by Sheela Rani Chunkath
So many young couples today are finding it difficult to have a baby. Sterility seems to be on the increase because of environmental pollution and a stressed lifestyle. Not much is done by governments to tackle the issue of sterility. Foreign governments and international NGOs were always more interested in controlling the numbers of Indians born than in increasing it. While the national family planning programme paid lip sympathy to addressing all aspects of reproduction, the programme merely concentrated on reducing the number of children born.
That being so, we have as usual our siddhars and vaidyars of yore who paid special attention to this aspect of family life and had a plethora of preparations to deal with various aspects of sterility. While it may be difficult to say what can be given for each condition without meeting the couple, in general vaidyars say that Ashokarishtam and Ashwagandha arishtam given to the female will do any couple trying to have a baby a world of good.
The male can also have Aswagandha arishtam as well as a decoction of gokshura or Tribulus terrestris (usually prescribed for urinary tract disorders). The powder of Mucuna pruriens (of which I have written about in the last article) is again a wonderful herb for men suffering from infertility issues.
If there are no major pathological problems, these herbal preparations will definitely help. Of course it is important that the lifestyle of the couple is less stressed and that they don't keep IT hours. I find that many of those working in the IT sector suffer from infertility issues because of delay in starting a family or long term use of family planning drugs coupled with their punishing work schedules which plays havoc with their endocrine systems.
Ashokarishtam to be taken by the woman is a wonderful preparation for toning up the entire uterine system. It regularises the flow of menstrual discharge. It is useful in menstrual disorders including menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea and leucorrhoea. This is usually prescribed with Ashwagandha arishtam and Satavari rasayanam. The dosage is around 10 to 30 ml of each of the arishtams, twice or thrice a day. Satavari rasayanam is restorative, tonic, haematinic, cholagogue and vitaliser. It is taken in doses of 2 to 5 gm once daily.
Ashokarishtam contains mainly the bark from the Ashoka tree; the tree under which Sita famously meditated in Sri Lanka when she had been abducted by Ravana. Our siddhars and vaidyars did try to bring the knowledge regarding many of the medicinal trees and plants to the common folk by linking them with our epics, rituals and traditional practices. The arishtam contains sandalwood, water lily rhizomes, the three myrobalans, mango seed kernels, cumin seeds, nut grass tubers, dried ginger, adathodai leaves and of course jaggery and fire flame flowers to help ferment the decoction and produce the arishtam.
I have seen some excise officials seizing bottles of ayurvedic medicines stating that liquor is being made illicitly. What hope do we have for ayurveda with such misguided action I sometimes wonder.
Ashokarishtam is safe to take so long as one does not have gastric irritation, ulcers etc. In which case one should altogether avoid all arishtams.
Ashwagandharishtam contains about two dozen ingredients. One of the main ingredients is Withania somnifera or ashwagandha. I had written earlier about ashwagandha chooranam being used with milk as a general pick me up tonic.
The ayurvedic pharmacopeia offers a plethora of preparations for infertility issues. A visit to a vaidyar will help to pinpoint the problem. Panchakarma treatment along with some diet and lifestyle changes can be quite effective. Counselling for young couples by an Ayurvedic physician could perhaps help many couples to have children without spending lakhs on infertility treatments in mushrooming fertility clinics.
--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/