Anaemia

IN AYURVEDA, anaemia is known as pandu. The term anaemia means lack of red blood corpuscles or of haemoglobin. It may be caused by (1) haemorrhages from the body by injury, bleeding piles, or bleeding from nose, mouth, lungs, anus, genital tract, etc., (2) inadequate supply of blood-forming ingredients through food. (3) destruction of the blood corpuscles inside the body after they are formed, and (4) deficiency in the production of blood because of defective functioning of some organs of the body like stomach, liver and bone-marrow.

Oxygen is very important for the maintenance and functioning of body cells, and this oxygen is carried from the lungs to different parts of the body through the red blood corpuscles. When blood is deficient, the patient suffers from weakness even after a little work and there is evident paleness in the face as well as other parts of the body.

Treatment: There are different causes for bleeding from different parts of the body, and if the anaemia is due to any one of these, then the cause of the bleeding is to be treated first. For nutritional deficiency, food ingredients containing iron are to be taken. If the pandu roga is caused by the malfunction of any of the organs or viscera of the body like liver, stomach and bone-marrow, then the medicine commonly used by expert Ayurvedic physicians is Punarnavadi mandura or Punarnava mandura which contains about 22 ingredients. The most important ingredient of this formula is mandura which is a by-product of iron-ore and is considered to be rich in an assimilable form of iron. Various pharmaceutical processes have been prescribed for preparing it in powder or bhasma form and also to make it more assimilable.

Punarnava, the next important drug in this formula, possesses rejuvenating properties. The viscera or part thereof, the vitiation of which produces anemia, gets rejuvenated by the use of this drug. Other drugs included in this formula also stimulate the affected organs and regulate their functions. Some of them increase the appetite of the patient, and thus, food is properly digested, absorbed and assimilated. This medicine has no toxicity, it can be given even to a healthy man, and it will serve as an elixir.

Normally one gm. of this drug is given four times a day. This should be well mixed with honey or any other suitable syrup and made to the consistency of a linctus and taken. For children, the dose may proportionately reduced.

Diet: In pandu roga, sour things specially cured, and fried things, which come in the way of the normal functioning of the liver, are prohibited. Green vegetables are considered to be useful. Sweets prepared by adding til seeds in a syrup prepared of gur (sugar candy) is considered to be very useful. This is specifically given when the liver function is affected. The outer husk of til seed contains a lot of iron, and therefore, it should not be removed while preparing sweets.

Other Regimens: Pandu roga, according to Ayurveda is considered to be caused by the vitiation of pitta. Purgation is considered to be the best therapy for correcting pitta. Therefore, while treating a case, constipation is corrected in the first instance. In a constipated patient, the medicines mentioned above do not work well. Punarnava mandura, itself works as a mild laxative when administered in a large dose. But if the patient remains constipated even thereafter, triphala water is prescribed to be taken every day in the morning, on an empty stomach.

Apart from the medicine described above, there are many other medicines mentioned in Ayurveda, which are to be given in specific types of anaemia. Some of these medicines may become a little toxic if not used in the proper dose. In serious cases of anaemia, these drugs are to be used under the proper supervision of an Ayurvedic physician.