Ayurveda - HERBS AND HYSTERIA

Author

HERBS AND HYSTERIA

Dr. Jai Maharaj

2005-07-03, 12:34 pm

Herbs and hysteria

By Ranjit Devraj
Asia Times
Saturday, July 2, 2005

Indraprasth - As ayurved, India's ancient herbal system
of longevity and health, revives in popularity, it is
coming under fire from practitioners of modern allopathic
medicine who accuse it of quackery and its preparations
of being loaded with toxic metals and even steroids.

"Increasingly I have my patients asking me if it is safe
to take the ayurvedic preparations I prescribe them,"
Sujath Kumar, chief physician of India's well-known
Santhigiri Ashram chain of ayurvedic clinics, said.

Kumar said he explains that the Santhigiri Ashram runs
its own herbariums and processes its own medicines
according to ancient texts, and there is little chance of
their getting contaminated with heavy metals or spiked
with steroids.

There may be people who try to make a fast buck by
adulterating ayurvedic medicines or compromise on
processing standards, but, he noted, that is happening
even with products in allopathic or conventional
medicine. Allopathy generally involves a focus on the
treatment of symptoms and excludes holistic, non-medical,
non-surgical treatments.

"What troubles me is that the efficacy of ayurvedic
medicines depends so much on the faith of patients in the
medicines, and the last thing the system needs is adverse
propaganda by people who understand nothing of this
ancient science," Kumar said.

Ayurved, developed more than 5,000 years ago, uses herbs,
medicated oils and massage to stimulate the body's
natural defense mechanisms to overcome ailments,
allergies and conditions after the physician first
assesses the patient's body type. Millions of people
swear by the system in India and elsewhere.

But doubts have been spreading among users of ayurvedic
medicines since the December 14 issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Association (JAMA) carried the
results of study saying that 20% of packaged ayurvedic
products sold in the United States contained traces of
lead, mercury and arsenic at levels that could be toxic.

In the US, ayurvedic products are sold as dietary
supplements, which do not require proof of safety or
efficacy. Since 1978, at least 55 cases of heavy metal
intoxication associated with ayurvedic products consumed
by adults and children have been reported in the US and
other countries, Robert Saper of the Harvard Medical
School and his fellow doctors said in the JAMA paper.

They analyzed 70 ayurvedic products available from shops
in the Boston area, in the northeast US, and found that
14 of them contained lead, mercury or arsenic. If the
manufacturer's recommended dose was consumed, it would
greatly exceed permissible levels, according to the
researchers.

As news of the Boston study spread to India, it began to
sow the seeds of doubt among hundreds of thousands of
users who prefer ayurvedic treatments over allopathic,
not only because they are known to work but also because
they are cheaper.

As the controversy grew, it created a furor in India's
parliament, so much so that Kapil Sibal, minister for
science and technology, made a solemn denial that
ayurvedic medicines contained toxic substances and
suggested that in all probability the Boston studies were
"motivated" by other interests.

Sibal said he found it curious that the reports were
coming out at a time when ayurved was slowly gaining
popularity in the US, while allopathic treatments were
becoming steadily unaffordable, especially for millions
of people without medical insurance.

Indeed, the JAMA study itself noted that at least 750,000
adults in the US were known to use ayurvedic medicines,
all paying for them out of pocket since ayurved is not
licensed for practice in that country.

According to Dr Krishan Kumar Aggarwal, a well-know
cardiologist and president of the Delhi Medical
Association, unlike Chinese medicine, which is licensed,
ayurved has not been promoted by any significant lobby
and it is only in recent times that groups such as the
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, with
more than 50,000 members, have decided to take up the
issue.

"About the only promotion that has been happening is the
result of efforts by charismatic personalities like
Deepak Chopra, author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and
other books that promote ayurvedic principles," Aggarwal
said.

A medical doctor who trained at the Lahey Clinic in
Boston and at the university of Virginia Hospital, Chopra
is critical of the fact that the medical community in the
US does not accept ayurvedic medicine. His own Chopra
Center for Well Being is not a licensed medical care
facility but is listed as "experimental".

Aggarwal, who initially trained in pharmacology, said it
was unfair of allopathic doctors to "scare" people away
from ayurvedic remedies, especially when many allopathic
drugs had severe side-effects, which are often never
properly explained.

By attacking ayurved, many valuable cures for diseases or
conditions that were considered intractable in modern
medicine were being denied to patients who might benefit
from them, whether in India, the US or elsewhere,
Aggarwal said.

Added Sujath Kumar, "It is bad enough that many herbs
that go into the manufacture of ayurvedic drugs are now
in short supply or are being targeted by biopirates
seeking to isolate the active principles and make tidy
profits out of them, but actively denigrating ayurved is
doing a great disservice to humanity."
(Inter Press Service)

More at:
http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GG02Df01.html

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maison.mousse

2005-07-03, 12:34 pm

Dr. Jai Maharaj a écrit dans le message ...
>Herbs and hysteria
>
>By Ranjit Devraj
>Asia Times
>Saturday, July 2, 2005
Indraprasth - As ayurved, India's ancient herbal system
of longevity and health, revives in popularity, it is
coming under fire from practitioners of modern allopathic
medicine who accuse it of quackery and its preparations
of being loaded with toxic metals and even steroids<
SNIPO
The sole reason it is accused of being quackery and its preparation of being
loaded with toxic metals and even
steroids is that it is quackery and its preparation are loaded with toxic
metals and even
steroids

T. Rex

GMCarter

2005-07-04, 8:59 am

On Sun, 3 Jul 2005 17:37:59 +0200, "maison.mousse"
<maison.mousse@wanadoo.fr> wrote:

>The sole reason it is accused of being quackery and its preparation of being
>loaded with toxic metals and even
>steroids is that it is quackery and its preparation are loaded with toxic
>metals and even
>steroids

Gosh. What a lovely example of Americanism on this 4th of Juuu-lie.

Cheap, brain-dead polemics.

Ayurveda is a remarkable system of medicine. It has a GREAT deal to
offer. Just as Chinese medicinal systems do. Or Siddha. Or allopathy.

And, like any system, it will have strengths and weaknesses.

And like any system, business is a feature of it. And you bet there
are some people out there who make crap products and some people who
just let the bottom line influence their production and get
sloppy--and yep, heavy metals contaminate. This is partly because
India is an environmental MESS (partly influenced by western corporate
interests). In some cases, it is due to improper preparation of
bhasmas.

Other problems, such as inadequate storage facilities, may result in
contamination with fungi and bacteria (not necessarily pathogenic, but
potentially problematic for, say, immune compromised individuals).

So, stuff happens.

Blind faith is inadequate for treatment. Questions need always be
brought up by those of us who use these interventions (practitioners
or patients). Good regulatory oversight is essential.

....and then that brings us back to Governments, which, unfortunately,
are very often exceedingly corrupt. Particularly the government of the
United States of America, under people like George W. Bush who lead
the nation to a war based on lies and then botch it completely,
resulting in huge expense in costs and human beings. They called
liberals "tax and spend" - well, they appear to be the party of "tax,
spindle, mutilate and murder."

Happy 4th...

George M. Carter

Deb

2005-07-05, 12:07 pm

"GMCarter" <fiar@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:juthc1ts68v0lkgheejtmp0nvi22n0eqau@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 3 Jul 2005 17:37:59 +0200, "maison.mousse"
> <maison.mousse@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>
>
being[vbcol=seagreen]
toxic[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Gosh. What a lovely example of Americanism on this 4th of Juuu-lie.
>
> Cheap, brain-dead polemics.
>

We 'merkins might be lovely examples of a lot of things, but the 'mouse' is
posting from France, and it's just another Monday to him.

Deb
--
If I ran the world, we'd all face different challenges. ;>

Vashti

2005-07-05, 12:07 pm

It wasn't a dark and stormy night when Deb wrote:

> We 'merkins might be lovely examples of a lot of things, but the
> 'mouse' is posting from France, and it's just another Monday to
> him.

I'm assuming you don't mean merkin as in pubic wig?<vbeg>

Vashti

cathyb

2005-07-05, 12:07 pm

Vashti wrote:
> It wasn't a dark and stormy night when Deb wrote:
>
>
> I'm assuming you don't mean merkin as in pubic wig?<vbeg>
>
>
> Vashti

LOL.

You should never make unwarranted assumptions.

Cathy

Cyli

2005-07-05, 10:54 pm

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 08:54:47 GMT, GMCarter <fiar@verizon.net> wrote:

>On Sun, 3 Jul 2005 17:37:59 +0200, "maison.mousse"
><maison.mousse@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>
>
>
>Gosh. What a lovely example of Americanism on this 4th of Juuu-lie.

Maison Mousse is French. And he's fanatically opposed to herbs as
treatment or as healthy supplements.

He has some points in there. Some of the Asian countries do things
like add pharmaceuticals to their products. Possibly to make money,
possibly because they think it'll make them work better. Some of
places that gather herbs use fertilizers and weed killers that may
leave a residue. Some places that herbs are gathered may have toxic
minerals naturally in the soil that are taken up in the plants. The
latter two are quite possible in any country in the world, btw. It's
one of the reasons I won't use coral or oyster calcium, as the
products never seem to say that they remove all the heavy minerals,
like lead, that can easily accumulate in them.

But, basically, mason is just a flippin' troll over here in the herb
group. Looks as if he's either expanded by cross posting or just
followed the original poster's cross posts.

Cyli
r.bc: vixen. Minnow goddess. Speaker to squirrels.
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli
email: cylise@gmail.com.invalid (strip the .invalid to email)

harikumar@indero.com

2005-07-05, 10:54 pm

In some indian Ayurvedic drug traditions heavy medals are added on purpose
for some claimed effect, this report shows that a high percent of indian
drugs might contain heavey medals. It is impossible to know if the
several manufactures of the drugs in this report added the heavey medals
on purpose or by poor quality control, in either case they pose a
potential danger. There have been examples of people showing up in
hospitals with heavy metal toxicity from having taken such drugs, some
were obtained in india and others purchased in the us:

Some herbal medicine products contain potentially toxic amounts of heavy metals

An analysis of a sample of Ayurvedic herbal medicine products found
that 20 percent contained metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic at
levels that could be toxic if taken as directed, according to a study
in the December 15 issue of JAMA.

According to background information in the article, approximately 80
percent of India's one billion population uses Ayurveda, a medical
system that originated in India more than 2000 years ago and greatly
relies on herbal medicine products (HMPs). Ayurveda's popularity in
Western countries has increased. Because Ayurvedic HMPs are marketed
as dietary supplements, they are regulated under the Dietary
Supplement Health and education Act (DSHEA), which does not require
proof of safety or efficacy prior to marketing. Herbs, minerals and
metals are used in Ayurvedic HMPs. Recent reports of serious lead
poisoning associated with taking Ayurvedic HMPs were the impetus for
the current study.

Robert B. Saper, M.D., M.P.H., formerly of Harvard Medical School,
Boston, (currently with the Boston university School of Medicine) and
colleagues examined Ayurvedic HMPs manufactured in South Asia and sold
in Boston-area stores in order to examine their heavy metal content.
From April to October 2003, the researchers purchased 70 different
Ayurvedic HMPs at stores within 20 miles of Boston City Hall.
Concentrations of lead, mercury and arsenic were measured in the
samples. The potential amount of daily metal ingestion, estimated by
using manufacturers' dosage recommendations, was compared to U.S.
Pharmacopeia and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulatory
standards.

The researchers found that 14 (20 percent) of the 70 HMPs contained
lead, mercury and/or arsenic, and that if taken as recommended by the
manufacturer, each of these could result in heavy metal intake above
the published regulatory standards. Lead was found in 13 HMPs; mercury
in six HMPs; and arsenic in six HMPs. Half of the HMPs containing
potentially toxic heavy metals were recommended for children. The 14
HMPs containing heavy metals were manufactured by 11 different
companies. Of the 30 stores visited, 24 sold at least one heavy
metal-containing HMP.

" the presence of heavy metals in Ayurvedic HMPs and the numerous
reports of associated toxicity may have important public health,
clinical, and policy implications in the United States and abroad.
Although the prevalence of heavy metalcontaining Ayurvedic HMP use is
unknown, the number of individuals at potential risk is substantial,"
the authors write. "Public health and community organizations should
consider issuing advisories to current or previous Ayurvedic HMP
users, encouraging them to consult their physicians about heavy metal
screening."

"Our findings support calls for reform of DSHEA that would require
mandatory testing of all imported dietary supplements for toxic heavy
metals," they conclude.

###

(JAMA. 2004; 292: 2868-2873. Available post-embargo at www.jama.com)

Rhonda Lea Kirk

2005-07-07, 5:53 pm

Cyli wrote:

> But, basically, mason is just a flippin' troll over here
> in the herb group. Looks as if he's either expanded by
> cross posting or just followed the original poster's
> cross posts.

Which is totally appropriate given that the original poster
is a known net kook.

rl
--
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