Effect on Living creature by Congenital Anomalies

Ayurveda for a healthy life ! – 24/2024

Janmabala Pravrutta Vyadhi (Congenital Anomalies)

Ayurveda describes many congenital anomalies that is Janmabalapravrutta vyadhi such as blindness (Aandhya), deafness (Badhirya), dumbness (Mooka), congenital hernia (Vruddhi), anal atresia or stenosis (Sanniruddha guda), congenital piles (Sahaja arsha), congenital anomalies of the sexual organs etc.

1. Aetiology

Congenital anomalies may be genetic in origin or may arise as a result of factors operating in the intra-uterine life. Consanguinity is known to be associated with increased incidence of congenital defects. Hence the religious texts prescribe that prospective parents should not be related to
each other and should not belong to the same family tree for seven previous generations.

The acquired factors operate on the foetus via diet, activity, disease, psychological factors etc. of the mother. They act by disturbing the balance of doshas in the pregnant woman and later in the foetus. The increased, decreased or vitiated doshas in the foetus give rise to congenital anomalies.

The various causes giving rise to congenital anomalies are given below –

1. Causes in relation to soul : Papa that is sins of past life of the individual and of parents are responsible for foetal abnormalities and idiopathic diseases.

2. Hereditary factors : Gross defects in sperms or ova give rise to sterility or abortion. Defective chromosomes and genes that is beeja-bhagavayava are responsible for abnormalities of sex organs.

3. Consanguinity : It is important to avoid marriage in close relatives as chances of inheriting the hereditary diseases are increased. Hereditary diseases like diabetes are incurable.

4. Age of parents : The seeds in man and woman mature at the age of 25 & 16 respectively. If parents are below this age, the foetus does not develop, dies early or becomes deformed.

5. Intercourse in an abnormal posture leads to a deformed child.

6. Increased doshas : Increased vata, pitta and kapha in the foetus lead to congenital anomalies. Increased vata that is vataprakopaka gives rise to a deformed, deaf and dumb child and paralysis.

7. Constitution : Both the parents should not have the same disease, constitution example, if both the parents have kapha constitution, the offspring is likely to have kaphaja diseases like congenital tumours.

8. Constitution based on basic elements. The constitution of both the parents should not be dominant in the same basic element example if the energy element is dominant in both the parents, the foetus is likely to suffer from pitta constitution and anomalies of the eyes including blindness. On the other hand, if the energy element is weak in both the parents, marked decrease or absence of energy element will again give rise to blindness.
If the energy element accompanies blood, pitta or kapha of the foetus in excess, the colour of the iris will be red, brown or white respectively. If the energy element joins vata, it leads to a squint in the foetus.

9. Not fulfilling the demands and cravings of the pregnant woman arising from the tissue demands of mother and child. Effect of some of the maternal cravings on the foetus are given in the following chart.

	Craving in mother	Effect on foetus
1.	Seeing the king	Lucky and rich person
2.	Wearing silk or woollen clothes or ornaments	Child or person develop a liking for ornaments and enjoyments
3.	Seeing idols of God	Person with good character
4.	Visiting hermitage of saints	Religious and having control over his sense organs
5.	Seeing cruel animals like tigers	Indulging in violence
6.	Eating
	A. Flesh of godha	Sleepy and good runner
	B. Buffalo’s flesh	Brave, hairy and having red eyes
	C. Pig’s flesh	Brave and sleepy
	D. Deer’s flesh	Carries out all the activities with speed and enjoys living in jungles
	E. Flesh of tittira bird	Fearful

10. If mother’s diet is excessively hot, heavy and pungent, it is injurious to the infant. The details are given in the following table. Eating too less a diet may lead to foetal malnutrition.

11. Activities : Abnormal activities and riding on animals for a long time, as given in the following table may be harmful to the foetus.

Mother’s diet and activity in pregnancy	Effect on the foetus or on characters of the child
Sleeping in prone position	Loops of cord round the neck
Travelling in excess all the time	Loops of cord round the neck
Sleeping alone in open places or wandering alone at night	Insane Child
Indulges in falsehood and quarreling with others	Epilepsy
Excessive indulgence in sex	Congenital abnormalities, epilepsy, sexy and shameless
Remains in a sorrowful state	Fearful & thin child and with a short life span
Jealous of others	Jealous, cruel or dominated by his wife
Commits theft	Hard working, jealous and undertaking bad deeds
Angry	Angry, unreliable and criticising others
Sleeping in excess	Sleepy, foolish and with weak digestive power
Drinking alcohol in excess regularly	Thirsty with wavering mind and weak memory
Likes and eats flesh of godha	Stones in urinary tract and difficulty in passing urine; sleepy
Likes pig’s flesh	Red eyes, crying in excess and having rough hair brave, sleepy
Eating fish in excess regularly	Infrequent blinking and fixed eyes
Eating sweet food items in excess	Large sized, dumb and diabetic child
Eating in excess salty food items	Early wrinkling of skin, baldness and early greying of hairs
Eating in excess sour food items	Bleeding disorders, skin or eye diseases
Eating in excess pungent food items	Weak, sterile and weak sexual powers
Eating in excess bitter food items	Emaciation or tuberculosis, weak or ugly looking
Eating in excess astringent food items	Dark complexion, distension of abdomen and intestinal obstruction
Medicinal smoking for fever	Blindness, weakness or abortion
Indulgence in diet and activity promoting
A. Vata	Blind, deformed, short and dull
B. Pitta	Brown colour and faulters
C. Kapha	Pallor and leucoderma

12. Local injury to abdomen may damage the foetus.

13. Diseases and infections in mother may damage the foetus.

14. Suppression of natural urges, particularly of passing urine, stool & wind may be harmful to the foetus. It will increase vata in the mother, which in turn increase vata in the foetus giving rise to vataja anomalies.

15. Use of sense organs in an abnormal manner – e.g.

A. Hearing unpleasant words or distressing news, hearing shrill noises may lead to deafness in the foetus.

B. Looking at water fall for a long time may be harmful to the foetus.

16. Iatrogenic causes – Panchakarma that is induction of sweating, emesis, purgation, enema, cleansing nasal medications and administering hot drugs to the mother may lead to abortion, discolouration or a congenital anomaly.

17. Non-religious conduct of the parents and mother’s act of not observing regulations prior to the menstrual period may be harmful to the foetus as given in the following table. The practices advised by religion during menstrual period are important, as deviation from these prescribed practices will have maximum influence on the maturing ovum, which is released from the ovarian surface. In addition, it will have little influence over other germinal cells and ova.

Results of violation of the rules and regulations to be followed by the woman during menstrual period.

Violation of rules by the woman during menstrual period	Effect on the foetus and child
Clipping nails during periods	Abnormalities of nails
Oil Massage	Chronic skin diseases
Personal make ups
A. Application of scents & powder	Leads a miserable life
B. Eye ointment (Kajal) and wearing ornaments	Blindness
Bath	Leads a miserable life
Sleep during day	Excessive sleep
Running	Unsteady, unstable
Talking in excess	Talkative
Laughing loudly in excess	Blackish discoloration of lips, teeth and palate
Digging earth	Faulters
Exertion	Uncontrolled activity and behaviour
Hearing loud sounds	Deafness
Exposure to breeze	Uncontrolled behaviour and activity
Weeping and crying	Abnormalities of eyes