Alternative Treatments

Ayurvedic approaches produced significant benefit in chronic neurological conditions that conventional medicine had been unable to address. CAM use is not unique to South Asian patients; non-South Asian people with IBD also commonly use these therapies and often do not discuss them with physicians. A good night's sleep reduces depression scores by approximately 6 points—more than three times the benefit added by antidepressants above placebo. Ayurvedic treatment was perceived by some patients as addressing the root cause of illness, while Western medicine was seen as only superficially covering symptoms. Exercise, improved sleep, St. John's Wort, Omega-3 fatty acids, and lifestyle modifications are evidence-based alternatives to antidepressants without the same side effect burden. Seeing Ayurveda's gut-brain principle later validated by microbiome science fundamentally changed how the neurologist practiced. Alternative approaches warrant greater research emphasis because they demonstrate substantial effects without antidepressants' adverse effect profile. The neurologist was introduced to Ayurvedic medicine during childhood and returned to it when facing treatment-resistant migrai…