Abstract

EFFICACY OF ASHWAGANDHADI TAILA NASYA IN ANIDRA (STRESS INDUCED INSOMNIA): AN ANALYTICAL REVIEW

*Namrata Bhatt, Alok Kumar Srivastava, S. Thapliyal, Shivani, Ankur Mishra

ABSTRACT

Nidra is among the three important tripods of life (ahara, nidra brahmacharya) as per ayurvedic acharyas.[1] Complete loss of nidra is known as nidranaash or anidra.[2,3,4] It is caused by vata vaigunya. In today’s competitive era, stress is present at every stage of life. Stress, along with creating negative impact on the general health of a person, is found one of the leading cause of insomnia worldwide. Insomnia not only have psychiatric and physical ill effects on the human body but also deteriorates family and social life of the person on the whole. Pharmacological management of insomnia which includes the use of benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, melatonin, anti-depressant and antihistamine medications has only limited effect on the disease. They rather produce many harmful side effects like dependence, abuse etc. For this reason, patients are gaining more interest towards the use of Non-pharmacological treatment like cognitive behaviour therapy and other relaxation therapies Ashwagandha, an excellent rejuvenator, by virtue of its anti-stress property brings about dramatic results in patients with stress induced insomnia. Ashwagandha oil when administered through nose in the form of nasya, stimulate the higher centres of brain thereby affecting the endocrine and nervous system functions, thus alleviating the aggravated doshas. This breaks down the whole samprapti of nidranasha.

Keywords: tripod, vaigunya, nasya, ashwagandha, rejuvenator, samprapti.