Clinical evaluation of Virechan therapy and Haridradi Vati and oil for the management of Kitibh Kushtha (Psoriasis)

Abstract

It is generally an accepted concept in medicine that the skin can develop signs of internal disease. in reality, concise differential diagnosis and the identification of these disorders are actually difficult for the nondermatologist because he or she is not well-versed in the recognition of cutaneous lesions or their spectrum of presentations. the skin is the largest organ of our body. it is one of the five 'gyanendriyas' as described in ayurvedic texts, which is responsible for 'sparsha gyan' or touch sensation. therefore, it plays a major role in physical and mental well being of any individual. in ayurveda, all the skin disease has been described under the umbrella of kushtha. they are further classified into mahakushtha and kshudrakushtha. according to charaka kitibh is vat-kapha predominant and according to sushruta, it is pitta predominant kshudrakushtha. kitibh kushtha may be correlated to psoriasis due to their more or less similar clinical presentations. therefore, in this clinical trial we have planned to study the clinical effect of virechan therapy (for elimination of pitta) and haridradi vati and oil (for samshaman of vat-kapha) in kitibh kushtha. kitibh kushtha is characterized by patches which are blackish brown in colour, rough and coarse in nature, exudative, round, thick along with severe itching. psoriasis is one of the most common dermatologic diseases affecting up to 2.5% of the world's population. it is a non-infectious chronic inflammatory skin disorder clinically characterised by pink-red, silvery scale, sharply demarcated lesions on the skin surface especially over elbows, knees, scalp and presacral areas. present clinical study comprises of randomly selected eighteen registered cases of psoriasis (kitibh kushtha ) from opd and ipd of kayachikitsa, sir sundarlal hospital, b.h.u.,varanasi, have been treated with virechan therapy and haridradi vati and oil (containing haridra , bakuchi , guduchi and gomutra) to assess the clinical efficacy of virechan and these ayurvedic remedies. significant changes in subjective and objective criteria were observed. however, no significant changes observed in respect to haematological, biochemical, urine examination and stool examination.