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Ayurveda > Ayurveda Case Notes > Tamak Shwas-Chikitsa
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni
Treatment of Asthmatic Bronchitis
When Ms. Maria
entered my clinic
she was coughing and experiencing
difficulty in breathing. "This
happens every winter. And along with
it, I have a cough that lasts the
whole night with hissing noise from
the chest. It is so bad that I cannot
even lie down for a while" she
said. There was frustration in her
voice.
I prepared a
case paper and started noting down
important things. Maria is about 25
years old. She works as a garden
supervisor since the past 3-4 years.
She has been suffering from this kind
of cough since the past 2-3 years. I
began contemplating and first thought
of pollen grain allergy as a
possibility.
Her medical
history revealed that Marias prakruti
is kafa prakruti. She is well
built and beautiful. Her black wavy
glossy hair, smooth lustrous fair
pinkish skin, smooth glossy big
pinkish nails and even glazing
straight shiny white teeth all
suggested that she comes under the
category of kafa prakruti. Her
milky white, soft eyes with a gentle
look and her deep, pleasant and
resonating voice supported the fact
that she is of kafa prakruti.
Maria explained
that she was fed up of consuming
bronco dilators. Since the past 2-3
years she had repeatedly been taking
Deriphyllin, Aminophylline or
Salbutamol with cough mixtures. These
gave her temporary relief, but things
came back to square one within no
time. She wanted to find a better
cure.
I talked to her
about ayurvedic treatment. But
Marias mother wanted me to
prescribe allopathic medicines to
begin with so that Maria would get
fast relief and would be able to
resume her work the following day. I
had to listen to her. The following
day she came to me when Maria was
doing better than before. She
complained that although Marias
condition was better than before,
this would not last long and her
cough would come back within a day or
two.
I took this
opportunity and explained to her that
if we tried ayurvedic
treatment as a follow-up, it could
give lasting relief. Both Maria and
her mother agreed to this. We decided
to opt for vaman chikitsa
(induced vomiting or emesis therapy)
which would correct her aggravated kafa
dosha (one of the basic body
constituents). As a purva karma (pre
procedure) Maria was advised snehan
(olation therapy) and swedan
(induced sweating). Then, a few days
later, Maria came in early in the
morning with her parents for vaman
(one of the panch-karma.)
She had been advised nil by mouth
that day and had a history of clear
motions. I knew that this was because
of snehan.
Maria sat on a
chair near a washbasin. I gave her yashtimadhu
kwath (decoction of licorice i.e.
glycerrhiza glabra) in a pot with a
glass. She could consume 3-4 glasses
of it. She sat for a while and then
started feeling nauseated.
Immediately, she started vomiting and
vomited for 3-4 times. We measured
the vomit with the measuring pot and
confirmed that almost all of the
decoction was out of her body. She
was advised to take rest for a while
and was allowed to go home and take a
light meal after an hour.
As follow up
advice, she was prescribed sitopaladi
churna (powder containing sugar
crystals, pippali (long
pepper), etc.) with vasaka
syrup three times a day for two
weeks.
Maria is very
regular with follow up visits and is
much better now. About a month has
passed since vaman and she has
still not had an attack. I have
advised her to take haldi powder
(carcuma longa) with hot milk at
bedtime. This will increase her
general body resistance (especially
respiratory). We hope that she will
get lasting relief with the
above-mentioned treatment. A few
other tips which may add to her
present status of health are to avoid
contact with allergens i.e. pollen
grains, by covering the nose with a
cloth, preferably drinking boiled
water at the onset of trouble and
avoiding cold food or drinks.
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