Ayurvedic Management of Coronary Artery Disease - A Review

Ayurvedic scholars has describe the Hridya as one of the' Dashapranayatan'(1). They also describe Hridya as a 'mahat' means important organ of the body and 'artha' means working 24x7 from birth to till death(gatiman)(2). Sushrut samhita mentioned the Hridya as a place of 'cetana'(3). Ayurvedic scholars give very much importance to Hridya. Apart from this ayurvedic scholars has mentioned Hridyarogas (cardiovascular disease) in much details and mentioned their treatment part also( 4). Coronary Artery Disease(CAD) is one of the cardiovascular diseases. CAD affects Indians with greater frequency and at a younger age than counterparts in developed countries as well as many other developing countries. Age standardized CAD death rates in people 30-69 years old are 405 per 100000 in India. Also 50 percent of CAD related deaths in India occur in people below 70 years of age. India is estimated to have lost 8.7 billion 1998 international dollars in 2005 because of CAD, stroke and diabetes. These estimates increase to 54 billion 1998 international dollars by 2015. Hence we have to give attention towards CAD.