MP: Tribals affected with sickle cell disease respond well to homeopathy, claims study

Bhopal: More than 1,656 tribals were found affected with the sickle cell disease and responded well to homeopathy treatment as part of a study carried out in four districts of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Friday. As many as 23,320 people were tested under the project being implemented by the government homeopathy college under the AYUSH department in Dindori, Mandla, Chhindwara and Shahdol districts, he said.

The project was undertaken to check the prevalence of sickle cell disease among the special backward tribes of Baiga and Bharia, the official said.

Sickle cell anaemia affects the shape of red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body.

Under the project, a team from the college conducted door-to-door screening of 23,320 persons and found 1,656 of them affected with sickle cell anaemia, principal investigator of the study prof Dr Nishanth Nambison said.

The project was implemented in technical collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and scientists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Institute of Science (IIS) and Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) are also involved in it, the official said.

"Apart from traditional allopathic treatment given by the health department, the affected persons were also administered homeopathy medicines and their results were quite encouraging," Dr Nambison said.

Speaking about the condition, the official said sickle cells break apart easily and die. Red blood cells (RBC) usually live for nearly 120 days before they need to be replaced, but sickle cells die in 10 to 20 days, causing anaemia.

Without enough RBC, the body can't get enough oxygen and this causes fatigue, he said.

The disease causes periodic episodes of severe pain called pain crisis. The pain starts when sickle-shaped RBCs block blood flow to the chest, abdomen and joints, he said.

"The government has sanctioned more than Rs 3.58 crore for the study on 100 persons under the project, but the team has examined 23,320 persons," Dr Nambison said.

The tests on the tribal population revealed that in Dindori, 4 per cent were affected with diabetes and 8.16 per cent were found to be pre-diabetic, it was stated.

In Mandla district, 4.26 per cent were found to be diabetic and 24.26 per cent pre-diabetic, which is much higher than the national average of 12 per cent, the official said.

Considering the success of the project, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has approved another project worth Rs 187 crore to test and treat sickle cell anaemia in 22 tribal districts of the state, the official added.