Symptoms of Apanavayuvaigunya in Persons undertaking Atiyana

The science of life which explains the knowledge of various guidelines to be followed to make a healthy living is called Ayurveda. With the expansion of facilities of travel and occupation, man has to undertake extensive journeys, through diverse modes such as rail, road, water, etc. Most of these situations cited have been principally implicated in the vaigunya (state of altered functioning) of Apanavayu. The manifestation of Apanavayuvaigunya varies from mild cases of constipation to severe cases of mental disturbances. One of the prominent factors highlighted as a cause of Apanavaigunya is Atiyana (excessive travel by any modality).This study explores the hidden knowledge of apanvayuvaigunya through the in-depth analysis of symptoms of the same scattered here and there in Samhitas

Symptoms of Apana Vayuvaigunya told in major classical books of Ayurveda were gathered to deduce a comprehensive understanding of the context. Apanavata is invariably associated with the component of pathogenesis in 45 diseases starting from Vatavyadi, Arsas (piles), Asmari, Prameha, Sosha, Jwara, Rakthapitta (Bleeding disorders), Vatarakta, Gulma (phantomtumour), Udara, Mutrakrcha (difficulty in urination), etc. Later the symptoms possibly associated with the vitiation of Apanavata present in diseases were listed and 332 symptoms were found to be associated with Apanakopa (vitiation of apana). These symptoms were further tabulated according to the order of frequency of occurrence as most repeatedly occurring symptoms, moderately repeated symptoms, and least repeated symptoms. Thus out of 332 symptoms, 28 symptoms that can occur due to atiyana were selected. In the modern era, due to irregular and bad habits of ahara, vihara along with the suppression of natural urges, the percentage of Apanavaigunyajanyavyadhis are increasing, which affects physical as well as psychological factors also. Work-related travel is also now increasing, so it is the right time to concentrate this issue from the concepts of Ayurveda, Apanavayuvaigunya, and athiyana. Based on these observations, the present study aims to explore the hidden concept of Apanavaigunya mentioned in Ayurvedic literature aboutatiyana.