Química medicinal

Medhya Rasayanas in Brain Function and Disease

Abstract

Suman Ray and Asim Ray

Ayurveda (Sanskrit word meaning “the scripture for longevity”) represents an ancient system of traditional medicine prevalent in India about 5000 years old. Rasayana concept of Ayurveda is believed to be useful to overcome challenging diseases to modern medicine i.e., regeneration of tissues after the disease condition like osteoarthritis, age related macular degeneration (AMD), Alzheimer's and Parkinsons disease, injuries, trauma, heart attack, stroke etc. Neurological and psychiatric disorders are generally associated with loss of memory, cognitive deficits, impaired mental function etc. The 'medhya rasayanas' are known to be beneficial to improve the intellectual e.g., mandukparni swaras, yashtimadhu churna with ksheer, guduchi swaras, and shankhapushpi kalka. Medhya Rasayana drugs are used for prevention and treatment of mental disorders of all the age groups. These drugs promote the Intellect (Dhi) Retention power (Dhriti), memory (Smriti). Mood disorders are known to be associated with considerable burden of disease, suicides, physical comorbidities, high economic costs, and poor quality of life. Therefore, it has become a major public health problem today. Unfortunately modern medicine based psychoactive drugs have met with limited success in treatment of various neurological and psychiatric disorders due to multi-factorial nature of these diseases. This review discusses about Medhya Rasayanas as a great player for prevention and management of age related cognitive decline.