Herbs for Vitiligo
Ayurvedic remedies for vitiligo
VITILIGO ORIGIN
The Roman physician Celsus was the first person to mention the term Vitiligo back in the second century A.D. to describe the skin depigmentation condition that is also known as Leucoderma. Image: Curcuma longa by Kai Yan, Joseph Wong under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
WHAT IS VITILIGO?
Vitiligo is the skin condition characterized for the progressive depigmentation of parts of the skin, presenting hypopigmented white lesions along the skin surface [3]. Fifty percent of Vitiligo cases appear before the age of 20 years old [5], and in spite it is still not very clear whether this condition is caused for a virus, an autoimmune disease or anything else, there are several clinical studies on the use of traditional herbal remedies for the treatment of Vitiligo, some of them with more success than others but most of them worth to get review. Let's have a look to some of the most commonly known herbs for Vitiligo.
CURCUMA LONGA
Family: Zingiberales
Genus: Curcuma
Common name: Indian safron, turmeric.
HERBS FOR VITILIGO
FICUS HISPIDA FOR VITILIGO
The first herb for Vitiligo that we find among the popular ones on traditional herbal remedies for Vitiligo is Ficus hispida, a tree which fruits are edible and have been included in many traditional herbal remedies. Ficus hispida belongs to the moraceae family and is known in Hindi as Gobla. In Ayurveda medicinal remedies Ficus hispida has been used traditionally to treat psoriasis, alopecia and other skin related problems as jaundice but not only, other uses also include ulcers, anemia, piles, hemorrhage, diabetes, convulsion, hepatitis, dysentery, biliousness, as lactagogue, purgative [1] and last but not least for the treatment of Vitiligo.
Among the active constituents found in Ficus hispida we can find alkaloids, carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, sterols, phenols, flavonoids, gums and mucilage, glycosides, saponins, and terpenes [1].
Some of the properties exerted by Ficus hispida include antineoplastic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory.
SHVITRAHARA KASHAYA AND LEPA FOR VITILIGO
In Ayurveda a decoction of herbs named Shvitrahara and composed of Bakuchi (P. corylifolia), Haridra (Curcuma longa), Khadira (Acacia catechu), Sariva (Hemidesmus indicus), Kakoudambar (Ficus hispida), Chakramarda (Cassia tora), and Chakshushya (Cassia absuss) was tried to treat Vitiligo in patients aged 16 to 62 years old. In spite the study performed had many interesting revelations, the most important point is that the outcome showed that Shvitrahara kashaya coction use in vitiligo showed that the formulation seemed to be a safe remedy with significant pigment regenerating capacity [3].
GINKGO BILOBA FOR THE TREATMENT OF VITILIGO
This time the herb used in a pilot medic60 mg of standardized Ginkgo biloba two times per day for 12 weeks. After the trial period Ginkgo biloba administered patients showed a significant improvement in total Vitiligo measures [4]. Other studies on L-phenylalanine used with phototherapy, and oral Ginkgo biloba as monotherapy showed promising results too [5].
Last but not least, another study on Ginkgo biloba showed a significant cessation of active progression of depigmentation was noted in patients treated with G. biloba.
GUGGUL RESIN FOR VITILIGO
In Ayurvedic treatments, the Guggul resin (Commiphora wightii) named mukul, has been traditionally used to treat ailments as obesity, sores and ulcers, urinary problems, liver disorders, intestinal worms, leucoderma (vitiligo), sinuses, edema and sudden paralytic seizures [9]. Guggulsterone is the primary active constituent of Guggul resin and probably the chemical responsible of the properties exerted by Guggul resin, mukul.
Other herbal remedies as the use of topical khellin combined with UVA will need further investigation.
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REFERENCES
[1] Ficus hispida Linn.: A review of its pharmacognostic and ethnomedicinal properties. Ali M, Chaudhary N. Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hamdard University, New Delhi-110 006, India.
[2] The medico historical perspective of vitiligo (Switra). Panda AK. Department of Kayachikitsa, S.J.S. Ayurveda College, Nazrathpet, Chennai - 602103.
[3] Clinical evaluation of the efficacy of Shvitrahara kashaya and lepa in vitiligo. Dhanik A, Sujatha N, Rai NP. Senior Resident, Department of Kayachikitsa, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
[4] Ginkgo biloba for the treatment of vitilgo vulgaris: an open label pilot clinical trial. Szczurko O, Shear N, Taddio A, Boon H. Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, 130 Dundas St East, Suite 305, Mississauga, ON L5A 3V8, Canada
[5] A systematic review of natural health product treatment for vitiligo. Szczurko O, Boon HS. Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Canada.
[6] Effectiveness of oral Ginkgo biloba in treating limited, slowly spreading vitiligo. Parsad D, Pandhi R, Juneja A. Department of Dermatology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
[7] The guggul for chronic diseases: ancient medicine, modern targets.
Shishodia S, Harikumar KB, Dass S, Ramawat KG, Aggarwal BB.
Department of Biology, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas 77004, USA.
- Tags: and chemopreventive effects of limonoids from the seeds of Azadirachta indicia A_ Juss_ (neem)_ Akihisa T, Andhra Pradesh, ANEMIA, anti-inflammatory, AS LACTAGOGUE, Ashok Kumar CK_ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, Avinash Kumar Reddy G, A_ Rangampet, BAKUCHI, Banno N, BILIOUSNESS, CHAKRAMARDA, CHAKSHUSHYA, COMMIPHORA WIGHTII, COMMIPHORA WIGHTII HYPOTHYROID, CONVULSION, CURCUMA LONGA, DEFINE VITILIGO, DIABETES, DYSENTERY, DYSENTRY, FICUS HISPIDA, FOCAL VITILIGO, Fujita Y, Gachanja AN, GINKGO BILOBA, GOBLA, GUGGUL, GUGGUL RESIN, GUGGUL RESIN FOR VITILIGO, HARIDRA, HEMORRHAGE, HEPATITIS, HERBAL REMEDIES FOR VITILIGO, HERBS FOR VITILIGO, HYPOPIGMENTED LESIONS, Ikeja, INDIAN SAFRON, India_ [2] Antimicrobial activities of skincare preparations from plant extracts_ Kareru PG, IS VITILIGO CONTAGIOUS, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, JON HAMM VITILIGO, KAKOUDAMBAR, Kenji GM, Kenya [3] Melanogenesis inhibitory, Keriko JM, KHADIRA, KHELLIN, Kimura Y_ College of Science and Technology, Koike K, LACTAGOGUE, Lagos, LEPA, LEUCODERMA, Mohanalakshmi S, Mukiira HN_ Chemistry Department, MUKUL, Nairobi, Nigeria, Nihon University, Noto T, PILES, PRINCE JACKSON VITILIGO, PRINCE MICHAEL VITILIGO, PRINCE VITILIGO, PROTOPIC OINTMENT VITILIGO, PROTOPIC VITILIGO, PURGATIVE, RE VITILIGO, REFERENCES: [1] Formulation and comparative evaluation of poly herbal anti-acne face wash gels_ Rasheed A, SARIVA, SHVITRAHARA KASHAYA, SKIN DEPIGMENTATION, SKIN PIGMENTATION VITILIGO, Sree Vidyanikethan College of Pharmacy, Suzuki T, Takahashi A, Thiong'o GT, Tirupati, Tokuda H, Tokyo, TURMERIC, TYPES OF VITILIGO, ULCER, ULCERS, VITILIGO, VITILIGO ALOPECIA AREATA, VITILIGO DEFINITION, VITILIGO DIAGNOSIS, VITILIGO FRIENDS, VITILIGO PRONUNCIATION, VITILIGO PROTOPIC, VITILIGO SKIN PIGMENTATION, VITILIGO STRESS, VITILIGO SYMPTOMS PICTURES, VITILIGO UNIVERSALIS, VITILIGO WIKI, Yasukawa K, नीम Neem (Hindi)
