International Journal of Ayurveda and Pharma Research STUDIES OF BRAHMI BASED UNANI COMPOUND FORMULATION ON AUTISM TO ASSESS ITS EFFICACY

Abstract

Autism is most common neurodevelopmental disorder seen in pediatric population. The ratio of autism spectrum disorder nowadays increasing day by day according to Indian statistical data. In autism child generally have poor socialization, communication and speech issue which is normal in few months of the age and start regress in second years of life. In field of rehabilitation autism has better results by occupational therapy, speech therapy and early intervention. In this study we tried the Centella asiatica extract in form of Brahmi to treat many clinical symptoms such as cognition, poor attention span, hyperactivity, not responding name in autistic children. The outcome measure Childhood Autism Rating Scale and Vineland Social Maturity Scale were used for pre and post test assessment and after the statistical analysis the result suggested that experimental group have more significance result that is p< 0.01 in experimental group than control group that is p<0.09. It also suggested that score of CARS and VSMS show maximum change by employing Brahmi with other rehabilitation intervention in autistic kids.

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ISSN: 2322 - 0902 (P)
ISSN: 2322 - 0910 (O)
IJAPR | May 2017 | Vol 5 | Issue 5
62
International Journal of Ayurveda
and Pharma Research
Research Article
STUDIES OF BRAHMI BASED UNANI COMPOUND FORMULATION ON AUTISM TO ASSESS ITS
EFFICACY
Arun Mukherjee1*, Meena Gupta1, Shruti Dogra1, Sumit Sinha2, Yasmeen Shamsi3
*1UDAAN-for the Disabled, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, India.
2Foundation for Spastic and Mentally Handicapped Persons (FSMHP), UDAAN, New Delhi, India.
3Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, India.
ABSTRACT
Autism is most common neurodevelopmental disorder seen in pediatric population. The ratio of autism
spectrum disorder nowadays increasing day by day according to Indian statistical data. In autism child
generally have poor socialization, communication and speech issue which is normal in few months of the
age and start regress in second years of life. In field of rehabilitation autism has better results by
occupational therapy, speech therapy and early intervention. In this study we tried the Centella asiatica
extract in form of Brahmi to treat many clinical symptoms such as cognition, poor attention span,
hyperactivity, not responding name in autistic children. The outcome measure Childhood Autism Rating
Scale and Vineland Social Maturity Scale were used for pre and post test assessment and after the statistical
analysis the result suggested that experimental group have more significance result that is p< 0.01 in
experimental group than control group that is p<0.09. It also suggested that score of CARS and VSMS show
maximum change by employing Brahmi with other rehabilitation intervention in autistic kids.
KEYWORDS: Autism, Barcoppa, Cognition, Neurodevelopmental delayed.
INTRODUCTION
Autism in this era is the most common
developmental disorder seen in pediatric population. It is
associated with impaired both verbal and nonverbal
communication, reciprocal social interactions poor
interaction with peer groups, poor socialization, self-
occupancy and poor social skills. In autism most children
reach their development milestone according to their
normal age and then regress[1]. Autism is caused by a
combination of genetic and environmental factors[2].
According to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
health IV (DSM) autism comes under the autism spectrum
disorders where there is lacks in cognitive and language
development. According to statistical data of center for
disease control and prevention (CDC), every one child has
autism out of 68 children[3]. Brahmi is one of a group of
plant extracts obtained from the plant: Centella asiatica
(Linn.) Urban, which has been used extensively as memory
enhancer and brain repairer by Ayurveda Physicians. It
has a quality to regeneration and enhancement of brain
repair. The name, Brahmi, is named after one of the highest
states of consciousness (Brahman or God of
consciousness), Brahmi (Centella asiatica or Gotu Kola) is
one of the most powerful brain tonics in the Ayurvedic
medicine. It supports restful sleep, calms emotional
turbulence, and simultaneously improves concentration
and alertness. In cognitive enhancement area specially in
case of autism, these children have very good visual
cognition seen in autism according to research by
university Norkinptom, UK. This study is conducted on
autism spectrum children for see the changes in their
cognitive and quality of life by employing Brahmi
medication.
Materials and methods
Subjects
Diagnosed cases of Autism spectrum disorders
referred by clinical psychologist according to childhood
rating scale (CARs), autism treatment evaluation checklist
(ATEC) and Vinland social maturity scales (VSMS) were
used by the clinical psychologist to diagnosed the case for
Brahami treatment and on those subjects who comes
under the norms of selection criteria. The inclusion criteria
were Children diagnosed as Autism using the DSM IV or V
Autism Criteria, certified to be in adequate healthy state by
panel Pediatrician or Physician, age group 2 to 10 years
and of either sex, well-educated parents who can
understand the experimental nature of the study, and can
give informed voluntary written permission for inclusion
of their autistic child for this study. The exclusion criteria
were as followed children having any genetic disabilities
or cerebral palsy, insufficiency of liver / kidney / marrow
functions as per appropriate biochemical tests, chronic
uncontrolled illness that may need medical therapy which
could interfere with diagnosis, treatment and assessment
of the Autism symptoms.
Methods
Before recruiting the subjects inform consent
form the parent of selected children were collected. The
duration and process of Brahmi treatment explained to the
parent whose children enrolled in the ongoing study. The
duration of Bhrami medication was three month after
enrollment of the subject in the study. All biochemical
testing were performing to justify the normal health
condition before starting the Brahmi treatment.

Int. J. Ayur. Pharma Research, 2017;5(5):62-64
Available online at: http://ijapr.in
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The composition of Brahmi medicines includes Centella
asiatica, Piper nigrum, Prunus amygdalus, Emblica
officinalis, phoenix dactylifera and delphinium denudatum
wall which is already provided by CCRU to the UDAAN for
the treatment purpose. Dose of the Brahmi medicine
depends on the weight of per child which is shown as in
table -1.
Table 1: Dosage of Brahmi according to weight of the child
S. No
Weight
Dose for Brahmi
1
10-20Kg
2.5ml morning
2.5 ml evening
2
20-30Kg
2.5ml morning
5ml evening
3
30-40Kg
5ml morning
5ml evening
4
40-50Kg
5ml morning
7.5 ml evening
5
50-60Kg
7.5ml morning
7.5ml evening
6
Above 60Kg
10ml morning
10ml evening
In this study the subjects recruited between the
age group 2 to 10 years proved to have autism according
to criteria DSM-IV and CARS scoring. Total twenty subject
who comes under the inclusion and exclusion criteria were
divided into two groups named as Experimental group
(EG) and control group (CG) for the Brahmi medication
treatment. Before stating the Brahmi treatment pre
assessment called pretest data and after the completion of
3 month Brahmi treatment called post assessment data
were conducted to collect the data for statistical analysis
using the following outcome measures such as Vineland
Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) and Childhood Autism Rating
Scale (CARS).
Outcome Measures
Childhood autism rating scale (CARs) and
Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) were used as
outcome measure for statistical analysis. CARs and VSMS
both are the internationally approved scale for the
assessment of level of autism and developmental
component in neurodevelopmental disability.
In childhood autism rating scale (CARS) [4] is a 15
item behavioral rating scale developed to identify children
with autism, and to distinguish them from
developmentally handicapped children without the autism
syndrome. CARS is especially effective in discriminating
between autistic children and trainable mentally retarded
children. It was designed to help differentiate children
with autism from those with other developmental delays,
such as intellectual disability.
Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) [5] is a
uniquely useful instrument for assessing social maturity of
children and young adults. It is used for measure many
domains such as mental status social maturity and
developmental milestone in may neurodevelopmental
disorders such as cerebral palsy, down syndrome and
autism.
RESULT
After the statistical data analysis using SPSS 20.0
(Armonk, NY, IBM Corp.USA) and Microsoft Excel 2010.
The results show significant improvement in both the
groups (CG and EG) as shown in table-2. The result also
show more significant results in EG that is p<0.01as
compare to CG that is p<0.09, where p-value of less that
0.05 is considered statistically significant.
Table-2. Descriptive Data of Control and Experimental Groups after Statistical Analysis
Median
Mean + SD
Pre
Post
Pre
Post
Mean Change
P-Value
Control Group
36.28
50.02
31.50+3.26
34.78+12.72
3.28
0.09
Experimental Group
33.56
46.5
31.50+2.52
19.79+17.91
11.71
0.01*
*p-value<0.05 is taken as significant
In EG mean change score are 11.71 as compare to
CG that is 3.28 which also show significant changes in EG
and shows that Brahmi medication with occupational
therapy helps in improvement of social skill as well as
cognitive changes in autistic children. It also suggested
that the rate of progress of improvement can be improved
by using Brahmi medication along with occupational
therapy rather than only occupational therapy alone.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Now a day study of natural and herbal products
used in traditionally medicine increasing day by day.
Brahmi is one of the herbal medicines which are more
popular for cognitive enhancement [6] and coronary heart
disease management[7]. If we talk about autism, these
children have very good visual cognition but there is need
to stimulate it in prospective and purposive manner.
Brahmi medication has good results in cognitive
enhancement in many diseases such as human memory [8-
9]. We concluded that from our result Brahmi medication
along with conservative treatment approached such as
occupational therapy, play therapy and early intervention
may enhances the rate of progress in quality of life (QOL)
of autistic kids. In future this medicine can play important
role to make these kinds in inclusion training schools also.
ACKNOWLEDGE
This work was supported by grant from Central
Council for Research in Unani Medicine, Department of
Ayush, Ministry of Health, and Government of India (GOI).
The author also wants to thanks to all parent and child
who participated in this study.

Arun Mukherjee et al. Brahmi Based Unani Compound Formulation on Autism to Assess its Efficacy
IJAPR | May 2017 | Vol 5 | Issue 5
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Cite this article as:
Arun Mukherjee, Meena Gupta, Shruti Dogra, Sumit Sinha, Yasmeen Shamsi.
Studies of Brahmi Based Unani Compound Formulation on Autism to Assess
its Efficacy. International Journal of Ayurveda and Pharma Research.
2017;5(5):62-64.
Source of support: Nil, Conflict of interest: None Declared
*Address for correspondence
Arun Mukherjee
UDAAN-for the Disabled, Lajpat
Nagar, New Delhi- 110024, India.
Email: arun@udaan.org
Phone: 9811157839