Hyderabad: With no vaccines or medicines available to combat the Coronavirus currently, it gives a chance to traditional systems of medicine to step in with their accrued wisdom.
Ayurveda, which had identified signs of epidemics and pandemics in nature, always knew that these diseases are spread by personal contact and intimacy between the healthy and ill healthy.
Ayurveda classifies dyspnea (difficulty in breathing) into five categories: Maha shwasa (terrific dyspnea), Urdhwa shwasa (elevated dyspnea), Chinna shwasa (interrupted dyspnea), Tamaka shwasa (oppressive dyspnea) and Kshudra shwasa (minor dyspnea).
The Coronavirus infection falls under the category of Kshudra shwasa or trivial respiratory disease. It appears trivial, but is life threatening among immunocompromised patients.
Those who suspect the presence of the infection in their neighborhood, must follow the standard protocol and may practice one or two ideas described here.
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A few home remedies which can be useful:
- Take a handful of ginger and wash it with clean water. Then peel off the surface layer and cut a piece of it into small bits. Boil them in water for two to three minutes with lid covered. Sieve it. Press the ginger pieces again to expel some juice into the liquid. Add a pinch of turmeric and some jaggery and thoroughly mix. Sip the juice two times a day.
- Take a thin slice of ginger and keep it in the mouth like a candy. Slowly chew it 5 or 10 minutes.
- Eat banana with pepper powder. Every time you bite banana fruit, dip the end into pepper powder.
- Add a pinch of turmeric in warm milk and drink once a day.
- You can eat 4 to 5 garlic pieces. Steam them or fry them in ghee. Or use them in curries.
- You can extract garlic juice, add it in jaggery and eat it once a day
- Eat two leaves of holy basil after washing them with water. You can also extract the juice and add a pinch of turmeric to it.
- Add a little rock salt to the powder of slightly fried long peppers and eat twice a day
- Grapes are the best fruit according to Ayurveda. Take few raisins and eat every day. They suppress cough and act as expectorant.
- Take a pinch of cinnamon powder and add pepper and dry ginger powder. Make tea and drink twice a day.
- Eat ghee, citrus fruits, grapes and periodically drink warm water.
- Do exercise for one hour to strengthen the respiratory system and increase the vital capacity of lungs.
Medicines to be taken as prophylaxis:
- Agastya rasayan 5 gm a day in the morning before breakfast for ten days.
- Drink Shadanga paniya -- two table spoons once a day for ten days
- Add a tea spoon of Haridrakhand to a glass of warm milk and drink once a day for ten days.
- Take Tribhuvanakirti -- Two tablets twice a day for ten days.
- Take Yashtimadhu tablets -- one per day and Kalmegh (nelavemu) syrup -- one tea spoon a day for ten days.
Quarantine and Self Isolation:
Those who suspect that they have symptoms of COVID-19, anosmia (loss of smell), common cold, fever, sneezes and cough, weakness, headache etc. may take the following medication after consulting an Ayurveda physician.
- Kanakasava -- 20 ml a day in two divided doses
- Vasakantakari Lehya -- 5 gm twice a day before food
- Tribhuvana Kirti tablets -- Two twice a day with warm water
- Agastya Rasayan -- 5 gm twice a day
- Guduchi satva mix with Talisadi churna
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