Efficacy of herbomineral compounds and pathya (Ayurvedic dietary regime and physical exercise) in the management of Yakṛt Roga (Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease)

BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) also called as hepatic steatosis is a manifestation of excessive triglyceride accumulation in the liver. NAFLD has been described by histological features ranging from simple fatty liver, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, progressive fibrosis, and liver failure. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the effect of herbomineral drugs and pathya (Ayurvedic dietary regime and physical exercise) in the management of NAFLD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a randomized, retrospective, open-ended study. A total of 32 patients presenting with raised alanine transaminase (>1.5 times normal levels) combined with sonological evidence of fatty liver in the absence of any other detectable cause of liver disease were included in the study. The recruited patients were randomly divided into two groups - The patients in Group-A (n = 21) were given a combination of herbomineral drugs Ārogyavardhinī vaṭi and Triphalā Guggulu along with prescription of pathya (Ayurvedic dietary regime and physical exercise); the patients in Group-B (n = 11) were advised only pathya. RESULTS: Group-A (combined therapy group) showed statistically significant improvement in clinical symptoms, biochemical parameters-liver function test, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar, and body mass index (P < 0.001) in comparison to Group-B (pathya group). CONCLUSION: Combination of herbomineral drugs along with pathya has shown promising results toward the effective management of this metabolic disorder.