SHIFTING PARADIGMS: THE IMPACT OF RAJONIVRITTHI ON SANDHIGATAVATA SAMPRAPTI

Osteoarthritis (OA) strikes women more often than men and it increases in prevalence, incidence and severity after menopause. Among the multiple physio pathological mechanisms involved in OA, those related to sex hormones have been attracting much attention, in particular those involving estrogens. The manifestation of osteoarthritis after the decline of estrogen in menopause has a different pathology compared to the osteoarthritis that occurs as degenerative joint disease. The postmenopausal osteoarthritis is a subtype of osteoarthritis and it is considered as osteoporotic phenotype. The dramatic rise in OA prevalence among postmenopausal women, presence of estrogen receptors (ERs) in chondrocytes, subchondral bone cells and sinoviocytes, suggest a link between OA and loss of ovarian function. A better understanding of the role that estrogen and its deficiency plays in the molecular mechanisms of menopause induced osteoarthritic changes that affect the different joint structures will help further development of new and precise understanding of pathogenesis of Osteoarthritis in menopausal women. The article aims at understanding the pathogenesis of Janu Sandhigata Vata in Rajonivritti and Providing an insight towards how the Osteoporotic osteoarthritis can be understood in Ayurveda.