Chronic Renal Failure with Ayurvedic Approach

                                Incidence of chronic renal failure with high tech interventions including dialysis is observed to be rising. The financial burden on the family and social implications are cause of great anxiety. The high cost modern investigational and therapeutic interventions though succeeded in giving some relief; do not completely address these problems to satisfaction and failed in improving the quality of life.

Alternative medicine specialists in Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) claim beneficial effects of their systems. TCM therapists claim the beneficial effects of mixture of root powders of Rhubarb, Asian ginseng, licorice and aconite; and also chitosan. These cause significant reduction in serum creatinine, urea and cholesterol with improvement in physical strength, appetite and sleep.

Ayurveda also certainly is expected to have some answers to this difficult problem. Ayurvedic concept of origin of chronic disease states is very interesting. Pathogenesis of all disease process passes through six stages (kriyakalas). These kriyakalas are the stages of process of inflammation. Inflammation is now linked to not only to trauma and infectious conditions but also to conditions of varied origin e.g., myocardial infarction, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other chronic diseases.

Why does the acute inflammation transits in to chronic inflammation?

New developments in genomics and proteomics explain the transition to chronicity of disease process in terms of blockage in the information processing of the networks. Every cell is an information processor with capacity to couple the digital information dimension of sequence homology to the analog information of macro molecular shape. Information is all about the shape space concept. In humans the information is coded digitally in the form of alphabets of DNA (TGCA). Information coded in the brain could partly be digital and partly analog. Analog coding deals with continuous variables, where as digital coding deals with discreet variables. A third possibility is the quantum processing occurring in brain. Analog processing helps in direct pattern recognition of external motif by some structural motif of the semiotic agent. Thus the complimentarity or the similarity permits the establishment of non random interactions. It preserves the coherence of living entity as it interacts with environment. 

Space shape is a hypercube that formalizes all possible shapes or structural conformations that the set of all chains of symbols of fixed length can attain possible interactions between consecutive symbols take place, i.e., RNA, peptides secondary and three dimensional structures. Construction of shape space is aimed at identifying a minimum set of parameters that are able to discriminate functional interactions or assure the executions of basic tasks. Bio-molecules have a unique property of self assembly. Pathology is associated with molecular disorder pattern or morphic – disassembly. Every change in the shape of the macro molecule codes and transmits certain information. It is even true for nano particles. Different morphological patterns of nanoparticles with similar chemical structures exhibit different properties, e.g., Blue pigment of copper phthalocyanin in alpha, beta and epsilon forms exhibit different and some times opposite properties.

 

Inflammation is a defence system in cellular order and disorder, which acts as a conductor of orchestra. Usually in the inflammation, process of information networks starts with sensing morphic disassembly signaling the cascade of inflammatory responses helping the removal of inflammatory debris and also detoxification, which is followed by proliferation and remodeling and finally achieving homeostasis. When a blockage occurs in the networks of the information process the coupling mechanisms fail and thus the transition to chronic inflammation begins. Over enthusiastic use of high receptor affinity therapeutic interventions with antibiotics and anti inflammatory agents can provoke this transition to chronicity. (George St.Laurent)