Clinical trials of Ayurvedic immune booster shows potential to fight HIV/AIDS

Falaknaaz Syed - Mumbai

A herbal medicine made out of different parts of stem, bark, root and leaves of Ayurvedic plants has the ability to fight advanced stages of HIV, though the patient does not become HIV-ve and continues to remain in the asymptomatic stage of the disease. The medicine increases weight, appetite and immunity of the person and decreases the viral load, reveals the clinical trials conducted on 40 patients at the R A Poddar Hospital in the city.

The trials, conducted under the aegis of Dr Shivaji V Bhosle, Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Kaya Chikitsa at R A Poddar Hospital along with M.D students, started in the month of June this year after permission from director of Ayurveda, Maharashtra State who is also the dean of Poddar Hospital. HIV patients in the initial stages of the disease were first counselled and after their written consent were put under trials.

Explains Dr Bhosale, "HIV is of two types. Type-1 is asymptomatic or the carrier stage where the patient inspite of carrying HIV does not show any symptoms. This is the dormant phase and the patient can be in this phase for many years. The second type of HIV is symptomatic where the patient shows symptoms of acquiring the disease such as weight loss, cough, persistent fever and diarrhoea. The medicine has been tried on both types and has shown good results. The patients have shown increased weight and immunity, no secondary infections and relief from respiratory infections and fever."

Since HIV causes immunosuppression, the HIV patient is susceptible to a hoard of opportunistic infections like tuberculosis, oral candidiasis, skin diseases, persistent generalised lymphadenopathy, therefore the medicine is given along with the regular treatment of the particular opportunistic infection the person is suffering from. For instance, if the person is suffering from tuberculosis, we give him Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) along with this medicine. The CD4 count, CD8 count increases and the viral load decreases thereby improving his overall health, added Dr Bhosale.

However, a major hindrance in proving the efficacy of the drug and therefore a major hindrance faced by the scientists in the clinical trials are the high costs of viral load tests. Major public hospitals in the city like Sir JJ Hospital too does not have the infrastructure and equipment to perform viral load testing while private labs charge Rs 3000 for it.

"Patients under trials come from lower strata of the society and can not afford these tests so we need assistance from the government, hospitals and NGOs to conduct these tests to prove that the patient's viral load has decreased and his CD4 and CD8 has increased," says Dr Bhosle.

The medicine is the brainchild of CH Bhoomeshwar and Dr Pandit P Sawant, a lecturer at RA Poddar Medical College.

Says Dr Sawant, "Allopathic medicine targets virus structure but ayurvedic medicine increases immunity. When the CD4 count of the patient comes below 200, we start Antiretroviral Theraphy (ART). In Ayurveda, we give him immunopotent medicines. ART Therapy has side effects but this medicine does not have any side effects and is as powerful as a anti-retroviral."

In this trial, 50 patients are to be screened for around a year and can be continued further. Some patients under trials are the hospital's OPD patients while some are in IPD. Before registration, ELISA, Confirmatory Western Blot, CD4, CD8 count, CBC, ESR, LFT, RFT, BSL, urine tests are performed as per necessity. After a period of three months, the CD4 and CD8 counts is performed and has to be repeated again after another three months.

CH Bhoomeshwar has been fighting to get government support and recognition for his medicine since the last few years. He applied for a manufacturing licence in September 2002 with government of Andhra Pradesh, but was refused on grounds that AIDS is one of the listed diseases under Rule 106 (1) under schedule 'J' of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945. The rule specifies "that no drug may purport or claim to prevent or cure or may convey to the intending user thereof any idea that it may prevent or cure one or more of the diseases or ailments specified in schedule 'J' (AIDS being one of them)." He then approached the Delhi High Court in the same year and another in Jan 2003 seeking squashing of Schedule J but lost the case.

Unofficially, the medicinal effects of the herb has been proved in rural areas as it has been administered to tribals of Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati District since 1997 to around 2500 patients who got satisfactory symptomatic relief but could not be investigated properly regarding CD4, CD8, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) due to financial constraint informed Dr Sawant.

The medicine is currently given free of cost to Poddar Hospital patients with financial help from Deepak Ramchandra Agashe, a social worker. The prescribed dose is five gms thrice a day. It also has been declared free of heavy metals by an analytical lab informed Dr Sawant.

falak@express healthcaremgmt.com