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Dr. Vikram Chauhan - MD (Ayurveda)

Monday, September 26, 2016

Natural Cure for Ulcerative Colitis

ulcerative colitis, natural, cure, ayurveda, herbal

There is a serious disorder called ulcerative colitis and Inflammatory bowel disease ( Crohn's disease ) which is having serious physical, mental and psychological impact on one's health and personality. People are looking for answers - Is there any natural cure for ulcerative colitis?

I have seen many patients start suffering from depression, stop working, lose their jobs, can't travel and lead normal lives if they suffer from ulcerative colitis.

To find out a real solution to the problem, I looked out for solutions in ancient ayurvedic texts like Charak Samhita (2500 BC - ancient Ayurvedic text), Sushruta Samhita ( Father of Surgery- 2000 BC text ) , Bhavprakash Nighantu ( 1700 AD - herbs text ) , Sharanghar Samhita ( 1300 AD book ) , Chakradutt Samhita ( 1100 AD Book ) and many others.

The problems of loose stools, bleeding with stools, drop by drop or occult bleeding, dark stools, frothy stools with mucus and painful cramps in abdomen, wind, dyspepsia, are the symptoms described in Ayurveda for this problem of inflammatory condition of the bowel.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS TO COLON - MODERN VIEW ?

According to modern medicine, the cause of ulcerative colitis is unknown. If the cause is unknown then how can we treat it? So the disease is listed as incurable disease in modern allopathic text books.

Many books quote it's an auto-immune disease i.e. when our own Immunity starts to attack our own digestive tract. Our own army becomes our enemy. So what do you do in this situation? Kill our own army with Immunosuppressants like Azathioprine etc. or stop the fighting ( inflammation ) between Antibodies ( our immunity ) and antigens ( unknown enemy) with Steroids ?

The other drugs like Mesalazine ( 5 Amino Salicylic acid) with brand names Asacol, Mesacol, Pentasa, Lialda, Apriso are given for life long. This is also an acidic drug and can cause serious side effects like kidney disease, nausea, diarrhea, pain abdomen, bone marrow depression ( leukopenia, neutropenia, agranulocytosis, aplastic anemia, low platelets ), hair loss, rashes, drug induced fever, interstitial nephritis, nephrotic syndrome ( This list is taken from Wikipedia ) –

Steroids have their own side effects and they may cause diabetes, disturbance of hormonal axis, bone loss, muscle loss, redistribution of fats ( round face ), severe weakness and many more. Mesalazine enemas are also given sometimes.

These are temporary measures to stop the bleeding for a while but as soon as you stop the drugs like Mesalazine (Asacol, Pentasa or Mesacol) the bleeding starts again.

AYURVEDIC VIEW OF ULCERATIVE COLITIS, CROHN’S DISEASE AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES

In Ayurveda, these diseases are described as Grahani, Sangrahani ( many types ) Raktatisaar, Pitta Atisaar.

According to Ancient Ayurvedic text Charak Samhita these two verses explain Grahani dosha in general and in particular.

Verse - 1:

ulcerative colitis, verse, shloka

Grahani dosha means defect of agni situated in grahani.

Verse - 2:

ulcerative colitis, verse, shloka

Grahani dosajanan denotes particularly the four disorders (vataj,pittaj,kaphaj and tridoshaj) of grahani and generally mildness of digestive fire, indigestion etc.

These are all curable with difficulty as per Ayurvedic texts. When a text says it's curable, that means it's curable. So all depends upon the doctor, the combination of medicines he uses, his management skills, patient compliance, how strictly the patient follows the doctor's advice and make some dietary changes. When the book says it's curable, that means it's curable.

Anyway, in my clinical practice, I have seen many patients getting completely cured rather than going into remission. My patients are free from allopathic drugs for ulcerative colitis, free from Ayurvedic herbs given to them for few months.

What I mean to say is that the patients are getting cured ! !

I urge all the allopathic doctors, the governments to take necessary steps to popularize Ayurvedic herbs to help as many patients as possible. At present, I don't have big funding for free clinical trials to establish the truth but I am seeing it every day happening in my clinic and I am happy about it.

WHICH HERBS I AM USING TO CURE ULCERATIVE COLITIS OR OTHER IBD'S

In Ayurveda, there are special ways to use pearls and corals to heal ulcers. Ancient methods are used to make medicines from precious cooling gems like pearls, corals, agate, Amber, Salmalia malabarica resin, Commiphora mukul Resin ( Ayurvedic names - Mukta pishti, Praval Pishti, Jahar Mohra Pishti, Kaharawa or Trinkant Mani Pishti, Moch Ras, Bol Parpati ).

Other than these costly gems, (Actually not so costly) because we don't need beautiful gems to make jewelry but we need the left over to crush them and make the medicines. We just need the left over from the jewelry. I developed a formula called Pitta Balance. Ancient Vaidya's use the mixture of all these to make into small sachets but I used the vegetarian capsules to make it easy for patient compliance. It's cheap Approx. 28 $ a month!

There are herbs which are cooling and Astringent in nature. Their cooling properties balances the heat, reduced the fermentation, acid formation in the intestines and the astringent property helps to heal the ulcers. I have seen patients with huge ulcers getting healed using these herbs. I have named these formulas as -- COOLSTRIN - A and COOLSTRIN - B. I am using them in advanced stages as most of the patients respond well to the basic herbs mentioned in ulcerative colitis care pack 1 and the herbs are for initial stages are Arjuna, Kutaz and above mentioned Gems ( Pitta balance ) + Vatsakadi Churna - a Blend of herbs containing Bark of Kutaz and 6 more herbs.

The herbs like Arjuna ( Terminalia arjuna ) and Vasaka ( Adhatoda vasica ) are known to have wound healing, cooling, astringent / bitter properties. I am using Arjuna in basic pack and Vasaka in advanced stages. They help to heal the ulcers, stop bleeding. Terminalia arjuna is full of natural enzyme known for energy called - Co Q 10. So it's good for heart as well as improving overall energy levels. Vasaka was originally used for bleeding while coughing but it's good for internal bleeding as well. It has remarkable ulcer healing properties. I am using standardized extracts of Arjuna and Vasaka and other herbs in vegetarian capsules with no extra fillers or preservative or chemicals.

There is a wonderful herb and the names says it all. Halorrhena anti-dysentrica. It's known to stop diarrhea and dysentery of any type, which can be infective diarrhea or E.coli, or due to IBD or Colitis. I developed Planet Ayurveda Kutazghan Vati (standardized aqueous extract of Halorrhena antidysentrica bark). This is used in dosage of 2 tablets twice daily or 2 tablets thrice daily to immediately stop the diarrhea. The dosage can be increased further as it's just bark of the herb and nothing else. No chemcials or preservatives but only the herb. It can be used along with any other ongoing drugs like Mesacol/ Pentasa or Azathioprine or Steroids like Omnacortil or Wysolone. If you feel constipated after using Kutazghan Vati or Motion Stop tablets ( another product containing the herb Kutaz ) then you can reduce the dosage accordingly.

There is a herbal mixture called Vatsakadi Churna. I found this mixture combination mentioned in ancient Ayurvedic text as a blend of herbs to help in all forms of IBS, IBD's, Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis. It contains the herb powder of Kutaz bark and about 8 more herbs.

So The Ulcerative Colitis Care Pack 1 Contains:

  1. Cap. Arjuna – 2 twice daily
  2. Cap. Pitta Balance – 1 twice daily
  3. Tab. Kutazghan Vati -2 twice daily
  4. Vatsakadi Churna – 1 teaspoonful twice daily

About 70 % of the patients get relieved of the symptoms within first 10 days of using this combination. The diet also plays an important role in getting rid of the disease.

Ulcerative Colitis Care Pack

Ulcerative Colitis Care Pack

The Advanced Stages Ulcerative Colitis Care Pack:

To fortify the formula of basic pack, I needed more combination of herbs. So I developed Coolstrin-A and Coolstrin-B along with Vasaka. Instead of Kutazghan Vati, I am using Motion stop which contains Kutaz and also another useful herb called Aegle marmelos ( Bael seed).

Ulcerative Colitis Care Pack for Advance Stages

  1. Cap. Arjuna - 2 twice daily  ( Contains Terminalia arjuna - 500 mg extract )
  2. Cap. Vasaka - 2 twice daily ( Contains Adhatoda vasica - 500 mg extract )
  3. Tab. Motion Stop - 2 twice daily  ( Contains Kutaz + Bael and others aqueous extracts )
  4. Cap. Pitta Balance - 1 twice daily ( Contains Corals, Pearls, Agate - Purified and high grade)
  5. Vatsakadi Churna - 1 teaspoonful twice daily ( Contains Kutaz + Bael + 6 more herbs )
  6. Coolstrin A - 1 twice daily
  7. Coolstrin B -  1 twice daily

Coolstrin A mainly contains herbs like Marigold (Tegetes erecta) Sheesham (Dalbergia sisoo), Pomegranate peel (Punica granatum)

Coolstrin B contains Nagkesar (mesua fera), Mochras (Salmalia malabarica), Lodhra (Symplocus racemosa), Lajjalu (Mimosa pudica), Dhatki (Woodfordia fruticosa)

ROLE OF DIET IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS

Diet is very important method of healing the ulcers and getting rid of toxins, stop the ongoing fermentation in the intestines. Ayurveda says this is AMA or endotoxins produced in intestines which can be understood as Ama can behave as antigens and the body reacts to them and tries to kill or neutralize them and in the process damages the intestines. Ama is a sticky material. It sticks to intestines, blocks the channels and blocks the flow of energies in the body. Patient feels lethargic, weak, stiff and tired with feverish feeling.

Stop These food items:

The best diet for Ulcerative colitis is stop consuming Milk, Cheese, Lassi (Butter milk). Although most of the texts in Ayurveda recommend Takra (buttermilk) But I have observed that approx.. 50 % of the patients do not respond well to Takra but 50 % of the patients respond well to Takra (buttermilk , Chachh or lassi) The butter milk should be prepared with Cumin seed water + Fennel Seed decoction or water. Then it has been found to be useful but usually I ask patients to stop consuming Chaach (Buttermilk / Lassi) and Milk and Cheese.

Sour fruits - Please don't consume Sour fruits like lemons, Citrus juices, oranges or mosami , kiwi and Pineapples. The tomatoes are also not recommended. Vinegar is really dangerous for ulcerative colitis patients.

Spices - Spices like Ginger, Garlic, Chillies are not recommended. Black pepper can be consumed in moderation with food. Bell Peppers can also be consume in moderation along with food.

Sweets - Sugar is not recommended at all.

Juices - All Packaged juices should be stopped immediately.

Fresh Juices - Pure pomegranate juice - 50 ml twice daily is recommended. Rather it is mandatory to be taken twice daily. Green grass juice - 10 ml once daily, Coriander leaves juice- 5 ml once daily or Marigold petals juice - 5 ml once daily is very good to stop bleeding. Rose petals juice 5 ml once daily is good. Just squeeze the petals in a clean cloth and take out the fresh juice. Apple juice / Beet juice can be consumed but only 20-30 ml twice daily.

Don't consume juices of other sour fruits. Don't consume too much fiber like Psyllium (Isabgol) If it suits you then it's ok, but in most of the cases, it doesn't suit. Do not consume too much fiber like Papaya or mangoes. Pears are ok like apples. Just consume pears only in moderation. Coconut water is perfect. Drink 1 fresh coconut water everyday in 2 divided doses.


Dr Vikram Chauhan, Guide, Ayurvedic Treatment, Ulcerative Colitis, IBD, Inflammatory bowel disease, eBook

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