Osteoarthritis And Its Management In Ayurveda

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative and progressive condition of bony cartilage. It usually comes in view most commonly in older ages but may occur at any age as due to certain risk factors. As per ayurveda it is correlated to sandhigata vata. In this study we are going to discuss all about osteoarthritis, its symptoms, causes, risk factors and treatment options. Also we are going to discuss the ayurvedic view of osteoarthritis and its ayurvedic management. Along with that in brief we will also discuss a joint support pack by planet Ayurveda for OA management.

Introduction

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common condition among all the disorders included under conditions related to synovial joints. The condition is characterized by degenerative and progressive changes in articular cartilages for long terms. It particularly occurs in weight bearing body joints. A joint is a junction where two bones meet together and the cartilage is a protective covering that aligns the bony ends. With osteoarthritis this cartilage got torn and caused the bony frictions (bones to rub together). This can cause stiffness, pain, and other symptoms. This condition may occur in any of the synovial joints but most commonly occur in these certain joints- fingers, hands, shoulders, hips and knees. It occurs most commonly in old age and can occur at any age. As per ayurveda it is known as sandhigata vata- the most common vata vyadhi with growing ages.

Symptoms Of Osteoarthritis

Symptoms of osteo-arthritis may develop slowly but worsen as the time passes. symptoms of osteoarthritis includes the below list:

• Pain: It is the first symptom that comes into view.
• Loss of flexibility: Full range of movement is affected.
• Stiffness: Mainly occurs after some time of inactivation.
• Tenderness: You may feel some tenderness when you touch or apply little bit of pressure over or near the affected joint area.
• Grating Sensation: On moving the particular affected joint you might feel a grating sensation with popping or crackling sound.
• Bone Spurs: Around the affected joint some bony hard lumps may form which are known as bone spur.
• Swelling: The soft tissues around the joints may cause swelling.

Causes Of Osteoarthritis

With osteoarthritis cartilage got torn and all the above symptoms come into view.. A joint is a junction where two bones meet together and the cartilage is a protective covering that aligns the bony ends. With osteoarthritis this cartilage got torn and caused the bony frictions (bones to rub together) and it affects the whole joint. And it may lead to bone changes and deterioration in the connective tissues which are holding the whole joint together. As such cause is not mentioned for osteoarthritis but there are some risk factors that are responsible for osteoarthritis.

Risk Factors For Osteoarthritis

• Older Age: Occurs most often as much as the age grows.
• Sex: Most commonly occurs in women but the fact is not clear why it occurs in women commonly.
• Obesity: As we studied earlier it is the weight bearing condition so as much as the weight of the patient the condition occurring possibility becomes higher with that.
• Repeated Stress on the Joint: If your day to day life causes repetitive stress over a specific joint then it may increase the risk of osteoarthritis in you.
• Joint Injuries: Joint injuries may lead to osteoarthritis such as from an accident while playing. Also some injuries that occur in earlier life may lead to this degenerative condition.
• Bone Deformities: Few people are born with defective cartilage or malformed joints so these are at the higher risk of having OA.

Ayurvedic View Of Osteoarthritis

As discussed earlier osteoarthritis is correlated to sandhigata vata that is one among the vata vyadhi. In this vyadhi only those joints are involved that are conjointing of bones only. It is found in the people with middle aged and old aged ones. In this disease there is deformity in bones. Here in this disease due to vata dosha vitiation there is shool (pain) in sandhi (joints), difficulty in akunchana (flexion) and prasarana (extension) kriya (movements).

Nidaan (Causes) of Sandhigata Vata

As it is vata vyadhi so the causes must be same as that of vata vyadhi. Let's discuss those causes.

• Dry food
• Cold food
• Less amount of food intake
• Intake of food over digestion
• Astringent, pungent and bitter food
• Excessive intercourse
• Fasting
• Day sleep
• Fear
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Excessive swimming in water
• Excessive weight lifting
• Excessive walking
• Night waking up
• Anger

So, all the above reasons are responsible for vitiating vata dosha and leading to vata vyadhi like sandhi gata vata.

Samprapti of Sandhigata Vata (Pathophysiology Of Osteoarthritis)

After following the above mentioned things in causes; vata dosha got vitiated and move toward joints and while resting there it can cause deformity of that particular sandhi (joint) along with sanayu (nerves) and kandara (tendons) and which in turn leads to sandhigata vata.

Samprapti Ghataka (Components of Manifestation of Disease)

• Dosha (Energy vitiated): vata dosha
• Dushya (with which dosha fuses): Rasa (fluid component), rakta (blood components), asthi (bones)
• Strotas (channels responsible for disease manifestation): Asthi vaha srotas (channels of transportation of material to bones) and majjavaha srotas (Channels carrying bone marrow tissues).
• Agni stithi (Energy of digestive fire): Irregular metabolism
• Vyadhi svabhav (condition of disease): Chronic disease
• Sadhya-asadhyata (prognosis of disease): Prolonged treatment

Lakshana (Symptoms) of Sandhigata Vata

According to acharya charaka (ch. Chi. 28/37) following symptoms are experienced by the patient:

• Heaviness in joints
• Inflammation in joints
• Difficulty in flexion and extension movement of joints
• Crepitation in joints while walking
• Deformity in joints along with nerves and tendons of the particular affected joints.

Ayurvedic Management Of Sandhigata Vata (Osteoarthritis)

Osteoarthritis is curable with proper ayurvedic treatment. First of all we are sharing chikitsa siddhant (line of treatment) for managing osteoarthritis. After that we will discuss some research based treatment options for osteoarthritis. Now lets firstly discuss chikitsa siddhant (line of treatment) for osteoarthritis. According to Bhavaprakash (Bh. Pr. m. 24/259) following line of treatment should be followed:

• Daha karma (Therapeutic heat burn): Daha Karma (therapeutic heat burn) gives instant relief in pain by pacifying local Vata Dosha without any side effects.
• Snehana karma (Oleation Therapy): This therapy involves application of medicated oils and ghee on the affected area which helps in pacifying vata dosha which in turn cures the condition of osteoarthritis.
• Upnaha karma (Application of medicated bandage): Here the medicated bandage prepared with vata pacifying herbs is tied up on the affected joint to alleviate the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Now we are going to discuss different treatment options as per various researches done to manage osteoarthritis. Here we are going to discuss various treatment options that are compiled by respected Dr. Shrikant Gaur. So now let's take a review on all the 10 treatment researches.

1. A 32 week clinical evaluation: Here we are going through a 32 week placebo clinical evaluation by ayurvedic medications for OA of Knee joint. In this treatment a study has been done with 90 individuals by giving Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Boswellia (Boswellia serrata), Ginger (Gingiber officinale) and Turmeric (Curcuma longa). This study shows great efficacy in symptomatic management of OA of Knee joint.
2. An ayurvedic approach to OA treatment: This research is done by respected Dr. Sheila PateL (MD), medical director of chopra center. In this treatment research the herbs used are Boswellia (Boswellia serrata), turmeric (Curcuma longa), ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Ginger (Gingiber officinale), shatavari (Asparagus racemosus), triphala- amalaki ( Emblica officinalis), haritaki (Terminalia chebula) and bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica)) and guggul (Commiphora mukul ). So this study shows a decrease in symptoms like swelling by preventing the production of inflammatory chemicals in the body.
3. An indegenous approach to manage the osteoarthritis of knee joint: This is the observational study done in the clinical setting with 10 individuals by using herbs such as lakshadi guggul, kalka-patra bandhan (bandaging) and knee traction for one month. The specific results are found in severity of pain, tenderness and movements of knee joint like extension and flexion.
4. An open label clinical study on polyherbal formulation in osteoarthritis of knee joint: In this study research was done with 36 patients and the treatment given to them was in a capsule form which includes kunduru (Boswellia serrata) 130 mg, guggulu (Commiphora mukul) 100 mg, ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) 75 mg, nirgundi (Vitex negundo) 75mg, eranda (Ricinus communis) 60 mg, parijata (Nyctanthes arbortristis) 50 mg and shunthi (Zingiber officinale) 15 mg. These capsules were given at dosage of 2 capsules twice a day for a time duration of 180 days.
5. Ayurvedic medicine as an alternative to glucosamine and celecoxib in the symptomatic treatment of knee osteoarthritis: It has been done for a time duration of 24 weeks on 440 patients. The ayurvedic formulation used in this study was extracts of guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), ginger (Zingiber officinale), amalaki (Emblica officinalis) and Kunduru (Boswellia serrata) along with 2 gm of glucosamine sulphate and 200 mg of celecoxib. The study evaluates significant reduction in knee pain along with promotive movements of knee joint.
6. Benefits of ayurvedic antioxidant supplements: Here ayurvedic herbs are used as antioxidant supplements like turmeric (Curcuma longa), avocado, Boswellia (Boswellia serrata). These herbs were given for 6 weeks of duration and help in pain relief and promoting functions of the knee joint.
7. Chondroprotective (Substances that delays progressive narrowing of joints) potential of fruit extracts of phyllanthus emblica: The study is done in vitro by using ayurvedic formulation of phyllanthus emblica; firstly aqueous extract of unprocessed amla (Phyllanthus emblica) fruit powder is made and then drying up of this extract is done. This formulation significantly reduced the symptoms of osteoarthritis by inhibiting the actions of collagenase type 2 and hyaluronidase (enzymes responsible for osteoarthritis).
8. Clinical study of single open label ayurvedic formulations in osteoarthritis: In this research an open label ayurvedic formulations were used. This study is done with 142 patients upto 12 weeks. Used ayurvedic formulations are vatari guggulu 500 mg three times a day with maharasnadi kwath in a dose of 20 ml with added equal amount of water twice a day along with that local application of narayan taila is done for two times a day and did massage for 15 minutes. So this study shows good evidence of vatari guggulu, maharasnadi kwath and narayana taila in osteoarthritis.
9. Study with a name of effectiveness of ayurvedic treatment approach in knee arthritis: This study is done with ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), and yograj guggul for a time period of 12 weeks with 151 patients. Results show reduction in the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

So these are some researches done with the patients of osteoarthritis with ayurvedic treatment. Through this study you may clearly see how beneficial an ayurvedic treatment for osteoarthritis is. We hope that you people who are suffering from OA must go for ayurvedic treatment. It will be very significant for OA symptoms.

Planet Ayurveda's Herbal Treatment For Osteoarthritis

Planet Ayurveda is a clinic that formulates their own herbal remedies on strict guidance of M.D. Ayurveda experts with great efficacy as these products are made up of 100% pure ingredients without any added preservatives. For osteoarthritis planet ayurveda provides you with a Joint support pack. It includes several herbal remedies like curcumin capsules, bone support capsules, joint aid plus capsules and coral calcium complex. All these remedies are very effective in curing osteoarthritis by pacifying vata dosha, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects which in succession reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis like swelling, pain, crepitations in joint, tenderness and all other symptoms mentioned above in this study. So kindly choose this pack for betterment of your health.

Conclusion

In this article we discussed all about osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a condition that is progressive and degenerative in nature and most commonly occurs in older ages but may occur at any age due to risk factors like Obesity, Bone deformities, Joint injuries, Repeated stress on the joint and some other conditions. The main reason which leads to osteoarthritis is cartilage tear which causes friction in the bones of affected joints and causes symptoms like pain, loss of flexibility, stiffness, swelling, etc. Also here we give some review about some allopathic medications but these are having a lot of side effects on long term use. While reading you may come into review of its ayurvedic aspect and effective ayurvedic management of osteoarthritis. At last we explained some research based ayurvedic treatment compiled by Dr. Shrikant Gaur. at last for osteoarthritis planet ayurveda provides you joint support pack with effective herbal remedies that helps in alleviating your condition. And you may seek help from planet ayurveda anytime, we are always available to help you. Must visit our site www.PlanetAyurveda.com for more details about Joint Support Pack.