Prospective controlled comparative clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of Shwetkushtahar ghanvati in shwitra with special reference to vitiligo

skin is the largest organ in the body protecting it from external elements in ayurveda skin is one of the panchendriya that is sparshanendriya skin is exposed to disease and injury skin diseases are classified into 2 types according to ayurveda kshudrakushta and mahakushta are two types of kushta various causes of Skin diseases are incompatible food viruddhaannapana  excessive intake of liquid drava oily snigdha and heavy to digest guru padartha all type of vega dharan exercise after heavy meals excessive exposure to heat or sunlight etc

Shwitra is one of the skin problems that have been observed increased as a result of change in diet and lifestyle Its impact is more noticeable in human psychology and social relationship on the basis of clinical features the disease Shwitra can be correlated with vitiligo the prevalence rate of vitiligo has been invariably reported 0.89 of dermatology out patients cases across the studies from India In ayurveda  the skin diseases have been described under the heading of kustha which are further divided into seven mahakusthas and eleven kshudrakusthas however shwitra has not been counted among these two types the difference between shwitra and kustha is based on nonsecretary noninfectious nature with involvement of twak onlyIt has been mentioned as another form of kustha by acharya sushruta acharya charaka and acharya sushruta states that, shwitra is characterized as shwet varna and aparisarvimandal according to acharya charaka another name for shwitra is kilasa In ayurveda shwitra is described as raktajvikara rakta and pitta dosha are also associated having ashray-ashrayi bhava hence pittadosha mainly bhrajakapitta which is responsible for the normal skin color gets vitiated leading to whitish colored skin patches vtiligo is a progressive disease in which melanocytes are gradually decreased causing hypopigmented depigmented or a pigmented areas over the skin the most accepted theory for pathogenesis of vitiligo is auto-immune hypothesis