RATIONAL APPROACH TO DIAGNOSIS & MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOPOROSIS IN AYURVEDA: A REVIEW

Dr. Yogesh Kumar Pandey*, Dr. Aakanksha Arora, Prof. M. B. Gaur and Dr. Pooja Sabharwal

ABSTRACT

Ayurveda or the science of life explains „Dhatu samyata‟ as one of its major goals for achieving good health. It means equilibrium states of respective dhatus („dhatus‟ here symbolizes all dosha, dhatu and mala) which is indicated by absence/alleviation of disorders. Therefore, any type of deviation either kshaya(decrease) or vridhhi(increase) from the samyata (normalcy) lead to diseases. In today‟s era, osteoporosis has become one of the most common bone disease frequently encountered. Osteoporosis as the name suggests means „porous or fragile bones‟. It is associated with a high risk of fractures. Risk of fractures are relatively high in old age and post -menopausal women. In Ayurveda, „asthi kshaya‟ seems to be the nearest clinical condition similar to osteoporosis. In „asthi kshaya‟, there is Kshaya (decrease) of Asthi dhatu(osseous tissue) which is responsible for „deha dharana‟( giving skeletal framework to the body) and „majja pushti‟( nourishment of the subsequent majja dhatu). In contemporary science, osteoporotic management proves to be of little efficacy in preventing osteoporotic fractures if isolated therapies are considered. For better results combinations of drugs are given which have serious side-effects and which are usually given on a long term basis. Hence, in this review an attempt has been made to discuss and critically analyze its various etiological factors, pathogenesis, prodromal and clinical features along with all the possible treatment modalities from the classical literature and modern science.

Keywords: Osteoporosis, Asthi Kshaya, Asthi dhatu.