| |
Ayurveda > Ayurveda Case Notes > Atisar Chikitsa
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni
Treatment of Diarrhea
Mrs. Kelly visited my
clinic with her child, Chris. She
explained that her child had been
suffering from loose motions since
that morning and had passed stools
eight times already. During the
customary medical history, she
mentioned that Chris is four years
old and has been suffering from
repeated loose motions since birth.
He falls sick, six to seven times a
year and mostly it turns out to be
loose motions. Each time the family
doctor prescribes antispasmodics,
binding mixtures, etc. His stools
have been tested several times in a
pathological laboratory with nothing
particular in his reports. He has
been treated for amoebic dysentery
and bacillary dysentery, but all in
vain. Within two to three months of
treatment, he suffers from loose
motions again. Furthermore, a month
ago, his pediatrician treated him for
gram negative bacillus. But with all
this, Chris is still suffering from
repeated loose motions.
I
examined Chris who appeared to be
otherwise healthy. He is fair skinned
and plump with brown hair, bright
eyes and a slightly high skin
temperature. All these signs
indicated that Chris is of pitta
prakruti (pitta type of
basic body constitution.) The
differential diagnosis was of
water/milk/food born infection, food
intolerance, medicine intolerance,
etc. So the first curative measure
was to start giving him boiled water
at least for a few months. Mrs. Jose
agreed to this. I also advised her to
stop giving Chris milk and instead
start giving him homemade buttermilk.
This was to check whether he is milk
intolerant. In addition, I advised
against non vegetarian food and asked
for him to be on a strictly
vegetarian diet. I suggested giving
him any combination of rice and
pulses like khichadi (prepared
by cooking together moong
(phaseolus mango) and rice) or plain
rice with any pulses in the morning
and curd in the evening or cooked or
fried green leafy vegetables and
freshly prepared bajra roti (a
kind of flattened bread made from
millet), green salad and butter milk,
as an alternative. In addition, I
advised taking plenty of fluids by
mouth like fruit juices or lemonade.
This was prescribed in order to
restore the water balance in
Chris’s body.
Mrs.
Jose also wanted to know why Chris
was getting repeated attacks of loose
motions. I explained that according
to modern medicine, diarrhea can be a
result of several factors, infection
being one of them. The other major
cause of diarrhea is irritation of
the intestinal mucosa due to
unsuitable food stuff or drugs. Ayurveda
too has described similar reasons.
Continuous irritation of the
digestive tract causes agnimandya (impairment
of the digestive fire.) This is why
Chris gets repeated loose motions.
This time we will follow a double
fold plan of treatment. We will stop
intake of everything that irritates
his tract and in addition we will
start some ayurvedic regime
which will help in soothing the
tract. Modern medicine effectively
halts the loose motions but ama
(toxins) continue to cause them.
Jaiphal
(nutmeg) is the household remedy for
treating loose motions. This reduces
unwanted mobility of the intestine,
relieves colic and controls loose
motions. A small amount of nutmeg
powder with jaggery and pure ghee
is given two to three times a day.
Food only on demand is another
important measure. I advised Mrs.
Jose to refrain from forcing Chris to
eat. I asked her to serve him food
only when he asked for it. This will
provide rest to his jatharagni
(digestive fire) and will allow the agni
to expel toxins out of the body.
I explained that at times I have seen
a mild diarrhea being completely
cured by fasting only, without any
medicines. This is the ayurvedic
philosophy of langhan (fasting)
in simple terms. I also advised Mrs.
Jose to add soonth (dried
ginger) to the water she boiled for
Chris to drink. As I explained to
her, this would help in restoring his
digestive fire.
For
the first day, Chris was kept on a
light diet only and the regime was
started on the second day. A quarter
teaspoonful of ativish powder
(aconitum heterophyllum) and kutaja
(hollorina antidysenterica) was given
with honey three times a day. Chris
is enjoying his ayurvedic
regime because it includes
pomegranate juice. This helps in
curing loose motions and it also
increases the digestive capacity.
Now,
about a week has passed and Chris is
better than before. His motions are
under control. We will now try giving
him milk, non vegetarian food, etc.,
one by one, after about a week. If he
gets motions again then we will stop
that. We will monitor him for six
months before we confirm that ayurvedic
treatment has given him expected
relief.
Visit India Herbs For Ayurvedic Medicines and Nutritional Supplements
|
|
|
