Medicated Candies - A new perspective of classical concept

Abstract

Kasa /cough is one of the most common respiratory condition that afflict every human being at some point in their life. Ayurveda classics have described five types of Kasa. The mode of administration of Oushadha in this Vyadhi is told as Muhurmuhu i.e. frequent administration of medicine. Certain Oushadha Yogas when administered in this Kala may hamper the Agni and Ahara Kala. So, a Yoga which when administered once, act as a sustained release medicament, without hampering the Agni and Ahara Kala would fit the requirement for this way of administration. Such a dosage form that we could find in our classics was Lehya in the form of Candy. In this study, one such Yoga mentioned for Pittaja Kasa Chikitsa in Ashtanga Hridaya, containing Draksha, Pippali, Sharkara was modified into the form of candy. Prepared candies served the purpose of providing sustained release of medicine, repeated administration without altering the Agni and Ahara Kala and finally relief from Kasa. It can be concluded that modified dosage forms that do not adulterate the classical concepts, but are suitable for the current times is the need of hour. Ayurveda practitioners need to look into this aspect of Chikitsa and come up with such novel methods.