Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT:
Narasimha churna is an Ayurvedic medicine, in herbal powder form. It is used in the Ayurvedic treatment of cough, chronic respiratory conditions like bronchitis and asthma, Oligospermia, anti aging treatment, chronic urinary diseases, Anemia, gout, Fistula, Sciatica, chronic jaundice, hemorrhoids. It is a totally polyherbal classical medicine without any side effects. Hence an effort is made to study the clinical evaluation of Narasimha churna in the management of shukra kshaya (Oligospermia). It is observed that the consistency and content varies from one manufacturer to another which affects therapeutic activity of the formulations. Hence, it is needed to develop a protocol for the evaluation of herbal drugs.
In this study attempts to evaluate the main parameters of drug standardization like organoleptic characteristics, phamacognostic study, extractive values, ash values, physical characteristics, loss on drying and TLC. This study on Narasimha churna was precise, reproducible and may be considered as a protocol for its evaluation and establishment.
KEY WORDS: Ayurveda, Oligospermia, alopecia, anemia, cough, physicochemical parameters.
1. INTRODUCTION:
Medicinal plants have been used in virtually all cultures as a source of medicine, since times immemorial. Herbal Medicine is still the mainstay of health care in several developing countries. The widely used herbal remedies and health care preparations as described in ancient texts such as the Vedas and the Bible are obtained from commonly used traditional herbs and medicinal plants. The medicinal properties of these botanicals are being better understood and are attributable to the phytochemicals that specific plants contain. The efficacy and safety of herbal products therefore rely on the quality and proper identification of the raw material or the original plant source. One major obstacle that might impair the potential use of traditional medicine as medicine of choice is the lack of standardization. Adulterations and substitutions are common in raw material trade of medicinal plants. Unintentional adulterations also exist in herbal raw material trade due to various reasons such as confusion in vernacular names between indigenous systems of medicine and local dialects, lack of knowledge about the authentic plant, non-availability of the authentic plant, similarity in morphology and aroma or careless collection [1].
Medicinal plants and its therapeutic values are being increasingly recognized in the health care system all over the world. Ayurveda an...