1. Ajamoda
Names:- Latin Carum
copticum
Tamil Omam
Telugu
Omam
Canarese
Oma
Malayal Ayamodakam
Urdu Ajwain
Ajamodaacha
Soolaghnee
Tiktoshnaa Kaphavaata
Jit
Hikkadhmaanaaruchim
Krimijit Vahni Deepanee
Dhanvantari
Nighantu
Ajamoda (Omum) checks
colic. It is bitter, heating and conquers Kapha and Vaata. It checks
hiccouhs distention of abdomen and bad taste. It conquers worms. It
improves appetite.
Doses:-
Seeds – 5 to 60 grains. 30 to 60 grains for adults in
single dose ground together with half its weight of common salt and
taken with water. For repeated administration 10 to 15 grains 3
times a day before food.
Action:-
Digestive, antispasmodic, intestinal antiseptic,
carminative, and anthelmintic.
Uses:-
The seeds contain Thymol. It is a favourite remedy for
accumulation of wind in the bowels due to fermentation. It is very
useful in dyspepsia and colic of certain types and is used in
combination with common salt or soda bi carb. The arka distilled
with omam 1 part and 1/16 part by weight of camphor and 100 parts by
weight of water is a very good drink in Cholera and other intestinal
disorders. According to the strength of the distillate, it may be
given diluted with 1 to 4 times the quantity of water. For Hook-worm
and other intestinal worms, small doses either of the crude omam or
of the arka may be given continuously for some weeks. For children a
small quantity of omam is fried in ghee, mixed with a little common
salt and given along with rice. For infants below 1 year, a pinch of
omam is ground with water or mother’s milk 16 times and given early
in the morning or when the abdomen is distended. As an antispasmodic
it is given it flatulence, colicky pains, hysteria, stoppage of
urine and tympanities. In bronchitis with profuse expectoration, it
lessens the sputum. A poultice of crushed fruits is applied to
painful rheumatic joints and fomentation of hot seeds to the chest
in bronchitis and asthma and to the cold hands and feet in cholera
and fainting.
2. Aakaarakarambha
Names:- Latin
Pyrethrum radix
Tamil
Akarakaram
Telugu
Akkalakara
Canarese Akalakara
Malayal
Akikaruva
Urdu
Akharkora
Akallakoshno
Veeryena
Balakrith Katuko matah
Pratisyaayamcha
Sodhamcha
Vaatamchaiva Vinaasayet.
Aakaarakarabha is
pungent and heating and strength giving. It overcomes cold, swelling
and Vaata.
Dose:-
5 to 20 grains.
Action:-
Sialogogue (increases the flow of saliva), astringent and
tonic.
Uses:-
This is a sweet stuff; increases the flow of saliva and is
used in fevers, specially in summer. It forms a vehicle of many
compound powders and may be given in doses of 5 grains as a tonic.
An infusion of the root in 16 parts of water may be used as a mouth
wash in sore throat with honey and in fevers. It enters into the
composition of aphrodisiac pills and lehyams.
It is said to be a
powerful agent in killing mosquitos in great dilution in volatile
liquids and was used as a destroyer of mosquitos during the last
War.
3. Aamalaki
Names:- Latin
Emblic myrobalan
Tamil
Nellikaai
Telugu
Usirikaaya
Canarese
Nellikayi
Malayal
Nellikai
Urdu
Amia
Kashaayam Katu
Tiktoshnam
Swaadu Chaamalakam Himam
Param Tridosha hrut
Vrishyam.
Jwaraghnam cha Rasaayanam
Dhanvanthari Nighantu.
Amalaki is slightly
astringent, pungent, stimulant, heating and sweet. It is cooling in
action as compared with Hareetaki. Further, it is Tridosha hara and
aphrodisac. It checks fever and is a tonic.
Dose:-
10 grains with honey for repeated administration. ¼ to 1
tola made into a decoction with 8 times the quantity of water
reduced to one fourth, filtered and taken with honey according to
taste for single administration.
Action:-
Cooling, digestive, astringent and tonic.
Uses:-
In Pitta diseases, it is a favourite vehicle for
administration of other medicines. In the combination of Thriphala
it is used as thridoshaharam. In Lehyams such as Chyavanapraasa it
is a tonic. Basavaraj, a famous physician of the Andhra Country
prescribes Amalaka swarasa alone in the treatment of Diabetes.
Susruta recommends the fresh juice of Amalaki mixed with turmeric
and honey in Prameha. In the diet of patients, when other acids are
contra-indicated, Aamalaki and pomegranate are recommended. It is
also used in jaundice. It is now discovered that Amalaki is rich in
Vitamin C even in the dry state.
4. Aphenam (Ahiphenam)
Names:- Latin
Opium
Tamil
Apin
Telugu
Nallamandu
Canarese
Aphinu
Malayal
Aphin, caruppu
Urdu
Afim
Aphookam Soshanam
graahi
Sleshmaghnam Vaatapittalam
Bhaavaprakash.
Ahiphena (Aphookam –
Opium) dries up secretions (except sweat) and is astringent. It
checks Kapha and increases Pitta and Vaata. (Here increasing Vaata
possibly means that abdominal distention and constipation are
increased. It no doubt alleviates pain temporarily.)
Dose:-
Internally ½ to 2 grains as pill or in compound pill or
powder or as an aasavam.
Externally as a
liniment or plaster.
Action:-
Sedative, hypnotic, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, anodyne,
narcotic and cerebral depressant.
“Aphenam
sannipataghnam vrishyam balyamcha mohadam” Raja nighantu, “Aphukam
shoshanam graahi sleshmaghnam vaatapittalam, Madakrut
daahakrucchukrasthambanayacha mohakrith, Athisaara grahanyaancha
hitam deepana paachanam.”
Uses:-
It is one of the most valuable drugs if properly used and
the most dangerous if misused. It is the best drug to relieve pain
but should never be given when the cause of pain is not known and
when the pain could be relieved by fomentation, counter irritation,
expurgation, and other processions. Also, it should never be given
when the patient is sleeping.
If there is
indigestion, it is better to allow proper digestion to take place
rather than to check the active natural processes. Therefore in the
early stages of indigestion or diarrhoea it is contra-indicated. But
in late stages when motion is yellow and the mala shows no signs of
indigestion, opion is a very valuable drug to give rest to the
intestines and to effect a cure in certain stages of diarrhoea,
dysentery and cholera. Improper use or large doses help to poison
the system not only by its own poisonous effect but also to
retained, undigested faecal matter in the intestines and to
suppression or retention of urine. Another great danger in its use
is that it lessens all tissue activity and that all the secretions
except sweat are reduced. When stools and urine are stopped, the
patient may be apparently feeling better but he may be actually
growing worse owing to the accumulation of poisons in the system. It
is therefore most dangerous to give opium when the kidneys or
urinary system or the liver are affected.
In pain due to
nervous disease, its action is marvelous and sometimes permanent. I
know of diseases in which all other drugs failed for months or years
together and a small dose of opium effected a radial cure; for
example, one case of pain in the gastric region with irritation
which lasted for years and another case with gnawing pain in the
left shoulder-joint due to chronic rheumatism or gouty tendency
which did not yield to any other treatment responded to a very small
dose of opium and were permanently cured even when the opium was
withdrawn. In distressing cough or spasm in lung diseases its use
may be advantageous.
In children, opium is
given in the Northern Circars for almost all diseases. The success
mostly depends upon the experience of the mother and on the
hereditary habit. But, it should be strongly discouraged.
As an aphrodisiac, it
is successfully used by some but it is difficult to estimate its
value. In diabetes, I have found its use invariably harmful in the
long run and the cases in which opium is found useful are more
easily amenable to cure by having recourse to a natural diet rich in
vegetables, to regulated physical exercises and mental rest. In case
of pain due to incurable diseases such as cancer, last stages of
consumption etc., it is most valuable as alleviating the sufferings
temporarily but should be used cautiously.
As
an external application, it is most useful in relieving pain and in
inflammation in certain cases and is used as a liniment with oil and
camphor or as a plaster with Gandhapheroja (a gum resin) – 10 to 30
grains to an ounce either of liniment or of
plaster.
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