervous system) which contributes to inflammatory pain. When the infection begins to rise inside the liver cells, the IL 1-beta begins to protect cells and results in inflammation.

Yakrit Plihantak Churna By Planet Ayurveda

Yakrit Plihantak churna prepared by Planet Ayurveda is a well known herbal formulation for its positive impact on the liver and enhance its health. This churna reduces hepatic inflammation as well as treats a variety of diseases associated with the liver. Yakrit Plihantak churna detoxifies the liver and restores its health. Along with that, hepatic inflammation is managed and reduced by this churna which provides the relief to the patient.

This churna is processed with eight herbs obtained from the nature of God. Thus, we can say that one churna consists of the potency of eight herbs. All these herbs are used by extracting them through a standard procedure and only high quality extracts are used in preparing this churna under the guidance of expert Ayurvedic doctors who ensure this churna is 100 percent natural. No preservative, chemical, color, additive, binder, starch or any chemical material is utilized in this churna. Thus, no side-effect will be given to the patient who is consuming Yakrit Plihantak churna, whether he is a child, an adult or an elder. This churna is totally safe for consumption by any age grouped person.

Yakrit Plihantak Churna

hepatic inflammation

Herbs present in Yakrit Plihantak churna work in a synergistic manner to reduce inflammation in the liver.

These Herbs are

  1. Bhumi Amla (Phyllanthus niruri)
  2. Katuki (Picrorhiza kurroa)
  3. Makoy (Solanum indicum)
  4. Punarnava (Boerhavia diffusa)
  5. Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata)
  6. Kaasni (Cichorium intybus)
  7. Sharpunkha (Tephrosia purpurea)
  8. Bhringraj (Eclipta alba)

How Yakrit Plihantak Churna Reduces Hepatic Inflammation?

Yakrit plihantak churna is very beneficial in reducing hepatic inflammation due its properties possessed by various herbs present inside the churna. All these herbs are rich sources of various health beneficial properties that provide nourishment to the liver and treat the multiple diseases of the liver. The role of herbs in maintaining the health and reducing hepatic inflammation is as follows:

1. Bhumi Amla (Phyllanthus niruri)

Multiple medicinal properties are present in Bhumi Amla herb which makes it capable of managing various health issues. Hepatoprotective properties, antioxidant properties, antiviral properties, etc are present in this herb. It regulates the functioning of Tnf-alpha and IF-1 beta. Hence reduce the hepatic inflammation.

2. Katuki (Picrorhiza kurroa)

Active constituents present in the roots of Katuki are picrorrhizin (a bitter ingredient) 15 %, cathartic acid 9%, glucose and wax in small quantities. These chemical constituents improve the bilous flow and prevent the deposition of fat and bile inside the liver cells. It reduces the risk of liver disease and maintains its normal functioning.

3. Makoy (Solanum indicum)

Makoy herb used in the Yakrit Plihantak churna consists of diosgenin, epicatechin, solasonine, alpha, glycosides, rutin, naringenin, gallic acid, sapogenin, etc. These chemical constituents provide the property of antidiabetic, antibiotic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, etc. Hepatic inflammation is reduced to a great extent by this herb.

4. Punarnava (Boerhavia diffusa)

Punarnava is a rich source of nutrients and bioactive substances which are beneficial for the overall health. Sodium, calcium, vitamin c, iron, oleanolic acid, hypoxanthine, boeravinone A to F, serratagenic acid, etc are found in this herb. Punarnava improves the body metabolism and improves the functioning of the liver.

5. Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata)

The whole part of the Kalmegh herb contains chlorophyll and kalameghin in large quantities which is used to treat diseases developed through imbalance in Pitta and Kapha dosha. This herb is used as liver stimulant, digestion enhancer and in prevention of liver and spleen enlargement. Beyond this, Kalmegh improves blood metabolism, treats jaundice, constipation, diarrhea and enhances liver health. TNF alpha and IL 1-beta are successfully managed by this herb and hepatic inflammation is prevented.

6. Kaasni (Cichorium intybus)

Being a cholagogue, appetizer, and liver stimulant, Kaasni treats the health issues generated by impaired agni, liver dysfunctions, and jaundice. This herb is also used in general debility, pitta induced disorders, burning sensation and fever.

7. Sharpunkha (Tephrosia purpurea)

Sharpunkha herb’s nature is to optimise the secretion of bile and prevents the accumulation of fat as well as bile inside the liver cells which is the major cause of liver disease. The healthy condition of the liver is maintained by this herb due to its anti-toxic, diuretic and antipyretic properties.

8. Bhringraj (Eclipta alba)

Large quantities of resins and ecliptin are present in this herb. That is why it is processed in the Yakrit Plihantak churna. It is a strong liver stimulant, and shows its main action on the liver and the spleen. It provides protection to the liver and stimulates lipotropic activity which increases the cutdown of the fat and prevents its deposition in the liver. Thus, decrease the hepatic inflammation.

Conclusion

After reading and understanding this article, we can say that Yakrit Plihantak churna is an effective herbal remedy to overcome the disorders of liver and improve the life-span of the liver. This churna is totally natural and doesn’t possess any side-effects of the patient’s body.