Text Book of Thyroid in Ayurveda

by Dr. V.V.L. Prasuna

Thyroid gland is one of the most important endocrine gland in the body. Until 17th century it was believed to have nothing more than the cosmetic role of making the neck more shapely. Thyroid hormones are very essential for normal metabolism growth and development. It is very sensitive and reacts to stress and stimuli very easily. So it is no wonder that thyroid disorders became the second most common endocrine disorder. Recent studies show that one out of 13 people are suffering with thyroid disorders and still more than half of the population is still unaware of it.

Due to inadequate success in combating the problem with other systems of medicine there is increasing demand to treat the disease with Ayurvedic system of medicine.

Many of the thyroid disorders are not life threatening and easily amicable to treatment. So it is attracting many Ayurvedic practitioners but the main obstacle is that there is no exact correlation of thyroid gland in Ayurveda and many Ayurvedic Practitioners are adopting a vague approach by simply prescribing Kanchanara Guggulu or call all the thyroid disorders as Galaganda which is giving successful results some times and sometimes not.

Ayurvedic system of medicine is very futuristic and it has solutions even to the forthcoming disorders. Caraka emphasized that nomenclature of the diseases is not much necessary to treat the disease rather he insists on diagnosis of the constitutional status and plan the treatment accordingly.

Approach to the thyroid gland is better understood by the actions of the thyroxine on the body rather than the anatomical location. The main action of thyroid hormone is to act as a spark to pep-up body metabolism. In ayurveda parlance it can be correlated with the actions of Agni.

Understanding the disease and the constitutional status of the disease is very important for planning the treatment and applying the Ayurvedic treatment principles. For that the etiology clinical features and their types are mentioned here.

An attempt has been made to elaborate the treatment principles about the thyroid disorders without distracting the basic philosophy and precincts of Ayurveda for almost all types of thyroid disorders.

This book will surely beneficial to all the Ayurvedic practitioner’s students research persons and all those who are interested in science.

Introduction 3

Historical Aspects 4

Anatomy of thyroid gland 5

Development of Thyroid Gland 7

Histology of Thyroid Gland 8

Thyroid hormone synthesis 10

Metabolism of Thyroid hormones 15

Physiological actions of thyroid hormones 15

Significance of Iodine 18

Thyroxine in Ayurveda Parlance 20

Control of Thyroxine 22

Investigations 24

Hypothyroidism 31

Historical aspects 31

Etiology of Hypothyroidism 33

Primary Hypothyroidism 34

Hashimotos Thyroiditis 36

Secondary and Tertiary Hypothyroidism 38

Congenital Hypothyroidism 40

Pendred’s syndrome 41

Juvenile Hypothyroidism 41

Clinical Features of Hypothyroidism 42

Pathology 47

Hypothyroidism in Ayurveda 49

Sadhyasadhya 55

Chikitsa Yojana 58

Pathyapathya 59

Hyperthyroidism 65

Historical aspects 65

Etiology of Hyperthyroidism 67

Graves diseases 67

Clinical features of hyperthyroidism 75

Pathology of Hyperthyroidism 81

Hyperthyroidism in Ayurveda wsr to bhasmaka 87

Sadhyasadhya 91

Chikitsa Yojana 92

Pathyapathya 96

Goiter 101

Historical Aspects 101

Etiology and types of goiter 102

Pathogenesis of goiter 103

Galaganda 110

Sadhyasadhya 116

Chikitsa Yojana 117

Pathyapathya 118

Appendix

Some Useful drugs in Hypothyroidism 123

Some Useful drugs in Hyperthyroidism 126

Some Useful drugs in goiter 129

References 133

Alphabetical Index 138