Ayurvedic Medicinal Preparations

Panacea to the Ailing Humanity:

Perspectives in the New Millennium

Dr. Galib,
Lecturer, Dept. of RS & BK

The presentation has TWO counts

counts..
1. A Brief focus on current scenario on
Traditional Practices
&
2. Probable
Perspectives in New Millennium

 Ayurveda, the oldest systems of Medicine is

carried forward as an ancient Indian heritage.
The therapeutic measures advocated in the
system are time tested & trusted through
thousands of years of usage.
Objectives of Ayurveda are:
1. Preservation, Promotion &
Maintenance of Health in Healthy
2. Treatment of Diseases.
It specifies that, Ayurveda deals with the
Preventive, Health Promotive & Curative aspects
of life in a most comprehensive way.

To fulfill these objectives:

Ancient seers tried innumerable laudable measures.

Ayurveda uses drugs of different sources

(Herbal, Animal, Mineral / Metal, Marine etc.)
etc.)
after certain modifications.
The long history of their usage for different
therapeutic purposes is the ultimate proof for
Efficacious,
their Safe
Safe,, Efficacious,
Non Toxic beneficial effects.
effects.

The herbals occupied a considerable

portion of global market.

Few Facts:
As per the WHO survey:
survey:

80% of world population relies chiefly on traditional

herbal medicines
25% of prescriptions in USA between 1960-1980 contained
extracts / active principles prepared from plants
In 1980, consumers of USA paid more than $8000 millions
towards herbal prescriptions

As per the World Bank Estimation

The trade of medicinal plants &
related products will reach to
US $ 5 Trillion by 2050 AD
Neutraceuticals are estimated at
US $ 200 Billion by 2010 AD

50% traditional medicines

consumed in China are Herbal

60% children in West Africa use

Herbs as first line treatment

90% Germans preferred to use

natural remedies

India too is experiencing a dramatic growth in the

pharmaceutical sector, particularly in the
past two decades.
About 300 large & 8,500 small scale units involved
in manufacturing of Ayurvedic Drugs,
which are entering in to the global market.
&
Many a drugs have a great demand in
international market too.

The statistical information reveals that:

Herbal Industry is one of the fastest growing sector.
50 % business is dominated by Northern Block
(Germany, UK, Sweden, Switzerland & USA)
25 % China
2.3 % India

Unfortunately,
this increased demand of herbal drugs
opened doors to the pouring of Adulterated /
Spurious / Misbranded drugs in to the
global market.
Further recent documentations
Like Publication in JAMA (2004 & 2008):

Presence of industrially toxic substances in the

herbal / herbo mineral drugs etc.
raised concerns in the minds of western
scientists towards the Safety & Efficacy
of the formulations.

2004

2008

Swedish Negative Plant List

Further ...
Unregulated or inappropriate use of
traditional medicines and practices can
lead to negative or dangerous effects.
Vasa
WHO
Guidelines
2004
Says

1. Improperly Processed
2. Used OTC

Kutaja
Sarpagandha

WHO Traditional medicine_factsheet.htm

WHETHER THE DRUGS ARE REALLY HARMFUL

Which one is safe ?
ALL THINGS ARE TOXIC, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF DOSE

Dioxin - 0.00006 g

Water - 6000 g

Cobra venom - 0.0115 g

Alcohol - 600 g

Strychnine - 0.12 g
Morphine - 0.1 g

Increasing Dose

Mercury - The Mysterious Metal

Important constituent in many formulations since centuries

&
is the major element blamed for its high levels in recent scenario

Elemental Mercury
Chemical Forms:

Organic Mercury
Inorganic Mercury (Salts)

Whether the situation is alarming ??

Milk (NIN Hyderabad)

Fruits / Vegetables
With
Heavy Metals &
Pesticide Residues

Meat with
Copper Sulphate
&
Ammonium Sulphate

Food
Contamination

7th June 2009 Times of India

Use of huge amounts of Pesticides by

farmers to
increase crop productivity

Alarming presence of Organo chlorine

pesticides in Blood &
Breast milk of lactating women.

Environmental working group found

an average of 200 chemicals in the
cord blood of 10 New Borns
Babies are being born pre polluted ?
In 2006, higher levels of Phthalates
in Brest Milk correlated with lower
testosteron levels in male babies
has been reported.

The Sunday Express [15th Page]

3rd February 2008.

Lower sperm count was associated with

Higher levels of Phthalates in the urine.
[Harward University]

CDCP [Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] has found

148 Chemicals in Americans of all age groups
The chemicals include Lead, Mercury etc.

Ayurvedic Drugs Vs. Safety

The number of poisoned cases is 80 worldwide

during last 30 years as against the
'thousands of trillion numbers' who are
users of these drugs every year.
How appropriate it is then to say that all the users are at threat?
Reports regarding 'Iatrogenic disorders'
caused by synthetic drug molecules published by WHO;
talk about much bigger figures.

But ADRs are recorded for

ninety percent of the modern synthetic drugs.
Still they are prescribed and used world over.

Elemental Mercury
1. Elemental
2. Vapour

NOT TOXIC if ingested

Most volatile form of the mercurial
Toxicity, if any is mainly occupational
Chances of toxicity is minimal in
highly ventilated areas

Vapours crosses the

cell membranes and easily
absorbs through lungs
Enters in to the blood stream

Constant exposure

Vapours also can cross BBB

& settles in CNS toxicity

Organic Mercury

The most dangerous form of mercurials, mainly useful as fungicides

1.
2.
3.
4.

Lipid Soluble
Highly absorbable from the intestinal mucosa (90 % Methyl mercury)
Evenly distributed throughout the body
Crosses BBB & BPB
(Neurological & Teratological Manifestations)

Organic Mercury
First catastrophic outbreak - Iraq : 1972
6530 victims were hospitalized, and 500 died
(Bakir et al., 1973, 1980)

Minamata disease:
Plankton algae
concentrated in fish via the food chain.
Residents of Minamata who consumed fish as a large portion
of their diet were observed with symptoms of mercury poisoning.
121 persons were poisoned
&
46 died
(McAlpine & Araki, 1958; Smith & Smith, 1975; Tamashiro et al., 1985)

Organo Mercurial preparations in Ayurveda ??

Inorganic Mercury

In comparison to the Organo mercurials, these are the safer forms.

1. Percentage of absorption is less (Depends on the form)
2. Cannot cross the BBB / BPB

Useful therapeutic agents : Antiseptics, Diuretics etc.

Mercuric Sulphide
Mercurous Chloride Calomel
Mercuric Chloride Rasa Karpura

Inorganic Mercury

Sulphides::
Sulphides
The most inert form of mercurials
After administration :
Influences Methionine,
which has a major role in cellular metabolism
Increased RBC, Hb, Body Weight, BMR

Inorganic Mercury

Chlorides::
Chlorides
Hg2+ have affinity towards :
ATPase & SH group of Enzymes
Essential for Carbohydrate, Protein & Fat Metabolism
Further, studies concluded that, very minute amounts of the drug
is needed for exerting the anti bacterial / anti fungal
Mercury ions in a high state of dilution (1 in 10 Lakhs) has
a stimulant action on isolated mammalian heart tissue.
(Hand Book of Tropical Therapeutics)
Alpa Matra

Mercury administered in absorbable form

Tissue

Control

Treated Groups
16 ppm

20 ppm

Crude Processed Crude Processed

25 ppm
Crude

Processed

Liver

NC

VC

NC

VC

NC

VC +
Necrosis

NC

Kidney

NC

NC

NC

VC

Slight FD

VC +
Necrosis
+ FD

Slight FD

Spleen

NC

VC

NC

VC

NC

VC

NC

Classical Guidelines

Scientists, who are not aware of specific

guidelines may
raise doubts about the safety and toxicity
toxicity..

The processing technology of Ayurvedic Drugs

are very complex &
Always, specific classical guidelines should
be strictly followed.

Many a times, appropriate rationality behind

the processes may not be traced out, but
they have their own significance.

A Number of Sanskaras like .

Shodhana,
Bhavana,,
Bhavana
Mardana,,
Mardana
Swedana,,
Swedana
Marana Etc.. are always
mandatory to be followed in
drug manufacturing.

Drug related inconveniencies

can be prevented.

Perspectives in the New Millennium

The herbal drugs are attracting much attention

basically for two reasons:

To discover biologically active markers.

(Morphine was the first isolate from Papaver somniferum in 1805)

Validation of therapeutic attributes of

traditional practices through modern parameters.

Western scientists accepted the concepts of

traditional practices in principle
&
Started to administer the drugs in the form of
tinctures / salves in initial days of their development.

Later started to isolate

the active agents
Till today at least 130
single chemical entities
have been extracted & isolated,
which are in use
throughout the globe.

Contribution to the Science of Drug Research

25 % of Modern Medicines are from Plants,

basically used as Traditional remedies earlier.

Gugulsteron : Hypolipidemic :

(Increases the mobilization of cholesterol from the liver)

11 Patents

Vinblastine / Vincristine : Anti Cancerous.

(They arrests the mitotic divisions in the cancer cells)

Vasicine / Bromhexine : Bronchodilator

Reserpine : Controls Blood Pressure
Artemisinin : A potential anti malarial agent,

useful in chloroquine resistant malaria &

in Cerebral malaria

Artemicin : 10 lakhs of deaths have been brought down

Few More Examples:

Sennosides
Quinine
Conessine
L dopa
Colchicine
Ephedrine
Digoxin
Peclitaxel
Berberine
Piperine
Psoralen
Eugenol

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Cassia senna
Cinchona officinalis
Holarrhena antidysentrica
Mucuna pruriens
Colchium luteum
Ephedra gerardiana
Digitalis lanata
Taxus wallichiana
Berberis aristata
Piper longum
Psoralea corylifolia
Cinnamomum tamala

This kind of development, familiar as a

Branch of Phyto Pharmaceuticals
was introduced in EUROPE, particularly Germany.

Between 1980 1999 :

400 Clinical trials on well standardized
extracts have been carried out,
and such extracts have been labeled
as PHYTOMEDICINES.

European Scientific Co-operative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP)

published monographs on 300 individual herbs.

France covers around 200 Medicinal Plant Products.

 Dietary Curcumin suppresses oxidative damage

and inflammatory processes.
It is a potential answer to the age related
neuro generative disorders like
Alzhemers Disease.

(Miller et al., Neurobiology of Aging, 2001)

New Horizons A Paradigm Shift

Modern medical science is struggling to provide
satisfactory answers to a number of diseases.
diseases.
Most of these diseases will have multifactorial causation
causation..
Hence, the drug being administered should also
act on multi targets
targets..
One Target One Drug model is not a suitable
in these cases
cases..
Combinations Vs Single Studies
Traditional Medicines are multi components
thus have a special relevance towards the
disease conditions and are attracting attention

(Keith et al.,
al.,
Drug Discovery,
2005)

The classical formulations are the mixtures consisting

compounds of established potency
potency..

They targets the pathological manifestation

in different ways
ways..
1. Synergism
i. Amalaki Rasayana
ii
ii.. Berberin : Poor anti bacterial
In presence of 5 Methoxy hydnocarpin the
activity was potentiated to 100 times
times..

2. Antagonism
i. Morphine Narcotic & Papaverine
ii.. Reserpine, Azmolin & Rauwolfin
ii

3. Potentiates each other

The flavonoids CHRYSOPLENOL D &
CHRYSOPLENETIN have no action on malaria

4. Acts as antoxidants

New Horizons A Paradigm Shift

5. Increases Bio availability
Use of TRIKATU or any one of the combination
1929 Demonstrations :
Antiasthamatic activity of Vasa will be
potentiated by the addition of Pippali
Pippali..

Piperine inhibits the drug

metabolizing enzyme
CYP3A4
&
the drug transporter
P - Glycoprotein

The plasma concentration

of the drug increases.

Vasicine, Sulphadiazin,
Tetracycline, Rifampicin,
Theophylline, Nimesulide etc.

New Horizons A Paradigm Shift

TRIPHALA
The composition has constituents seeking Cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor
CCK : Polypeptide Hormone

The activities are influenced in presence of Triphala

GIT :
Plays a major role in maintaining gut functions
& Digestive Processes

NS : Neuro
Neuro--transmitter & Neuro
Neuro--modulator
May be proved as a novel molecule in GI Disorders,
Pancreatic, Hepatic and Neurological ailments.

Ultra Modern VOIP

2006

Decade old

2004 Modern

? Heritage
A NEW WWW: 380 miln Indians

country--2008
Largest in any country

2000
Can you translate my grandsons eemail into English.

Ancient

He writes ?RU for how

1970
1970

are you and CU for see

you

Opportunities from ancient literature are to be investigated &

Without diluting the concepts.

For patient listening & co-operation