The Hindu : Karnataka News : Ayurveda, Allopathy integration stressed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 16, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Ayurveda, Allopathy integration stressed

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: There is a need to integrate modern medicine with Ayurveda for the treatment of migraine as its prevalence rate is 15 per cent in India.

While conventional medicine or Allopathy is based on the Western lifestyle, the 3,000-year-old Ayurveda is not popular these days because of lack of documentation of practice. The rivalry between modern medicine and Ayurveda has to be resolved and they have to be integrated to bring about a revolution in the medical field, Balendu Prakash, Director, Vaidya Chandra Prakash Cancer Research Foundation, said.

According to Mustare Veerandra Kumar of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, a headache can be classified as migraine after all the other reasons that could have caused it are ruled out. A migraine occurs frequently and persists for a longer duration (lasts for more than four hours a day).

Migraine is genetic. Occurrence of migraine in monozygotic twins (identical) is more than di-zygotic ones. As the exact reason for migraine headache is unknown, researchers are pondering if they are abnormalities caused in the calcium channels, he said.

Mr. Prakash said: "Migraine is owing to a disorder in "tridosha" — the mind-body constitution. Although it is possible to get headaches from disorders in "vata," "pitta," or "kapha," migraine frequently occurs when "pitta" moves into the cardiovascular system, circulates and affects the blood vessels around the brain. The blood vessels dilate owing to the hot quality of pitta. This, in turn, creates pressure on the nerves, resulting in migraine. The redness of eyes, burning sensation, anger and irritability characterise pitta disorders. Liver and blood toxicity are often associated with these symptoms. "The treatment involves the intake of pitta pacifying foods and herbs. Avoid hot, spicy food, fermented food, and sour or citrus fruits. A pitta-soothing diet is effective both for migraine relief and also acts as a preventive measure," he said.

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