Epilepsy (Apasmara)

Background

Epilepsy (Apasmara) is defined as a condition in which a person has recurrent seizures. Seizures are episodes of disturbed brain functions that cause changes in attention or behavior. It is a chronic neurological condition caused by abnormal cerebral nerve cell activity. More than 2 million people in the United States and over 50 million people worldwide suffer from epilepsy. The incidence of epilepsy is between 0.3 - 0.5 percent in different population throughout the world and the prevalence of epilepsy is roughly in the range of 5-10 persons per 1000.

According to Ayurveda, loss of smriti and loss of consciousness has been described to be the cardinal feature of the disease Apasmara. The nidana (causative factors) of Apasmara are sharirika (physical) like ahara (food) and vihara (lifestyle) and manasika (psychological). Signs and symptoms of Apasmara mentioned in Ayurveda are cardiac pain, visual hallucination, falling down, twitching of tongue and eyes, frothing salivation, tremors of hands and feet.

Intervention/ Approaches

The following are some interventions/approaches based on CCRAS research from published sources

In case of Kaphja Apasmara with poor learning capacity:

• Ayush 56 - 500mg for adult and 250mg for children thrice daily with water.
  
  • Ingredients ofAyush 56:
  • Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi) extract 1 part
  • Sunishannaka (Marselia minuta) extract 1 part
• Vachadi Yoga Ghana Satva Tablet - 500mg thrice a day for 6 months

Medicinal Plants Useful in Epilepsy (Apasmara)

Source : Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences