What is Hepatitis How to cure – introduction and causes

Liver or “yakrut” in Sanskrit can be defined as “Ya” means circulation and “krut” means action. Yakrut is an important seat of fire – the seat of anger, hate, envy, and jealousy. These emotions need to be processed and metabolized. Therefore suppressed emotions if allowed to accumulate in the tissues can lead to disease. Ayurveda does not separate emotions from the organs. According to principles of Ayurveda we cannot separate body from mind and mind from consciousness.

Disorders of ranjaka pitta (bile) include hepatitis, anemia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and mononucleosis.

Excessive bile production or a blockage in the flow of bile usually indicates high pitta, which in turn affects the agni or enzyme activities responsible for absorption, digestion and metabolism.

Pitta can be aggravated by many factors of diet and lifestyle. These would include alcohol abuse, eating red meat, eating too much spicy or oily, heavy foods, lack of sleep, too much direct exposure to the sun and smoking. When pitta becomes aggravated liver diseases can result such as hepatitis and cirrhosis. Although viral type hepatitis such as hepatitis C is not mentioned in the classic Ayurvedic texts, similar symptoms are described under “kaamala”.

Ayurveda describes two basic types of kaamala (hepatitis or jaundice).

1. Shakhasrita is caused by the minimal aggravation of pitta and kapha, and is easily curable.

2. Kumbha kaamala results from very high pitta and is difficult to cure. It can become incurable if not attended to immediately.

Pathogenesis

Due to the aggravation of pitta by excessive alcohol intake, too much heavy, oily, spicy food, etc. the liver can become diseased. Imbalance of pitta create disease in the liver this can result in disease of the blood, muscle tissue, and biliary system. The manifestation of this disease is called to be kaamala’ or jaundice.

•Loss of appetite and taste
• Generalized weakness
• Yellowish discoloration of the eyes, nails, oral cavity, and urine
• Vague body pains
• Burning sensation
• Weakness in all sensory organs [17]

Once hepatitis is advanced and the immune system is highly comprised emaciation will be present as well.

Ayurveda says that hepatitis involves all systems in the body including musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and the gastrointestinal system as well as the skin.

Symptoms of hepatitis such as generalized edema ( shotha), excessive thirst (atitrishna), bloody stools (krishna varna mala mutra), vomiting blood (rakta yukta chardi), red eyes (rakta netra), dizziness (bhrama), drowsiness (tandra), total loss of appetite (teevra agni mandya), and hepatic coma (nashta sanjna) indicate that the liver disease is at an incurable stage, and the patient is believed to be terminally ill.

The eyes may appear yellowish and burn which will show up as alochaka pitta in the pulse; the skin may have hives or rashes, which can show up as bhrajaka pitta in the pulse as well.

The tongue will have a deep redness indicating the heat of rakta and ranjaka pitta.

Palpating the abdomen may reveal a swelling or tenderness in the upper left quadrant where the liver resides

In addition, low ojas is the essence of the immune system. Low ojas makes a person more vulnerable to immune system dysfunction or infections such as hepatitis.

DIET CONTROL IN Hepatitis

Any diet or lifestyle activity that aggravates pitta can be a contributor to hepatitis. These would include:

1. Alcohol abuse
   2. Red meat
   3. Spicy, oily, heavy foods
   4. Lack of sleep
   5. Too much sun exposure
   6. Smoking

Diet should consist of the following:

1. sweet and bitter vegetables
   2. sweet, ripe fruits
   3. mung dahl, lentils
   4. grains – oats, basmati rice, barley
   5. dairy – butter, buttermilk, milk, cream
   6. spices – coriander (fresh and dried), fennel, cardamom, dill, turmeric

THERAPIES AND TREATMENT

Yoga postures for those strong enough to perform them should include vajraasana, shalabhasana, halasana, padahastasana, savasana, abdomen lift and stomach lift which are helpful in liver disorders.

The herbs that are important and effective for treating liver disorders are:

• Bhumyamalaki
• Bhringaraj
• Turmeric
• Guduchi
• Haritaki
• Kalmegha
• Kutki
• Musta
• Pippali
• Punarnava
• Licorice

Panchakarma therapies important for liver ailments and excess pitta would include, poorva karma (pre-purification measures), abhyanga, pinda sveda, virechana (using avipattikara churna or triphala churna) pizzhichil, and yapana basti (using licorice, guduchi, katuki and manjista with milk and honey)..

TREATING HEPATISIS BY COW URINE

Gomutraand Goark (Distilled Cow Urine) has been proven sufficiently to alleviate the symptoms of hepatitis effectively and quickly. But one must make sure that Gomutra should be of pure desi breed of cow such as Gir breed. Gomutra balances the pitta dosha and provide fast relief by natural method without side effects as may seen in case of various allopathic treatment. Goark is pitta shodak, a toxin destroyer and thus effective in curing hepatsis.