A very interesting plant which has been used for years for treating kidney stones and recently for hypertrophy or enlargement of the prostate is Crataevea nurvula (Varun). The stem bark of this plant has been used for dissolving renal stones and well controlled clinical trials conducted by urologists and pharmacologists will soon determine whether this claim for the plant has been confirmed or not.
As early as in 1973, Dr Deshpande, at the Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi, showed that Crataevea nurvula improved the tone of the bladder post-operatively in twelve patients who had undergone the operation for the removal of and enlarged prostate, called prostatectomy. Enlargement of the prostate often leads to frequency of urination and sometimes causes blockage of the passage of urine, which is seen in men as they get older. Many of these people would prefer to avoid surgery if a medical treatment for this condition-benign enlargement of the prostate – becomes available.
The report of the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha for the year 1985 gave the results obtained by their investigators who had worked on Crataevea nurvula. The power from the stem back was given to fifty-
six patients with enlarged prostate and tests were carried out on these men. This treatment was also given to ten control volunteers who did not have any enlargement of this prostate. The ensuing results suggested that after six months of treatment there was improvement in those men to whom Crataevea nurvula had been administered. The quality of residual urine in the bladder after voiding is an indication of prostate enlargement. In the results reported, 75 per cent of the patients had a residual urine of 100-300 ml urine at the beginning of the study. At the end of six months of treatment, only 50 per cent of the patients had this amount of residual urine. The report states that the intensity of the symptoms also become less. Since there was no control group that received a placebo it cannot therefore be said with certainty that the effects seen was due only to the drug. The recent developments in the science of clinical trial methodology need to be incorporated in any design for clinical evaluation of Crataevea nurvula which may now be undertaken.
Ayurveda and Unani medicine has always had medical treatment for dissolving stones or real calculi which could be formed in the kidney or in the ureters and block the passage of the urine. Beside Crataevea nurvula, there are several other plants used for this purpose. One such plant is Bergenia ligulata commonly known as Pashabheda. There are tree species of the Bergenia plant, lingulata, ciliate and stracheyi, and the rhizomes of all the three species are reported to possess the property of being able to dissolve stones in the kidney or ureters. This plant, like Crataevea nurvula, finds mention in the first volume of Medicinal Plants of India published by the Indian Council of Medical Research. Another preparation given for this condition is a decoction of Dolichus biflorous known as Kulattha. The soup of Dolichus beflorous is administered, in Ayurvedic system of medicine, to person
suffering from colic due to a block in the ureter due to a stone. These stones are usually due to calcium phosphates or oxalates. These are found more in certain parts of India than in others. Renal stones are much more commonly seen in northern India, particularly in Punjab.
There has been a remarkable advancement in the allopathic treatment of renal stones in the past tow decades, and the treatment of breaking down these stones and their removal is now available at many centres throughout the country. However this type of treatment is today well beyond the reach of many such patients. If a herbal treatment for kidney and ureter stones is shown to be clearly effective than such treatment should also be offered in our allopathic hospitals, to the many who need suck treatment and cannot afford lithotripsy and those who do not want or cannot undergo surgery.
0 comments:
Post a Comment