Recent Advancement in the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases by Ayurveda

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are not the only diseases but a key term for a range of conditions that mainly affect the neurons in the human brain resulting in progressive degeneration or death of the nerve cells, which is a deadly and debilitating state. It affects millions of people worldwide. The most common NDDs worldwide are Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). According to De Lau & Breteler et al., the incidence of PD is about 10 million globally (i.e., approximately 0.3% of the world population) and 1% of those above 60 years. Management of NDDs has become a big challenge in the modern system of medicine & public health at present because of demographic changes worldwide. There is no specific therapy for the conventional management of NDDs in the modern system of medicine. The absence of specific and complete therapy for NDDs in the present era makes Ayurveda more important to consider some alternative and complementary system of medicine for the treatment. Ayurveda is an Indian system of medicine that comes under AYUSH and treats the NDDs since its inception, which is mainly described under the VataVyadhi (neurological disorder) context. In this chapter, the recent advancement in Ayurvedic medicinal plants, RasaAusadhies (herbo-mineral drugs) & combined drugs, Panchkarma therapies (bio-purification procedures), and Yoga & Asanas (bodily postures) that successfully treat the various common NDDs worldwide will be described.

Keywords: Alzheimer's diseases, Ayurveda, Herbo-mineral drugs, Neurodegenerative diseases, Panchkarma, Parkinson’s disease, Yoga.