Abstract

CEREBRAL ATROPHY – A CASE STUDY

Urvi Chavda* and Satya Deo Pandey

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Abstract

‘Cerebral Atrophy’ is a common feature of many diseases that mainly affects the Brain. ‘Atrophy’ of any tissue means loss of cells or decrement in the size of the cell, which can be due to progressive loss of Cytoplasmic Proteins. In case of Brain tissue, Atrophy describes a loss of neurons and the connections between them. Atrophy can be generalized, which means that all of the Brain has shrunk; or it can be focal, affecting only a limited area of the Brain and resulting in a decrease of the functions that area of the Brain controls. The human brain completes growth and attains its maximum mass at around twenty five years of age and it gradually loses mass with each decade of life, although the rate of loss is comparatively tiny until the age of sixty, when approximately 0.5 to 1% Brain Volume is lost per year. By the age of seventy five, the Brain is an average of 15% smaller than it was at twenty five. It is not possible to reverse Brain Atrophy after it has already occurred but there may be some ways of preventing or slowing it down. In Ayurveda, this particular condition of Cerebral Atrophy is not described as it is but its pathology can be understood based upon the concept of Tridoshas. Nervous System is related to the aggravation of the Vata Dosha due to diet and lifestyle changes which aggravate Vata inside the Body. As old age is a period of Vata aggravation, Atrophy is commonest in old age. In this case study, an attempt has been made to treat a seventy five year old male patient with Therapeutic Panchakarma like Brimhana Nasya and Shirodhara, along with Shamana Chikitsa.

Keywords: Ayurveda, Tridoshas, Vata Dosha, Panchakarma, Brimhana Nasya, Shirodhara, Shamana Chikitsa.