Review Article
Year: 2019 | Month: June | Volume: 9 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 315-322
Role of Medhya Rasayanas (Nootropic Drugs) in Developmental Disabilities of Children
Srivastava Niraj1, Saxena Varsha2
1Associate Professor, Department of Kaumarbhritya /Bal-roga, Government Ayurvedic P.G College& Hospital, Varanasi (Sampurnanand Sanskrit University)
2Assistant Professor, Department of Shalya-Tantra, Main campus, Uttarakhand Ayurveda University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Corresponding Author: Saxena Varsha
ABSTRACT
Developmental disabilities are a group of disorders resulting from injury to the developing brain (prenatal, perinatal or postnatal). Developmental disabilities are a severe chronic disability that is attributed to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of both conditions. Broad definition of developmental disabilities included; mental retardation, cerebral palsy, communication disorders, learning disability, attention deficit hyperactive disorder and childhood autism. These disabilities can occur in isolation or in combination (multiple handicaps). Together developmental disabilities account for 10-15% of the population of children and associated with considerable burden of disease, physical co-morbidities, high economic costs, and very poor quality of life (QOL).
Modern medicine has very limited success in treatment of developmental disabilities due to multi-factorial nature of these diseases. Ayurveda represents an ancient system of traditional medicine prevalent in India about 5000 years old. Medhya Rasayanas are group of medicinal plants described in Ayurveda to improve memory and intelligence. The Medhya rasayanas (herbal nootropic drugs) are beneficial to improve the power of retention, power of grasping, power of discrimination and power of recollection etc. In Charaka samhita mainly four medicinal plants mentioned as “Medhya Rasayanas”. They are Mandukaparni (Centella asiatica) swarasa, Yastimadhu (Glycirrhiza glabra) churna, Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) swarasa and Shankhapushpi (Convolvulus pluricaulis) kalka. The recent article focuses on establishing a new potential of Medhya Rasayanas (herbal nootropic drugs) for treatment of developmental disabilities in children.
Key words: Medhya rasayanas, Developmental disabilities, nootropic drugs.