Key result
Five days of Shirodhara with medicated buttermilk (Takradhara) significantly decreased heart rate (from 74.24 to 67.14 bpm, p<0.001) and improved stress scores in healthy male volunteers, whereas water (Jaladhara) did not.
Why the study?
Shirodhara is a standard Ayurvedic treatment for psychosomatic conditions, but the use of different liquid media has not been extensively explored.
Does Shirodhara with Takra improve heart rate variability and psychological stress in healthy individuals compared to Shirodhara with Jala?
RCT (n=36)
Open-label
Grouped according to age (though limitations state true randomization was not achieved)
No
Does Shirodhara with Takra improve heart rate variability and psychological stress in healthy individuals compared to Shirodhara with Jala?
Absolute Event Rate: 67.14% vs 70.48%
p-value: p=<0.001
A 5-day course of Shirodhara with medicated buttermilk (Takradhara) significantly improved parasympathetic tone and reduced psychological stress in healthy individuals compared to water.
May support Takradhara for acute stress reduction in healthy adults; hypothesis-generating and requires RCTs before any clinical adoption.
Aim: Psychological stress is one of the risk factors for psychosomatic disorders and Shirodhara has been a standard treatment procedure for many such conditions in Ayurveda. Different liquid media are used for Shirodhara, which has not been explored extensively. In this study, we used heart rate variability (HRV) measures and subjective questionnaires for assessing the effects of Shirodhara with either takra (buttermilk) or jala (water) on psychological stress in normal healthy individuals.
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Siju Vikhnan (2019) conducted an RCT in Healthy individuals (psychological stress) (n=36). Shirodhara with Takra (medicated buttermilk) vs. Shirodhara with Jala (water) was evaluated on Heart rate (HR) after 5 days of intervention (p=<0.001). Five days of Shirodhara with medicated buttermilk (Takradhara) significantly decreased heart rate (from 74.24 to 67.14 bpm, p<0.001) and improved stress scores in healthy male volunteers, whereas water (Jaladhara) did not.
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