Effect of Bilwadi Panchamula along with Suryanamaskara Asana in the secondary prevention of obesity (Athisthaulya)

Abstract

Acharaya Charaka described Athisthaulya as a Nanathmaja vikara of Kapha. Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults and 300 million of them are obese. In Sri Lanka, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is high among adults. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of Bilawadhi Panchamula along with Suryanamaskara asana in the secondary prevention of obesity (Athisthaulya). The clinical study was based on a prospective randomized study carried out among 45 patients over a duration of one year. Patients were given the Bilwadi Panchamula decoction with bee honey twice a day along with practicing Suryanamaskaraya. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee (ERC) of the Faculty of Indigenous Medicine in 2022. The assessment was done by using mean weight, body mass index, waist circumference and mid upper arm circumference as objective parameters. Data were statistically analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 29.0.0.0 (2022). It was observed that objective parameters from the pre-test to the post-test were markedly reduced (p<0.001) which is statistically highly significant in the variables of obesity. The total cholesterol level also improved with high statistical significance (p<0.001). In subjective parameters, a marked improvement was observed in the mean value of sphik chalata, sthana chalata, udara chalata, movements of cheek, movement of the thigh, ayasena swasa, alpa vyayama, swedadhikya, nidradhikya, ati pipasa, daha, Kshudra swasa and Janusandhi shoola. Also, t values were higher than the critical value and these objective parameters of Athisthaulya were statistically highly significant (p < 0.001).