- Fatty liver is a disease, in which accumulation of excess fat occurs in liver. It may be of two types, alcoholic and non alcoholic fatty liver. Fatty liver can lead to steato-hepatitis (inflammation of liver), scarring, cirrhosis and end stage liver disease.
- Close to 1 in 5 people in India have excess fat in their liver and 1 in 10 have fatty liver disease. Prevalence of the disease is estimated to be around 9-32% in the general Indian population, with a higher incidence rate amongst obese and diabetic patients.
- Fatty liver generally has no symptoms until it progress or patient may feel heaviness in upper side of abdomen, tiredness, anorexia etc. It can be diagnosed by imaging or biopsy techniques.
- In Ayurvedic context, it can be correlated with Yakrutodar roga. The diseases that are manifested in the abdominal cavity causing the distension of the abdomen is Udararoga. In this condition Agni plays a major role in the manifesting of disease. Mandagni and mal sanchay are two main cause of udar roga.
- In spite of consistent human effort and drug discovery, modern medicine has very little to offer. Nonetheless, classical proprietary and patented formulations of Ayurveda have shown promising results. In Ayurvedic text books yakratodar is bracketed with pleehodar.
- All medicines which are advised in pleehodar can be used in yakrutodar also. Rohitkarishta, and aarogyavardhini vati are very effective in management of fatty liver. Any Ayurvedic medication should be taken as per advice of Ayurvedic physician only.
Dr. Priyanka Srivastava
(sri88priyanka@gmail.com)