Ayurvedic Care for Summers

The English word "Mango"  is basically originated from the Malayalam word “manna” meaning sweet fruit. Mango trees grow up to 35–40 m tall, with a crown radius of 10 m . These trees are long-lived, as some specimens still fruit after 300 years. Over 400 varieties of mangoes are known, many of which ripen in summer, while some give double crop. The fruit takes three to six months to ripen. Mangoes have recalcitrant seeds, that is why they do not survive freezing and drying. Mangoes are very well known as the king of all fruits. They help in fighting against cancer, help in digestion, clean our skin and make the perfect snack. 

Now a days between the ages of 18 to 45, a woman is possibly developing a career, building long lasting relationships, having babies, raising families, making financial ends meet and finding her way in the world. Though in early times women were only a unit of family organization but now they are becoming significant unit of society and also influencing the course of social change. Now apart from a good daughter, wife, mother and grandmother etc. women are also good doctors, engineers, astronauts, lawyers, business women etc. But this journey from house hold to outer world brought a lot of stress to her life. Now she is expected to be super duper in all spheres of her life, which in turn brings many challenges to her good health. These all challenges can be met only with the help of the regular practice of yoga.

The nose is the complex structure of human body. It is very vital as it performs the important functions. It is a part of respiratory system to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. It purifies, and humidifies the inhaled air. It is also the first line of defense against the unwanted foreign particles. The nose is also responsible for sense of small and smell is associated with appetite so any type of change in sense of smell can alter appetite.  It also plays a major role in keeping our hearing normal by providing ventilation to the middle part of ear through a tube. Since the nose is performing so many functions, it may get hurt sometimes if the conditions are not favourable. In summers, there is a very common complaint of nose bleed which causes a significant amount of concern and anguish. It is medically called epistaxis. It has bimodal distribution with incidence peaks at ages younger than 10 years and older than 50 years. It appears to occur more in males than females.

Willpower and self discipline play a major factor in everyone's life, leading to success, if you possess them, or to failure, if you lack them. These two skills are vital ingredients for handling efficiently any task and for achieving any goal. You can change this behaviour when you develop self discipline and willpower. Let's examine these skills.

Summer is a great time to plan an outing or a trip. But at the same time, it brings a lot of skin problems along with it. It is a peak time for all kind of skin problems. Despite our best efforts, we may be affected with skin problems that arise due to warm weather, excessive sweating & spending our day outdoors.

Heat stroke is a condition where the body's cooling mechanism, sweating and evaporation are overcome by heat resulting in high core heat usually above 104°F or40°C and accompanied  by mental status changes. It is the result of long, extreme, exposure to the sun in which a person does not sweat enough to lower body temperature. Dehydration on hot and humid weather, drinking alcohol, wearing excessive clothing,  sweat glands dysfunction, some cardiovascular  diseases  are common risk factors of heat stroke.

Fistula in ano is a chronic abnormal communication between the epithelialised surface of anal canal or rectum and usually the perianal skin or it can be described as a narrow tunnel with its internal opening in the anal canal or rectum and external opening in the skin around the anus. History of Fistula in Ano: The great ancient Indian surgeon Acharya Sushruta (6th century B.C.) narrated in his teachings about this disease with the name of Bhagandara and its treatment by different means. The term fistula is derived from a Latin word meaning pipe. Keeping in mind the high recurrence rate of the disease, we prefer to manage the disease with Kshara Sutra therapy. Kshara Sutra is changed after an interval of seven to ten days till the patient gets recovered.

Mint or pudina is a herb that is synonymous to freshness. Use it for seasoning your salad, adding it to your cup of tea or grind it, mint can bring that extra zing and unique flavour to almost anything you cook, making you salivate every single time. Mint or pudina is more than just a garnish Its awesome health benefits are bound to take you by surprise. With more then twenty varieties, spearmint and peppermint are the most commonly grown today. Mint contains vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, B, C, E, K, beta carotene, folate and riboflavin with minerals calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and manganese.

A city is known by its trees, flowers, fruits and the birds, butterflies frolicking around it. Which is the best season to witness all these? Come spring with summer at its heels and we rejoice to see the blooming Amaltas, the dancing butterflies and hovering honeybees. “How enchanting is the fragrance coming out from summer breeze, How lovely is the bunch of yellow flowers, calling me there, while hanging on the tree of Amaltas and embracing it completely, Oh, yellow Amaltas, why you bloom, So enchanting in summer only.”

Leucorrhoea Abnormal, foul smelling, slimy, frothy, dirty white, greenish or yellowish discharge from female genitals which is accompanied by irritation and redness is known as Leucorrhoea. Leucorrhoea can last for weeks or about a month and may affect the reproductive organs of women. Leucorrhoea is mainly experienced during puberty, when sexual organs are developing in a woman. Leucorrhoea can be very irritating and damaging if left untreated. The causative factors especially food mentioned can result in aggravation of Kapha Dosha. This increased Kapha, along with other factors, can impair the Rasa Dhatu (nutrient plasma) present in the vaginal tract, ultimately leading to the painless discharge of white coloured  fluid from the vagina. A proper diagnosis using vaginal swab is very important to diagnose the type of infection, before starting the treatment.

Polycystic ovarian disease is one of the most common gynaecological complaint of the young women who visit the clinicians in the modern era. The hormones that are meant to be naturally released by the body, now provided with artificial means and push the body into lazy mode. The hormone replacement treatment may provide excellent results over a short period but overtime can lead to irreversible metabolic damage. PCOD is the common endocrine disorder among women of 18-45 yrs of age.

"Ayurveda" a great science of life is in common practice in Asian subcontinent and is globally acceptable due to its holistic approach of well being for human kind. In present day, there is a diverse situation where on one hand, the average life expectancy has increased and on the other hand, the state of health is facing new challenges in the form of new type of diseases endangering human life. According to a report of WHO on primary health care -“there is an inability of medical health services …..” means the health system is not meeting stated demands and changing needs. Though the standard and reach of leading health services have changed a lot from 2008 onwards but still there is enough scope for all the health systems in this world to work in increasing the overall state of health and to fight against the new upcoming challenges. So whatsoever aspect of health is to be considered, it may be looked upon from every direction including  type of diet and ways of taking it. Millions of people across the world die due to unhealthy food consumption and faulty dietary habits. Even with the advent of excellent techniques and advancement in medical science and technology, the humanity is left with innumerable health problems and hazards due to these factors.

According to Ayurveda, our lifestyle and diet must follow the natural pattern of seasons, this helps us stay in harmony with nature. This is known as Ritucharya in Ayurveda. When the temperature is high, we sweat a lot and the body loses electrolytes and fluids. This causes exhaustion and a feeling of tiredness throughout the day. It's over 40°C and humid. Your first impulse is to grab a soda pop over a glass of ice. This may cool you down temporarily. However, over time you may find your tolerance for hot weather getting less. According to ayurveda, ice-cold foods and beverages disrupt the digestive power called agni. Agni, or digestive fire, can be compared to burning logs. If we dump cold water over burning logs, the fire goes out.

1. Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident. 2. It is very easy to defeat someone, but it is very hard to win someone. 3. Failure will never overtake me if my definition to succeed is strong enough. 4. Man needs difficulties in life because they are necessary to enjoy the success.