Applicability and importance of Caraka's concept of Aaturaparijnana Hetawah in understanding a patient.

Many concepts in Ayurveda are untouched or unexplored till date. One of such concepts to understand the healthy and unhealthy persons is that of the Aaturaparijnana Hetawah (APH), which is only mentioned in Caraka Samhita. The descriptions about Dushya, Desha, Bala, Kala, Prakriti, etc. are mentioned very briefly in all the classics. But no standard figure or pattern is maintained while considering them. It is only in the description of Aaturaparijnana Hetawah mentioned in Vimana Sthana that all the factors are pre-arranged in a chronological order to understand an individual according to one's Desha as from birth till grown up stage, and also to understand about the illness and most common disorders. In this article, it is aimed at presenting an in-depth evaluation about description of Aaturaparijnana Hetawah in Ayurveda. For this study, the references of Aturaparijnana Hetu have been collected through the Ayurvedic texts along with their commentaries. By making use of 14 factors described in Aaturaparijnana Hetawah, it is possible to have an in depth understanding about the patient's nature and factors that may be contributing to his health and illness. Aaturaparijnana Hetawah helps in an in-depth understanding of a patient's disease and heath status. More in-depth evaluation studies and application in the modern medical science should be done in order to avail the benefits of this approach.

A comparative evaluation of intestinal transit time of two dosage forms of Haritaki [Terminalia chebula Retz].

Haritaki is praised as the best salutary drug which can be used in almost all ages of human life and is reputed for its Anulomana property. In Ayurveda, it has been mentioned that fruits of Haritaki when used in different forms give different type of actions. As the prime therapeutic utility of Haritaki is Anulomana, in the present study, two dosage forms of Haritaki fruits namely Churna and Vati were evaluated for intestinal transit time to evaluate its effect in two different dosage forms. Mature fruits were collected, authenticated, and processed as per classics to get Churna and Vati. Test drugs were administered in the dose of 550 mg/kg and evaluation on intestinal transit time was carried out by adopting kaolin expulsion test in mice. The results show that both the dosage forms of Haritaki significantly shortened intestinal transit time and between them Churna form is found to be better.