Health dept of Karnataka wants doctors to blend allopathy, Ayush to treat vector-borne and other diseases. The state government seems to be in favour of blending modern medicine (allopathy) and Ayush(Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) practices in the treatment for vector-borne and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Putting the government’s thought into action, doctors at several districts are successfully treating vector-borne diseases and NCDs clubbing both the discipline of medicines. As most people remain sceptical about the results of Ayush treatment, the health department has directed medical professionals, especially Ayush doctors, to document every case and details of the treatment.
Ever since the directive by the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, responses have been pouring in from different parts of the state. “It has been established that Ayush treatment in certain ailments helps patients recover faster and has considerable impact on their lifestyle. But no matter how much ever you tell people, they often disregard citing no documentation. At times, people have even demanded evidence. Hence we have been documenting our treatment to different ailments,” said an Ayush doctor from Belagavi district, who has successfully treated viral and dengue fever cases, using Ayush medicines.
The health department has also received several successful case studies. “A 16-year-old girl from Raichur, studying in Bengaluru, was diagnosed with fever, headache and found positive for dengue. As the platelet count was normal, parents took her back to Raichur where her parents consulted Dr Chandrashekhar, an Ayush doctor at Chikalparvi village of Manvi taluk. The girl was given a Richplat capsule, which has papaya and amrutaballi extract, along with nerocil syrup (nelanelli extract).
After three days, she was tested again at Ballari where her platelet count was found normal and fever also came down. She was advised to continue with the medication along with ranitidine and paracetamol. She recovered soon,” a case study from Raichur revealed.
In another case, a medical student, diagnosed with dengue, was given OPD treatment for the first three days. “On the fourth day, the platelet count dipped to 85,000 and she was admitted to KIMS. The count plummeted to 45,000 the next day. He was advised to take kiwi fruit and papaya juice and doctors were ready to transfuse platelet if the count hits 30,000. After consulting Ayush doctors, he was advised to take Caryphyl tablet thrice daily along with IPD treatment. Over the next two days, his platelet count shot up to 75,000 and two days later, he was discharged from hospital,” said another case study.
Dr R Nagarathna of Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, has successfully treated as many as 1.73 lakh diabetic patients through yoga.
“For the best results, it is advisable to blend allopathic medicines with Ayush practices and practitioners have to document the treatment as an evidence to bring in more confidence among public,” she said during a workshop on Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital (SATH) on Tuesday at Vikasasoudha.
Dr Giridhara R Babu, additional professor, Public Health Foundation of India, highlighted a contradictory trend and said, “When yoga cures NCDs and Ayush treatment prevents occurrence of diseases, it is nothing but a paradox that Ayush practitioners are pushed to practise allopathy.” Principal Secretary Dr Shalini Rajaneesh said, “There is a need to restore faith in the age-old wisdom under modern methods of monitoring and Ayush doctors have begun to document each case study.”
Source : Bangalore Mirror