Role of Swarnaprashan in Children: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Swarnaprashan is a herbo-mineral Ayurveda preparation  recommended in pediatric age group to enhance immunity and intellect since  antiquity. Numbers of advocates are available for the practice of Swarnaprashan and its utility.  Aim & Objective: The current review is aimed to assess the role of Swarnaprashan in children which could potentially have multifaceted benefits.  Material and Method: A systematic review was conducted following PRISM  ScR guidelines. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) analyzing the role of  Swarnaprashan in children and published articles between 2001 to 2022 year were  included in this study. Electronic databases were screened viz. PubMed, Medline,  Google Scholar, Scopus. The following keywords were used:  “Swarnabinduprashan, Suvarnabinduprashan, Suvarnaprashan, and  Swarnaprashana. To obtain additional data a manual search was performed using  the reference lists of included articles. Results: Present systematic review reveals the beneficial health effects of  Swarnaprashan: a) Immunomodulatory effect b) Effect on ITQOL c) Effect on  hematological biochemical parameters/ Assessment of safety d) Effect on  cognition e) Effect on growth, development and behavior.  Conclusion: Present systematic review proves the role of Swarnaprashana in  enhancing the cognition, physical growth, development as well as protection  against the diseases by enhancing the immunity. There for Swarnaprashan could  serve as drug of multimodal action at various levels which could lead complete  development of a child.