Microbial content in Ayurvedic medicine

hence it is impossible for the authors to have procured fi ve different samples of Dasamoolarishtam from either of these two companies' outlets. Though these observations in no way alter their fi ndings, the overall integrity of the study and thus the overall validity of the fi ndings become questionable. The impact of such misreporting in a leading scientifi c journal like yours is a serious matter and could invite undeserved disrepute to these traditional houses of Ayurveda. These two institutions have been known for decades for their quality medicines and have a rich legacy of selfl ess service.

Sir, Regarding the research methodology paper entitled "Sample size calculation" by Kadam and Bhalerao, [1] which was published recently in IJAR, I would like to point out that the formula described in the article can be used in simple random sampling.Hence, authors should have mentioned this in their article.
I would also like to point out that in some cases one can screen and study the whole target population contrary to what is said at the beginning of the fi rst paragraph."It is naturally neither practical and feasible to study the whole population in any study."For example, the study which assessed the possible association of bronchial asthma with the inhalation of volatile acids in dark rooms amongst the radiographers evaluated the whole population then being a total of 100 radiographers in Sir, This is with regard to the article, "Quality assessment of different marketed brands of Dasamoolaristam, an Ayurvedic formulation" by Kalaiselvan et al. [1] The manuscript brings to our attention the very important issue of following stringent guidelines in the testing of Ayurveda medicines.However, there are some gross errors and misinformation in this article which need to be brought to the readers' attention.
In the introduction section, Dasamoolarishtam [2] is wrongly described as a formulation containing 10 herbs, which is incorrect.The original, traditional formulation contains 55 herbs as decoction, 11 herbs as powder, jaggery and honey.
It is important to note that Arya Vaidya Sala, Kotakkal and The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy Ltd., Coimbatore are two different, independent Ayurvedic institutions.The authors claim to have collected the samples from "Kotakkal Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Coimbatore", which is a gross error in itself.First, it would be appropriate to provide the name of the actual institution accurately.Secondly, it is a known fact that neither of these two companies' outlets stock products of other brands, and Sir, The study by Patwardhan et al, [1] is one among many of the revealing studies carried out from time to time by researchers who are concerned about the plight of Ayurveda and are genuinely thinking about possible methods to make improvements in its system appraisal.
Why does a person trained institutionally in the Ayurvedic system of medicine not appear as confi dent about his future as his modern counterpart may seem to be? [1] The reasons could be many but they all essentially lead to a poor education system adopted for imparting training in Ayurveda in India.It is important to understand that to instruct students in Ayurveda so as to make them confi dent, we need to have a battery of good mentors.The administrative system of Ayurveda therefore needs to address the issue of fi nding and retaining people with essential skills that can augment the capacities of a student.

Sir,
In response to the communication by Dr. Sanjeev Rastogi we are willing to give our following comments: 1. Apart from the challenges of Ayurveda education that we have recognized in the present study, [1] we have also observed that the Ayurveda graduates are not trained adequately in basic clinical skills [2] and this is probably the major cause of diffi dent clinicians being produced.Unless the memory-oriented and theoryoriented teaching does not transform into clinically oriented practical training, the problem is probably going to remain.2. There is an urgent need of establishing a national level body for taking care of the following.a. Educational research is carried out in Ayurveda and suitable recommendations are put forth from time to