A brief review of researches on rheumatoid arthritis in Ayurveda

Abstract

To review the evidence on efficacy of Ayurvedic treatment taken either orally, topically, per rectum, or all routes in the management of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) based on published scientific literature. Systematic search of the online bibliographic database known as Digital Helpline for Ayurveda Research Articles (DHARA) was conducted to collect the data for all studies related to RA. The search has included the data from December 1945 to June 2012. A summarized and classified overview of prior research on RA in Ayurveda was generated from the collected data of published articles. Three hundred twenty five citations met our keyword search criteria. Out of these, only 127 citations were found directly relevant to RA. The trend of published articles in RA has shown that original research papers (70%) outnumbered review papers (20%) and only few surveys and position papers (2%) were found. Amongst the original research papers, 56% were clinical studies followed by 41% of preclinical studies. Most of the clinical studies were observational in nature (39%) and the rest were randomized uncontrolled trials (33%), or controlled trials (15%), and case studies (7%). It was found that clinical studies were predominant but of poor quality in terms of rigor and research design. Especially, research studies that addressed the holistic principles of Ayurveda were almost absent. However, Ayurvedic formulations were studied more than medicinal plants and external therapies.