Hemiplegia (pakshaghata)

Vata occupying and blocking the vessels of one half of the body makes that half hard and without sensation; the disease is also called pakshavadha and ekanga roga. From vata alone it is hard to cure and from a wound incurable; with kapha the body is heavy and swollen, with pitta and blood there is severe burning and fainting.

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Names and synonyms

Sanskrit: पक्षाघातपक्षवधएकाङ्गवात
Hindi: पक्षाघातलकवाफालिजअधरंगपक्षवधएकांगरोग
English: Hemiplegiahemiplegiaparalysisstroke paralysis
Romanized: pakshaghatapakshavadhalakva

What the text says

Each statement reports the source, with its chapter, page and verse. Traditional descriptions are not presented as proven medical facts.

Definition1

This disease is also called pakshavadha, pakshaghata and ekanga roga.
Chapter 8 · p. 108 · v. 13Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Classification1

With kapha it makes the body heavy and swollen; with pitta and blood it causes intense burning and fainting.
Chapter 8 · p. 108 · v. 14Hindi commentaryTraditional description

How it develops1

Vata reaching and obstructing the vessels of one whole half of the body is said to make that half hard and to destroy the sense of touch there.
Chapter 8 · p. 108 · v. 13Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Prognosis2

Pakshaghata from vata alone is said to be hard to cure, and one caused by a wound is certainly incurable.
Chapter 8 · p. 108 · v. 14Hindi commentaryTraditional description
A hemiplegia patient whose body is swollen and numb, who has abdominal distension, whose body is bent and trembling, who is gripped by excessive vata, who feels no pain and whose limbs have dried up is to be regarded as incurable and given up.
Chapter 12 · p. 200 · v. 33Hindi commentaryTraditional description