Hypertension : From Ayurvedic Understanding

Abstract

Hypertension is a grave condition of raised blood pressure due to the stress related lifestyle, in which the blood vessels have persistently raised pressure which makes the pumping of heart deligent. Due to this increased pressure on heart , the pressure exerted on vessels supplying different body tissues and organs gets increased and can damage respective organs. It is an early stage of pathogenesis and a risk factor for the development of diseases affecting organs like heart, brain, kidney etc. Many people with hypertension stay undiagnosed for long period or until got diagnosed incedentally, therefore it can be considered as a silent killer. An estimated 1.13 billion people worldwide are suffering from Hypertension, therefore normalizing the abnormally raised blood pressure is a challenging task to be considered. In Ayurveda, systemic arterial hypertension can be understood on the basis of involvement of vitiated Doshas where there is the involvement of Vata and Pitta predominant Tridosha, which hampers the flow of these Doshas in respective Srotas (micro-channels ). The concept of Avarana (occlusion in the functioning of Dosha in normal state) gives a better understanding of Hypertension which should be considered for the better outcome of treating the disease from Ayurvedic perspective. Therefore here an attempt is made, to understand Hypertension from both modern and Ayurvedic concepts and to discuss the management of the condition from Ayurvedic point of view.