Significance of arterial stiffness in Tridosha analysis: A pilot study

BACKGROUND The variations in Tridoshas are the basis for disease diagnosis and treatment in Ayurveda. The doshas are assessed by sensing the pulse manually with fingers which depends on skill of the physician. There is a need to measure doshas using instruments and study them objectively. OBJECTIVE Arterial stiffness is well established pulse parameter in modern medicine and is closely associated to kathinya in the context of Ayurveda. The aim of our study was to measure arterial stiffness using Nadi Tarangini, a pulse acquisition system, and investigate the significant variations of stiffness across Tridosha locations. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 42 samples of vata, pitta and kapha pulses with proper systolic and diastolic peaks were included in the study. The arterial stiffness parameters namely stiffness index (SI) and reflection index (RI) were considered for the study. The data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tamhane's T2 test. The changes in SI and RI between males and females were assessed using independent samples t test. RESULTS SI at vata (5.669 ± 1.165) was significantly low compared to pitta (8.910 ± 3.509) and kapha (8.021 ± 2.814); RI at vata (0.846 ± 0.071) was significantly low compared to pitta (0.945 ± 0.043) and kapha (0.952 ± 0.033). SI at kapha was significantly low in females compared to males. CONCLUSION The SI and RI acquired using Nadi Tarangini have shown significant variations across Tridosha locations. The framework developed to measure the arterial stiffness across Tridosha locations can be used for the interventional studies in Ayurveda which in turn can help in disease diagnosis and treatment.