Ayurveda treats eye ailments holistically: NP P Namboothiri, Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre

Three decades ago, when Dr N P P Namboothiri began his career as an ayurvedic physician in Kerala, eye treatment based on ayurveda was not so popular. A member of the Nelliakkattu family, Namboothiri along with other family physicians ran an informal clinic that offered treatment only to locals there. In the late 1990s, the family decided to promote a modern hospital at its ancestral home in central Kerala.
Today, Namboothiri boasts of running the country's largest superspeciality centre in eye care. Housed in a 55-acre complex, Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital and Research Centre has facilities that include a 350-bed eye hospital, an ayurvedic research and development institute, medicine manufacturing centre and quality testing laboratory, besides a Centre for Excellence.
Namboothiri, the 62-year-old managing director and chief physician of Sreedhareeyam, recalls how he treated a patient who had lost his vision in a hooch tragedy in the early 1980s. "The success we achieved treating such cases coupled with the growing demand for an alternative approach to eye care led to the launch of Sreedhareeyam. The treatment procedures for various eye diseases are prescribed in the ancient ayurvedic texts."
He claims that ayurvedic remedies treat eye diseases in a holistic way, factoring in the entire health profile of a patient. The hospital offers treatment for almost all major diseases of the eye.
"Ayurvedic ophthalmology has achieved tremendous progress in treating diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and retinitis pigmentosa. Our success rate in treating these two diseases is nearly 60%. In rest of the cases, ayurveda has helped prevent further deterioration."
Of late, it is seeing a steady flow of patients seeking cure for these two ailments. Rising healthcare costs have also prompted people to turn towards alternate systems of medicine. "Ayurveda is much cheaper than allopathy. Besides, some insurers offer health policies that cover ayurvedic treatment," he says.
Namboothiri is candid to admit that, initially, the concept of eye care based on ayurveda was not well-accepted in places where this alternate stream of medicine was not so popular.
"Initially, many patients who came to the centre for treatment were ones who had tried out other systems of treatment. Ayurvedic ophthalmology was their last hope. Patients who benefited were the best ambassadors of our system of medicine," he says.
But to make it more acceptable to people, several changes were introduced in the medicine manufacturing division. A modern laboratory and a medicine-manufacturing unit were set up at the centre. "We have also developed ayurvedic eye drops and capsules that retain all values of traditional medicinal formulas," he says.
Soon, other states endorsed the idea of setting up such superspeciality eye-care centres.
Besides, the Centre also acknowledged the potential of ayurveda in treating eye diseases, helping Sreedhareeyam expand its footprint beyond Kerala. They now have eye-care centres in many states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In most of these places, state governments provided Sreedhareeyam the necessary infrastructure to open eye hospitals. on eye care based on ayurveda in some of these countries. We will follow it up by inviting experts from these countries to visit our main hospital and research centre in Kerala," he says.
The plan is to go beyond Indian shores to open eye-care centres in countries such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the UAE and Singapore. We have also identified Italy and Germany, two European countries, as potential destinations.
The efforts put in by the country's largest ayurvedic eye hospital to popularise ayurvedic eye care have started yielding results. Sreedhareeyam has seen a steady growth in the past several years. The number of branches is all set to double to 50 in the next couple of years.
Namboothiri has a clear vision on how the centre would grow. "Our target is to be present in all the states in the next couple of years," he says. Sreedhareeyam has a turnover of Rs 70 crore that is expected to increase substantially in the coming years. Many patented products that the eyecare centre has launched in the market would also help realise the targets soon.
But how do they plant to beat competition? "Though the eye-care segment has many other major players, Sreedhareeyam has not been impacted by competition as it is operating in the niche area of ayurvedic eye care," he says.
Source:Economic Times