Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Introduction: Panchakarma itself is a composite and distinctive system of treatment, so its pharmaceutical preparations also possess some special characteristics. Oleation is the essential prerequisite for purification i.e. putative therapy which is indicated in physiological as well as pathological conditions. Generally, incremental oleation is indicated to achieve and make a good platform for excitation of toxins. But this type of regime is quiet time consuming and costly as compared to instant oleation.

Objective: The present study is aimed to ascertain and compare the efficacy of instant oleation in healthy volunteers on certain subjective and objective parameters with that of traditional incremental oleation.

Methods: Total 30 participants divided into two groups; group A with instant oleation (plain cow ghee and rock salt) and group B (only plain cow ghee). Blood analysis for serum sodium and serum potassium was done before and after the oleation. And certain subjective parameters were also assessed before and after the oleation in both the groups.

Results: Serum sodium and serum potassium were found statistically nonsignificant (p < 0.05), while all other subjective parameters were improved (p < 0.001) except aversion to fat and loose consistency of stool. 

Conclusion: In both the oleation methods i.e. instant and incremental oleation, all subjective criteria improved significantly (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01), except aversion to the fat and loose consistency of stool. Though, loose consistency quite improved in group 2. The assessment of objective criteria i.e. serum sodium and serum potassium found to be statistically non-significant (p < 0.05) before, after of unction and between the groups; deficit of sample size may be the reason behind the outcome.

Keywords: Panchakarma, Purification, Oleation, Unction.