The most common endocrine disorder in a woman of reproductive age, it affects up to 10% of women of reproductive age.
It is a set of symptoms related to an imbalance of hormones that can affect women and girls of reproductive age. Defined and diagnosed by a combination of signs and symptoms of androgen excess/ovarian dysfunction/polycystic ovarian morphology on ultrasound. In PCOS condition, woman has an imbalance of a female sex hormones. It may lead to menstrual cycle changes/cysts in the ovaries/ trouble getting pregnant /and other health factors/ issues.
According to Ayurveda, PCOS is closely related to artava- kshaya vyadhi. And according to types, it is of two types : one is kapha pradhana and other pitta vataja.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Symptoms
Symptoms of PCOS include changes in period(menstrual cycle).
Irregular periods, that sometimes maybe light/heavy.
No period after had one/normal ones during puberty ( secondary amenorrhea).
PCOS can cause to develop male-like characteristics, virilization. It includes symptoms like-
Body hair growing on the chest/ belly/ face/ around the nipples.
Decreased breast size
Enlargement of the clitoris.
Thinning of the hair on the head = male pattern baldness.
Deeper voice/acne that gets worsen.
Dark/ thick skin markings and creases around the armpits/groin/ neck/breasts.
Dermatological Features - hirsutism/ oily skin/ balding/ skin discoloration/ acne.
Menstrual Disorders - amenorrhea/ oligomenorrhea/ menorrhagia.
Polycystic Ovaries - enlarged ovary/ excessive follicles.
Metabolic - obesity/metabolic syndrome/ Insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes.
When To See Your Doctor For PCOS Disease?
When irregular/heavy/ missed periods occur due to missed ovulation and with the above-mentioned signs and symptoms appear, then you should consult doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Causes
Generally, PCOS is linked to changes in the level of certain hormones: estrogen and progesterone, female hormones and small amount of androgens in women.
The reason behind PCOS syndrome is not completely understood. Changes make it harder for a woman’s ovaries to release fully grown (=mature) eggs/ovaries. Normally, one/ more eggs are released during a woman’s period, called ovulation. In PCOS/PCOS, mature eggs are not released from the ovaries, instead, they form small-sized cysts in the ovary.
It can lead to infertility. Other symptoms that appear are due to the hormone imbalances occur. Some doctors believe that high levels of male hormones prevent the ovaries from producing hormones and disturb the ovarian functions. Genes/insulin resistance/ inflammation also linked to excess androgen production.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Diagnosis
Diagnosis is based upon the presence of any two of the following three criteria considered basically :
[American society for reproductive medicine (ASRM)/or European society of human reproduction and embryology (ESHRE, 2003)].
1) Oligo and / anovulation
2) Hyperandrogenism (clinical/ biochemical)
3) Polycystic ovaries.
Lab Investigations: estrogen, LH, FSH, Blood sugar, lipid profile, vaginal ultrasound.
Ultrasonography: USG showing necklance appearance of ovaries. Ovary enlarged with multiple cysts.
Serum: high level of free estrogen in serum.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: General Tips / Preventive Measures
Maintain a healthy weight/normal BMI.
Change your lifestyle = moderate exercise activities + suitable diet plan.
Weight loss can reduce insulin and androgens levels and can restore ovulation.
Exercise and YOGA regularly.
Regular exercise patterns prevent insulin resistance and help to keep your weight in control.
Limit your carbohydrate diets.
Vigorous exercise- asanas/ pranayama.
What To Avoid?
High calorie / carbohydrates/ fat rich diet.
Bakery items/ junk foods.
Avoid excessive sleeping.
Pastries/ white bread/ fried foods.
Sugary beverages = soda or energy drinks.
Processed meats/ hot dogs/ sausages.
Solid fats = margarine/lard
Excessive red meat = steaks/ hamburgers/ pork.
What To Eat?
Low-calorie diet.
Low glycemic index food like - whole grains/ legumes/ nuts/ seeds/ fruits/ starchy vegetables/ unprocessed low carbohydrate foods.
Berries/ leafy greens
Extra virgin oil
Natural/ unprocessed foods.
Spinach/ dark/ leafy greens.
Broccoli/ cauliflower.
High fiber foods.
Avocados/ coconuts.
Dried beans/ other legumes.
Walnuts/ almonds/ pistachios.
Turmeric/ cinnamon.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Questions And Answers
Q.1) What physical signs will suggest PCOS ( Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) ?
Ans.- On examination with women, the following findings suggest PCOS:
Virilizing signs.
Acanthosis nigricans.
Hypertension
Enlarged ovaries, etc.
Q.2) What are the other signs of PCOS?
Ans.- Other signs include infertility, oily skin, patches of thickened, velvety, darked skin called acanthosis nigricans, skin tags, obesity/weight gain.
Q.3) How does PCOS affect health?
Ans.- It can cause other problems including metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, excess body fat around waist, abnormal cholesterol levels, can cause cardiovascular disease/ strokes/ diabetes, type-2 diabetes, endometrial hyperplasia, cancer risk factors, gestational diabetes, miscarriage/ premature birth, liver inflammation, sleep apnea, mental health issues( depression/anxiety/ eating disorders).
Q.4) Is PCOS syndrome a lifelong condition?
Ans.- The hormone imbalance of PCOS and the symptoms can be persist throughout life if not treated in a proper time. If signs and symptoms occur, then you should consult doctor immediately to make it more critical situation.
Q.5) What are the clinical features of PCOS?
Ans.- Clinical features include:-
- Patient complaints of increasing obesity ( abdominal- 50%), menstrual abnormalities (70%) in the form of oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea/ dysfunctional uterine bleeding/ infertility. Presence of hirsutism /acne are the important features considered (70%). Virilism is rare. Often characterized by acanthosis nigricans/ HAIR-AN syndrome.
Q.6) How serum levels give result in PCOS ?
Ans.- For better investigation of PCOS, Doctor suggest serum test. Serum values that suggest PCOS include:-
Elevated LH levels/ LH:FSH > 2:1
Raised level of estradiol and estrone.
Hyperandrogenism
Raised serum testosterone/ DHEA( dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) marginally elevated.
Raised fasting insulin levels.
Q.7) What causes androgen levels to raise in PCOS?
Ans.- Abnormal regulation of the androgen forming enzyme P450 C17 is thought to be the main cause for excess production of androgens from the ovaries and adrenals. The principal source of androgens are - ovary, adrenal, systemic metabolic alteration.
Q.8) How management of PCOS occur?
Ans.- Management of PCOS needs individualization of the patient. Present symptoms of patient is generally noted. Treatment is primarily targeted to correct the biochemical abnormalities on pcos/pcod. In obese patients, first line of treatment includes weight reduction, It improves the metabolic syndrome and reproductive function.
Q.9 ) Why insulin level increases in PCOS? What are its causes?
Ans.- Women having PCOS also have insulin resistance - a condition that leads to high glucose levels and leads to prediabetes / type 2 diabetes. The pancreas in our body produces insulin along with other functions. Typically insulin is secreted in response to increased blood levels of glucose, a small sugar molecule. Insulin allows cells in our body to take glucose for energy from carbohydrates. When someone has insulin resistance, the body does not respond to insulin as efficiently/ quickly which leads to high glucose levels in the blood and low energy. Therefore, Insulin level increases as the body begins to deal differently with sugar.
Q.10) What are the various treatment available in Ayurveda for PCOS?
Ans.- Principles of Treatment in Ayurveda is mainly depended on kapha pradhana/ pitta pradhana type. According to which, snehana, vamana, virechana, yoga basti; panchakarma procedures included. For Shamana, weight loss treatment, exercise and diet along with some classical and proprietary formulations is given to the patient.
References
1) Longmore, Wilkinson, Davidson, Foulkes, Mafi, Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine 8th Edition.
2) Ayurveda Prasuti Tantra evum Stree Roga, Prof.Premvati Tiwari 2nd edition.
3) Hiralal Konar, DC Dutta’s Textbook of Gynecology 7th Edition.
4) Charak Samhita Volume-2, by Acharya Vidyadhar Shukla and Prof. Ravi Dutt Tripathi.
Bengaluru, Jan 18 (IANS) Health and fitness startup Cure.fit on Monday announced it has acquired Onyx, a US-based fitness company that is building the worlds smartest digital training experience, for an undisclosed sum.Onyx specialises in body tracking technology and personalisation of workout feedback and the acquisition would help Cure.fit improve its computer vision technology for its at-home fitness product and expanding its international business."Onyx will accelerate our efforts towards building a hardware agnostic AI-led platform that offers guided content on physical & mental wellness and nutrition all at the same place," said Mukesh Bansal, Co-founder, Cure.fit.Onyx was recently featured as "App of the Day" on Apple's App Store and has seen rapid user growth over the course of the last year.Cure.fit recently launched in the US with its energy-meter tech wherein, the phone camera tracks users' movements as they try to follow guided content from trainers. Users can track their improvement, compete with their friends, post selfies, and follow their favourite trainers."High accuracy body tracking combined with studio quality content will help us create a very differentiated experience for our users," said Asaf Avidan Antonir, Co-founder of Onyx.Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, Cure.fit aims to address preventive healthcare through a combination of engagement, coaching and delivery using a mix of online and offline channels.--IANSna/
In our day-to-day beauty regime, psychological peace and spiritual balance play a relevant role. We never think but most of our skin problems are due to various imbalances in our body fluids, blood circulation, no exercise, and stress too.
Apart from its innumerable health benefits, Yoga also helps to beautify skin. Practicing yoga daily is beneficial and helps eliminate toxins from your body through sweating, breath-workout, and poses that detoxify the body and increase blood circulation, points out cosmetic surgeon Dr. Geeta Grewal.
Here are a few yoga asanas that can help to provide you a firm face and glowing skin:
Increase blood flows to your face
Standing forward bend and let your head free or uttanasana and viprita karani. These poses help the blood to rush to your head, reverses the aging effect, and giving your cells a rejuvenating boost of oxygen.
Eliminate wrinkles
Yoga also makes your skin tighter and smoother, as you work with muscles of the forehead and around your eyes that helps to erase the effects when you performed. When you practice facial yoga like the lion, the V, and smiling faces, it helps to reduce your forehead wrinkles by increasing circulation, relaxing muscles, and reducing stress.
Glowing skin
The downward-facing Mudras like Marichyasana, Dhanurasana, and halasana, reduce dullness and clear the acne, disseminating that amazing young-looking glow and improve your complexion drastically.
Reduce facial fat
At one point in time, you will stop liking the chubbiness of your cheeks and facial fat. Yoga pose for cheeks, lips, and jaw can help you to tighten your skin and reduce your facial fat. The cheeks workouts are the easiest workout that you can do anywhere anytime to tone and firm your facial muscles, cheeks, and lips. Some of them are the V, smiling, etc.
Exterminate double chin
Yoga poses like chin lift, rolling the neck, lip pull, jaw release, platsyma tone help to get a chiseled jawline and high cheekbone which are in the trend that defines the face.
Get rid of pimples
Yoga increases blood flow, removes toxins, and captures free radicals that help you to get rid of pimples. Pimples mainly caused due to stress and hormonal changes. Thus, yoga helps to balance hormones, relax your body, and relieves stress. Various yoga poses like uttanasana, trikonasana, kapalbhati, viparita karani, pavan muktasana can help you fight pimples.
Free from acne and scars
Acne and scars are very common these days; seven out of 10 people are facing the problem of scars and acne. This causes mainly due to poor digestion, imbalance hormones, toxication in the liver and kidney, and improper blood circulation. Pranayam breathing, rabbit pose, child pose, spinal twists, adequate sleep help you to get rid of scars and acne.
Remove dark circles
The natural way to zap those dark circles away is yoga like hastpadotasan, sambhavi mudras, and Surya namaskar.
Faster Hair Growth
Yoga is also highly capable of treating all types of hair and scalp problems. If you have been suffering from the problem of hair loss, you can try various yoga poses for actual results. Some of the best poses of yoga for hair growth that also help to prevent hair loss are Vajrasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Sarvangasan, and Balyam Yoga. (Agency
Your liver is the largest vital organ of your body and it is responsible for many essential bodily functions. It detoxifies the body, helps in digestion, and keeps you healthy and fit. You need to take care of this organ and make sure that it does not suffer from poor lifestyle choices and unhealthy habits. Any problems with the liver, like fatty liver disease, jaundice, and hepatitis, can lead to complications that you can do without. Gut acting up? Try these Ayurvedic herbs to calm your stomach.
But other than leading a healthy lifestyle, there are other ways of ensuring that this organ remains healthy. You can also use the secrets of Ayurveda, the ancient healing therapy from India, to ensure the optimum health of this organ.
There are many herbs and formulations in Ayurveda that can help you do so. So, take a pledge to keep your liver healthy and make sure that every day is ailment free for you.
Ayurveda and Liver Health
According to Ayurveda, your liver has an association with pitta dosha, raktha dhathu or blood, and agni or digestive fire. The health of your liver can influence all three and the imbalance in the three can also influence the health of this organ. Pitta dosha can lead to an enlarged liver and shrunken liver, jaundice, fatty liver, and liver cirrhosis.
But since the liver metabolizes the food that you consume, the right foods can keep this organ healthy. Bitter tasting herbs, fruits, and veggies like apples, carrots, beetroot, and leafy greens are good too. Here are a few Ayurvedic herbs and foods that can boost liver health.
Papaya
This is one fruit that comes with many health benefits. But to boost liver health, you need to have the seeds of the fruit and the leaves of the papaya tree. It will help you keep liver diseases like jaundice and liver cirrhosis at bay. You can dry the seeds in the sun, grind them to a powder, and have a teaspoon of this every day mixed in a glass of warm water. Add some lemon juice to make this drink more potent. As for the leaves, you can take some, grind them, and then extract the juice. Drink this every day. But a word of caution here. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, avoid having this.
Triphala
This is an Ayurvedic formulation that contains three potent herbs, haritaki, bibhitaki, and amla. A pinch of this powder every day before bedtime will boost your metabolism and improve bowel movements. It will also clean your blood and detoxify your body.
Garlic
Garlic keeps your liver healthy and also significantly brings down your risk of many diseases related to the liver. It prevents fat accumulation in the liver and helps in cleansing this organ of all toxins. Have this daily in the form of tea in the morning for the best benefits.
Giloy
One of the most treasured herbs in Ayurveda, Giloy is acknowledged for its detoxifying and blood cleansing properties. Ayurvedic herbal medicines concocted for liver issues contain Giloy. The herb also helps in healing hepatitis, jaundice, and fatty liver. But Giloy should be taken under the guidance of an Ayurvedic doctor.
Amla or the Indian Gooseberry
This sour fruit is loaded with vitamin C, which is good for liver health. It prevents the accumulation of fat in the organ and prevents fatty liver disease. You can have it raw, in juice form, or in powder form. If you have it in juice form, have it on an empty stomach for best results. If you have the raw fruit and find it too sour for your taste, just drink a glass of water immediately after having the fruit. You will be left with a sweet aftertaste.
Type of headache which may occur with symptoms such as nausea/vomiting/ sensitivity to light. In many of the people, throbbing pain is felt only on one side of the head.
Due to urbanization, lifestyle of the people of modern era has changed. Due to changed work expectations for better lifestyle, stress is causing incidence of acute and chronic disorders.
MIGRAINE, one of the chronic illness,and has spread in many parts of population. It is chronic neurological disorder. Some people who get migraine have warning symptom, called an aura,before the actual headache begins. An aura is a group of symptoms, of vision changes.
In Ayurveda, Ardhavabhedaka is very much similar to migraine. It is described as vataja/vatakaphaj/tridoshaj shiroroga.
SYMPTOMS-
Migraine progresses through four stages-
Prodrome
Aura
Attack
Post-drome
PRODROME
One/ Two days before a migraine, some changes will warn you for an upcoming migraine.
Constipation, Food cravings, Neck stiffness, Mood changes, Thirst and urination, Yawning frequent.
AURA
It is considered reversible symptoms of the nervous system. It can occur before/ during migraines, although it is usually visual but can also include other disturbances. Aura symptoms begins gradually,, builds up over several minutes and lasta for 20 to 60 minutes.
visual phenomena can occur such as seeing various shapes, bright spots/ flashes of light.
hearing noises/music.
pins and needles sensations in an arm/leg.
difficulty speaking.
ATTACK
Migraine usually lasts from 4 - 72 hours if untreated. Attack of migraine includes -
pain that usually occur on one side of your head, but often on both sides.
pain that throb/pulses.
sensitivity to light/sound/ smell/ touch.
nausea and vomiting.
POST-DROME-
After migraine attack, you might feel drained, confused and washed out for upto a day. Sudden head movement might occur.
WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR FOR MIGRAINE DISEASE ?
Migraine is often undiagnosed and untreated. Regular signs and symptoms record and attack records should be kept and to report doctor to know about its severity. Headaches history also might help.
In case of any severe signs and symptoms mentioned below occur, then without delay consult doctor/ go to the hospital immediately --
headache with fever/stiff neck/mental confusion/ seizures/ double vision/ weakness/ numbness/ trouble speaking.
chronic headache worse after coughing/exertion/straining/ sudden movement.
an abrupt severe headache.
CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS-
A migraine headache is caused by abnormal brain activity that triggered many things.
It tends to appear between the ages of 10 and 45, sometimes later in life. It run in families. Mostly, it occurs in women as compared to men.
Migraine headaches can also triggered by certain foods like-
Baked goods/ chocolate/ dairy foods/MSG ( monosodium glutamate) foods.
Tyramine rich foods like smoked fish/ chicken livers/ figs/ certain beans/ aged cheese/ red wine
Avocado/banana/citrus fruit
Onions
Peanuts/ processed, fermented, pickled/ marinated foods
Hormonal changes in women like fluctuations in estrogen before/during menstrual periods, pregnancy, menopause.
Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy in women can worsen migraines.
Stress
Bright lights/ sun glare/ loud sounds.
Strong smell= include perfumes/ paint thinner
Sleep changes
intense physical exertion
weather changes
PREVENTION-
avoid loud noises, bright lights.
pay attention to food choices such as avoid chocolate, red wine, processed meats, sweeteners, cheese.
record headache of times and severity of headaches.
beware of hormonal changes.
pay attention to the weather.
take nutritive foods and supplements.
eat + sleep on a regular schedule.
avoid stress.
don’t miss your meal especially lunch and breakfast.
choose relaxing exercises.
have a managing schedule with lifestyle management.
DIAGNOSIS-
Diagnosis of migraine is usually based on the history. Acc. To diagnostic criteria established by the International Headache Society, patients must have had at least 5 headache attacks that lasted 4-72 hrs & the headache must have at least 2-3 of the following characteristics in it :-
1) Pulsating quality
2) Moderate/ severe pain intensity
3) Aggravation by / causing avoidance of routine physical activities.
Now, in addition to the above mentioned criteria, patient must have had atleast one of the following :-
1) Nausea/ vomiting
2) Photophobia & phonophobia
GENERAL TIPS/ HOME REMEDIES -
Keep a food diary along with your headache diary --- to help identify what you ate before migraine attacks.
If you think a specific food is triggering migraine attacks/ you may try to avoid that food for a month affects.
Be careful about trying extremely strict diets, it can lead to missing various nutrients.
Try to change things like white bread, white rice and pasta in your diet to whole grains.
Aim to increase fruit and vegetables intake.
Aim to eat healthy fats not low fats.
Limiit sodium to < than 2300 mg/ day. Most salt in our diets comes from processed foods like heat-and-eat frozen meals, canned soups, ready-to-eat snacks like chips and crackers.
Consider eating 5 small meals per day. To stay longer, eat a carbohydrate with a protein/good fat.
Don’t eat/drink anything that triggers your migraine. Some common food triggers are alcohol//aged cheeses,/caffeine. And chocolate.
Drink water through the day instead of sugary drinks like soda/juice.
Eat magnesium rich foods. Magnesium mineral is important for a no. Of body functions, also it binds to specific receptors in brain.
WHAT TO AVOID?
Spicy, heavy, cold, oily foods
Foods that contain a lot of sodium/ additive foods containing monosodium glutamate(MSG)/ artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.
alcohol/smoking
stress
changes in the weather/ changes in sleeping habit patterns.
certain medications without prescription
eggs/ tomatoes/ onions/ dairy products/ citrus fruits
pasta and bread products
chocolate/ aged cheese/ nuts/ aspartame/excessive caffeine
Avoid exposure to wind and sunlight.
Avoid smoked meat and fish.
WHAT TO EAT?
orange/green and yellow vegetables ( summer squash/sweet potatoes/carrots/ spinach)
meals and water intake on time.
brown rice
dried/ cooked fruits
well cooked and boiled food
cherries/ cranberries
boiled and cooked fresh meats/fish/poultry
Vitamin B-2 / Riboflavin containing food like salmon, red meat, grains and mushrooms.
light diet/ rest/ relaxation
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS -
Q.1.) How hormones affect migraine in women?
Ans.- Migraine is more common in women, menstruation in migraine trigger 10% of women with migraine. Hormonal medications such as oral contraceptives / hormone replacement therapy can also worsen the condition.
Q.2) What are some features of migraine aura?
Ans.- Some features are -
usually develops over 5-20 mins and lasts less than 60 mins.
most commonly visual but can be sensory/motor/ any combination of these.
visual symptoms may be positive/ negative.
Q.3) What is migraine headache?
Ans.- It is a complex disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of headache, mostly unilateral and sometimes associated with visual/ sensory symptoms -collectively known as an aura- arises before the head pain but that may occur during/afterward. Most common occurs in women and also has genetic component.
Q.4) What are the signs and symptoms of migraine?
Ans.- Typical symptoms of migraine include :-
throbbing/ pulsatile headache, moderate to severe pain that intensifies with movement/ physical activity.
unilateral / localized pain in the fronto-temporal and ocular area.
pain builds up over a period of 1-2 hrs.
headache lasts 4-72hrs.
nausea and vomiting, anorexia, food intolerance, light - headedness
light and sound sensitivity.
Q.5) What are some migraine variants?
Ans.- It includes childhood periodic syndromes, migraine with brainstem aura, hemiplegic migraine, status migrainosus, retinal migraine.
Q.6) What is the diagnosis of migraine?
Ans.- It is based on patient history. International Headache Society diagnostic criteria are that patients must have had atleast 5 headache attacks that lasted 4-72 hrs and that the headache must have had atleast 2 of the following characteristics:-
unilateral location
pulsating quality
moderate/severe pain intensity
aggravation / causing avoidance of routine physical activity characters in it.
In addition, patient must have had atleast 1 of the following :-
nausea/ vomiting
photophobia, phonophobia
Q.7) How common is migraine in children and adolescents?
Ans.- In early childhood and before puberty, migraines are more frequent among boys. In adolescence ; migraine affects young women > than young men. Migraine occurs in about 3% of children of preschool children. 4% to 11% of elementary school children, and 8% to 15% of high school aged children. As adults, women are 3 times more likely to have a migraine than men.
Q.8) What is an aura?
Ans.- An Aura is a sign of warning indicate that migraine is about to begin. It usually occurs about 30 mins before a migraine starts. Most common are visual include blurred/distorted vision/blind spots/brightly colored/ flashing/ moving lights/lines. Other kind includes change in ability to speak/move/hear/smell/taste/touch. It lasts about 20 minutes.
Q.9) Why nausea occur in migraine?
Ans.- Strong headaches like migraine happen when nerves in brain signal blood vessels on its surface to get bigger. Low levels of serotonin, also linked to motion sickness and nausea. It may also because of certain nerve pathways(vagus and glossopharyngeal) , brain pathways, excite an area in the brainstem that triggers the vomiting center.
Q.10) What actually happens in the brain during a migraine?
Ans.- Migraine pain happens due to waves of activity by group of excitable brain cells, trigger chemicals, such as serotonin, to narrow blood vessels. Serotonin, it is a chemical necessary for communication between nerve cells..
Q.11) How Migraine is treated in Ayurveda?
Ans.- In Ayurveda system of Medicine, natural methods are used like - Panchakarma Therapy procedures include nasya karma, swedan, abhyanga, snehana. Yoga techniques also helps to calm mind and body, ease stress and anxiety, reduce pain. Pathyadi decoction also used.
It is a most common skin disorder. Leucoderma is a diseased skin condition in which gradual loss of melanin pigment occurs in the layers of skin and lastly this leads to white patches on the skin. This condition do not generally cause any organic harm. We can relate this with white patches or defective skin pigementation.
According to Ayurveda, leucoderma is termed as kilas, or svitra (safed daag). It is developed by dosha_dushya vikruti. This is a condition developed by the imbalance of vata dosha and bhrajaka pitta.The imbalance may be present in other combination of tridosha.
Mainly it is caused by not maintaining our health, not having proper food and drinks, irregular lifestyle, stress or other heavy mental pressure, sunburn, constipation, and it can also be developed as side effect of other allopathic medicines , infections, by exposure of depigmention agents and family history.
SYMPTOMS
White patches
Premature Development of grey eyelashes,hairs, and beard
Color loss of mucosal membrane
Single white spot to multipal white spots
skin lesions are usually most prominent on face hands and wrist
Mood disorders or stress can be seen in these patients
WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR FOR LEUCODERMA DISEASE?
Depigmentation of skin
Widespread loss of skin color
Complains other than discoloration
Stress because of these patches
Side effect of any medication
When these patches are spreading rapidly
CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS
RISK FACTORS-
Family history
Autoimmune diseases like
hyperthyroidism (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis)
Alopecia areata
Burn cases
Infections
Injured places in past
PREVENTIONS
Excessively sour foods should be avoided.
All patients are recommend to restrict their intake of citrus food.
Do not take nonveg, salt, curd, fruits with milk.
Nutritional balance should be maintained.
Avoid sunburn for that use lotions and creams.
Add these minerals like iron,zink,copper in your food.
DIAGNOSIS
Skin biopsy
Blood test
Physical examination by wood’s lamp
GENERAL TIPS
Avoid alcohol
Drink more water (from copper utensil)
Avoid coffee,fish, red meat
Take healthy diet with rich nutrients
Yoga and meditation for stress
Avoid tomatoes,pickels,citrus foods
Maintain proper hygiene
Use sunscreen to avoid sunburn
Leucoderma Is usually a lifelong condition, it can not be cured completely but still there are some measures you can take to treat it and prevent it from worsening(includes eating and healthy diet) if condition is spreading rapidly contact dermatologist as soon as possible.
HOME REMEDIES
For external apply soak turmeric powder(500gm) in approx 7 litres of water for 8-9 hours and then boil until it becomes half of the solution, then add 500ml mustard oil and use this daily on the patches.
You can make paste of bakuchi powder and coconut oil and can directly apply.
use of rock salt
You can take water soaked gram in morning without salt.
Neem juice is also a good option.
You can apply radish seed paste on affected areas.
WHAT TO AVOID
Avoid intake of sour foods
Nonveg
Curd and alcohol too
Coffe and citrus food
Tomatoes and weat products
Pickles
Avoid opposite foods like fish and milk together.
Avoid extreme cold or heat conditions.
WHAT TO EAT
Include bitter vegetable and bitter gourd in your diet.
Leafy green vegetables
Root vegetables like carrots, radishes, beets.
Intake of herbs and spices like basil, coriander leaves, clove, black pepper, cinnamon etc.
Intake of adequate amount of water.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q1.) What are the best treatments available for leucoderma.
Ans-The best treatments are to take care of your food(avoid opposite food) intake habbit and proper use of medications and light based therapies, practice meditation for stress.
Ayurveda treatment is effective but you need to manage your daily routine.
Q2.)What are the main symptoms of leucoderma?
Ans- color of skin may loss and can affect any part of body like mouth, eyes, ears, premature whitening or graying of the hairs on your scalp can be seen, white patches, stress, it can spread slowly,rapidly or not at all.
Q.3 Why does leucoderma develop?
Ans-Reason can be autoimmune, irregular food habits, family history of leucoderma,
Side effect of drugs etc.
Q.4 Can leucoderma be treated?
Ans- permanent cure isn’t there but treatment is available, some measures are there to prevent from worsening the condition.
Q.5 Can suburn cause leucoderma to spread?
Ans.Daily sun exposure does not cause leucoderma to spread but having a sunburn can trigger the onset or spread of leucoderma.
Q.6 Is leucoderma associated with any other diseases?
Ans. Yes, like autoimmune conditions with thyroid disease being the most common in leucoderma patients.
Q.7 How ayurveda treatment considered effective?
Ans.Ayurvedic treatment is effective as purification therapies are there to eliminate the doshas and do not suppress them, treatment is also based on lifestyle improvement.
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