Navarakizhi and pinda sweda as muscle-nourishing Ayurveda procedures in hemiplegia: double-blind randomized comparative pilot clinical trial.

Introduction: Hemiplegia and the Ayurvedic description of ardhanga disease presents with comparable clinical features. This pilot trial compared two traditional procedure-based treatments: Navarakizhi, a massage of cooked navara rice in a medicated hot bolus, and pinda sweda, a similar massage made of a different type of rice. This article also describes the steps of a double-blind trial in Ayurveda, which was hitherto considered difficult to perform.

Self care integrative treatment demonstrated in rural community setting improves health related quality of life of lymphatic filariasis patients in endemic villages.

This study assessed impact of community based self care integrative treatment provided through mass camps in villages of three districts of Kerala, India endemic for lymphatic filariasis (LF). Two most endemic Primary Health centres (PHCs) were selected from each of the three districts, where maximum concentration of LF patients is recorded. Fourteen one day LF camps, each attended by 30-40 patients were conducted.