Ayurveda, a prehistoric healing medical system, emphasis that Irritable bowel syndrome is caused by the imbalance of nervous system for which modern life style indirectly contribute.  One has to work towards restoring the  “agni” (digestive fire) which is deranged by a wrong life style and food habits.

** Diet – Consuming   a  wrong combination of foods,  unhygienic food, being irregular in our meal times, not giving required importance to atmosphere while we eat, not taking care to eat a wholesome and a nourishing food, not giving much time while we eat, not chewing it properly before swallowing  all contribute to IBS.

**  Also Lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, consumption of alcohol, carbonated drinks, chocolates, beverages, hot spicy foods also plays a big role in creating IBS.

**  Non adherence to natural body pattern  -  As we all know that we cannot be active all 24 hrs a day and the  body needs rest by sleeping for a minimum number of hrs so that both body and mind can have a sufficient rest.  But no amount of sleep with a disturbed mind will be beneficial to the body. Hence take care to sleep deeply and for sufficient time.

**  Psychological disturbances -  Emotional disturbances like anxiety, fear, stress etc is not good  for body. Negative emotions like anger, jealousy, hatred all lead to deranged agni which is main cause of IBS.

**  Drinking less water or low immunity of the body, poor digestion or unabsorbed sugar in the body all leads to IBS.

**  Sedantary life style that does not have required physical activites.

**  Senstive people often have a  GI distress when they are unable to cope up the situation, feeling out of out control, having a low energy level, f eeling non aligned to ones real self all lead to IBS.

Ayurveda helps one to cope up with the life that is shattered by IBS, by advising one to change his life style to suit his individual body constitution.

Ayurveda, an ancient system of medical system, believes that Irritable bowel syndrome is caused mainly due to accumulated toxins because of improper digestion. Stressed filled life also  indirectly contribute to IBS. It emphasis that it can be treated by a little changes in the diet, lifestyle, yogic practice (yogasanas, breathing techniques, meditation) along with the intake of ayurvedic medicines which are in the form of herbal formulas.

They are the nutritional supplements which helps rectify  imbalance of doshas.
But consult a  ayurvedic practioner  as each individual body is unique. Herbs helps mainly in strengthening the digestive process and flushes away the toxins and they have more anti oxidant actvity. Kaidaryadi qwath, Kaidaryadi tab, Pippalysavam, Indukantam tablet, Dadimadi choornam, Vaiswanara choornam etc are the medicines.  Also following too are used to  treat IBS.

Vrukshamla, Amlavetasa, Dadima and Badara in the form of powder along with trikatu (Pippali, Shunthi, Black Pepper), five salts added with sugar can be used  with vegetables, pulses, cooked cereals.

Always while take soups (raddish soup. Ceraeal )with black pepper and add  Panchakola to it.

Triphala capsules (Terminalia bellirica, Terminalia chebula, Emblica officnalis gaertn is very helpful in detoxitification process and it strengthens the whole  gastro intestinal tract thereby helping to treat IBS.

Ayurvedic Trikatau special rasayana is effective one for fighting IBS. Home remedy that is recommended by ayurveda is ginger and amla.

Herbs like Peppermint (has anti-spasmodic actions), Fennel,  Chamomile, Caraway are safe when used in correct dosages.
 
Diarrheal IBS can be treated by  rhkutaj ghan bati, Higwashtak churna, Kapoor ras etc.,

Constipation I.B.S are taken care by Avipatiikar churna, Trifala Churna, Haritaki Churna, Caster oil, oshnodak Bastee and other.

 Wind in stomach I.B.S are treated by . Chitrakadi bati, Lashunadi bati, Madur Kshar with Neembu swaras.

To attain a balanced mind which indirectly helps to fight IBS, Ashwagandha churna, Saraswat churna, Maha sudershanadi churna Brahmi churna should be taken.
 

Ayurveda, an art of living, firmly believes that  nervous instability due to vitiation of vata dosha causes  Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Improper digestion and a stressed life are said to be main reason of IBS. The autonomic nervous system along with hypothalamus in the brain controls the food movement through bowels. If we are stressed it affects the mental state thereby causing symptoms of IBS.

** Yogic practice like  like  Angle Balance, Stick Posture, Supine Knee Squeeze, Pose of Tranquillity, Pose of a Child, The Cobra, Half Moon, Spinal Twist, Half, Sun Salutations, Humming Breath, are necessary to improve the digestion.

** Apanasana gives a gentle massage to the abdominal area thereby improves digestion.  Regular yogic practice of abdominal breathing heals the pain of the  IBS sufferers and one is advised to inhale and exhale deeply. Abdominal twists like Jathara Parivrtti (a revolved twist) of abdomen  helps in bowel movement. Asanas like  Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) or Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose) are highly recommended.

** Aerobic exercise are helpful as it is warming and helps in building  digestive strength. Swimming, Skating,  bicycling, dancing, skating, walking, rollerblading are also recommended.

** Agni Sara is an exercise in hatha yoga and if one practices daily will be blessed with a strong digestive power,  provides with energy and leads to a clarity in thought process..

** If there is  disturbance in the flow of prana or life energy.( an upward flow (udana), a downward flow (apana),  a balancing movement around the navel (samana) it leads to IBS. Inverted postures help in the apana releasing,  deep relaxation in pranayama stabilizes the samana.

** Meditation helps to harmonize the energy glows and reduces the stress related problems.

Thus Yogic practice which includes physical postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), and meditation treats IBS by striking at its root cause.

Ayurveda, an oldest Indian medical tradition, believes that all disorders, can be treated by a making required changes in the diet and lifestyle leading to amotional/physical/spiritual  balances which are also most vital for treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Its recommends the following :
** Reduce the intake of gas producing, fatty foods, vegetables like onions, cabbage, beans etc.
** Avoid artificial sweeteners,  fat (Olestra), Coconut milk, Egg yolks, Fried Foods, Oils, Poultry skin and dark meat, Red meat, carbonated drinks, alcohol, chocolate, coffee.  Find out if your body is allergic to  lactose.  If so. avoid it.
** Drink a plenty of liquids everyday. Drinking a lot of water helps.
** Adhere to regularity in taking food and do not skip meals at any cost.
** We are all aware of the importance of taking a nourishing diet, in the same manner equal importance to be given to eat in a quiet and a respectful atmosphere. You should learn to treat eating as a sacred activity.
** Don’t watch television or read or talk during at your dining table and don’t bring up any serious issues while you eat.
** Change the style of your intake habits by enjoying and chewing it well. Dont overeat.  Use proper food combination.  Rest for a minimum of 20 minutes rest after each meal  (in vajrasana).
** Try having five small meals instead of three large meals everyday.  It is during noon hour the agni, the digestive fire, tends to be strong, hence have your largest meal during that time.
** Be regular in your exercise regimen as they help to keep you collected in midst of this present stressful life and stimulates the intestinal contractions.
** Pracice yogasanas which helps in  strengthening  digestive system, provides emotional balance.
Ayurveda helps one to find out each persons constitution and provides advises on diet and life style and helps one to balance body’s energies.

In Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of healing, wrong and irregular food habits, nervous imbalance, stressed life style, low immunity, non adherence to the natural rhythms of body and negative emotions like jealousy, anger, hatred  leads to deranged agni  which is the main cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

i.e, Jathara agni (digestive fire) found in the small intestine helps in breaking down the food in the smaller molecules to be digested easily.  If it is  weakened due to above reasons, it  leads to indigestion or malabsorption or ama(toxins) and if it is strong a burning sensation can be felt.

* Digestion is ruled by  Jathara Agni by the support vata, pitta and kapha in its own unique manner.  Any imbalance in it affects the role of that particular dosha in the digestive process and in the end affects the function of the other doshas in digestion and manifestation of IBS.
Aggravation of doshas leads to deranged digestive fires i.e, Vata dosha leads to  Vishama Agni, Pitta aggravation leads to Tikshna Agni and aggravated Kapha leads to  Manda Agni.
 
IBS which is categorised under Grahani,  occurs due to one or more of dosha imbalance and it weakens the duodenum. According to Ayurveda, duodenum, helps in digestion and also hold it until it is properly digested and then it allows it to be passed through colon where it is excreted. Its inefficient functioning  leads to either releasing its content earlier or retain the content for a longer period.  So an alternating loose bowel and constipation occurs which is the main symptom IBS.

Ayurveda aims at eliminating the toxins and restoration of proper digestion and it helps in bringing back the basic strength and immunity of the body thereby treating IBS in a natural way.

According to Ayurveda, a holistic way of living, Oestoarthritis, a chronic degenerative disease affecting the cartilages of joints can be treated by Panchakarma.  It stops future deterioration of the joints and helps to rejunevate the damaged joints by normalizing the vitiated doshas.

It is Detoxification therapy which first aims to loosen and mobilise the accumulated toxins which  is achieved by both internal and external oleation using herbal oils and steam. Appropriate procedures are then used to eliminate these toxins resulting in the rejunevated tissues  Then the  cell tissues are treated with nourishing diet and ayurvedic herbal formulas to strengthen the muscles and boost the immunity.
 
Pre-purification therapies like snehapanam, swedhanam  loosens the toxins and makes the body ready for eliminating the wastes. Main purification therapy like vasti and virechanam are used to eliminate the toxins that are loosened in the earlier stage.

a) Snehapanam – Two types of this are accha and vicharana. In Accha snehapanam
A specially prepared medicated ghee is administered in empty stomach. The dosage is given up to seven days according to the patients condition and climate. It is increased proportion to the signs of the optimum condition felt. This helps to lubricate all the body channels and elimate the toxins.

b) Swedanam -  Here fomentation  is done  with the medicated decocation vapours and is applied to the affected areas with rubber tube. In Upanaha sweda, substances like salt, oil, herbs are cooked. It is then bundled and then applied firmly to the affected joints while hot.

c) Virechanam – Then it is followed by Virechanam which is a method of purgation by oral intake of herbal formulas. In this the toxins found in gastro intestinal tract are flushed out through anal route.

To mention few other treatments for OE are
**  Elakizhi – Body is applied in blouses with hot medicated oils.
** Njavarakizhi  - A body massage in blouses with highly nutritious rice along with herbs.
** Pizichil -  Massaging the body with a continuous pouring of medicated oils.
** Dhara - (Thakra Dhara & Ksheera Dhara) – Herbal oils and medicated butter oils are poured in the forehead.

Panchakarma treatment along with a modified diet and complete rest will yield a great result  in treating OA.

According to Ayurveda, an integrated system of living, the imbalance of Vata dosha is the chief cause of Osteoarthritis (Sandhigata) which  gives raise to inflammation and pain in the joints.

Accumulated negative toxins called ama (undigested waste) in the colon which occurs due to the emotional and physical  disturbances when settled in the joints give rise to OA.

Yoga tries to the manage this degenerative disease by including all spheres viz., physical-mental-moral-spiritual in the following manner.

** Stressed life, worries, tiredness, disturbed sleep leads to a state of  improper digestion and yoga helps one to overcome all these.

** The mild body movements and gentle pressures of the yogic postures  keeps the affected joints mobile and prevents further damage and reduces pain.  Stretching  postures done with rhythming breathing techniques  helps one to relax and release the muscles that are crumpled around the joints.

**  When the patient experience pain due to inflammation in the joints, pranayama (breathing technique) is to be practiced as it removes the accumulated toxins leading to reduction in pain, after which one can do sun salutation.  First do the warm up exercises then hold a posture that helps in building strength and flexibility of the body and finally do the Shavasana (relaxation pose). 

** Strength building asanas build muscles around the joints and helps in nourishing it. Flexibility yielding asanas  open up the joints and increase the blood, oxygen and energy circulation.  Shavasana done after the above two asanas is used to rejunevate to heal the body based on the energy one has acquired from above postures.

** Energizing and warming pranayama like Kapalabhati pranayama and Ujjayi Pranayam are highly recommended. Asanas for hip OA are Virabhadrasana, Parsvottanasana, Vrkasana  Utthita Trikonasana etc.,

** Cyclic yoga exercises based on Suryanamaskara, burn extra calories. Abdominal  exercises improves digestion. Yogic postures along with breathing exercises makes an physiological and psychological  impact. Then do Shavasana which helps in regulating the  mind. This sequence in doing asanas helps one to restore the balance of vata dosha thereby treating OA at its origin.

Ayurveda, an ancient Indian medical system believes that Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilages in the joints wear away leading to pain and debility and is mainly due to the accumulation of vata dosha which is  characterized by the dryness in mind and body.

Suggested diet and life style to treat osteoarthritis are :

** Do mild weight bearing exercises regularly as they improve bone density.
** When certain yogasanas are done with rythming breathing techniques they increase the tissue building and improves the strengthening and stretching of the muscles around the points.
** Not to indulge in any type of work that involves standing for a long time.
** Not to climb stairs or bend or squat. Walking a little distance may help.
** Biking, swimming or aerobic dances helps to improve the bone condition.
** Avoid alcohols, cigarettes, carbonated beverages
**  Take food that is rich in calcium like cheese, orange juice, leafy vegetables. Cereals etc.
**  Drink milk regularly as it has vitamin D content in it.
**  Take a lot of vitamin K rich foods such as lettuce, spinach, Brussels sprouts etc.,
**  Take care to consume only freshly cooked warm food and take hot soups of lentils, pulses and meat with  ginger, black pepper and long pepper powdered sprinkled to it..
**  It is essential to include a moderate amount of ghee and oil in diet as it lubricates the joints.
**  Avoid taking food that are sour, spicy, deed fried, oily, pungent, acid, dark poultry, refined sugar, femented food and also  lessen the intake of salts.
**  Also follow some basic rules of not eating wrong combination of foods, eat only up to your limit, Strictly follow the timings of your eating and do not eat in between the meals.

Practicing meditation regularly calms down the mind and treats the dryness of mind which has a lasting effect to  fight the pain.

Osteoarthritis which is known as sandhigatavata in ayurvedic medicine may occurs due to some particular food, poor blood circulation, dryness or a low nutrient supply to the joint. It is caused by the inflammation and loss of cartilage and affects the joints of knees, hips, lower spine, fingers and toes.

It can be managed by
**  Eating lot of vegetables, freshly cooked foods, hot soups of lentils, pulse, moderate quantity of ghee and oils to lubircate the dried joints. By avoiding oily and deep fried foods.Doing a regular mild exercise programme to enable the joint to move and prevent further damages also by notindulging in any hard job which may damage the joints. Daily massaging with the mahanaraya oil is used to calm down the vata dosha.

** Ayurvedic drugs aim to reduce the vitiated vata and also improves the kapha and pitha funcitons. The main drug that is recommended to treat this degenerative disease is Karaskara. Sahachara, bala, devdar, shallaki etc are also used. Main preparations used are qwath, arishta and ghrit.
** In order to cleanse the toxins from the colon Triphala, which is a mild laxative is given.
** Trikatu is given to enhance the digestive fire
** Guggul helps to strengthen the bone tissue.
** In order to control inflammation of the joints, Ayurveda suggests Boswellia gum or phellodendron bark and scute root and it is used in combination with myrrh gum, fang feng root, qin and  jiao root.

Commonly used medicines are Sahacharadi qwath, Guggul thikta qwath, Maharasnadi qwath, Rasnerandadi qwath, Balarishta, Dhanwantharishta, Karasakar ghrit, Guggul thiktaka ghrit, Shadpala ghrit. Ashwagandha, Bala.
 

According to Ayurveda, an ancient medical science, Osteoarthritis  a degenerative joint disease  occurs due to aggravation of  VATA, and is  known as  Sandhigata vata.

Vayana vata dosha, one of the five types of vata dosha (dosha of air and empty space)  governs the entire body and mind movements, like blood flow, heart pulsation, breathing and the thoughts in mind.

Vata has a  dry and light qualities and its vitiation leads to imbalance of kapha dosha, depleting the   syniovial fluid, that  provides cushion and lubrication to the joints. This depletion leads to  osteoarthritis in which the cartilage in the joints wears away causing friction, pain and limited  joint mobility and  affects the large weight-bearing joints, like the hips and knees, also  hands,feet, and spine.

Symptoms of this disease are edema, pain, tenderness, stiffness, pain on work etc. It also starts with ageing and the following factors contributes to the vitiation of vata dosha

**  Consuming dry, cold or stale food, not regular in sleeping habits, suppressing natural urges.  ** Getting exposed to asevere cold and dry weather.
** Excessive travel, leading a vata aggravating life style and  undergoing mental trauma.
** Exerting oneself excessively on the joints or any accident which occurs in the joints.
** When the food we eat, is not digested properly it causes ama (toxins) which weakens the colon and it circulates through whole body and  gets accumulated in the bones and joints.

Ayurveda treats Sandhigata vata by modifying the diet, lifestyle, recommends light exercise, and advises one to undergo Panchkarma and Purvakarma detoxification techniques. It also uses appropriate non toxic ayurvedic herbs which helps in lubricating  the cartilages within the joints thereby strengthening it.