Letters To The Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Mar 27, 2018; 10(3): 400-401
Published online Mar 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i3.400
Do Ayurveda drugs induce liver injury?
Galib Ruknuddin
Galib Ruknuddin, Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi 110076, India
Author contributions: Ruknuddin G contributed to the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Galib Ruknuddin, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, All India Institute of Ayurveda, Mathura Road, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi 110076, India. galib14@yahoo.co.in
Telephone: +91-83-68960813
Received: November 28, 2017
Peer-review started: November 29, 2017
First decision: January 6, 2018
Revised: January 8, 2018
Accepted: March 6, 2018
Article in press: March 6, 2018
Published online: March 27, 2018
Abstract

Drugs fulfilling the criterion of a standard drug will always become panacea provided, if they are used properly. On the other hand, a poorly manufactured drug however used skillfully, will prove to be a poison. Texts of Ayurveda, do mention hazards of drugs, which are not properly manufactured or administered. Art of drug administration is unique in this ancient medical science that cautions towards concentrating on dose, indications, contra-indications, suitable vehicle, specific diet, certain restrictions etc., while administering medicines in suitable individuals. Though a huge amount of information is available and evidences are being generated on the usefulness of traditional practices in global healthcare; there is a need of generating awareness on Promoting rational use of traditional medicines in particular to Ayurvedic drugs. Conventional researchers wish to work on traditional formulations have to understand traditional principles and involve traditional physicians in their researches in the benefit of mankind.

Keywords: Ayurveda, Traditional medicines, Safety, Posology, Punarnava Mandura, Guggulu

Core tip: Ayurveda principles of treatment and concepts of drug administration are entirely different than the conventional approach. Besides other basic requirements; understanding digestive ability, metabolic capability, tolerability of the patient to a specific dose of the drug, psycho-somatic constitution, etc., of the patient is essential before starting treatment. In absence of which, adverse manifestations are likely. It is also unwise using traditional formulations by procuring over-the-counter for a longer period without any supervision of qualified physician. Considering holistic approaches of traditional remedies, joining hands together respecting fundamental principles of each other will be beneficial in global healthcare.