Bronchiectasis is a medical condition involving an abnormal dilatation of the large airways in the lungs, resulting from chronic infections, obstruction in the lungs, hereditary diseases, and auto immune disorders. Abnormal dilatation of the airways causes symptoms of a chronic obstructive disease in which the lungs get inflamed easily, with collapse of the airways. The common symptoms of this condition include breathlessness, prolonged bouts of disabling cough, and impaired inability to clear the lung secretions, sometimes accompanied by hemoptysis. A major involvement of the lungs can cause considerable disability to the affected individual and significantly increase the morbidity and mortality from this disease.
The modern management of bronchiectasis involves treatment of infection using antibiotics, treatment of inflammation, the use of expectorant medication, and postural drainage in order to clear accumulated lung secretions. However, this treatment is mostly conservative and only treats the symptoms without actually curing the disease. The chronic disability resulting from this disease usually prompts affected individuals to seek alternative treatments, with the maximum number of patients looking towards Ayurvedic treatment for a remission of the symptoms of this condition.
Ayurvedic treatment has a significant role to play in the long-term management and treatment of bronchiectasis. Herbal medicines are known to have a specific action on the mucosa of the respiratory tract as well as the muscular walls of the airways in the lungs. These medicines have an anti-inflammatory effect and reduce inflammation, congestion and the production of excessive fluids in the lungs. Ayurvedic medicines also reduce the damage to the airways and bring about a significant reversal in the dysfunction cause due to this damage.
Ayurvedic treatment can bring about significant improvement in the breathing capacity of the affected individual in a very short period of time after commencement of therapy. Within four to six weeks, individuals affected with bronchiectasis notice a significant change in the symptoms and in the resulting disability from this condition. Symptoms like disabling cough and large amount of expectoration reduce significantly, and affected individuals experience an improvement in overall health and notice a definite feeling of well-being. The frequency of lung infections comes down significantly and the patient notices definite improvement in overall quality of life.
Most individuals affected with bronchiectasis require Ayurvedic treatment for about four to eight months in order to benefit significantly from treatment. Depending upon the severity of symptoms and associated medical conditions, treatment needs to be tailor-made according to the presentation of symptoms in each individual. Individualized treatment gives maximum positive results and long-term improvement in this condition, which usually does not have a clear-cut treatment in the modern system of medicine. Most individuals can stop treatment after this period and can carry on life at a normal pace, provided they take precautions to avoid infections and precipitate further lung damage. Some individuals may require booster doses of treatment ranging from 2 to 3 months in the following year or two, usually at the commencement of winter. Overall, the majority of patients affected with bronchiectasis experience a dramatic change in life after completing the prescribed course of Ayurvedic treatment.