NEW DELHI: For those who mocked at ‘Kadha’ or other Ayurvedic remedies to prevent and fight Covid-19, a study conducted on Delhi Police personnel during the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic by All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) has revealed that these immunity boosting measures were indeed effective in prevention and management of the infection.The study which was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Public health revealed that about 55.6% protection was achieved against Covid-19 after two months of prophylactic intervention in the trial group (given AYURAKSHA kit comprising Kadha, Sanshamani Vati and Anu Taila) as compared to the control group (kit not given), suggesting that the kit if given, may prevent deterioration of Covid-19 disease into a more critical condition. The participant enrolment was started on May 16, 2020 for two months. Director of the AIIA, Prof Tanuja Nesari, who is the principal investigator of the study said that the AYURAKSHA kit containing ‘Kadha’(constituted of four medicinal herbs — Tulsi, Dalchini, Ginger and black pepper) possessing antiviral, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, Cyto-protective, and anti-inflammatory properties help in promoting immunity. The second one, Sanshamani Vati (commonly named as Guduchi) boosts immunity and acts as an immune modulator and Anu Taila (Oil) nourishes all the sensory organs and helps in relieving congestion in the nostrils, chronic sinusitis. “All of them are cost-effective, easy to use, manufactured in reputed Government approved manufacturing units,” said Dr Nesari. The data analysis shows that the police personnel, who used the kit were at lower risk of Covid-19 infection (17.5%) than the control ones (39.4%) when analyzed for IgG Covid-19 positivity (antibodies) during follow-up. The same data also confirmed the role of the kit in decreasing the incidence and mortality of COVID-19 among Delhi police officers as compared to the general population of Delhi. “Mortality among Delhi Police was found to be 0.44% as compared to 0.95% in the general population,” stated the study.“A total of 91.2% participants had taken Sanshamani vati tablets and 96.2% have taken Kadha and Anu taila. This showed that if 100% participants have taken the AYURAKSHA kit, the protection percentage (55.6%) from Covid-19 may have slightly increased among the trial group,” the study stated. According to the study, the trial group had reduced Covid-19 infection as compared to the controlled group and no participant presented with moderate or severe Covid-19 symptoms in the trial group. Also, the use of kit reduced the risk of liver abnormalities and maintained random blood sugar levels in the trial group. Besides, Ayurveda-based drugs reduced the chance of infection and no adverse events were noticed by any of the participants in the trial group. Prof Nesari said that the study was aimed to determine the efficacy of AYURAKSHA kit in terms of post-interventional determination of incidence of Covid-19 infection, immunity levels, quality of life against Covid-19, and determining changes in hematological and biochemical parameters among trial group as compared to control group participants. The study was conducted in two parts — in the first part AYURAKSHA kit was distributed as a public health intervention aiming to provide the prophylactic protection to 80,000 Delhi police personnel scattered in the 15 districts of the Capital territory region, New Delhi against Covid-19. Out of 80,000 participants, the final analysis was done on 47,827 personnel. However, the main study was designed as a non-randomized controlled intervention with two parallel groups of about 100 each. The selected trial group participants (from the part-1 study, whose intervention was given with AYURAKSHA kit) and the control group (who refuse to take AYURAKSHA kit) participants were enrolled.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/study-reveals-ayurveda-immunity-boosting-measures-effective-in-prevention-and-management-of-covid-19/articleshow/98359118.cms
