Current Issue

Issue 24: October - November 2008

A Tourist’s Guide on Ayurveda

Dr Purnima Vinod BAMS, Dip in Aromatherapy

Ok, so you are impressed with their website and get a booking done for you on your next visit to India. Their website is very user friendly, has a lot of Sanskrit slokas and jargon thrown in and their guest reviews are abundant and their rates are reasonable. What else do you need - right? WRONG!!

The daily papers are full of people offering "genuine" ayurvedic treatment and massages, but are they genuine?

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

An Outlook of Jaundice (Kamila)

Dr. Roshni K.P., (Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Ayurveda College, Chennai)

Jaundice or Icterus is the condition caused by presence of excess bilirubin in blood. It clinically manifests by pale yellow staining of elastic tissues and dark colouration of urine and stool. Normal total serum bilirubin concentration ranges from . 4 to 1 mg / 100 ml.It’s considered as Jaundiced stage when bilirubin is above 2 mg/100 ml. Since bile pigment has an affinity for elastic tissues, skin, ocular sclera and blood vessels which contain many elastic fibers, become yellow.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

Pregnancy and Childcare

Dr. Purnima Vinod BAMS

As mentioned in the earlier article pregnancy results from the fertilization of a healthy ovum by a healthy sperm. A woman may realize that she is pregnant due to resulting symptoms such as missed periods, morning sickness, fullness of the breasts, frequent urination etc. Sometimes the only symptom that may be present is a missed period. There are various tests to confirm the pregnancy. The most commonly used and easy to do test is the urine pregnancy test.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

Comparative study of Aloe ferox with Aloe vera

Dr. Mrs. Sharduli Rajiv Terwadkar, Prof.Dr.P.H.Kulkarni, Institute of Indian Medicine, Pune, 411038

South Africa and India have rich heritage of ancient wisdom and their traditional medicinal systems are part of it. That of India is called as Ayurveda. This article is part of a study which shows comparison between ancient medicinal knowledge of these two countries and shows Ayurvedic interpretation of 33 medicinal plants used in traditional medicinal systems of South Africa. Aloe ferox is compared with Aloe vera on the basis of Ayurvedic principles and other theories. This is theoretical research and can lead to many interesting researches in the field of Ayurveda.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

Agryasangraha

Dr Purnima Vinod BAMS, Dip in Aromatherapy(Continued from last issue)

2. Agrya in Lifestyle Category:

a) Fasting: Excessive fast is the chief cause for wear and tear of the body leading to destruction of tissue. Although in most illnesses, especially the ones accompanied by fever, mild fasting is beneficial. As the old saying goes starve the fever feed the cold. Ayurveda believes that in absence of food the body digests excess dosha, which helps to cure the patient. However in absence of excess dosha the body fire will start digesting the tissues and finally that will lead to destruction of the body tissues and death. This is precisely what happens in the condition called anorexia nervosa. Here the person especially young girls go without food or very little food because they fear obesity. In spite of being thin if this habit is not broken with the help of drugs and counseling there are instances of the patient dying of starvation.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

The 6th Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo 2008

From November 16 - 18

Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo & Conferences and Arab Naturals Expo & Conferences are merging to create a bigger regional platform for the organic industry and to fuel the growth of global organic movement in collaboration with all the international community.

The organizers of Arab Naturals Expo & Conferences, and Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo & Conferences have joined hands to organize the 6th Edition of the Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo which is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre (Halls 1 & 2) from November 16th - 18th 2008.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

Gulkand: To keep you young and beautiful

Dr. Purnima Vinod BAMS

Literally speaking gulkand is a jam made of rose petals. How often have we seen young people expressing their love to their significant other by offering him or her a rose? In fact in many colleges now-a-days, ‘Rose day’ is celebrated. But has any one of us ever wondered as to why only the rose is given so much of importance and not any other flower? It is because of the fact that rose is the flower which helps tackle health problems of youth. Rose is known as ‘taruni’ in Sanskrit which means ‘young girl’. This is predominantly due to the fact that preparations made from rose plant help relieve women of the problems they may encounter in their reproductive ages. It also helps increase virility of men. It is fragrant and is available in various attractive shades. Although various varieties of roses are available now, the most commonly used and the preferred one is known by the botanical name Rosa centifolia.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

Ginger: The Great Medicine of Ayurvedic Pharmacology

Dr. Jai Prakash Singh, Dr. S.K.Tiwari, Dr. Meera Antiwal (BHU Varanasi)

History: - Word Sunthi is used firstly in Agnigrihsutra and Kalpasutra and Gopathgrihsutra.

In samhita:-

1. Charaka Samhita:- Ginger is used in painful haematuria, piles dysentery, oedema, udarroga, ama, sotha and kshatkshin.

2. Sushrita Samhita:- Ginger is used in krnasula, gulma, soth kamla

3. Vagbhatt:- Ginger is used in udarroga, soth, karnasula.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

Shadchakras In Clinical Practice

Dr Pooja Sabharwal, Dr M.Dinkar Sarma M.D., (Dept. of Anatomy, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur)

The concept of Chakra are often treated in different ways, depending on the cultural context. In Chinese medicine, traditional chakra locations correspond to acupuncture points. In some Eastern thought, chakras are considered to be gradations of consciousness and reflect states of the soul—these systems rely less on proof than on experience (under the assumption that ‘proving’ the existence of chakras is asking to ‘prove’ the existence of the thought process). A mystic may deal with chakra as a model for their internal and external experience, and when talking about ‘energy centers’, may be talking about subtle electromagnetic forces which connect to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of a person.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page

SPICE TALK: Indian Spices: The Vitality of Medicinal Wisdom

Dr Raakhee Mehra BAMS, MD, PhD*

The word spice has been defined as an aromatic and pungent vegetable substance used as a condiment and for seasoning food, (Chamber‘s dictionary.) If properly taken these are recommended like the drug for producing energy in mind, constitution of dhatus, strength, complexion and clarity of sense organs, otherwise, they become harmful as internal agni depends on its fuel. In Ayurveda the spices are considered as the vitality of medicinal wisdom.

For complete text subscribe magazine

Top | Back to main page