The state-of-the-art innovative research lab will become functional at the end of this year. The lab would witness installation of highly sophisticated machines, including the atomic absorption spectro photometer (for detection of heavy metals in herbal preparations) and HPLC (for establishing authenticity of ayurvedic drugs and herbal preparations).
The innovative research lab would not only make the department self-reliant in terms of detection of heavy metals and establishing authenticity of heavy metals, it would also reduce its dependency on other departments including department of Medicinal Chemistry (faculty of Ayurveda) and Pharmaceutics (Institute of Technology) in the university. The museum is open to visitors and students, including foreign nationalsfrom 8 am to 5 pm.
The lab would be a boon for research scholars. It will also help in identifying newer indications in older ayurvedic drugs or herbal preparations besides acting as guidance and reference tool for the research scholars and faculty members.
Ayurvedic museum is the only ayurvedic museum at faculty or departmental-level at an ayurvedic institute in the country with rich collection of around 450 medicinal plants and rare herbs. The museum also witnesses rich collection of herbarium sheets containing parts of plants like flowers and leaves that are preserved under anti-fungal preparations. Parts of traditional medicinal plants, including bulb of garlic and rhizome of turmeric, are also preserved here.It has a wide range collection of rare medicinal plants with anti-viral properties, including kalmegh and ashwagandha.
Archive for the ‘Articles’ category
August 2nd, 2010
No action against genuine alternative medicine doctors
July 30th, 2010Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifulla gave the ruling while closing a contempt application from Tamil Nadu Siddha Medical Colleges Association, represented by its president R Kumar, which sought to punish the DGP for her willful and wanton disobedience of the orders passed by the court on April 7, 2006.
The ruling runs contrary to a recent order delivered by another judge on a petition filed by two unani practitioners who sought similar relief. In February this year, Justice K K Sasidharan had held that practitioners of Indian system of medicines should not practise allopathy, and that there was nothing wrong if police take action against those who attempt to practice allopathy without valid qualification.
“If any action had been taken against such of those medical practitioners referred to above, it is needless to state that such action should be dropped forthwith pending further orders in the writ petition (pending before the High Court),” the judge said.
The ruling and observation followed the submission of advocate S Prabakaran that despite the April 2006 orders of the high court on the writ petition, many members of petitioner association were arrested between January 9, 2009 and June 12, 2010.
The 2006 order restrained the DGP and her subordinates from interfering with the professional practice of the members of the petitioner association, who held valid registration certificates issued by the Siddha Medical Council.
Himachal farmers to be trained to grow medicinal herbs.
July 29th, 2010Ayurvastra the healing fabric
July 28th, 2010Commonwealth Games Players to get a taste of Kerala’s massage treatment
July 27th, 2010Ayurveda treatment for sinusitis
March 21st, 2010Ayurvedic Natural Digestive Products Improves Overall Health
June 3rd, 2009With all the talk of the swine flu and the havoc it can wreak, there is a common ailment — swine flu or not — that is sure to continue to plague mankind: stomach and digestive problems. It can be said with a very high degree of certainty that virtually every man woman and child of planet Earth has suffered from some kind of stomach or digestive ailments at some point in their life. Certainly, it played the ancients, which is why some of medicine’s oldest remedies are cures or stomach and digestive problems.
Ayurveda — the oldest form of medicine we have — long ago developed highly natural holistic medicines to help alleviate common intestinal and digestive problems. A system of alternative medicine more than 5000 years old, Ayurvedic products incorporate the use of natural herbal remedies and essential oils to help restore the body to a healthy and balanced state.
For those unfamiliar with the term, Ayurveda is a system of natural healing that has its origins in the Vedic culture of India. The reason you may have never heard of it, however, is due to the fact that a Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine was heavily suppressed during India’s years of foreign occupation. But all that is changing. Ayurveda and it’s natural holistic approach has been rediscovered by a Western culture looking for less invasive alternatives for maintaining optimal health.
A significant part of the Ayurveda philosophy of health is the concept of creating an ideal “balance” for the body and its many system. If one part of the body or one of the systems is not working properly, then it will tend to throw the other systems out of balance and thus lead to disease. Ayurveda seeks to use products found in nature in order to restore and maintain optimal health. Digestion, and having a digestive system that works properly is of the utmost importance for anyone who wants a strong and healthy body, and it is a common starting point for many naturalpathic therapies.
» Read more: Ayurvedic Natural Digestive Products Improves Overall Health
How to Live with Muscular Dystrophy
April 23rd, 2009The following article has been submitted by
Ayush Muscular Dystrophy Society India
Muscular dystrophy is a bundle of severe debilitating conditions in which the muscles that control movement progressively weaken. In some forms of this disease, the heart and other organs are also affected. Currently there is no cure for any form of muscular dystrophy. Some modern medicines, ayurvedic remedies and therapies can slow the course of the disease. This article introduces with a main thrust complementary program of care through research on Muscular dystrophy with a focus on Ayurvedic Panch Karma and Yogic approach of treatment. The Ayurvedic Mamsagni Rasayana herbs have shown definite protective influence and longer survival upon muscular dystrophy.
Muscular dystrophies are a group of more than 20 different genetic neuromuscular disorders, some more debilitating than others. The most common, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) affects 1 in 3500 boys. There is a problem in the chromosome that codes for a protein called dystrophin which maintains the integrity of the muscle cell wall. Eventually irreversible destruction of the muscle cells occurs. In early school years, it may just seem that DMD boys are slower and clumsier than their peers. The disease progresses such that the majority will be wheelchair bound by 10-14 years.
Muscular dystrophies are inherited. Each disease is transmitted by a different genetic trait. DMD is inherited in an X-linked recessive transmission. That means that females may be carriers but do not have any debilitating symptoms. A female carrier has a 50% chance of transmitting the faulty gene onto her children. There is no satisfactory treatment in any system of medicine. It is a progressive muscle-wasting disease due to a mutation in the dystrophin gene and the consequential protein deficiency in muscle. It results in chronic inflammation and severe skeletal muscle degeneration. How the lack of the sarcolemma protein dystrophin gives rise to the final disease status is still not clear.
The genetic disease conditions are diagnosed through genetic testing, a physical exam, a family medical history, and some specific tests. These might include: A muscle biopsy (the removal and examination of a small sample of muscle tissue)
- DNA (genetic) testing
- Electromyography or nerve conduction tests (which use electrodes to test muscle and/or nerve function)
- Blood enzyme tests (which may reveal muscle damage)
For DMD and BMD, muscle biopsy may show whether dystrophin protein is missing or abnormal, and DNA Test is used to analyze the condition of the related gene.
» Read more: How to Live with Muscular Dystrophy
Fight Muscular Disability With Ayurveda: DMD, BMD and LGMD
April 22nd, 2009Bhilai (Ayush Samiti): – Mamsagni Rasayana and modified Til-Mash Pinda Swedana may delay muscle damage associated with DMD, BMD and LGMD, according to research reported in Seminar on Neuro-Muscular Diseases organized recently by AMDS India in Bhilai. Muscular dystrophy is not a single disease but a group of hereditary muscle destroying disorders, vary in their inheritance pattern, age of onset, initial muscle attacked and rate of progression. It is no incurable condition; rather it is a genetic problem for which no satisfactory treatments have yet been found in any system of medicine. Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy is associated with severe, progressive muscle weakness and typically leads to death between the ages of 20 and 35 years. Absence of dystrophin causes the weakness and muscle wasting of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well as cardio-myopathies and cardiac failure, Dr. Mukesh Jain noted in correspondence with Ayush Samiti.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) affects about 1 in 3,500 males. Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) affects about 1 in 30,000 males although this may be an underestimate due to its variable severity. DMD and BMD are due to different changes in the dystrophin gene, which contains information for a protein that is important for muscle cells to work properly. This gene is located on the X chromosome.
Have you ever considered using Ayurveda and Yoga based techniques for management of complex diseases like muscular dystrophy? We wish to inform you of the promising results that we have achieved at our special clinic in treating the debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy using Ayurveda and Yoga based techniques. The Muscular Dystrophy programme being run at Sanjivani Hospital Bhilai, focuses on – (i) Reducing weight, (ii) Improving muscle tone and functional ability in patients using specific Panchkarma procedures, specially developed Rasayana supplement, and yogic support.
» Read more: Fight Muscular Disability With Ayurveda: DMD, BMD and LGMD
Ayurveda in American Perspective
February 25th, 2009We are practicing Ayurveda in 21st century. In the last few decades, there is remarkable popularity seen in international community regarding clinical potential of ayurvedic medicine. The Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia contains hundreds of listings, uses and preparations. Many of these have been in continuous use for several thousand years. Although these medicines are trusted by those in India, from western modern “double blind clinical trial” perspective they are unproven to be safe and or effective.
In the Western scientific paradigm it is customary to identify a traditional therapy and medicine, isolate the active ingredient, standardize the potency and clinically test its safety and efficacy outside of the remedy’s traditional use. What needs to be studied is the authentic cultural treatment as a system of healing, not whether an isolated compound can be grafted into our modern medical system. We need to study the difference between an ingredient’s chemical identification and its physiological medicinal and / or toxic properties. The first study should be whether a therapy and its medicines are toxic as traditionally used. Then follow with a study of its efficacy.
Some Ayurvedic formulations contain herbs that are natural forms of drugs or substances generally considered toxic in their customary forms. We need to study Ayurvedic remedies, formulations, and therapies in a way that satisfies our Western scientific method while preserving those therapeutic elements considered important by Ayurveda. We should not simply study isolated compounds but the medicines, therapies and medical system as a whole.
There are unique preparations in Ayurveda that intentionally combine specially prepared minerals with botanicals for the purpose of increasing the effect of the botanicals. It is these formulas that are the most suspect to our Western eyes as they often contain mercury, lead and / or other ingredients that have been proven to be toxic in forms we are familiar with. These Ayurvedic formulas have long and complicated preparation methods often lasting months or even years. They are believed to have amazing curative powers in the treatment of uncontrolled ailments of modern era, but are they toxic as well? They are traditionally believed to be safe when properly prescribed, prepared and taken. They address serious medical problems like cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis, kidney problems, mental and brain function disorders, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophies and other serious Neuro-muscular diseases, etc. But it is important that we insure and determine proper preparation and whether there is any risk of toxicity when prepared and used properly. The preparations with lead and mercury are not currently approved by the US FDA and therefore can not be used by people in the United States until proper studies are done.
In the West they have very high standards for purity and the means to test for it. It could be said that they have these high standards because they can test for positive identification of ingredients and the presence of unwanted substances. It is especially important to consider the possibility that indigenous medicines may be prepared in ways that western scientists do not fully understand and the difference between medicine and poison may not be uncovered by modern chemical analysis, no matter how sophisticated. They must also establish uniform testing protocols for heavy metals in Dietary Supplements that include sample preparation, testing methodology and acceptable daily dose.
In summary, Ayurveda uses hundreds of substances therapeutically. It is important to assess Ayurvedic herbal medicines according to Western scientific standards and investigate them for levels of toxicity and contamination that are unacceptable. We must also differentiate between products that are manufactured in the USA under FDA guidelines and regulations and those that are manufactured in other countries never intended for export and brought into USA. At the same time, we must, keep a scientific and open mind about the Ayurvedic preparations and medicines that have intentional ingredients we have come to regard as toxic by Allopathic standards but which have undergone special preparatory procedures that have yet to be documented by Western scientific standards. It may be that these very medicines hold the promise of cure for diseases modern Western medicine is currently unable to adequately address.
- An article by Mukesh D Jain, Bhilai (mjainbhilai@gmail.com) as provided to AyurvedNews.com
Hon. President of AYUSH Academy of Ayurvedic Medical Sciences & Fellow of French Association of Medical Yoga. Double graduated in Basic Sciences, Ayurveda with Modern Medicine and Surgery both from Sagar & Ravi Shanker Universities. A teacher, researcher, an author of two scientific books on Ayurveda & Yoga; On editorial board of several journals including Global Ayurveda & Light on Ayurveda Journal. Currently head of Panch Karma Clinic on Neuro-Muscular Diseases in Bhilai.
