| Ayurveda People 2004-08-09, 6:04 am |
| Hey ,
We are Ayurveda People from India, and we believe in ayurveda only.
We better know the power of Ayurveda,
You are right that some medicines contains heavy metals but there are useful
procedures described in
ayuvedic texts to remove toxicity, and also remove poison from plant also,
Read this,
Abstract
Crude aconite is an extremely lethal substance. However, the science of
Ayurveda looks upon aconite as a therapeutic entity. Crude aconite is always
processed i.e. it undergoes 'samskaras' before being utilised in the
Ayurvedic formulations. This study was undertaken in mice, to ascertain
whether 'processed' aconite is less toxic as compared to the crude or
unprocessed one. It was seen that crude aconite was significantly toxic to
mice (100% mortality at a dose of 2.6 mg/mouse) whereas the fully processed
aconite was absolutely non-toxic (no mortality at a dose even 8 times as
high as that of crude aconite). Further, all the steps in the processing
were essential for complete detoxification.
Introduction
Aconite is an extract obtained from the Aconitum family of plants. Though
all parts of the plant are poisonous, the root is the most poisonous[3] and
contains a highly toxic alkaloid- aconitin (acetyl-benzoyl aconin) along
with other less toxic alkaloids[1]. When taken orally, the toxicity
manifests in the form of tingling, numbness of mouth and throat, abdominal
pain, nausea, vomiting, hypothermia, loss of muscle power, visual and
auditor disturbances and finally clonic convulsions[2]. Death ensues from
myocardial depression or respiratory paralysis. If we scan the pages of
history, we come across the mention of the use of aconite as a therapeutic
entity in Ayurveda[4]. Aconite forms an important constituent of Ayurvedic
formulations and is prescribed as an antipyretic, appetiser, digestive and
general tonic. However it is not the crude aconite that is utilised in these
preparations. Crude aconite undergoes certain processes (samskaras) before
being therapeutically used.
The present study was undertaken to ascertain whether these samskaras truly
reduced the toxicity of aconite and further whether each process mentioned
in the Ayurvedic texts is essential in the process of detoxification of
crude aconite.
Material and method
Gross behavioural studies were carried out in Swiss-Albino out bred mice of
either sex weighing between 18-25 gms. These animals were divided into 4
groups as per the form of aconite received. To each of these groups, the
following compounds were administered orally as suspensions in distilled
water:
1. Crude aconite (crude).
2. Processed aconite (compound A) - The root of the plant was boiled with
two parts of cow's urine for 7 hours per day for two consecutive days. The
root was then thoroughly washed with water and boiled with two parts of
cow's milk for the same duration. The root processed in such a fashion was
then washed with lukewarm water, cut into pieces, dried and ground.
3. Aconite processed only in cow's urine for 7 hr per day for 2 consecutive
days (compound B).
4. Aconite processed only in cow's milk for the same duration (compound C).
These compounds were supplied by Ayurveda Rasashala, Pune.
The therapeutic dose range mentioned in Ayurvedic texts is 1-10 g. Hence
this particular dose of 2.6 mg/mouse was chosen which corresponded with a
dose of 1 g. in human beings. Four doses (2.6, 5.2, 10.4 and 20.8 mg/mouse)
were selected for each compound. Each dose was administered to a group of 6
mice. Lower dose ranges (1.3 mg-2.275 mg/mouse) were studied for crude
aconite.
The mice were observed before the experiment and at ½ hour, 1 hour, 2 hours,
4 hours and 24 hours, after the administration of a particular compound with
special reference to the muscle tone and balance. These parameters were
assessed by noting the ability of the mice to hold on to the string, tied to
2 poles set at a fixed distance (normal mice can maintain their balance for
more than 10 minutes).
Results
At a dose of 2.6 mg of crude aconite/mouse, 2 animals died at ½ hour. The on
es that survived had very poor muscle tone and balance. At the end of 1 hour
all 6 mice died, preceded by clonic convulsions. The mortalities at the
doses of 2.275 mg/mouse, 1.95 mg/mouse and 1.3 mg/mouse (all in logarithmic
proportions) were 3/6, 2/6 and 1/6 respectively. The surviving animals had a
striking loss of muscle tone, balance and co-ordination even after 24 hours
of administration of crude aconite. When compound C (aconite processed in
only cow's milk) was administered in the dose of 2.6 mg/mouse, none of the 6
mice died in the 24 hours' observation period. There was however a reduction
in muscle tone and the ability to co-ordinate movements and maintain balance
on a string were impaired. The same results were obtained when the dose was
increased to 5.2 mg/mouse. At the doses of 10.4 and 20.8 mg/mouse, 1 out of
6 mice died at 24 hours in each group with a loss of muscle tone and balance
in the remaining mice.
Compound B (aconite processed in only cow's urine) produced no mortality at
any of the doses tested. However there was slight reduction in muscle tone
and the ability to maintain balance.
Compound A (aconite processed in cow's urine followed by cow's milk)
appeared completely non-toxic to the mice even at the highest dose level
studied i.e. 20.8 mg/mouse. There was no impairment of muscle tone, power
and co-ordination.
[Table - 1] below presents these results at a glance.
Discussion
The results of the above study show that crude aconite was toxic to the mice
even at a dose as low as 1.3 mg/mouse. 100% mortality resulted when 2.6 mg
of crude aconite was administered to each mouse.
When crude aconite was processed in cow's milk (compound C), the toxicity
was significantly reduced with no mortality occurring at a dose of 2.6
mg/mouse. At both the doses of 10.4 and 20.8 mg/mouse, the percentage
mortality was 16.66. The remaining mice had impaired muscle tone and power.
This finding is in agreement with that of Sen and Khosla[5] who reported
that though a reduction in toxicity was observed after administering crude
aconite processed in cow's milk, the compound did not become absolutely
non-toxic.
Processing in cow's urine alone (compound B) also rendered crude aconite
less toxic. No mortality occurred at any of the dose levels studied.
However, some reduction in muscle tone and the ability to maintain balance
was still present.
The completely processed aconite (compound A) was found to be absolutely
non-toxic. Apart from the fact that none of the mice died even at a dose as
high as 20.8 mg/mouse, the muscle tone, power, co-ordination and balance
were all normal.
This shows that aconite becomes safe after undergoing samskaras. Further,
all the steps in the processing are essential for complete detoxification;
as indicated by the residual toxicity of intermediate compounds.
It would be interesting to study the chemical composition of the aconite
root after subjecting it to various samskaras to ascertain the exact effects
of samskaras.
Thorat S, Dahanukar S. Can we dispense with Ayurvedic samskaras?. J Postgrad
Med [serial online] 1991 [cited 2004 Aug 9 ];37:157-9
Available from:
http://www.jpgmonline.com/article.a...1;volume=37;iss
ue=3;spage=157;epage=9;aulast=Thorat
<markd@toad-net.com> wrote in message
news:411691f8$0$62784$4d5ecec7@reader.city-net.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Be careful, very very careful, there has been a rash of reports about
> dangerous contents in some traditional indian drugs. Some of them contain
> toxic heavy metals, consider but one report:
>
>
> Heavy metals in traditional Indian remedies.
> Ernst E.
> Department of Complementary Medicine, School of Postgraduate
> Medicine and Health Sciences, university of Exeter, UK.
> The growing popularity of traditional Indian remedies
> necessitates a critical evaluation of risks associated with
> their use. This systematic review aims at summarising all
> available data relating to the heavy metal content in such
> remedies. Computerised literature searches were carried out to
> identify all articles with original data on this subject.
> Fifteen case reports and six case series were found. Their
> collective results suggest that heavy metals, particularly
> lead, have been a regular constituent of traditional Indian
> remedies. This has repeatedly caused serious harm to patients
> taking such remedies. The incidence of heavy metal
> contamination is not known, but one study shows that 64% of
> samples collected in India contained significant amounts of
> lead (64% mercury, 41% arsenic and 9% cadmium). These findings
> should alert us to the possibility of heavy metal content in
> traditional Indian remedies and motivate us to consider means
> of protecting consumers from such risks.
>
>
<markd@toad-net.com> wrote in message
news:411691f8$0$62784$4d5ecec7@reader.city-net.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Be careful, very very careful, there has been a rash of reports about
> dangerous contents in some traditional indian drugs. Some of them contain
> toxic heavy metals, consider but one report:
>
>
> Heavy metals in traditional Indian remedies.
> Ernst E.
> Department of Complementary Medicine, School of Postgraduate
> Medicine and Health Sciences, university of Exeter, UK.
> The growing popularity of traditional Indian remedies
> necessitates a critical evaluation of risks associated with
> their use. This systematic review aims at summarising all
> available data relating to the heavy metal content in such
> remedies. Computerised literature searches were carried out to
> identify all articles with original data on this subject.
> Fifteen case reports and six case series were found. Their
> collective results suggest that heavy metals, particularly
> lead, have been a regular constituent of traditional Indian
> remedies. This has repeatedly caused serious harm to patients
> taking such remedies. The incidence of heavy metal
> contamination is not known, but one study shows that 64% of
> samples collected in India contained significant amounts of
> lead (64% mercury, 41% arsenic and 9% cadmium). These findings
> should alert us to the possibility of heavy metal content in
> traditional Indian remedies and motivate us to consider means
> of protecting consumers from such risks.
>
>
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