A Comparative Clinical Study To Evaluate The Efficacy Of Indrayava Lepa And Dhattura Patra Lepa After Pracchana Karma In The Management Of Indralupta With Special Reference To Alopecia Areata

Indralupta is one among the shiro kapalagata roga explained by Acharya Vagbhata and kshudra roga by Acharya Sushruta. It is characterized by patchy hair loss from scalp. It occurs when vitiated pitta associated with Vata gets localized in the roma kupa and causes the hairfall, later on kapha dosha in association with rakta, causes the obstruction to the hair roots and restricts their re growth. The symptoms of indralupta like patchy hair loss, restricted regrowth mimics Alopecia areata in modern science.

Alopecia areata is a dermatologic condition characterized in its limited form by circumscribed round or oval patches with well-demarcated borders between normal and affected scalp. As per the recent statistical data, Alopecia areata affects 0.1 to 0.2% of human population. It occurs in both male and female. It is most common in early adults. It is seen that an incidence of Alopecia areata tends to be higher when associated with diseases affecting the immune system.

In modern system of medicine, the treatment for Alopecia areata has been showing less encouraging results, as they are treating the condition with corticosteroids both internally and externally. Other treatment include Minoxidile, UVR, laser therapy, hormonal therapy and hair transplantation,etc, this type of conventional management is minimum effective, associated with some side effects and also the cost of these treatments are high. As hair is one’s crown and glory, hair disorders cause negative impact towards the individual’s quality of life. Hence, world is expecting treatment for this disease from other medical sciences.

So,in Ayurveda, both shodana and shamana treatment are indicated in Indralupta. Here, pracchana acts as shodana therapy, lepa acts as shamana therapy. Prachanna clears the obstructed romakupas, drains out the vitiated blood from the srotas and later when lepa is applied over the region it get absorbed by hair follicle which open up the pores thus facilitates easy and faster absorption of the drug and helps in the re-growth of healthy hair.

Basavarajeeyam, a famous treatise in Ayurveda, mentioned Indrayava lepa in the management of Indralupta, Acharya Vagbhata mentioned Dhattura patra lepa so, this study is planned to know the effectiveness of pracchana karma followed by Indrayava lepa and Dhattura patra application. Both Indrayava and Dhattura are readily available and cost effective ,hence chosen for the study.

HYPOTHESIS:

Null hypothesis:

H0: Indrayava lepa after Pracchana karma has no significant effect in Indralupta

Alternate hypothesis:

H1: Indrayava lepa after Pracchana karma has more effect than Dhattura patra lepa after Pracchana karma in Indralupta

H2: Indrayava lepa after Pracchana karma has less effect than Dhattura patra lepa after Pracchana karma in Indralupta

H3: Indrayava lepa after Pracchana karma and Dhattura patra lepa after Pracchana karma are equally effective in Indralupta