PLACE OF STUDY
Department of Dravya Guna and Rasa Shastra,
Institute of Indigenous Medicine,
University of Colombo,
Rajagiriya,
Sri Lanka.

PERIOD OF STUDY
June 1996 to August 1996

Sri Lanka has high incidence of Ischaemic Heart disease, which is one of the most important cause of death in this country. According to the latest findings, One of the main factors responsible could be the increase of cholesterol content in the blood. Therefore it was considered necessary to investigate how far the cholesterol concentration could have a direct bearing on the coronary artery diseases than other precipitating factors of CHD among Sri Lankans.

It was found that the blood cholesterol content is high among general public. If some simple measures can be taken to check hypercholesteraemia, it may go a long way in preventing or decreasing the incidence of coronary artery disease.

According to the Ayurvedic system, Increase of waste material in the human body is a result of irregular metabolism. Absorbed food is transformed into various tissues in the body by the digestive system. Function of this digestive system includes digestion, absorption, metabolism and the excretion. Smooth functioning of this system will minimize the collection of waste materials in the body.

Accordingly accumulation of excessive cholesterol can be avoided by promoting smooth functioning of these disestive systems. Spices in our food plays a major role in promoting smooth functioning of the digestive system. Several reports of research work on blood serum of animals have established that cholesterol content could be reduced in such animals by KALUDURU which is an important drug as well as a spice. A feasible study is to be commenced on the effect of KALUDURU oil which is commonly known in the market as BARAKA oil or Nigella Sativa oil on the cholesterol content in human blood serum.

KALUDURU oil or oil of Nigella Sativa which is known as BARAKA oil in the market is used as the drug for the research work. The drug was administered to persons who voluntarily entered this project. The sample was selected including both males and females who are not undergoing any treatment for any other diseases and whose cholesterol content in the blood serum cannot be consider as a high cholesterol level. Total serum cholesterol estimations were carried out according to the enzymatic method described by Allasin ex.

They were subjected to measure the cholesterol content in their blood serum. This test was carried out again after 5 days. The persons with cholesterol serum ranging from 100 mg/dI to 225 mg/dl were divided at random into two groups. One group was given 2.5 miligrams of Baraka oil twice a day for 7 days orally. Cholesterol content was determined in all cases after 7 days. Cholesterol concentrations were analysed statistically between the two groups.

Having tested the blood cholesterol level, (male and female) 93% were selected for further study. Tables 1 6 illustrates the data analysis on cholesterol study.

So normal therapeutic dosage of Barak oil does not cause to increase the cholesterol level in human blood. There is a tendency to decrease the cholesterol level in human blood using 2.5 ml Baraka oil twice a day for one week. Experiments for a longer period with more number of persons remains to be done for detailed conclusion.

Our preliminary study shows slight increase in cholesterol levels in the persons of control group.

Cholesterol level has increased in the blood of 83% of persons and level of rest 17% has decreased a little. The probable cause to elevation the cholesterol level may be the rich diet received at their home during the holidays which came within the period of experiment.

Even under the same conditions cholesterol level in treated groups has come down in eleven persons out of 14 persons. The cholesterol in 3 persons has slightly increased, after the drug used for 7 days. It may be due to biological variation and if we used the drug for few more days, they also may show a favourable result.

Initial level of cholesterol between the two groups did not show any significant differences. The present study reveals that cholesterol level has decreased in treated group who received the drug for seven days and but the amount decreased is not significant as shown in table 4.

So normal therapeutic dosage of Baraka oil does not cause to increase the cholesterol level in human blood. There is a tendency to decrease the cholesterol level in human blood using 2.5 ml Baraka oil twice a day for one week. Experiments for a longer period with more number of persons are needed for further studies.