A review of amavata (Rheumatoid arthritis)

Abstract

Roga or vyadhi are prevalent among all living creatures which creates havoc. Amavata is also such vyadhi which is most commonest, it is composed of two words ama and vata. Ama means the component that stays undigested and non excreated from the body and vata means chalatva or movement. The agni or the digestive fire which is required to change physical and chemical structure of a substance undergoes dushti and converts the ingested anna into dushta anna. The ama when combines with vata dosha produces amotpatti later, ama from the amashaya  gets displaced and keeps on circulating in the body viva hridaya and wherever it settles in the joints leads to painful disease called as amavata. The clinical features includes- hardness and pain in kukshi, loss of sleep, decreased agni (jathragni), pain, stiffness, inflammation in joints of hands, legs, ankles, sacroiliac region. Tha same pathogenesis along with its signs and symptoms shows similarity with the disease rheumatoid arthritis. It’s the commonest among chronic inflammatory joint disease in which joint show inflammation. The treatments in modern medicine as well in ayurvedic are completely antagonistic to each other, in modern the disease is hard to cure and treat which may also lead to various compication whereas, in ayurvedic context the treatment includes various therapies such as snehana, langahna, swedana, virechana etc.