Oct 27, 2008
Ayurvedic Heavy Metal
Before reading on, and specifically before asking why I’ve used a picture of Buddha in an article about Ayurveda…it’s not Buddha, it’s Nagarjuna, redactor of the Sushruta Samhita a sixth century BCE text on surgery, the only treatise for two of the eight branches of Ayurveda. The snake is part of Nagarjuna and is usually depicted as a protective canopy, I’ve never seen Buddha depicted in that way. Apologies for any confusion, but please no more comments or emails telling me I’ve used an inappropriate photo. I don’t believe I have.
Ayurvedic medicines can contain dangerous quantities of heavy metals, including lead, mercury, thallium and arsenic, clinical toxicologists in London have warned. Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Health, they suggest that recent European legislation aimed at improving safety of shop-bought products will have little impact on medicines prescribed by traditional practitioners, imported personally from overseas or bought over the Internet.
The problem is that the heavy metals are not simply inadvertent contaminants of natural herbal products, they are added deliberately in order to supposedly return the body to health by rebalancing allegedly essential minerals. You can read the full article on this via AlphaGalileo.
There are wide and wild claims for Ayurvedic medicine including the ability to treat diabetes, flue, cancer, asthma, flu, acne, boils, diarrhoea, headaches, and that perennial of the alternative remedy market, sex drive. Unfortunately, Ayurveda, although ancient, is no panacea.
Some practitioners are hoping to modernise the Ayurvedic system. However, until it is more widely recognised among users that adding arsenic, lead, thallium and other potentially toxic heavy metals to so-called medicinal preparations is unacceptable, it will remain a practice more associated with the past than contemporary medicine.
Paul I. Dargan, Indika B. Gawarammana, John R.H. Archer, Ivan M. House, Debbie Shaw, David M. Wood (2008). Heavy metal poisoning from Ayurvedic traditional medicines: an emerging problem? International Journal of Environment and Health, 2 (3/4), 463-474
Like everything in India, people in India nowadays can’t draw a line where worship ends and science begins, anything old must be worshiped, anyone trying to say our old systems need a revamp or are redundant is a western ploy to put India down. so, they will try to malign the person who makes any such statements, sadly this leads them to ignore the fact that they are worshiping a once-upon-a-time exact science, the exactness of which are lost under layers and layers of time and scattered documentation in about 26 indian languages. Please forgive them for they know not what they are doing.
Having said this, I agree with you and Dr. Ershad, that we need to document and build an index of the various active ingredients, in ayurvedic medicine, as this will lead to some measure of transparancy in what is used and what is not used.
Even in India, today any medicine can be called “proprietary ayurvedic medicine” and sold OTC. No government dares question the efficacy and toxicity and side effects of such medicines. And pray Why?. Because the medicine is Ayurvedic, a Holy Cow, not to be touched or analysed, handed down over the ages. How can these be subjected to that “Western Methods” of controlled-state observation.
Sadly, what this leads to is many “western” Companies selling us any crap in the form of “Proprietary Ayurvedic Medicine” the bext example is the biggest OTC medicine in India, “Vicks”, a totally useless sludge sold as a balm for colds, which Indians bought with gusto, had they read the package and seen that it was “Proprietary Ayurvedic Medicine” they would have never bought it, and what’s more it’s useless, just gives you a superficial feeling of goodness because of Menthol(An ingredient the West discovered in India) . Because it does not work and if they sell it as a medicine, they would be subject to tests, Multi-Nationals were very clever and bypassed the testing by labelling it as “Proprietary Ayurvedic Medicine” Many drugs are sold in such a way.
So, this makes a strong case for Ayurvedic Medicine to be tested for active ingredients, including metals, and also testing of various diagnostic and healing methods, of Ayurveda like “Nadi Chikitsa” (which is understanding the imbalances in your body by pressing particular parts of the body and measuring the difference in your pulse rate. A small test done in Podar Ayurvedic College in Bombay showed, that EEG and ECG diagnosis showed marked similarity to the diagnosis of “Nadi Chikitsa” and the practitioner of Nadi chikitsa was using the pulse rate as an indicator of malaise by pressing his fingers on affected body parts, like the pressing particular spots in the neck for analysing brain problems and then taking the pulse rate.)
Also, if this system is documented and organised then quacks won’t stand up and make dangerous and false promises.
consult your GP. You can consult an Ayurveda physician if u need to have a Ayurveda medicine.