‘Rasayanas’ can stretch life span
(deccan Chronical Report)

Hyderabad, July 10: Rasayanas or herbal preparations mentioned in the ancient ayurvedic texts — Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita — are capable of fighting ageing and increasing longevity, reveals a pioneering experiment on the common fruit fly, Drosophila.
Drosophila and human beings share 13,601 common genes and most of the experimental results obtained from the fruit fly can be extrapolated on humans. Ayurveda doctors at the Government Ayurveda Medical College, Mysore, have proved that the life span of Drosophila can be extended by almost half through administration of ayurvedic rasayana. Doctors from Uppsala University, Sweden, also collaborated in the work.
The life span of Drosophila melanogaster increased between 51 and 55 per cent when it was fed with a standard rasayana preparation, suitably adapted for insects.
A Drosophila fly normal lives for minimum of 40 days to maximum of 53 days. In the experiment, the life span of the fruit fly shot up to 81 days to 91 days. Every fruit fly fed with the ayurvedic rasayana had an increased life span of minimum 28 days.
“Rasayana' forms the seventh of eight subdivisions of ayurveda’s earliest extant text, Charaka Samhita. Sushruta says rasayan ‘reverses naturally occurring senility’ (swabhava vyadhi nivarana) and so ‘prevents death’ (marana nivarana), further indicating that rasayanas are considered ‘Special herbal formulations’ conceived through prolonged consideration of their components,” said Dr S. Priyadarshini, the assistant professor.