HOW AYURVEDA CAN HELP TO TREAT ROOT CAUSE OF DISEASES

INTRODUCTION-

Ayurveda is an ancient Indian medical science, which offers various regimens including Dinacharya (daily regimen), Ritucharya (seasonal regimen), Panchakarma (five detoxification therapies), and Rasayana (rejuvenation) therapies.

 These are most significant to maintain a healthy and happy psychological perspective.  Ayurveda does not give instant relief from diseases but it goes down to the root cause of diseases, thus ensuring there is no relapse of disease. The mainstay of Ayurveda, which makes this possible, is Panchkarma which detoxify the body internally as well as externally.

CAUSE OF DISEASE-

According to Ayurveda, the root cause of any disease is always the doshas imbalance, or body humors, which further manifests as imbalance in other body components inevitably leading to disease.

• Prajnaparadh (Misuse of intellect)
• Asatmendriyartha samyoga (Misuse of senses)
• Parinama or kala (Seasonal variations)

CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASE-

Ayurveda classifies disease according to its origin- 

• Physical
• Psychological 
• Spiritual.

STAGES OF DISEASE MANIFESTATION-

In ayurveda science stages of diseases manifestation are six which mentioned below-

1. Sanchayaavastha- The stage of accumulation
2. Prakopaavastha-The stage of aggravation
3. Prasaraavastha– The stage of migration
4. Sthana Sanshrayaavasth-The stage of disease augmentation
5. Vyaktaavastha-The stage of symptom manifestation 
6. Bhedaavastha- The stage of complications 

The three traditional approaches to curing diseases in Ayurveda science are as follows:

• Daivavyapasraya Chikitsa/Spiritual therapy
• Sattvavajaya Chikitsa/Mental & Physical therapy
• Yuktivyapasraya Chikitsa/ Rational treatment

YUKTIVYAPASRAYA CHIKITSA-

Rational treatment includes two main modalities named  Shamana (palliation) and Shodhana (purification). yuktivyapasraya chikitsa is directed towards restoring the balance of the tridoshas.

Ayurveda uses three main modalities in the treatment are as follows:

• Samana– To palliate care or  manage the disease 
• Shodhana- To eliminate the cause of disease or Panchkarma therapy or bio cleansing
• Nidana parivarjana- Avoidance of causative factors

1. SAMANA CHIKITSA-

• Samana means to Supress, Reduces or eliminates symptoms.
• Samana therapies make the patient feel better by suppressing the effects of the body accumulated AMA (toxins).
• Samana involves neutralising the toxins (Aama) by activating Agni and stimulating the digestion through fasting.
• if do not eliminate toxins , the source of disease, and change the diet and life style that created it, the symptoms will continue to manifest.
• However, samana does not deal directly with root causes of the disease and thus can never effect a complete cure.
• Example- when a person feel headache, he takes aspirin to reduce the pain. He feels better but not curing the root cause of headache. In this case to take aspirin is the Samana therapy-without work on root cause will try to suppress or eliminate the symptoms.
• Sustained hunger and thirst, exercise, sunbathing and sitting in the fresh air are other means of neutralizing toxins.

2. SHODHANA CHIKITSA-

• Shodhana means to go away.
• The cause of disease will to go away from body and detoxify it.
• The aim of treatment is to give relief to the patient and treat root cause of disease.
• Shodhana chikitsa get rids of Ama and Mala- the form of toxins and restores balance to the doshas.
• It’s consider as and their cause as well.
• Panchkarma constitutes the foremost shodhana chikitsa/ purification (Detox) Therapy in Ayurveda.
• It reverses the disease mechanisms which carry toxic waste products from the digestive tract in to the tissues of the body. 
• This procedure should be done in Prasara and Sthana Sanshraya awastha of disease.
• 3rd and 4th stages are initial accumulation of toxins in gastrointestional tract and toxins taking shelter in a body.
• The perfect treatment is to find the root cause of disease is purification therapy. Then only can cure the disease

 PANCHKARMA THERAPY-

There are certain diseases that require a physical treatment to remove toxins from the body. Ayurveda suggests the Panchkarma or ‘five types of bio-cleansing processes’. These five processes are as follows:

1. Vamana karma (Emesis therapy) – 

• Therapeutic vomiting, also known as medical emesis or medical vomiting is one of the five Pradhana Karmas of Panchakarma which is used in treating Kapha diseases. 
• The procedure has been carried out in kapha kala (Basant ritu)  to expelled out kapha in toxic form, which causes major diseases such as  skin disorders, ILD, Lungs fibrosis, asthma, hypothyroidism, hearts disorders, chronic rhinitis.

2. Virecana karma –

• Therapeutic purgation is the cleansing process for Pitta and the purification of the blood toxins from the body that are accumulated in the liver and intestines; it completely cleanses the gastro intestinal tract. 
• This karma mainly aims to eliminate Pitta doshas that cannot be expelled out by Vaman karma. This is relieved by the use of Ayurvedic laxatives.

3. Nasya (Nasal Medication) – 

Medicines administred through the nostrils An excess of the tridoshas accumulating in the forehead, throat, nose and nasal area, etc. is relieved by introducing medication through the nose.

4. Basti karma-

• The medicated oil or herbal decoction is administered through the rectum. 
• This method is used to relieve all vata disorders such as acidity, diarrhoea, constipation, kidney stones, chest pain, backache etc.
• basti having broader therapeutic action on almost all the tissues of the body and have rejuventive , curative, preventive and health promotive actions.

5. Raktamokshana –

• The bloodletting procedure is used especially for the treatment of Raktadusti The vitiated blood should be expelled out from the body to reduce the amount of toxic sub- stances or else it leads to several blood borne disorders. 
• This method is most useful in treating skin and joint disorders.

 These five-fold therapies are aimed at shodhana, i.e. complete removal of the basic cause of the disease by bio-cleansing and progress towards samana i.e. reducing severity of the disease by taking palliative care.

3. NIDAN PARIVARJAN

• Nidan Parivarjan is to avoid the known disease causing factors in diet and lifestyle of the patient.
• It also encompasses the idea to refrain from precipitating or aggravating factors of the disease.
• A healthy person should follow the right dincharya (daily routine), adapt to seasonal changes and eat a nutritious diet to avoid any disease.

The basic difference between Ayurveda and Western allopathic medicine is important to understand. Western allopathic medicine currently tends to focus on symptomatic treatment. Ayurveda does not focus on symptoms of disease, it works root cause of diseases.