Ayurveda clinical trials on Guj Covid-19 patients soon

Rajkot: Jamnagar-based Gujarat Ayurved University is set to begin clinical trials of testing the efficacy of Ayurvedic medicines on Covid-19 patients.

The university has got the permission from the Institution Ethics Committee (IEC) of M P Shah Medical College and has completed the registration with Clinical Trials Registry, India (CTRI) for this study.

As many as 60 Covid-19 positive patients will be short-listed for the trials that will be done at the state-run GG Hospital in Jamnagar.

The study titled ‘Efficacy of ayurveda intervention as add on therapy in Covid-19 patients: An open-label randomized controlled trial,’ is fully funded by the union Ayush ministry at five institutes in Jamnagar, New Delhi and Nagpur.

With no scientifically proven medicine available for Covid treatment till now, the patients at various hospitals are being advised to follow ayurveda remedies. However, there is no scientific data to prove the curative powers of Ayurvedic medicines against Covid. Hence, it necessitated a clinical trial to check its efficacy to contain the contagion.

Vice-chancellor of Gujarat Ayurved University, Dr Anup Thakar, said, “Of these 60 patients, 30 will be administered ‘Ayush 64 medicine’ as an add-on therapy along with current standard medical treatment. Their progress will then be evaluated on day-to-day basis vis-a-vis the other 30 patients who will not be given any Ayurvedic medicines.”

Dr Thakar said they hope to complete the study in two months after which the analysis of the data will begin.

Patients who get discharged from GG Hospital are accommodated at the Ayurved university, where 50 beds have been reserved for seven-day quarantine. During this period, patients are given a combination of various ayurveda drugs to boost their immunity besides a fixed diet chart.