EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON VARIOUS LOHA PREPARATIONS W.S.R TO “MRITANI LOHANI RASI BHAVANTI”
Ayurvedic system of medicine is the only one out of all traditional system of medicine where importance of metals for curing ailments was probably first recognized. Iron is the fourth common element and second most common metal in the earth crust and is a biologically essential component of every living organism. Despite the low requirement of iron in human body iron overload is rare and iron deficiency is common in certain parts of the world and in certain age groups6. Iron containing drugs used as hematinics are known to induce some adverse drug reactions -- gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain, colic pain, flatulence, constipation, black feces, and diarrhea. Iron containing compounds like Loha Bhasma, Kasis Bhasma and Mandura Bahsma are practiced since long and are indicated in a wide spectrum of dis-eases and can be a better alternative from Rasa shastra. Pharmacokinetics is proposed to study the absorp-tion, the distribution, the bio transformations and the elimination of drugs in man and animals. A primary aim of pharmacokinetics analyses is to determine bioavailability. Evaluation of Pharmaco kinetics of Loha bhasma, Kasis bhasma and Mandura bhasma were carried out. Serum iron was estimated using AAS. Pa-rameters like Cmax, Tmax etc. were calculated