Hyderabad: Come Monsoon, it is common for most people to fall ill with cold and cough triggered by various viruses. It has also become common for many people to take allopathic pills to lessen the symptoms.
Ancient Indian medical system Ayurveda, however, has a different approach. It periodically tunes the individual to achieve this harmony in three bodily elements — vata, pitta and kapha — to cure and prevent illness.
Dr Keshava Bhatt Sarpangala, the head of Bengaluru Treatment Centre of Kerala-based Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala, explains Deccan Chronicle how one could prevent monsoon-related illnesses through Ayurveda.
Q) What is the significance of monsoon season treatments? What kind of precautions need to be taken to keep away illness by maintaining good health?
A) In India, we have six seasons (ritu) in a year or ritu, namely Sisira, Vasantha, Greeshma, Varsha, Sharath and Hemantha. During the monsoon season (Varsha Ritu or the calendar month July and August), the prime element Vata gets vitiated due to the influences of climatic changes and seasonal properties of food, causing low body strength. This is the main cause of many illnesses in the monsoon season. Vitiated Vata will also lead Pitta and Kapha to lose the healthy status and may cause many metabolic disorders.
Q) How can we overcome common diseases that are seen in monsoon season?
A) Poor or irregular digestion, leads to hyperacidity, indigestion, bloating, loss of appetite, mal-absorption, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and piles.
The disorder of digestive power (Agni) — both at the elementary tract and tissue level — is the main cause of most illnesses. So we must maintain proper Agni or digestive power during the monsoon season.
Q) Could elaborate on how we do that?
1) Selective and regularity in timings and method of food habit. Support the digestive system with medicated concoctions and medicated food such as Karkitaka Kanji. These specified concoctions are prepared with herbs like cumin, dry ginger, black pepper, long pepper, and ajwain among others.
They need to be consumed for seven to fourteen days. The special rice grains cooked with the raw medicines listed earlier and Dasamula (group of ten herbs) are consumed as breakfast for one to two weeks. As a practice, preparations that improve digestive power need to be consumed.
2) Muscle and bone-joint disorders are also found in this season. Patients with such existing conditions as arthritis, backache, and myalgia are prone to get aggravated and may form deformities in joints. Medicinal multi-herbal preparations and specific therapies like Panchakarma are also administered for two to four weeks.
3) Rhinitis, sinusitis, cough, lung disorders and many allergic conditions surface during this season. Specific medicinal preparations, dietary regimens, and daily routines to keep the body warm are suggested to keep away from such discomforts.
4) Water-borne diseases and communicable diseases spread easily during the monsoon due to poor sunlight, lesser digestive power, and low immunity. Medicinal and dietary regimens will help to keep away from such conditions.
In general, Ayurveda recommends all measures to correct the metabolism, restore body strength and thus maintain positive health during the monsoon season. Also, these actions will be essential to prevent the possible illness in the coming months of the monsoon as an after-effect of seasonal variations of bodily elements.
