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Common Diseases > Anaemia - An Ayrvedic View
Pandu Rog Chikitsa (Treatment of Anemia)
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni
Anemia is
called pandu rog (pallor
disease) in ayurved. In this
disease, the body turns pale and
lusterless and thus the name pandu
rog. There is deficiency of blood
in quality and/or quantity and this
could happen due to a number of
reasons.
Several
symptoms such as a pale yellowish
appearance of the skin, mucous
membranes and eyes, lifeless and
sluggish movements, fatigue, lack of
energy and motivation, low grade
fever at times, burning of palms and
soles, tingling, numbness, yellowish
and/or scanty urination, anorexia
and/or indigestion, vertigo,
fainting, dyspnoea at rest/ on
exertion, etc. can be observed in
anemia. Amongst women, additional
symptoms such as no periods or short
or scanty periods, with or without
leucorrhoea (white discharge per
vagina) may occur.
Among the
general causes of anemia are
malnutrition, faulty nutrition, wrong
dietary habits, alcohol consumption
and drug addiction (marijuana is
mentioned in ayurvedic
textbooks). Anemia may result from
problems such as traumatic injury
with profuse internal or external
bleeding (aghat), bleeding
piles, fistula (arsh),
fissures (bhagandar), febrile
diseases, diseases damaging the
quality or quantity of blood,
diseases of the liver (for example,
jaundice (kamala)) and/or
spleen disorders), tuberculosis (rajayakshma),
ascitis (udar) and cancer (karkarog
or arbud or granthi.)
In the case of women, pregnancy
related anemia and anemia related to
menstrual problems are additional
causes. Ayurved mentions one
additional cause for anemia, which is
excessive sexual indulgence.
According to ayurved, it
depletes the ojus (the subtle
principle that reflects vitality,
intelligence, strength, etc.) but
modern medicine may not agree with
this.
Women are more
prone to anemia than men. This is
because of the monthly loss of blood
due to periods. During pregnancy or
lactation, if women do not take
additional supplementary diet, there
are chances of becoming anemic.
Children may suffer from anemia due
to worms and old people may suffer
from the same due to low intake of
food.
In general, ayurved
suggests a nutritive diet and
possible supplementary foods and
metal ashes like loh bhasma
for anemic conditions of the body.
Non-vegetarian products such as meat,
fish and milk are also recommended.
Pomegranate and black grapes are some
of the fruits that are good for
creating new blood. Green leafy
vegetables, sprouted legumes, beet,
carrots etc., add to the iron content
in the blood. Honey, jaggery and
molasses are dietary supplements
which help in building blood. Dates,
raisins and prunes are good
supplementary dry fruits.
Important ayurvedic
herbs suggested in treating anemic
conditions are kumari (aloe
vera), amalaki (emblica
officinalis), haritaki
(terminalia chebula), saffron, shatavari
(asparagus racemosus), manjishtha
and punarnava. Chyavanprash,
kushmandpak, dhatrirasayana,
etc., are a few ayurvedic
tonics that help in providing the
necessary micronutrients to an anemic
person.
Chandraprabha,
arogyavardhini and chandrakala
are some of the ayurvedic tablets
which are to be given with milk when
suffering from anemia. Ashwagandharishta
and kumari asava are
decoctions and medicated
fermentations used in anemic
conditions after careful examination
of the patient.
Shatavari
churna with milk or shatavarisidhdha
ghrut (medicated ghee) is
recommended for women suffering from
anemia especially due to the loss of
blood through periods.
A mixture of ghee
and turmeric powder twice a day helps
in alleviating post disease
convalescence and anemia occurring
due to that. Along with this, bowels
should be regulated with mild
laxatives as in most liver disorders.
Laxatives help to stimulate liver
function by draining excess bile.
In the era of ayurved,
no pathological techniques to measure
the exact blood hemoglobin level were
available but ayurved suggests
examination of nails, skin, eyes,
lips, etc., to determine the level of
pandu (pallor) and accordingly
decide upon treatment. In general, we
can say that if one follows the ayurvedic
life style which changes from season
to season, then one may not land in
the territory of anemia at all and
thus will not need any drastic
treatments to treat it. |
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