REVIEW ON PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF JARA

*Dr. Savita Hiremath, Dr. Pallavi Y. C. and Dr. Meghana N.

ABSTRACT

Ageing is an inevitable process and this something everybody is well aware about. Across the board, it is the corporal beings‟ desire to remain young until the end. In the ancient era, people lived a long and healthy life because of their clean food habits and their disciplined lifestyle. Upanishads emphasize on the principle of living for a hundred years. Even in the Ayurvedic classics there is a reference about a branch- Rasayana / Jara chikitsa including various types of Rasayanas to check and prevent the process of natural degeneration and decay by maintaining the strength of the Dhatus. As the body of elderly people is expanding in the population, it is now necessary to develop novel strategies for Geriatric health care. Ayurveda has considered Jara (Ageing) and Swabhavaja Vyadhi (Natural disease) as natural and inexorable processes as, when old age sets in, homeostasis between the Tridoshas is disturbed. Jara is influenced by the factors affecting the Shareera (physical), Indriya (emotional), Satwa (psychic level), Agni (metabolism) and Bala-ojas (immunity). To ensure a long life free from senescence, our Acharyas adopted Rasayana chikitsa which is a promoter of longevity and health, preservative of youth, dispersive of somnolence, torpor, fatigue, exhaustion, indolence and weakness, restorative of the balance between Vata, Pitta and Kapha, curative of Dhatu imbalance, stimulative of the Agni (gastric fire) and promotive of lustre, complexion and voice. The physiological changes in Jara include loss of compactness of the muscles, looseness of joints, vitiation of Rakta, excessive production of Medha, failure of Majja accumulation in bone, reduction in the production of Shukra and loss of the Oja factor. Ageing represents structural and functional changes of an organism over its entire lifespan.

Keywords: Jara, Ageing, Geriatrics, Old age, Elderly.