Ayurvedic Concepts of Alcoholic Poison (Madhya Visha)
Derivation
The word 'Mada' generally means addiction, lust or madness. From the medical point of view, it means partial loss of intellect, consciousness and discriminating power. The word 'Madhya', derived from the root word 'Mada', means which makes the person to lose his senses after consumption is called 'madhya'
Definition
In 'Sharangadhara Samhita', while defining about the 'Madhakari' property, Madhya is also included in the classified drugs. Drugs that predominantly possess Tamas and cause the derangement of the mind are called as 'Madhakari'- intoxicants.
Properties of Alcohol
The ten properties of alcohol as follows:
- Light
- Hot
- Sharp
- Finely entering
- Sour
- Quickly absorbed
- Quick acting
- Rough
- Depressant
- Non slimy
Alcohol has the ten opposite qualities of Ojas (Life energy), so if taken in an improper manner, it will act like a poison.
Merits and Demerits of Alcohol
Alcohol is made of multiple ingredients possessing many properties and actions, and they are intoxicating in nature; due to this, it is characterized by both merits and demerits.
It is like nectar if consumed according to the prescribed manner, in proper quantity, in proper time, with wholesome food; in accordance to one's strength and cheerful mind, alcohol works like nectar.
On the contrary, it acts like poison for those who indulge in the consumption of wine in unwholesome manner, irrespective of time of consumption and quantity, whose body constitution is rough in nature and who continuously indulges in physical activities.
Merits
Alcohol taken in an appropriate manner produces exhilaration, energy, happiness, nourishment, good health, excellent virility, and pleasant intoxication immediately.
Alcohol improves the appetite, tones up the heart, promotes the voice and complexion. It brings the feeling of refreshment, perfection and strength and removes fear, grief and fatigue. It induces sleep for the insomniac, stimulates speech for the timid speaker, awakens those who oversleep/are in sleepy mood, corrects the constipation and gives relief to the mentally disturbed. Even the disorders caused by wine are countered by wine itself.
Demerits
The person addicted to alcohol does not differentiate between the right/wrong, good/bad, happiness/unhappiness, suitable/unsuitable; he does not even know how to behave and talk.
Alcohol creates great agitation of the mind as a terrific storm does to the trees on the river bank. The fools overcome by Rajas and Tamas becomes addicted to wine and feel it to be the solution for their happiness.
Alcohol addiction produces confusion, fear, grief, anger, death and diseases like insanity, intoxication,narcosis, epilepsy and convulsions. The alcohol, which is responsible for the derangement of memory,though composed of other good qualities, is totally contraindicated for consumption.
Effects of alcohol on the body
- Effects on Ojas
After the intake, alcohol enters the heart and counteracts the ten properties of Ojas with its corresponding ten properties and gives rise to mental distortions as follows:
| Ojas | Alcohol |
|---|---|
| Heaviness | Lightness |
| Coldness | Hotness |
| Sweetness | Sourness |
| Softness | Sharpness |
| Clarity | Quick action |
| Unctuousness | Roughness |
| Stability | Quick absorption |
| Smoothness | Depressant action |
| Sliminess | Non-sliminess |
| Viscosity | Subtleness |
Stages of Alcohol
Ayurveda says that the drinking of alcohol produces three stages of intoxication. The book of pathology 'Madhava Nidana' says it is of four stages.
- First Stage
In the first stage, the intoxication starts when the heart is stimulated but the Ojas is not affected and the person would be more inclined towards sexual acts, there will be an increase in the seminal fluid, more pleasure and loud speech.
In the first stage, it exerts features like exhilaration, pleasure, invokes interest in foods and drinks, in instrumental and vocal music, humour and stories. It gives sound sleep and fresh awakening, does not affect the intellect, memory and perception by senses. Thus Ayurveda calls this as a stage of 'inducing pleasure'
- Second Stage
In the middle stage, the person often forgets and recollects the things, has indistinct speech and voice,simultaneously speaks sense and nonsense. His movements, posture, drinking, eating and talking all are incoherent and funny.
The person becomes prominent in Rajas and Tamas, having crossed the limit of the middle stage but not reaching the third, one behaves unwholesomely; no wise person would like to enter this stage, which is with serious complications like insanity and a journey towards an unhappy destination.
Madhava Kara says that in this stage, the person indulges in irrelevant speech etc. and his appearance and behaviour seem to be psychic, drowsy and lazy. He loses self-control and discrimination power between the dos and don'ts. He disregards the elders, eats the non-eatables, thus his sensibility gets lost and due to the influence of the intoxication (Mada), the person expresses the secrets of the mind. (This stage is divided into second and third stage by Madhava Kara)
- Third Stage
In the third stage of intoxication, the person becomes motionless like a cut wood, his mind becomes narcotic, confused and he appears to be dead. He neither perceives the pleasurable senses nor recognizes his own friends, family etc. He does not get the enjoyment for which the wine was taken. He becomes ncapable in recognizing good or bad, useful or harmful etc. He is condemned and disliked by all and prone to miserable diseases as a complication. (These features are described as fourth stage by Madhava Kara)
Diseases Due to Improper Use of Alcohol
Alcohol produces different types of disorders if used by persons who are in rage, frightened, thirsty, in grief,hungry or exhausted due to physical exercise, and those who have suppressed the natural urges, overloaded the stomach with excessively sour and pungent foods, taken heavy food even when the previous food is not digested, weak persons suffering from heat exhaustion, those who drink alcohol empty stomach, alone and daily develop many troublesome diseases which ultimately become fatal.
General Features of Alcoholic Intoxication (Panatyaya / Madatyaya)
The general symptoms are
- Severe delusions
- Pain in the heart region
- Diarrhoea
- Constant thirst
- Fever having both heat & cold
- Complete loss of appetite
- Pain in head, back, flanks and joints
- Tremors
- Cutting pain in the vital parts
- Catching pain in the back (scapular region)
- Obstruction of the chest
- Blindness/Unconsciousness
- Cough
- Dyspnoea
- Total loss of sleep
- Excessive perspiration
- Indigestion/feeling of fullness of the abdomen
- Complete body swelling - especially the limbs
- Disorders of the mind
- Irrelevant talk
- Excessive salivation
- Giddiness
Specific features of alcoholic intoxication
Ayurveda divides these into four, namely, Vata, Pitta, Kapha and the combination of all.
- Vata: Stiffness of the limbs, body aches, discomfort in the heart/chest region, pricking sensation,tremors and headache.
- Pitta: Excessive sweating, delirium, dryness of the mouth, burning sensation, fainting and yellowish discolouration of the body, especially eyes and nails.
- Kapha: Severe vomiting, heaviness of the body, complete loss of appetite, excessive salivation and chills.
- Combination of all the above: In this condition, there will be mixed symptoms due to vitiation of all the three doshas.
Ayurvedic Concepts of Hangover (Paramada)
The symptoms are as follows:
- Sensation of warmth and heaviness of the limbs
- Anorexia
- Increased secretion of mucus
- Headache
- Pain in the joints
Ayurvedic descriptions of alcoholic gastritis (Pana - Ajeerna)
The symptoms are as follows:
- Flatulence
- Vomiting
- Acid eruptions
- All the symptoms of aggravated Pitta
Alcoholic Giddiness (Pana - Vibhrama)
The symptoms are as follows:
- Pricking pain in the cardiac region and body
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Feeling as if the internal organs are covered with smoke
- Fainting
- Expectoration of mucous
- Headache
- Pyrosis
- Aversion to alcohol and food
Treatment
This can be explained in two ways:
- General treatment
- Specific treatment
General Treatment
- According to the vitiated dosha.
- Administration of alcohol as medicine: The diseases which arise from inadequate, improper use of alcohol etc. get cured by the same if administered properly with great caution. Charaka says that,because of the vitiated doshas, Vata get obstructed in the channels and produces severe pain; by proper administration of alcohol, Vata gets its normal movement and thereby makes the body normal.
- Administration of milk: If the above methods are not yielding good results, then administration of wine should be stopped immediately and use of milk should be started. After the dryness and burning sensation etc. are reduced, milk should also be withdrawn slowly with substitutes of diet.
- Psychological measures: Alcohol does not cause alcoholism without causing agitations of the mind and causing morbidity in the body, hence exhilarating measures are necessary. Following measurements may help in fast recovery from the intoxication: beautiful parks, ponds with lotus flower, good food and drinks, pleasing companions, garlands, perfumes, washed clothes, melodious music, entertaining parties,ample arrangement of talks, jokes and songs and beloved and submissive women etc. alleviate alcoholism in no time.
Specific Treatment
- Vata madatyaya: Maricha, Ardraka, Deepya, and Kushta mixed with Sauvarchala lavana taken with wine / Prthvika, Deepyaka, Mahaushadha and Hingu along with Sauvarchala lavana should be dispensed as a beneficial recipe. One should use the drinks prepared with juices of Amra, Amrataka, Dadima,Matulunga / meat soup/ meat soup mixed with the above juices should be given.
- Pitta madatyaya: The wine should be mixed with the decoction of drugs belonging to sweet taste mixed with honey, sugar and the good flavors are beneficial. After taking this wine, one should take concentrated sugarcane juice, after some time he should be made to vomit. Then non-sour preparations like meat juice of Lava, Aina and Tittira or greengram soup with sugar and ghee should be provided to drink.
- Kapha madatyaya: Vomiting should be induced by using wine mixed with the juice of Bimbi and Vidula.Meat soup of animals with bitter and pungent spices should be given. Soups of pulses, processed with bitter and pungent spices, are also beneficial.
- Vata+ Pitta+ Kapha madatyaya: Combination of all the above.
Treatment for hangover (Paramada)
- Kashmarya, Dharu, Vida, Dadima & Pippali along with Draksha should be added to water and drink should be made, to which Beejapuraka juice should be added and if quickly taken as a drink, the condition of Paramada gets totally relieved in no time.
- Draksha, sugar, Madhuka, Jeeraka, Dhanyaka, and Trivrit should be similarly prepared and taken as a drink.
- On the same day, meat soup of animals (wild, fatty) with Sauvarchala salt and citreous fruits juices should be advised. Bath with water processed with Bharangi root is also beneficial.
Treatment for Pana- Ajeerna
- Ikshvagu, Damargava, Vrkshaka, Kakahvayo, Damabarika should be cooked with milk and given in an Anjali (Measurement) to induce vomiting.
- Further, in the evening, the person should drink the wine again as prescribed to restore the digestive fire.
Treatment for Pana Vibrama
- Syrup prepared from Draksha, Kaphitta, Citreous fruits and Dadima with lot of honey and sugar Pana Vibrama.
- In the same way, Amrataka and Kola should be used as syrup.
- Syrup prepared from Karjuraka, Vetraka, Kareera, Draksha, Trivrit, and Sripati with sugar should be used in the cold state.
- Tender leaves of latex trees, Bisa, Jeeraka, Naga Pushpa, Patra, Ilavalu, Sitasariva, Padmaka, Arata,Bhavya, Karamardha, Kaphitha, Kola, Vrkshamla, Vetraphala, Jeeraka and Dadima should be taken after adding Yashti and Utphala as a cold drink.
One who, after discontinuing the intake of wine, again starts taking it in excessive quantity suffers from the diseases named 'Dhvammasaka' and 'Vikshaya'. They are curable with difficulty and manageable particularly in the person debilitated by disorders.
Dhvammasaka
Signs and Symptoms
- Excessive salivation
- Dryness of the throat and mouth
- Intolerance to sound
- Excessive drowsiness
- Excessive sleep
Vikshaya
Signs and Symptoms
- Abnormality in the throat and heart
- Mental confusion
- Vomiting
- Pain in the body
- Fever
- Thirst
- Cough
- Headache
Management of 'Dhvammasaka' and 'Vikshaya'
The management is the same as that of Vata Madatyaya. Such a person should be given medicated enema,medicated ghee, milk, ghee massage, unction, bath, foods and drinks which cause alleviation of Vata. By the above mentioned therapeutic measures, 'Dhvammasaka' and 'Vikshaya' get alleviated.
