Ayurveda treatment at the click of a mouse

Ayurveda treatment at the click of a mouse

http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/28/stories/2005062800970200.htm

Adarsh had been losing a lot of hair. But the 27-year-old, working in Dubai, had dismissed it lightly since hair loss was not unusual in places where desalinated water is used. But soon, to his dismay, he found glaring patches on his scalp. A doctor in Dubai diagnosed it as alopecia (male pattern baldness).

When medicines, including ointments, did not work, Adarsh's friends advised him to try Ayurveda. But it was not possible for him to fly down to Kerala for treatment. Someone suggested the online consultation provided by Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala.

After visiting the website www.aryavaidyasala.com, Adarsh mailed details of his problem and health parameters to the chief physician in the questionnaire mode provided at one of its links. Photos of the patches were attached with the mail.

A couple of days later, the correspondence department of the Arya Vaidya Sala e-mailed him a prescription containing a `rasayanam' and `thailam,' which he could buy in Dubai. He was asked to have only vegetarian food.

Though not new, the free online consultation has become a major service of the Arya Vaidya Sala since its inception in November 1999.

"From a single digit figure, the number of emails received daily has grown to 300. Of these, 150 pertains exclusively to consultations," says Reena Ramesh Warrier, physician, who, along with her colleague T. Sreeja Rani, runs the correspondence department with 13 others from the outpatient wing. The mails are channelled through hospital superintendent P.M. Warrier and chief physician P.K. Warrier.

From many countries

Dr. Reena Warrier says that a large number of emails are from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, Canada, France and the Gulf countries. "If the mails are from Indian cities, we ask the patients to consult doctors in the nearby hospitals or the branch offices of Arya Vaidya Sala," she says.

Normally, medicines are couriered abroad. Patients in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, where import of Ayurvedic medicines is restricted, are asked to buy them in neighbouring countries, Dr. Reena Warrier says.

The emails are flooded with queries ranging from those on asthma to skin diseases. Complaints of ulcerative colitis (inflammation or sores on the large intestine), irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease (inflammation in the small intestine or other organs of the digestive tract) are common. Hooked to the Net, youngsters want tips to alleviate lifestyle disorders. Many of them also send emails on behalf of their parents and grandparents.

The older generation, especially from the West, seeks information on Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, spinal lumbar and osteoporosis. "We have also received emails seeking treatment for Rett syndrome, a rare case relating to autism,'' Dr. Reena Warrier says.

Some time ago, two doctors from Canada came here for consultation on possible Ayurvedic treatment for a lung problem. "Soon, we have plans to launch a portal that will enable the patients to chat with the physicians," she says.