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The Cold Truth
The
Bald Fact
The Cold Truth
By
- Dr. Prashant Sawant, M.D (Ayu.)
Article
Published in “The Times Of India” on Saturday, October 11, 2003
The end of rainy
season marks the beginning of ‘sharad rutu’, one of the six
seasons experienced in the Indian subcontinent.
This -two months long- period (September - October), is
characterised by a sudden climatic transition from the wet, humid and
comfortably cold monsoon, to dry and annoyingly hot weather.
Understandably enough, this sudden climatic change takes toll on the
health and certain types of diseases threaten the susceptible
individuals.
During this period of transition, the
rain gradually decreases and the temperature begins to rise. As a
result, at the peak of this season, the pitta dosha (a body
humor), which is accumulated, as a natural consequence of the
earlier varsha- rutu (monsoon), gets vitiated leading to number
of related symptoms like acidity, giddiness, insomnia, excessive
thirst, burning of the eyes, palms and soles, etc. Though the appetite
is improved in the beginning, as the season advances, this vitiation
of pitta dosha, throws the digestion out of gear.
Further, due to the close relationship
of the pitta dosha and the rakta dhatu (blood), the
diseases related to vitiation of blood, like all types of skin
diseases, boils, viral skin eruptions, certain types of fevers,
conjunctivitis, jaundice, etc. become evident.
To avoid these ailments, living up to its fundamental objectives - to
protect the health and to alleviate the disease- ayurved
advocates ‘rutu-cahrya’ (regimen of the season). This
unique concept of ayurved, is a set of dos and don’ts for the
particular season that are based on the knowledge of the physiological
variations and the disease susceptibility.
The most important tool in this
endeavor of maintaining health, by pre-empting the disease process, is
the virechana (therapeutic purgation) and the raktamoksahan (therapeutic
blood-letting), two of the five powerful purification methods (panchakarma),
used to eliminate the accumulated toxins. The virechana
eliminates toxins related with vitiated pitta dosha, where as
the raktamoksana eliminates those related with the blood. Both
the therapies are very effective and gentle, however they must be
administered under expert’s guidance.
Further, the pitta dosha can also be kept under control
by eating food that is sweet, bitter and astringent in taste and by
avoiding salty, sour and spicy food.
Dos and don’ts:
- Have pulses like moong
(green gram), matki, wal, etc.
- Eat vegetables like methi
(fenugreek), karla (bitter guard), dudhi (bottle
guard), white pumpkin, tendrils, radish, etc.
- Use plenty of coconut, pure ghee
and milk in the food preparations
- Use spices like turmeric, dry
ginger, etc.
- Avoid new cereals, curd and
vegetables like capsicum
- Avoid pulses like horse gram,
chickpeas, kulith, etc.
- Avoid spices like garlic, hinga
(asafetida), chilly powder, dry and green chilies, black sesame
seeds, etc.
- Avoid over eating and reduce use of
oils and fats.
- Avoid salty foodstuffs like
pickles, papad, chutni, wafers, chiwda, etc.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Avoid sleeping during the day.
-
Avoid sunbathing.
Useful Tips:
-
Take ¼ tsp. of
turmeric powder or ¼ tsp of dry ginger, with warm water, after
the breakfast.
-
Apply coconut
oil added with 1 % of bhimseni kapoor (medicinal camphor),
to protect the skin from dryness and heat.
-
To soothe the
skin, apply a thin paste of sandalwood, wala, musta and sariwa powder,
few minutes before bath.
-
Have a glass of
lemon juice, kokum sharbat or juice of coriander to combat
the annoying heat.
-
Take powder of amla
and yashtimadhu with honey, before dinner.
-
Have ½ teaspoon
of haritaki powder (terminalia chebula) mixed with a
teaspoon of candy sugar, before lunch and dinner.
-
Eat plenty of
dried figs, grapes, dates, etc.
-
Medicines like
tikta ghruta, kamdudha rasa, avipattikar churna,
sariwasav, manjishtadi quath, etc. may be taken as a
prophylaxis, under medical supervision.
Top
The Bald
Fact
By
- Dr. Prashant Sawant, M.D (Ayu.)
Article
Published in “The Times Of India” on Saturday, October 18, 2003
Radhika,
in her late teens, unlike her friends, was very nervous at the thought
of attending the junior college, after she passed her S.S.C exam with
flying colours. The reason was equally strong. Radhika’s problem of
hair fall was awfully severe. Each time she combed, she could gather
at least a fistful of hair. Her hair had become so thin and sparse
that she almost looked bald.
Her
mother informed that Radhika had this problem of hair fall since her
early childhood. She took lot of medicines and used litres of
different hair oils, but it did not help. With a great disappointment,
now she was considering to use a wig.
When
she was barely two years old, Radhika had an abscess on her right
thigh and on the spine, in a span of six months. The abscesses were
drained. However, ever since, she started having low-grade fever and
her nails too became brittle. Seven years later, she was diagnosed to
have a bone TB!
The
first question Radhika asked me, when she was brought for
consultation, was whether her bone TB and hair fall are related?
I was amazed by her observation, as I knew, according to
ayurved, hair (and the nails) is the by-product of bone formation!
Hair
fall, known as alopecia in medical term, is
a
major problem for which people seek medical help quite frequently. It
can affect any age group. Out of the many causes for hair fall, the
major are:
-
Inherited
characteristics and the sex hormones.
-
Excessive
intake of salt.
-
Low
or over active thyroid function.
-
Damage
to the pituitary gland, the sex glands or the adrenal cortex.
-
Excessive
formation of the male hormones.
-
Inadequate
calories and insufficient protein intake, like crash-diet to loose
weight.
-
Severe
stress and anxiety
-
Severe
fever or any illness associated with prolonged fever.
-
Diseases
like the Tuberculosis or the Syphilis.
-
Hairstyles
that cause pulling on the hair
-
Using
hair dryers, hot comb, crimping or hot water hair bath.
-
Some
of the medicines used to treat high blood pressure, angina, high
cholesterol, arthritis, parkinson’s disease, etc.
The
Ayurvedic Treatment:
According
to ayurved, asthi-kshaya (asthi = bone, kshaya =
diminution), is one of the major causes of the hair fall. In
Radhika’s case, her bone TB, which was diagnosed years after the
onset of symptoms, was the culprit.
The
bones are one of the major sthana (dwelling places) of vata
dosha (a body humor) and they also share developmental factors
with the intestines. Basti (medicated enema, one of the panchakarma)
is the best method to treat diseases related with vata dosha.
Further, as the medicines reach the intestines directly, which share
developmental traits with the bone metabolism, they act quickly.
Nasya
(nasal
instillation of medicines) is another important panchakarma method
used to treat diseases affecting the organs above the collarbone (e.g.
head, neck, face, ear, nose, throat, etc.).
Radhika
was advised fifteen sittings of basti followed by eight
sittings of nasya. “Tiktakshira”, a medicine
prepared by boiling bitter herbs like guduchi (Tinospora
cardifolia), adulsa (Adhatoda vasaka), etc. in cow’s milk,
was used for basti. This
medicine, when given as basti, is particularly useful in
improving and maintaining bone metabolism. Consequently, the
by-product – hair and nails, also would be of better quality. For nasya,
Panchendriya guna vardhan taila, a classical formulation, was
used. She was also advised to take two tablets each of triphala-bhrungaraj
ghana vati and asthiprinana vati (that contains
calcium obtained from natural sources, triturated with decoction of
herbs), at bed time.
The
improvement in Radhika’s symptom was evident in the first week of
treatment. At the end of one month, her hair fall had completely
stopped! However, she was advised to continue with the medicines. As a
prophylaxis, her basti and nasya will be repeated three
times in a year, for few more years.
Dos
and Don’ts:
-
Eat
sufficient quantity of fruits
and vegetables to facilitate the supply of essential vitamins and
minerals.
-
Have
low salt diet and avoid salty food like pickles, chips, etc.
-
Avoid
crash diet for loosing weight.
-
Avoid
tension, stress, worries, anger, etc.
-
Avoid
such hairstyles, which pull back hair from frontal hairline.
-
Avoid
using hot combs, hair dryer or hot water bath for hair.
-
Apply
coconut oil or medicated oils for hair
-
Avoid
using harsh chemicals (like strong shampoos, bleach, dyes etc.)
-
Endocrine
abnormalities like hyperthyroidism, autoimmune diseases like SLE,
etc., should be properly treated.
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