72 Year Old Female with Kidney Disease Heals with Ayurveda Treatment

Panchakarma Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis

In Patients’ Own Words:

“Last year after 1month of the program I was completely alright with my symptoms so this year I am healthy and if I do panchakarma than I get better health”.

She was suffering from all these complaints since 5yrs, after taking allopathic medicine since 5 yrs improvement was not there. After Ayurvedic treatment for high blood pressure, she is no more on allopathic medicine and disease free also. She does all reports every 3 months and consults with Taiwan doctor for general condition. She has been advised to stop taking allopathic medicine. This is the power of Ayurveda if you follow particular it will heal you naturally. without adding any new disease and side effects.

Rheumatoid arthritis called Amavata in Ayurveda is a painful condition in which inflammation of joints occurs. With the progression of the disease, patients face difficulty in mobility, and lately, deformation in joint bones may happen.1

Pharmacodynamics Behind the Disease

The word amavata is composed of two words: ama and vata. Ama forms in the body due to the outlimit production of agni (jatharagni, dhatavagni, etc.). The deranged agni circulates in the body due to vitiated vata and gets accumulated in sandhis. This results in stiffness of joints and cause pain.2

Defence Strategy for the Management of RA- Amavata

Ayurveda uses the defence strategy for the treatment of RA (Amavata). The therapy is performed in the following stages:

• Meditation & Pranayam: It will help in “balancing the doshas”

• Yogic asanas, massage & sweating: Yoga will improve the body postures and help in healing the deformities. Abhyanga/ self massage with sesame oil in winters and coconut oil in chronic conditions and in summers will help in detoxifying the body. 

• Diet: The consumption of food should be done in consideration of Agni of the body. A heavy diet generally in the noon should be taken when Agni is high and vice versa.1

Studies on Determining Efficacy of Ayurveda Treatment for RA

A study on measuring the efficacy and safety of panchakarma treatment for amavata was conducted on 290 patients at Ayurveda Trust, Coimbatore, India. The patients who have confirmed RA diagnosis and suffering from a period of approximately 6 years were enrolled for a treatment of one to six months. Based on American Rheumatism Association criteria: the outcomes reported at every six weeks included the following parameters:

• Grip strength

• Walking capability

• Count of swollen and painful joints

• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)

Results: Every patient reported significant improvement with Ayurvedic therapies. Several of them showed functional improvements as well.3

Conclusion: Panchkarma focuses on the root cause of the disease and treats by improvising the daily schedule. 

References:

1. Basisht, G. K., Singh, R. H., & Chandola, H. (2012). Management of rheumatoid arthritis (Aamavata) using symbiohealth healthcare system. Ayu, 33(4), 466.

2. Krishna, K. P. (2011). The efficacy of Ayurvedic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis: Cross-sectional experiential profile of a longitudinal study. International journal of Ayurveda research, 2(1), 8.

3. Kadam, S. K. (2019). The effect of Ksharbasti in the management of Amavata with special refrence to Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ayurline: IJ-RIM, 2(03).