I recently addressed the students of a women’s college regarding biodiversity, sustainable development and alternate medicine. Issues were raised about how our cultural diversity was slowly being lost and as to how our biodiversity was slowly disappearing with the overexploitation of certain plant species and the relevance all this to our traditional medical heritage.
With the western medicine becoming easily available and popular, many communities are slowly forgetting their own heritage. The local herbs and products, which had earlier formed the mainstay of their medical treatment, are often exploited to serve the needs of the West and urban population. One such product is guggulu. It is the resinous exudation of a woody shrub or tree called Commiphora mukul. In traditional ayurvedic medicine, this was used to treat obesity, arthritis and certain skin diseases.
More recently, Indian researchers have also attested to its cholesterol-lowering and thyroid-regulating properties. This research increased the demand for guggulu so much that the plant is in danger of disappearing. My vaidyar says she prepares her own guggulu-based drugs for her patients as this was one way of ensuring that the guggulu used was genuine.
Navaka guggulu, about which I had earlier written in my article on obesity, is a drug that is being used by many practitioners for the reduction of cholesterol and for the treatment of hypothyroidism. Normally, one tablet of Navaka guggulu is taken in an empty stomach twice a day. The dosage is increased by the vaidyar, depending on the suitability to patient. Ayurvedic practitioners say that its effect should be felt in about two months.
The primary chemical constituents of guggulu are phytosterols, guggulipids and guggulsterones. All these help in the lowering cholesterol and preventing formation of blood clots. Guggulu can thus be said to be cardio-protective. Guggulu stimulates the activity of white blood cells thus improving the cell-mediated immune response of the body. Guggulu also helps to reduce inflammation in the joints.
Navaka guggulu, a traditional ayurvedic medicine consists of trikatu, triphala, leadwort, vidanga and guggulu. Excepting guggulu, all the other ingredients are used in equal parts. The guggulu added is equal to the total weight of the other ingredients. Trikatu is the popular name for the sukku, milagu and tippili combo which contains dried ginger, pepper and long pepper. Triphala is the name for the other popular ayurvedic combo consisting of nellikkai, tanrikkai and kadukkai---namely, amla (Phyllanthus emblica), Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula. Thus, the two popular combos along with leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica), mushta (Cyperus rotundus) and Vidanga (Embelia ribes), along with guggulu, make up the drug Navaka guggulu. This other guggulu preparations and plain guggulu are all in great demand in the markets abroad.
Now, one can well imagine the effect all this would have on the availability of guggulu. It is here that governments need to intervene and ensure that guggulu is cultivated in large quantities, and that the herb is not over-exploited in the wild. Standardisation of the drug and keeping an eye on the quality of the drug is yet another need of the hour. This is of course a difficult task, as a drug with multiple herbal ingredients is a nightmare to standardise. Yet, this needs to be done. Further, we need to ensure that the fruits of our country benefit Indians before it gets all exported and becomes unaffordable for our own people.
The writer was earlier Health Secretary, Tamil Nadu, and is currently Additional Chief Secretary, and Chairman and MD, Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail.com.Earlier articles can be accessed at www.arogyamantra.blogspot.com