When Joe Santabarbara* an athletic, type Atelevision producer in Dallas, Texas, reached his mid’30s, his health began to unravel. “I developed all sorts of bizarre symptoms,” he recalls. “Liver pain, crushing fatigue, restless legs syndrome, itchiness, hypoglycemia. I had to start working from home because I couldn’t stay awake for two or three hours after meals.” |
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A nutritionist discovered the source of his problems through a series of blood tests: Joe had hepatitis C (HCV), a blood-borne virus that becomes chronic in 70 to 80 percent of infected patients and often leads to liver disease, along with muscle and joint pain, mood swings, headaches, sleep disorders, fevers, and digestive problems. Like many of the estimated 4.1 million Americans infected with HCV, Joe doesn’t know when or where he got the infection. Most people are symptom-free for years before the virus takes its toll. After researching allopathy’s standard but severe treatment with the drugs interferon and ribaviran, which can cause a flu-like syndrome, cardiovascular complications, and psychiatric problems, Joe decided to try alternative treatments like Chinese medicine and macrobiotics, but the effects were short-lived. “I knew I had the self-discipline to do whatever it took to heal,” he says, “but I needed a road map.” Then Joe heard about the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded by the world-renowned doctor of ayurvedic medicine Vasant Lad, the Ayurvedic Institute is one of the leading ayurvedic health spas and schools in the U.S. In March 1998, Lad diagnosed Joe |
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conquered, such as allergies, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and migraines. On a deeper level, panchakarma can increase an individual’s sense of clarity and inner peace. That’s why yoga practitioners have used it to improve the quality of their spiritual practices for centuries. Although Joe had never done yoga before, he was willing to give PK a try. He could afford the $3,500 fee, and the treatments were luxurious. Every morning for five days, he was slathered in warm aromatic oil by two massage therapists standing at the left and right side of his body, mirroring each other’s strokes. He then sat in a square white fiberglass steam box for a sweat treatment. Next he rested face-up on a table as a technician poured a thin, continuous stream of warm oil between his eyebrows from a copper vessel, then dusted his body with a sweet-smelling mixture of sandalwood-rose powder and chickpea flour. By the end of these treatments, Joe’s mind was quiet and his muscles had melted into profound relaxation. According to ayurvedic theory, these preparatory procedures liquefy the body’s impurities and push them toward the gastrointestinal tract. Joe’s main panchakarma treatment, which began on the third day,... [next page] |
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with a case of excess pitta, a subtle energy that can cause people to mentally and physically overheat when it’s out of balance. And hepatitis C, Lad noted, is a classic pitta condition. Lad said that by adding yoga, a cooling diet, and an herbal regimen to his daily routine, Joe could quell his symptoms. But first, he should participate in a five-day panchakarma (PK) treatment. An ancient cleansing and rejuvenation program, panchakarma is a series of individualized therapeutic treatments that clear ama (toxins) and excess doshas (subtle energies) from the deep tissues of the body. According to ayurveda’s ancient texts, PK can both prevent and cure disease, and it is particularly successful with chronic illnesses that allopathy hasn’t |
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