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Ayurvedic Potency Drugs Under Scanner

Impotency is a growing medical condition with limited options in modern medicine.

Spiralling stress at the workplace and home is resulting in higher rates of sexual dysfunction among men.

Ayurvedic medicines and bhasms have been used for decades, but rampant misuse of the drugs through over the counter sales has raised concerns about heavy metal poisoning.

NDTV tested some of the drugs and found them to contain very high levels of mercury and cadmium that can cause serious damage to the body.

Potent bhasms or ash with medicinal properties are heated up to hundreds of degrees in the earthen pots.

Metal-based medicines

Many vaids or Ayurdevic physicians prepare the heavy metals-based medicines meant to cure a range of chronic and debilitating ailments including sterility in their backyards.

“These are extremely powerful medicines. There is a process of making them. We heat them up to thousands of degrees to detoxify them, only then we administer to our patients depending on their condition,” said MS Valiathan, Professor Emeritus, Manipal University.

But bhasms or metal-based ayurvedic medicines have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Popular yogi Baba Ramdev’s formulation for virility was found to contain heavy metals and human and animal remains.

When NDTV tested some of the most popular drugs at the Sriram Centre for Industrial Research, predictably, the investigation found very high levels of toxic heavy metals like mercury, arsenic and lead.

With such phenomenally high amounts of heavy metals, are these bhasmas toxic?

Their manufacturer says no. These medicines are made according to the traditional text - the Rasa Shastra and the manufacturing process itself ensures that the metals are detoxified.

So when do these medicines turn toxic? Vaids say heavy metal poisoning due to bhasmas takes place only due to wrong dosage or improper consumption.

Bhasmas cannot be bought over the counter and require a strict regimen. Many foods need to be avoided in order to prevent adverse side effects

“These limits don’t work with Ayurveda because the way we use heavy metals is different from what people understand,” said Ajay Sharma, President, Baidyanath.

“Measuring Ayurvedic medicines by the parameters of modern medicine is a way of keeping our products out of the foreign markets,” he added.

According to the Ras Shastra, the traditional text based on which bhasmas are made, consumption of impure gold ‘bhasm’ or pure gold ‘bhasm’ consumed improperly may destroy strength, reproductive tissue, cause diseases and even death.

Unregulated sector

But in India, the Ayurvedic sector is largely unregulated, with a large number of untrained vaids practicing which leaves patients vulnerable to abuse.

“Its our own nano-technology, but in the wrong hands it can cause havoc,” said Valiathan.

To examine how these formulations work, IIT Kharagpur has now initiated a project.

Once completed, it will probably help dispel some of the myths surrounding metal-based classical Ayurvedic medicines.

Source : http://www.ndtv.com/

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