MyVoice: Views of our readers 25th May 2021

Herbal drugs to treat the pandemic: How effective?

For the last one week, the use of herbal drugs to treat Covid-19 has become a key issue of discussion in media. The huge response from the patients and their relatives seeking medicine from Sri Anandaiah, a herbal medicine practitioner from Krishnapatnam, Nellore, A.P, was the on-set for this discussion.

The composition that was used in this Krishnapatnam herbal combination is open to all. No high-quality, rigorously peer-reviewed clinical trials of herbal drugs used in this combination have been reported yet in internationally recognised journals. The approvals, based on in-vitro investigations and anecdotal clinical data, have not yet been established.

In the pandemic situation like the world is facing now, first, safety is the top priority. Advocates argue that herbal drugs are widely used and safe, but the truth is that all drugs carry risks. It was reported in literature that some women, who followed a slimming herbal remedy, developed rapidly progressive renal failure and urothelial carcinoma.

Later investigations highlighted the role of aristolochic acid in this case, a compound found in many traditional herbs. Although herbal drugs have been used clinically for several years, when we apply them to a novel disease like Covid-19, especially in combination with other antivirals, antibiotics, and immune suppressants, the safety should be cautiously evaluated.

Second, more evidence is required through controlled clinical trials to support the efficacy of these herbal drugs. Many traditional medicine practitioners, as they are tailored to each individual's syndromes, believe that herbal remedies cannot be tested. Although this argument is simply not convincing, it appears to be so.

Thousands of years of usage and faith cannot be taken as evidence for the efficacy of traditional herbs. Third, the basic molecular mechanism is obscure. Herbal drugs usually contain many active ingredients, and it is important to better understand which ingredients are functional, and how they work.

Safety and efficacy were not guaranteed by Limited experimental cell cultures and animal studies. Lastly, the public can easily purchase herbal drugs without a doctor's prescription.

Driven by the claim that some herbal combinations can effectively treat Covid-19, some patients with or without symptoms if Covid-19 are likely to self-medicate with herbal remedies and avoid going to hospital, thus delaying the proper diagnosis and treatment of the disease, and hampering the government's testing, tracing, and quarantining efforts.

Given the formidable morbidity and mortality of Covid-19, it is understandable to see emergency use of unproven drugs, but the approval of a new indication for herbal drugs should still build on evidence.

The Government has to invest on the modernisation and standardisation of traditional medicine, carrying out sustainable basic and clinical research to get international recognition, but the rushed approval seems to be a backward step. The attempt to develop rigorously tested drugs from traditional herbal medicine should not be given up. It will be the only way to protect our vulnerable patients and mankind.

Dr M Venkata Ramana, Khammam

Govt should be tough on violators

It is deeply deplorable to know that many private hospitals, corporate hospitals, drug sellers, black marketeers, middlemen and many medical service providers violate the government regulations regarding the maximum charges fixed for COVID - 19 treatment.

They are trying to make a fast buck at the expense of the travails of the patients battling for their lives. Sundry Covid patients opine that they are scared of the treatment because the treatment in private hospitals turns deadlier than the disease.

The survivors feel that they have pushed their families into a deep financial crisis. No doubt, they are robbed of their breadwinners and distraught families. They have lost their dear ones besides their life savings to the fleecing hospitals and greedy suppliers of medicines.

In some cases, the lone survivors, who have become orphaned children stare at a bleak future pinning their hopes on government aid. It is time the government understood the bizarre situation and came forward with a whip to cancel the recognition of hospitals that violate Covid regulations.

Vaccination drive should reach high by instilling willpower and positive mindset in the patients. I congratulate all those who emerge triumphant in the second wave if Covid - 19 pandemic disease.

Tulluri Venkateswarlu, Bapatla