Abstract

COMPENDIUM OF BENEFICIAL HERBS IN APASMAARA - A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Dr. Pushpa Hebbal*, Dr. Mrinal N. Rudragoudar

Abstract

Apasmara is equated with Epilepsy which is a chronic disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. The incidence of epilepsy in children ranges from 50-70/1,00,000. The prevalence of epilepsy in children ranges from 5.59-10/1000 in India. Collection, Critical analysis, Scientific study and documentation of medicinal herbs related to Apasmara becomes need of hour. Although Ayurveda has documented many herbs for seizure disorder there is a need of screening and analyzing these drugs with its beneficial herbs because all drugs may not be useful in all patients of epilepsy. Vaidya might go amiss in clinical practice due to improper selection of herbs. As a result there is a huge difference between the scenario shaastra speaks off and the current scenario around us. This may be due to the difference in the method of study, teaching, research and practice. The presentation mainly focus on proper way of selecting probable suitable herb in a particular Seizure disorder based on fundamental principles of Dravya Guna. Hence present work is selected for the critical analysis of the compendium of various drugs based on rasapanchaka and karma after screening from various Samhita’s, Nighantu’s, proven traditional practices and research articles. Hence an effort is made to collect the scattered references and probable mode of action of various herbs in seizure disorder which in turn will positively reflect the clinical practice of a vaidya.

Keywords: Apasmara, herbs, Seizure disorder.