Cyberspace cure

Ayurveda packages from Kerala are being offered online

May 20, 2013 11:10 am | Updated 11:11 am IST

Popular treatment: Ayurveda has a following. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Popular treatment: Ayurveda has a following. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

A group of Ayurveda experts has launched a medical treatment package in cyberspace — ostensibly without compromising on the ancient healing system’s core principle of basing prescriptions after studying each patient individually and in depth.

‘NaturWell’, which claims to guarantee overall wellness to subscribers of the year-long programme being rolled out through homilies over the internet and medicines at the doorstep, is essentially founded on the tenets mentioned in ancient texts of Ayurveda, according to the conceivers.

Cybele Herbal Laboratories has fashioned the programme considering that a holistic Ayurveda cure to mental and physical ailments requires a physician-patient interaction spanning no less than six hours. “But we also realise that the task is next to impractical in today’s busy world. Hence, NaturWell,” says P N Balaram, chief executive officer of the 1997-founded company.

The regimen is based on treatment given to a patient through his or her email responses to a comprehensive list of 20 questions on the portal.

“Today’s world doesn’t give people sufficient time to consult with the Ayurveda doctor. Nonetheless, it requires sufficient knowledge about the patient’s parameters, lifestyle, environment, heredity and social relations. Our questionnaire aims to know the relevant history and present of the patient,” says Mr Balaram.

It took 14 years for a group of experts with Cybele to pour over 1,18,000 codified pages of Ayurveda manuals to arrive at ‘NaturWell’, which also takes into account Yoga. “The regimen aims to help the subscriber attain a perfect balance of the body, mind and the soul,” he notes, adding that Ayurveda basically talks about preventing diseases than treating them.

The mission started in 1999 under endocrinologist R V Jayakumar of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College along with a team of doctors. The documentation work was completed in 2010 and the software was developed by an American group Natural Solution Foundation (NSF), which incorporated all the compiled Ayurvedic knowledge.

The 365-day personalised health regimen is divided on the principles of ‘Rasayana’ (energizing), and features four stages lasting three months each. The first quarter focuses on conditioning and strengthening the body, while the next would work to tone up the mind. The third stage aims at awakening and balancing the senses, while revitalizing energy is final-leg pursuit.

Cybele is already into production and sales of two drugs that are meant for diabetes and arthrosclerosis. Its anti-arthrosclerosis drug Liponil proved its efficacy test at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology at Thiruvananthapuram in reducing cholesterol and removing blocks from the arteries, the root cause of heart problems.

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