Life style
Sri Lanka’s Great Opportunity. Gotukola
by Emme Haddon
Almost every culture from the ancient Egyptians to the native Americans possess a wealth of herbal medicinal knowledge which has been passed down from generation to generation. According to the World Health Organisation, 80% of the world’s population rely on traditional herbal medicines as their primary source of health care. 74% of the modern medicines were discovered as a result of the study of plants used in traditional medicine. The current global boom in sales of alternate 
herbal remedies and supplements is driven by a growing awareness for preventative healthcare methods and consumer demand for healthier and more natural products. People no longer blindly accept something as being safe just because a doctor says so.
The number of information-hungry patients has increased dramatically, around 66% of US adults go online to research their conditions, as do more than half of all Europeans. According to Nutrition Business Journal, the Covid-19 pandemic alone has fuelled an estimated 25% increase in immunity boosting supplements in 2020, up from 8.5% growth to $3.3 billion overall. The global size of the herbal remedies and supplement market was projected to reach USD 86.74 billion by 2022.
The latest reports suggest that this figure may double as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the face of increasing strains of microorganisms developing resistance to drugs, as patents on existing drugs expire and the promise of huge profits from potential prescription drugs and herbal supplements, both Big Pharma and Big Herba are ramping up their search of the natural world for molecules they can extract and patent as new prescription drugs or market as the next best-selling ‘superfood’ supplement. This kind of bioprospecting is by no means new. Willow bark has been used as a traditional medicine for more than 3500 years.
The ancient Sumerians and Egyptians used it as a remedy for aches and pains. Detailed references are made to it in the Vedas and later by Hippocrates for its efficacy in relieving fever and pain. However, the active agent in willow bark, salicin, which would later form the basis of the discovery of aspirin, remained unknown. It was several thousands of years later, in the late 1800s, that researchers in Europe identified salicin (after Salix, the genus of the willow tree). This led to the creation of aspirin the world’s
best-selling drug, by German chemist Felix Hoffmann. Shortly afterwards Hoffmann produced a second famous drug: diacetylmorphine, also known as heroin! Ayurveda, “the Mother of all Healing”, considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science, originated in India more than 5,000 years ago. It stems from the ancient Vedic culture and for many thousands of years was taught in an oral tradition by accomplished masters to their disciples. Some of this knowledge was later set to print in ancient Ayurvedic texts. In Sanskrit, Ayurveda means “The Science of Life’ wherein the body, mind and consciousness work together in maintaining balance. Great emphasis is placed on prevention and encouraging the maintenance of good health through close attention to balance in one’s life, right thinking, diet and the treatment of illness through lifestyle practices and the use of herbal remedies.
The cause of disease is viewed as a lack of proper cellular function due to an excess or deficiency of an individual’s vata, pitta or kapha dosha and the presence of toxins. In Sri Lanka, Ayurveda, the official term used to denote collectively all the traditional medical systems, encompasses Ayurveda, the predominant system which came to the island from India with Buddhism 2,500 years ago, Siddha, Unani, and Deshiya Chikithsa. Deshiya Chikithsa is the earliest system of medicine Sri Lanka and has existed before the advent of Ayurveda. The term “traditional medicine” thus largely overlaps with the term “Ayurveda.”
Sri Lanka has a continuous written history. Stone scripts as early as 250 BCE, ancient texts together with remaining ola palm leaf texts, offer an insight into the intricacies of traditional food preparation which are based on ancient Ayurvedic principles of health. The nutritional basis of ingredients, methods of preparation, and their suitability for consumption depend on the patient’s physiological condition, as well as the environment and climate, are intricately interwoven.
For most people in Sri Lanka, a sambol or mallum, green leafy accompaniments to rich, spicy dishes, is a must have. They may not be aware of the exact nutritional value of these healthy and delicious greens but as children they will have been told to eat them up because they are good for them!
Centellia Asiatica, is a small perennial herb native to Asia and naturalized in many parts of the world including the US and Africa. It is mentioned in ‘Sushruta Samhita’, one of the earliest Ayurvedic medical texts, and for thousands of years has been famed for its Ayurvedic medicinal properties. In traditional Chinese herbal medicine, it is known as one of the “miracle elixirs of life” and in India, Centellia Asiatica is sometimes referred to as “Tiger Grass” due to the fact that wounded tigers would roll themselves in it. However, it is most often referred to by its Sinhalese name “Gotu Kola.”
In Sri Lanka gotu kola thrives in the marshy, shaded areas of the wet and intermediate zones but has established itself as an integral part of home gardens. An invaluable herb, having little taste or smell, with white or light purple-to-pink flowers and small oval fruit, it has throughout history been an integral part of traditional Sri Lankan cuisine and traditional medicine. It is commonly used as a juice, tea, or green leafy vegetable in dishes such as gotu sambol and gotu kanda, a nutritious herbal porridge based on ancient indigenous and Ayurvedic principles of well-being. Highly valued for it nutritional components of vitamins A, B2, C and iron, potassium and calcium, it is so popular that supermarket shelves now offer it in chopped, ready-to eat packets along with instant gotu kola kanda.
Long before the term “superfood” was coined, gotu kola was referred to in Ayurveda as the “herb of longevity”, standing out as having no equal in the treatment of general debility and decline. With its distinctive fan-shaped leaves, often described as being brain-like, it conforms to the “doctrine of signatures”, an ancient belief that herbs resemble the part of the body that they provide nutrients for and are used to treat.
In Ayurvedic medicine it is famed as a “medhya rasayana” with a rejuvenative effect on nerves and brain cells, that improves brain function, boosts memory and prevents cognitive deficits. It is also known as a powerful wound and skin disease healer and a blood purifier with gastroprotective qualities.
Studies continue to demonstrate the science behind gotu kola’s efficacy in traditional medicine. A nootropic which supports circulation to the brain whilst nourishing the nervous system, it is also a powerful adaptogen and antioxidant. It has also demonstrated anxiolytic, anti-convulsant, neuritogenic, antispasmodic, astringent, cardiotonic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic qualities. It is easy to understand why in Ayurvedic medicine it is considered “a pharmacy in one herb”.
Its remarkable cognitive, neurotropic and neuroprotective effects highlight its potential to modulate disease processes involved in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease in addition to treating conditions such as schizophrenia, epilepsy and strokes.
In today’s highly competitive society, nootropics, from the Greek nous (“mind“) and trepein (“to bend” or “turn“), literally meaning “mind turning’, often used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have gained popularity with students seeking to improve cognitive function, boost memory, focus, creativity, and motivation. Statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association suggest that someone develops Alzheimer’s every 65 seconds. In 2019 Google searches for “nootropic” reportedly averaged 110,000 per month, reinforcing the fact that cognitive health is a cause for real concern across age demographics.
According to the current analysis of Reports and Data, the global nootropics market was valued at USD 1.96 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach USD 5.32 billion by the year 2026, at a CAGR of 13.2%
Whilst extracts of gotu kola phytochemical compounds may one day be the next miracle drug in the fight against neurodegenerative conditions, creating a new medicine is a long and rigorous process that takes 10 or more years from discovery to market at an estimated cost of around $2.6 billion. In contrast, herbal medicines and food supplements aren’t generally subjected to the same stringent testing requirements.
Alone or in combination with other nootropics, of which Sri Lanka has several, a simple decoction of fresh or dried gotu kola leaves, leaf-based juices, extracts in the form of tinctures and capsules of dried powdered leaf, offer an array of proven health benefits:
* boost cognitive function, enhances
memory and enhance performance
* provides protection of brain cells from toxicity and may protect the cells from forming the plaque associated with Alzheimer’s
*helps reduce anxiety and stress and helps with insomnia
*acts as an antidepressant
* supports vascular health reducing problems with fluid retention, ankle swelling and circulation
* is anti-ageing, promotes collagen production and rejuvenates skin, hair and nails
* reduces scarring and the appearance of stretch marks
* its anti-inflammatory properties may be useful in treating joint inflammation, cartilage and bone erosion
* Its antioxidant effects are immune
boosting
* suppresses the toxic side effects of drugs on liver and kidneys
Modern-day scientific research has yet to catch up with what has been known to sages and vaidyas, whose focus has been on the healing benefits of nature, for thousands of years but this is changing. Advances in science and information technology are making it easier for the pharmaceutical industry to uncover new insights into diseases, to identify and isolate specific phytochemical compounds, and to review the explosion of biological data that has already been published in peer-reviewed biomedical journals.
The World Health Organisation has recommended that medicinal plants be used more effectively in healthcare. Sri Lanka is uniquely positioned to exploit and market its own natural resources in the pursuit of global public health. There is very real global demand and there is a very real opportunity.
Emme Haddon has lived in the West Indies, France, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the UK. She has lived in Sri Lanka for 7 years. She has run various businesses and has set up a successful on-line clothing operation. She has a great interest in Sri Lanka’s plants and herbal medicines.
Founded by the late Dr. Hudson Silva, the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society (SLEDS) which is nearing 65 years is the first of its kind in the world to provide corneas completely free of charge to locals as well as foreigners through its International Eye Bank. Among the donors of eyes are several Presidents and Prime Ministers of the country. The other affiliated bodies of SLEDS are the Dr. Hudson Silva Memorial Eye Hospital and the Human Tissue Bank which provide a yeoman service to the public.
BY RANDIMA ATTYGALLE
At age 18, Eranga Madushan’s future looked bleak with keratoconus (a disorder of the eye that results in progressive thinning of the cornea) claiming both his eyes. Thanks to his physician’s recommendation for a corneal transplant, Eranga was fortunate to have received suitable corneas from the Eye Bank of the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society which were successfully transplanted at the Kandy National Hospital.
Now 22-years old, this young man from Minipe has successfully finished his education and is employed. “I even passed the vision test and got my driving license – all made possible thanks to the noble service of the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society,” says Eranga.
His is one of thousands of such success stories. These exemplify the thought-provoking discourse of Sivi Jathaka story delivered by the Buddha when, in one of his Bodhisathva’s births, he gave away his eyes to a blind beggar. There cannot be a better living testimony to this concept of dana than the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society (SLEDS), now approaching 65 years.
Separating the cornea from whole globe
Giving life to a dead eye
In 1958 Hudson Silva, a medical student started a campaign under the banner, ‘Give life to a dead eye,’ to popularize the donation of eyes after death to obtain corneas for the Colombo Eye Hospital which had long waiting lists for eye replacements but without sufficient donors. Eyes at this point were obtained only from those who died without custodians in hospitals and homes for the elders and executed prisoners.
With the help of newspaper articles and public meetings, Hudson Silva’s campaign continued. By 1961, he had qualified and appointed a resident surgeon at the Colombo Eye Hospital. SLEDS got underway officially in a very small scale on June 11, 1961 at Dr. Silva’s Ward Place home in Colombo. Among the 40 founding members of the Society was Dr. Silva’s mother who pledged her eyes to be donated after death. When she died shortly thereafter, he himself grafted her corneas on the eyes of a poor farmer and thereby restored his sight. In 1965, Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake presiding at the official opening of the International Eye Bank, pledged his eyes after death. After his demise in 1973, his wishes were fulfilled.
With the objective of extending this service to foreigners awaiting eye replacements, Dr. Silva started connecting with senior eye surgeons from various parts of the world. In 1964 he dispatched his first eyes overseas – flying three set of donor eyes packed in dry ice to Singapore’s Government General Hospital. Thus commenced the country’s international eye donations on a Vesak Poya Day when five Singaporeans regained their sight.
Following the wide media coverage this attracted the world over, SLEDS was able to open its doors to the entire world. In the late 70s, on government-donated land on Vidya Mawatha in Colombo 7, SLEDS’ headquarters along with its Eye Bank were relocated and the present building was built with the help of Japanese funds. It was opened by the then Prime Minister R. Premadasa in 1984.
President William Gopallawa at the event of donating the the land at Vidya Mawatha, Colombo to set up SLEDS
Global demand
Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment, according to the WHO statistics. In at least one billion of these, vision impairment could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. The leading causes of vision impairment and blindness at a global level are refractive errors and cataracts.Vision impairment, according to the WHO, poses an enormous global financial burden, with the annual global cost of productivity losses estimated to be US$ 411 billion.
The demand for corneal transplants (keratoplasty) is on the rise with increasing prevalence of eye diseases and the rising elderly population. “Global statistics indicate that over 12.5 million people worldwide are waiting for corneal transplants. We are committed to bridge this gap every year by donating corneas and to date our International Eye Bank had donated 95,151 corneas to foreigners from 57 countries. In addition, nearly 60,000 locals including many soldiers injured in combat, have received corneas,” says the Senior Manager of the SLEDS’ International Eye Bank, J.S. Matara Arachchi.
Donor registration
Having ‘grown’ with the institution since he was recruited in 1979 by the founder himself, Matara Arachchi says that the Eye Bank has decentralized its operations today with 150 branches island-wide enabling more people to become potential donors. The online consent registration facility is also available now on the SLEDS website. “We see an overwhelming interest among youth registering themselves with us to donate their eyes which is very encouraging,” says the official noting that many Sri Lanka Presidents and Prime Ministers have donated their eyes. “A cornea taken from President J.R. Jayewardene was split in two and grafted on to two Japanese patients and his other cornea was grafted onto a local patient,” he says.
Dr Hudson Silva
Potential donors need to be excluded from certain diseases for them to be eligible donors. Apart from registered donors, corneas from the dead are also donated by surviving family members. The youngest such donor was a four-year-old whose parents offered to donate their deceased child’s eyes to help another regain vision.
Harvesting of the eye needs to be done within four hours of a person’s death and the cornea itself has to be used on a patient within 14 days explains Matara Arachchi. “We hardly have any corneas left beyond the shelf life given the big demand for them. In case any are not grafted, they are often used to practice surgery and research purposes.” Donation of eyes does not cause any disfiguration to a body of a deceased, says the official who reiterates that the process enables the donor to look natural.
Preserving a single cornea cost about USD 300- 450 says the official. Corneas are donated to patients operated in both the state and private hospitals without discrimination. The institution, he says, is run on donations made by individuals and organizations. “Although we do not charge foreign recipients, many of them come forward to assist the institutions as means of expessing goodwill and appreciation.”
Eranga Madushan who regained sight thanks to the International Eye Bank
Free eye care
The eye hospital founded by Dr. Hudson Silva in 1992 at the Vidya Mawatha premises, was named in his honour after his death. It is committed to make eye care available to local patients at an affordable price aligned with the vision of its founder. The hospital is equipped with a fully-fledged operating theatre and an OPD with state-of-the-art equipment. Dr. M.H.S Cassim, a former consultant at the National Eye Hospital serves as the Medical Director of the SLEDS and Dr. Shamintha Amaratunge serves as consultant surgeon. “The hospital performs nearly 1,200 cataract surgeries per year and the patients are provided with lenses completely free of charge. In addition, we also provide spectacles to needy people,” says the Eye Hospital’s Manager, H.D.A.J Abhayawardena.
He adds that island-wide eye camps at village and school level are conducted by them to make eye care more accessible to people. The contact lenses laboratory is another ambitious initiative of the SLEDS which is planning to expand its work says Abhayawardena. “With the help of Japanese technology, we set up our own production plant to manufacture contact lenses locally- the first of its kind here at home. This venture can save a lot of money spent on imported lenses.”
Human Tissue Bank
Following the passing of the Human Tissue Transplantation Act in 1987, Dr. Hudson Silva succeeded in establishing the Human Tissue Bank of SLEDS in 1996 enabling Lankans to donate human tissue and limbs in addition to the eyes. “Only people under 70 who are free of certain diseases are eligible to donate tissue and limbs after death and we need to obtain the tissue within 12 hours of a person’s death,” says the Manager of the Tissue Bank, T.B Prabath.
Many orthopedic, plastic, cardiac, neuro, eye and maxillo-facial surgeons have successfully grafted these tissues. During the time of the war, many in armed forces have benefited from the Tissue Bank, says Prabath. “There is an overwhelming demand for tissues for patients involved in motor traffic accidents and those who have sustained burn injuries,” says Prabath urging more people to come forward to pledge their support.
By Zanita Careem
CHARINI is a well-known brand renowned for its bold yet elegant statement designs and unique concepts. This season,popular designer CHARINI will be presenting a collection that gives Sri Lankan traditional art a contemporary twist, bringing the mythical creatures of Sri Lankan history to life, beautified with floral elements from ancient paintings.
Each element has been meticulously hand-drawn with intricate details, staying true to the rich heritage of Sri Lankan artistry. These hand-drawn illustrations have then been carefully transformed into artworks, which are printed onto fabric to seamlessly blend tradition with modern design. This fusion of craftsmanship and innovation brings a unique depth to each piece in the collection. This is… the Mythical Ceylon Collection by CHARINI.’’
This Holy Month, Sheraton Kosgoda Turtle Beach Resort invites guests to gather in the spirit of Ramadan and indulge in a sumptuous Iftar dinner buffet at S Kitchen, during this month of Ramazan said a press release.
The release said to begin the evening, guests can break their fast with a thoughtfully curated selection, including dates, kanji or soup, dry fruits, and a choice of four refreshing beverages. Light hot appetizers such as samosas, spring rolls, fish rolls, fish buns, mini pizzas, cutlets, mini hot dogs, and satays, along with fresh salads and assorted sandwiches, ensure a nourishing start to the meal.
Following the breaking of fast, guests can then indulge in a lavish Iftar dinner buffet, featuring a rich international spread crafted by our culinary team. From Middle Eastern delights to Sri Lankan specialties and a variety of global flavors.
The Iftar dinner buffet also offers a special promotion, where when you ‘Reserve For Five, One Dines Free’, making it the perfect way to celebrate together with family and friends.
At Sheraton Kosgoda Turtle Beach Resort one can enjoy a truly heartwarming Iftar experience, blending tradition, community, and world-class cuisine in an elegant setting said the release.
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