A drug, if unknown, is (Fatal) like poison, weapon, fire and thunderbolt, if known is (vitaliser) like nector. A drug inknown by these - name, form and properties (including actions) - and badly administered even if known are responsible for complications.

(Charak Samhita, Chapter 1 / 124 )

This issue is sponsored by:

AYURVEDA Inc., DE, USA

Sharing Thoughts:

1) Dear Dr. Shah,

2. CENTRAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH IN AYURVEDA & SIDDHA
(Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India)
Address : Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhartiya Chikitsa Avum Homeopathy Anusandhan Bhavan
No. 61-65, Institutional Area, Opp. 'D' Block, Janakpuri,
New Delhi - 110058 ( India )

Home Remedies:

Home remedies have definite scientific background. Here are some home remedies, which are timely tested by many Indians. We do not claim for curability, but many of us can avail benefit from these day-to-day herbs. Please inform us about your experience, if you try these remedies.

Many friends are asking for different problems regarding Nails and some general care for healthy Nails. Some very common Nail problems are:

For problems 1 to 5, I prefer Nail massage. Massage with medicated Ghee, prepared according to Ayurveda methods. Massage your nails and surrounding skin part with luke warm Amla Ghee or Ashwagandha Ghee. One should massage for minimum 1 to 2 minutes on each nail, once a day, before going to bed. The Ghee massage on nail must continue for 45 days.

For spots in the nails; one should check his/her digestion. Correct digestion and by avoiding constipation, this problem can be ruled out.

For pale nails, if you are anemic, correct it by improving your diet quality, by taking more natural iron containing vegetables, fruits etc.

For de-coloration, de-shaped nails you should consult your physician first.

Erratic life style and constant exposure to many stress inducing factors added with not -so-good food habits is, unquestionably, detrimental to the health and longevity. This tends to result into the abnormal accumulation of circulating intermediate metabolites referred to as AAMA in Ayurveda besides leading to lot of inappreciable damage. Although our knowledge with respect to the health related values of the nutrients has gone up considerably in 20th century and also, the availability of good quality of food products is adding years to our lives, the combination of half cooked knowledge (often forwarded to us by pharma/food industry people), shortage of time for resorting to self-cooked food and the material prosperity renders us careless and abusive towards the quality aspect of the life. Disorders caused by such negligent attitude are labelled as Mithya-ahar viharjanya & Pragnaparadha-janya Vyadhis , i.e., ailments caused by erratic food habits and life style, by Ayurvedic scholars. Prolonged negligence of minor discomforting symptoms many-a-times results into localised accumulation of toxic substances that necesssitates the employment of detoxification therapy by A) mild pacification measures called Sanshaman or, B) some drastic cleansing manoeuvres known as Shodhan Chikitsa.

Many measures employed to denourish or replenish the affected vital constituents are known as Apatarpan & Santarpan respectively and are included in the category of pacification measures. A set of five major cleansing measures is popular in the name of Sanshodhan or Panch Karma and is advised to be resorted to, periodically, by those who are used to a luxurious, sedentary life style for preventing the damages caused by foreign/intrinsic toxic reactions. They are also employed in alleviation of many chronic disorders. The cleansing by Panch Karma is claimed to : 1) restore the doshic balance, 2) strengthen the immune system, 3) eliminate the accumulated harmful toxins, 4) help control the chronic diseases and 5) ensure a long, disease free life.

Often preceded by the preparatory procedures like oleation (Snehan) and fomentation (Swedan), the principal Panch Karma manoeuvres include :

Generally, the first three, i.e., Vamana, Virechana and Basti are administered with an aim of correcting the vitiated Kapha, Pitta and Vata respectively, thereby preventing or treating the diseases caused by them. Shiro-virechana or the errhine therapy is employed in diseases having a neurologic pathology or the diseases involving upper respiratory tract. Rakta mokshana or blood letting is resorted to in the impurities of blood (in other words, the disorders altering the biochemical profile of blood) and sometimes, in case of stubborn skin diseases.

An understanding with regard to the above mentioned detoxification or cleansing measures may be helpful, not only in giving newer leads in the therapeutic regimen of certain chronic diseases but can also open up better avenues in the fields of preventive health care to help add the life to years.