It’s been over two years since my teacher, Dr. Rama Kant Mishra’s passing.
I, along with Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D. from John’s Hopkins and Stanford, were fortunate enough to have been the first doctors he trained after he came here from India in the late 1990’s. During that time, as I sat by his side, as we saw hundreds of patients together, I witnessed him totally revamping Ayurveda for this modern era. He was so astute to realize that American patients could not tolerate concentrated herbal supplements due to the fact that their liver was so corrupted by a toxic diet and overuse of both pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.
Dr. Mishra first had to change the delivery system of the herbs. He did this through transdermal creams, allowing the herbs to be taken through the skin thus bypassing the angry liver, and through glyceride drops diluted in water so they slowly enter the liver. Next he made changes to cleansing techniques offered to the patients, known as Panchakarma. This method is powerful, but the highly toxic patients experienced side effects when this proved too powerful for the types of chemicals their systems were harboring. So we taught them to do Panchakarma at home using the changes he recommended.
Before these changes we had a very hard time treating the patients. Dr. Mishra had never encountered this type of toxic patient in India. We would try giving them herbal tablets and teas, but the patients developed rashes and digestive upset as their liver rejected the herbs. Once we implemented these necessary changes to the delivery method, we had tremendous success in treating patients who were left suffering after seeking out care through mainstream medicine, alternative doctors, and even other Ayurvedic physicians.
Since then we have helped thousands of very reactive patients regain their health. May Dr. Misra’s legacy continue on as the newer practitioners learn how to treat these highly toxic and sensitive patients through his inspired teachings.