By Bansi Gir Gau Veda
The case of Dakshaben Trivedi* illustrates how Gau Adharit
Chikitsa can help people suffering from neurological disorders, in
contrast to conventional chemical based medications…
What happened to Dakshaben – story of her symptoms…
In early September, the husband of a patient named Dakshaben Trivedi (age 67) called us. Dakshaben was suffering from acute acidity and gas trouble, though her main complaint wasn’t her digestive problems. Since the previous few weeks, her eyelids were dropping off, and she was finding it difficult to keep them open particularly in the evenings. The situation had progressively worsened. As a result, she was taken to see an MD family physician (allopathic) and an eye specialist both of whom could find nothing wrong with her eyes.
She was advised to see a Neurologist, who ordered a battery of different tests to examine her overall health, blood and brain status. All the tests came in normal except for a high TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). The Neurologist diagnosed this as a possible case of ‘Myasthenia Gravis’, ‘a chronic auto-immune neuromuscular disease which causes weakness in the skeletal muscles, including the arms and legs’ (1). He offered a poor prognosis and said that Dakshaben would gradually experience difficulty speaking, chewing, and weakness in other parts of the body. He prescribed medications which would need to be taken life-long and which had a long list of potential side effects.
Dakshaben’s husband and family
were naturally quite nervous, with the diagnosis as well as prognosis offered
by the Neurologist. It was naturally difficult for us to advice medicines for a
complex case as this one over phone, even though the patient was located in a
different city. We advised the patient to come to our clinic or see a good
Vaidraj closer home. Meanwhile, we suggested the patient should use Gir Ahinsak
Nasya, 3 drops in each nostril at night just before going to bed, and in the
morning after bathing. Gir Ahinsak Nasya is generally beneficial for people of
all prakriti’s, and it seemed like a good recommendation for Dakshaben at that
time.
Dakshaben’s health crisis – lessons for all of us…
What happened next should be a lesson and eye opener for all of us. As Dakshaben started the daily practice of Nasya, her symptoms started improving from the very next day, with a 50% improvement on day 2 and over 80% on day 3. Needless to say these results were extremely encouraging for the family, particularly after the hopeless prognosis offered by the Neurologist. Meanwhile, the family had also consulted a Vaidraj who examined Dakshaben’s ‘naadi’ and diagnosed her as having ‘mand pachan’ (weak digestion) and acute vata dosha accentuated by a vitiated pitta dosha in the stomach. He started treating her with dietary restrictions to reduce foods that would increase pitta and herbs that would reduce the damage caused by vitiated vata dosha. As the treatment started, Dakshaben experienced great relief not only with near normality (almost 100%) in her ability to control her eyelids, but a significant improvement in digestion and vata-pitta symptoms. We believe Dakshaben’s health crisis holds important lessons for all of us. It is worth noting that what appeared to be a complicated and incurable disease was addressed very effectively with simple Ayurvedic Chikitsa.
So what was happening to Dakshaben? How did her symptoms subside without neurological medications?
From an Ayurvedic perspective, based on our own understanding as well as comments of the Vaidraj who examined her ‘naadi’, Dakshaben’s problem was actually quite simple. Her long history of a vitiated vata & pitta dosha, had finally reached a stage where a vitiated vata was damaging her brain cells. Vata is associated with an imbalanced Vayu (air) and Avkash (space) element, while pitta is associated with a vitiated ‘Agni’ (fire). For balancing vata, it is often necessary to introduce ‘water’ and ‘earth’ elements in the patient’s being, and at the same time treat the underlying source of the vitiated doshas.
Gir Ahinsak Nasya is made from ghee of unique medicinal qualities and from whole milk of a very rare and special breed of Gir Gomata’s. Nasya is effective for all maladies affecting the body above the shoulders, as per ancient Ayurvedic texts. When Nasya was introduced into Dakshaben’s, it directly started feeding and revitalizing the brain. It introduced the ‘earth’ and ‘water’ elements into her being, helping to neutralize the effects of vitiated vata and pitta dosha’s. Over a period of time, Nasya would also help to calm her mind, further helping to address the psychosomatic drivers of her pitta dosha.
From an Ayurvedic perspective,
the Vaidya’s treatment should further address the cause of a vitiated vata and
pitta dosha in the first place – weak digestion. We believe this is crucial in
the long run, as Nasya itself may not be effective in improving her digestion. The
herbal medicines should reduce the incidence of vitiated vata and pitta,
further helping to improve Dakshaben’s health.
Ayurveda – secret of health and longevity of our ancient Bharatiya forefathers
We firmly believe that Ayurveda as well as Gau Adharit Chikitsa was among the most important secrets of our ancient forefathers in Bharat. Many stories like that of Dakshaben continue to inspire us, and motivate us to work harder to revive Bharat’s ancient ‘Gau Sanskriti’.
* Patient name changed to maintain privacy.