Herbs and ayurvedic medicines in the treatment of Covid-19

Ahmedabad: Scientifically it’s seen that herbs and ayurvedic medicines such as yashtimadhu and (liquorice/jethimadh) and harde (haritaki) coupled with allopathy medicines can be effective in the treatment of Covid-19.

The scientists from Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) and Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM) points out that yashtimadhu and harde along with few antivirals bonded well with the Covid-19 virus.

The study ‘Repurposing of the herbal formulations: Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies to validate the efficacy of phytocompounds against SARS-CoV-2 proteins’ is to be published in the Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics.

The paper stated, “According to the present study, the formulations tested in this study had significantly higher binding efficacy against their SARS-CoV-2 targets. In-silico results reveal that these formulations may be effective inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 through their binding to the spike glycoprotein, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, protease, which can be further studied in vitro”.

A researcher opined, “In simple parlance, we checked the binding affinity of base compounds of allopathic medicines and several popular herbs against Covid proteins in computer simulation. The average score of remdesivir was -7.3 and favipiravir – 5.4. Yashtimadhu gave a score of – 13.6 and harde – 13. Here lower values show higher binding. Thus, in principle, it can prevent both viral attachment to human cells and replication in the human body.”

The researchers made it clear they are not stressing on the use of these herbs alone for treating Covid infection. GBRC scientists opined, “The purpose of the study was to assess the scientific basis of use of some herbs prominently in Covid treatment.”

Based on the consent of the patient, some hospitals in the city are providing ayurvedic treatment as an option that basically consists of medicines like Ayush-64 and concoctions like Pathyadi Kwath. The official reported that more than 4,000 patients at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad received ayurvedic treatment as assistive therapy.

Vd Ram Shukla, a faculty at Akhandanand Ayurvedic College, associated with Civil Hospital for ayurvedic treatment in Covid ward, exclaimed that yashtimadhu and harde are used in treating throat infection and gastric trouble for a long time. He told, “Jethimadh can reduce incessant coughing among Covid patients, for example. Of course, Ayurveda is not applicable for patients with severe symptoms and should not be seen as an option, but we have seen good results of assistive therapy among mild to moderate patients in the past one year.”

Vd Bhavdeep Ganatra, head of the ayurvedic department at SGVP Hospital said that allopathy aims at the diseases while Ayurveda aims at the human body. He stated, “Virus may change tomorrow, but our understanding of the human body has helped us improve immunity. We have got good results in post-Covid recovery. But it must not be practised by self and must be done under expert supervision.”

Dr Devendra Patel, president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Gujarat chapter stated that they do not support ‘mixopathy’. He concluded, “We cannot say that the Ayurvedic concoctions should be taken with allopathic treatment.”