Irwin Antony Tigga was an asthma patient. He experienced breathing problems frequently and was hospitalised many a time. He had lived in metros like Mumbai and Calcutta before coming to Kerala, the land of Ayurveda.Once settled in Kerala, he decided to approach an ayurvedic health resort to undergo treatment for asthma.
``The Ayurvedic practitioner asked me about my diet and lifestyle first,’’ says Irwin. ``He said that mine is the dry type asthma and I should take a lot of fluid type food to increase the moisture and oxygen content in the body, he adds.Apart from the diet changes he underwent a Swasa kasa treatment there which included body massage, urovasti, pizhichil, nasyam etc; he felt much relief to his breathing problems after the therapy.
Ayurveda classifies asthma into many categories such as dry type, infection type, congestive type etc and offers different treatment to each of them. Dry type of asthma is found in those who are sensitive to cold climates and have a frail body, says Radhika Chakravarthy, an Ayurvedic student.``Ayurveda says that dry asthma is a result of an imbalance in air element in our body while the infection type is caused by an imbalance of fire element,’’ says Radhika. The reason for the congestion type asthma is attributed to the imbalance of water element in the body and Ayurveda is well equipped to cure any kind of asthma, she adds.
