Can Covid be cured using alternative medicine?

Bengaluru: Raju Matpati (name changed), a farmer in Ballard, when tested positive decided to treat himself with Ayurvedic medicine that he acquired through his friend from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Even as his condition worsened and had breathing troubles, the 69 year old was reluctant to go to a hospital and continued with the Ayurvedic medicine. He eventually succumbed to the virus on May 24.

His brother said, “It’s not that he didn’t trust modern medicines. He was reluctant to go to a hospital following reports of a severe shortage of beds, oxygen and drugs. He was also worried about having to pay hefty bills.”

People like Matpati have turned to alternative medicines due to the shortage of oxygen and medicines like remdesevir. Taking up the opportunity, numerous Ayurvedic practitioners have been prescribing medicines that they claim would cure Covid 19.

Over the past couple of months, reports of Covid 19 affected people approaching Ayurvedic practitioners for herbal cures for the virus. While some claim their medicines boost immunity, others say their treatment works even against breathlessness.

Bonigi Anandayya, a self-proclaimed Ayurvedic practitioner in Nellore district of AP, was in news recently after thousands of people thronged his centre after reports surfaced that he had the magical cure for Covid. Reports claimed that he cured Covid by administering eye drops.

Samples of the medicines he administered were collected by the Health Department and sent to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for tests. The report is awaited.

Although even allopathy has not developed any sure shot cure, there is no scientific proof that Ayurveda can cure Covid. Health officials say that people are turning to them for various other reasons too.

Veena M, a bank employee said, “My father, who was 78, was undergoing treatment at a government hospital. But doctors there asked me to shift him to another hospital for better treatment. They gave up on him. But instead of going anywhere else, we got him treated at an Ayurveda centre on the outskirts of Mysuru.”

Such instances have the job of allopathic doctors to work more difficult as the Covid 19 patients rely on alternate medicines and when it fails, they report it late to the hospital. Doctors said that due to the unmonitored use of herbal medicines, cases of low platelet counts and excessive bleeding during surgeries among patients is noticed.

Dr Ananth Desai, director of AYUSH, Bengaluru, clarified that there is by far no Ayurvedic medicine to cure Covid 19. Dr Desai said, “Several Ayurvedic practitioners including some leading ones had applied seeking clearance but none were selected. Now, some practitioners have been placing advertisements without our approval. People should not believe such claims.”

He said that the Ayush ministry has distributed Ayush 64, a polyherbal Ayurvedic drug, and kabasura kudineer, a Sidha concoction for Covid 19 patients in home isolation (mild to moderate cases). The efficiency of these drugs have been approved through robust multi-centre clinical, Dr Desai said.