Medhya drugs: Ancient remedies for maintaining homeostasis of Psychophysical well-being

Abstract

A good health with a proper physical and mental functions has always been desire of an individual. WHO defines Health as a state of Physical, mental and social wellbeing of a person. The physical health is directly related to mental health and poor health with poor mental state is responsible for poor intellectual. Lifestyle diseases, also known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), have emerged as a significant health burden globally. They are primarily caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices, including sedentary behavior, poor dietary habits, and stress. These diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders, pose a major threat. Ayurveda the science of life deals with the art of living. This not only teaches about health &disease but also focuses on philosophy of life, social, cultural and spiritual component ofliving being.As a matter of fact,we all are living in the era of global competitiveness in terms of to become more rich and powerful.The spirit of this competitive attitude is instilled in each individual from childhood. The capacity to retain what has been learned and to recall it at the appropriate time and in the right place is the only way to succeed at every level. As we see in our daily life it becomes more difficult to follow proper life style. Such altered life style causes an imbalance of psychophysical components of a person leading many non-communicable disorders. In such circumstances the grasping, retention and recalling abilities of an individualareis badly affected. This also includes an inability to control one's thoughts, excessive pondering, a lack of confidence, failure to attain set goals, and a person who falls behind.

As a matter of fact, we all are living in tight compartments of daily stress, which affects the quality of life of an individual. Stress may be of a chronic or episodic in nature and is naturally occurring mind-body response to demanding and/or emergency situations. Proper management and monitoring of stress response maintain the state of optimum health and well-being. If it is not done properly the stress response may lead to a variety of medical, psychological, and behavioral health problems. These can put an individual at increased risk for a variety of physical and mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, digestive issues, headaches, muscle tension and pain, heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep problems, weight gain, and memory and concentration impairment. There may be some individual differences in personality dimensions, which moderate the stress-health relationship. However, there are several stressful activities including aerobic exercise, weight training, and flexibility training, which contribute to a number of health benefits.

Ayurveda is basically a psychosomatically oriented system of medicine and it is found that psychosomatic drugs have been in prevalent use in this system. Review of literature shows that a special class of drugs namely, “Medhya Dravyas” has been profusely used single or in combination for improving the Medha (Dhi, Dhriti and Smriti) and treating the psychic disorders. The nature of the use of Medhya Dravyas as advocated in Ayurvedic literature and the modern researches so far indicate the possibility of varying degree of psychotropic action Specially anti-anxiety in these drugs.

A large number of drugs having the pharmacological properties of psychosomatic actions are mentioned in ancient texts of Ayurveda. While searching in classics of Ayurveda those are mentioned under a special class of drugs namely, “Medhya dravyas. Medhya is mentioned in Ayurveda in a wide sense. Medhya is made up of the three mental faculties, Dhi, Dhriti, and Smriti, which are interconnected with each other. Medhya drug is basically supposed to improve the Medha i.e., Dhi or the intelligence, Dhriti or the will power and Smirti or the memory and treating the psychic disorders. The clinical application of Medhya dravyas advocated in texts of Ayurveda and the observations of researches indicate the possibility of varying degree of psychotropic action of these drugs especially antianxiety and antistress. Medhya is mentioned in ayurveda in a wide sense.

Medhya Rasayana is beneficial in two types of situations: healthy and ill. Inorder to boost general intelligence in healthy persons. In neurological and psychiatric illnesses, memory loss, cognitive deficiencies, poor mental function, and other intelligence-related symptoms are common. Dhriti, which has control over the functions of manas is reduced by rajas ahara. Other causes include an inability to control one's thoughts, excessive pondering, a lack of confidence, failure to attain set goals, and a person who falls behind.

Medhya rasayana is a “Nootropic drug”. The word nootropic comes from the Greek word’s nous, which means "mind," and trepein, which means "to turn". Memory enhancers, cognitive enhancers, intelligence enhancers and nerve tonics are all terms used to describe nootropic medications. By encouraging nerve development, nootropic medications boost the oxygen supply to the brain. In a recent paper, the potential of Medhya rasayana (herbal nootropic medicines) for the mental, physical health was discussed.

An effort has been made to collect the ancient wisdom and current information’s of those herbal drugs, categorized under the heading of Medhya drugs in classics of Ayurveda. The compilation of various relevant information’s related to Medhya drugs at one place definitely will not only help the scholars of medical practice but also provide information to common people to maintain their good physical and mental fitness.