ayurvedic treatment for pulmonary hypertension
Pulmonary Hypertension is an abnormal elevation in pulmonary artery pressure. Pulmonary artery sends impure blood from the right heart to the lungs for purification. Pure blood from the lungs is then sent to the left heart through the pulmonary vein. From here blood reaches all parts of the body.
Pulmonary artery pressure will rise in the following conditions:
- If the blood flowing through the pulmonary artery meets resistance in the lungs due to lung parenchyma diseases like Interstitial lung disease, Sarcoidosis etc. These diseases destroy the lung parenchyma as well as the blood vessels. So the right heart responds to this resistance by increasing pressure as necessary to preserve the output of the heart.
- If the blood flowing through the pulmonary vein meets resistance at the left heart. This can be due to coronary artery disease, mitral valve disease and other causes of decrease in left heart compliance like age, diabetes etc.
Most common symptoms of Pulmonary Hypertension are dyspnoea (feeling out of breath ) on exertion , chest pain, fatigue, syncope and peripheral edema etc.
Resistance to the flow can be related to an increase in ill formed Kapha dosha. As lungs are the seat of Kapha hence it can be stated that Kapha has increased in its own seat. It takes longer to cure an increase of a dosha in its own seat.
The reason for an increase in Kapha is low Agni (fire) at the level of Rasa dhatu (first tissue). Low agni gives rise to lung diseases, makes the blood heavy, concentrated and obstructs the circulation. The obstruction caused by ill formed Kapha gives rise to an increase in Vata. Increased Vata results in hypertension.
Low Agni is caused by a multitude of factors related to wrong lifestyle and diet like consuming incompatible foods, excessive sleeping, lack of exercise etc.
The aim of the treatment will be to increase Agni thereby removing obstruction and relieving tension.
Herbs having pungent, sour tastes along with hot property are mainly used. According to Ayurveda the lungs derive their origin from the mother (matritva bhav). So we cannot use too hot herbs. We sometimes triturate hot herbs with cooling herbs to achieve the desired results.
The herbs used will be Punarnava, Amalaki, Kuth etc. Right herbs will be chosen according to the disease status and body constitution. The patient will have to avoid curd and vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower etc. among other things. Excessive exertion is also to be avoided as it can aggravate the Vata.
We at HimVeda have been successfully treating pulmonary hypertension by addressing the causative problem in the lungs or in the heart with Ayurvedic medicines prepared in our center along with diet and lifestyle changes.
