Traditional Therapy Profiles · Formulation

Dhatri Lauha

Also called: Dhatri Loha, Dhatrilauha, Dhatri Lauh

Many ingredients: dhatri (amla) · lauha bhasma · co-herbs

Lauha names one family. Mandoor names another.

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The important distinction

Classical prescribing separates iron-bearing vatis into lauha and mandoor recipe traditions. Dhatri Lauha is lauha-class. Punarnava Mandoor is mandoor-class. They are not two brands of the same medicine.

What it is

A classical lauha-class herbomineral tablet for pandu roga (anemia and debility syndromes), combining dhatri (Emblica officinalis, amla) with lauha bhasma (calcined iron) and supporting herbs such as yashtimadhu and guduchi.

This page explores the lauha tradition. Classical formularies kept lauha preparations apart from mandoor preparations because the iron matrix and co-herb logic differ. Dhatri Lauha is a named recipe in that tradition, not a mandoor bottle under another label.

Where you will encounter it

  • Ayurvedic prescriptions that name the lauha recipe on the label
  • Comparative trials that put Dhatri Lauha and Punarnava Mandura in separate arms at formulation-specific doses
  • Teaching-hospital and national institute formularies that list lauha and mandoor as distinct entries
  • Bottles patients file next to Punarnava Mandoor because both address pandu

Further detail

Recipe traditions

These are not two brands. They are two recipe traditions.

Lauha preparations center on lauha bhasma (calcined iron) with co-herbs such as dhatri. Mandoor preparations center on processed mandura iron with a different co-herb logic. Classical physicians kept the traditions apart because the matrix and co-herb logic differ, not because one is a stronger version of the other. This page explores the lauha tradition. Punarnava Mandoor explores the mandoor tradition.

What human research has studied

Trials treat them as separate arms because they are separate recipes.

Comparative work in pregnancy-related pandu pits Dhatri Lauha against Punarnava Mandura at formulation-specific doses. The design assumes the classical split: lauha evidence does not license a mandoor bottle, and mandoor evidence does not license a lauha bottle.

A prospective open-label multi-center trial also studied defined Dhatri Lauha capsules alone in adults with iron-deficiency anemia across twelve centers for forty-five days. Hemoglobin, red-cell indices, and iron stores moved in the expected direction with tolerable safety signals. That supports biological plausibility for this named lauha product. It does not travel to mandoor-class vatis.

What the evidence does not justify
  • Treating Dhatri Lauha and Punarnava Mandoor as interchangeable because both address pandu roga
  • Transferring mandoor-arm results to a lauha bottle, or lauha-arm results to a mandoor bottle
  • Reading open-label Dhatri Lauha results as proof for mandoor vati
  • Assuming any lauha-labeled product is Dhatri Lauha
Questions worth asking

The useful first question is "Lauha or mandoor?"

  • Is the bottle lauha-class (Dhatri Lauha) or mandoor-class (Punarnava Mandoor)?
  • Are you also taking conventional iron, and who is monitoring hemoglobin?
  • Pregnancy, pediatric use, or liver disease in the picture?
  • Any constipation, dark stools, or new abdominal pain?
Safety and interaction attention

Safety follows the lauha matrix.

Processed iron inside a classical lauha recipe raises questions about total iron exposure, GI tolerance, and product quality specific to that matrix. Pregnancy and pediatric contexts need explicit prescribing oversight. Concurrent conventional iron requires coordination to avoid excess.

Related entries

This page explores the lauha tradition. Punarnava Mandoor explores the mandoor tradition.

  1. Punarnava Mandoor Formulation The mandoor recipe tradition. Different iron matrix and co-herb logic from lauha. Trials keep it in a separate arm.
  2. Pandughni Vati Formulation Another classical anemia vati in comparative pandu literature. Same shelf word, different recipe from both lauha and mandoor.
  3. Ferrous sulfate Conventional iron Elemental milligram logic and monitoring. What many patients mean when they say "iron," and not the same product category as lauha or mandoor vati.

Commonly confused with

  • Punarnava Mandoor or other mandoor vatis filed under "Ayurvedic iron" without reading the classical name
  • Any lauha-labeled product assumed to be Dhatri Lauha
  • Ferrous sulfate or ferrous fumarate tablets called "iron" without distinguishing lauha from mandoor
Sources
  1. Srikanth N, et al. Dhatri Lauha in the management of iron deficiency anemia: a prospective open-label single-arm multi-center trial. Ayu. 2021. doi:10.4103/ayu.ayu_379_21
  2. Patel B, et al. Clinical efficacy of Punarnava Mandura and Dhatri Lauha in the management of Garbhini Pandu (anemia in pregnancy). Ayu. 2015. doi:10.4103/0974-8520.190700
  3. Sharma R, et al. Prescription audit of selected rasaushadhis in Ayurveda teaching hospitals: a report. J Res Natl Inst Ayurveda. 2024. doi:10.18311/jnr/2024/34139 (prescribing frequency context for Dhatri Lauha)

Evidence blocks last reviewed: July 2026.

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