Ayurveda has cure for neurodegenerative disorders: Doctors

Bengaluru: Sixty-seven year old Radha (name changed) was diagnosed with Parkinsonism and was also a known case of Hypertension for a couple of years. She then sought the help of Ayurveda when she got no relief from allopathy.

“When I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and hypertension, I started with allopathy as it was the obvious step but over time I realised that my condition remained the same and I was not improving in health,” says Radha who had also been a patient of hypertension and cervical spondylitis for the past four years. "My problems of sleeplessness, weight loss, loss of mental alertness and memory lapses persisted," adds Radha who then switched to Ayurveda.

After fourteen days of treatment the doctors observed that her chief complaint of nagging pain in the limbs had reduced markedly from a scale of 10 to 5 and the overall quality of her sleep improved. However, Radha is not the only person suffering from a neurodegenerative disorder who has sought the help of Ayurveda and has observed a marked improvement.

“We have treated many patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders. With increasing life expectancy in modern times, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is greater due to their onset at a later stage in life,” says Dr Radhika Verma, senior physician and HOD, Shalakya department, AyurVAID Hospital who also adds,” now an increasing number of youngsters are seeking the help of Ayurveda and if patients come as soon as they are diagnosed with any neurodegenerative disorder, they can be cured."

Sadly, doctors feel that the awareness in this regard is not adequate and it needs to increase. “People are not aware of the limitation of modern medicine and that Ayurveda has a solution. Unfortunately, people come at a late stage and despite that they get a significant benefit. People relate to it as a grandmother's remedy but it is as effective as any other mainstream medicine,” adds Rajiv Vasudevan, MD and CEO AyurVAID Hospital.

“In Ayurveda the first step is arresting the  chances of further deterioration and then improving and restoring the functioning of the body and bringing it back to normal,” sums up Dr Radhika who also says that the success rate depends on at what stage the patient is coming to Ayurveda for help.