Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ayurvedic Medicines EAPCCT Seville 2008
Ayurvedic Medicines EAPCCT Seville 2008
Ayurvedic Medicines EAPCCT Seville 2008
of
Ayurvedic medicines
Ruben Thanacoody
NPIS (Edinburgh)
Ayurvedic medicine
• Comprehensive holistic medical system 4500BC
• “Knowledge or science of life”
EXCLUSIVE:
Traditional medicine
takes on the world
MADONNA BABY BID
MADONNA is using old Indian
fertility remedies to try for a third
child at the age of 46.
She hopes a stash of Ayurvedic
medicines will help her conceive.
Source: BBC website
Clinical Toxicology
• Contamination/Incomplete processing/
Adulteration
– Heavy metal poisoning
• Herb-drug interactions
• Genotoxicity
• Teratogenicity
Case history
• 37 year old man admitted with weakness, dizziness and muscle pain. He
visited India and had bought several Ayurvedic medicines.
• Hb 7.8 g/dl
• Blood lead 58 μg/dl
• Urinary arsenic 24.1 μg/dl/L (normal<20)
• Lead content of Ayurvedic medicine 238 μg/gm .
• Ashwagandha
(Withania somnifera)
contains withanolides
structurally similar to
digoxin
• Lead-containing preparations
– Congenital paralysis and sensorineural deafness
Genotoxicity
• Birthwort (Isharmul, sunanda)
– Contraceptive
– Aristolochia indica
– Carcinogen banned in Europe and US
Gold LS. NEJM 2003;
349: 1576 (letter)
• Arsenic-containing preparations
– Skin and haematological cancers
All substances are
poisons; there is
none which is not a
poison. The right
dose differentiates a
poison from a
remedy.”
Paracelcus 1493-1541
Charaka samhita
Type and dose of the drug as per the specification of every individual, if
done by a physician before the use of the medicine, he should be called a
quality physician
If processed and used properly, a deadly poison can become a life saving
medicine.
A lifesaving medicine medicine can become poison if not used properly