BENGALURU: Even as the Ministry of AYUSH is asking people to fight Covid-19 by boosting their immunity, recent research by a Frankfurt-based firm has shown that Ayurveda has benefits against the novel coronavirus, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said on Monday, according to a release.
Speaking at a virtual conference, Ravi Shankar called for large scale studies on the effectiveness of AYUSH medicines in tackling Covid-19 through immunity building.
He said there was a need for research in this area, and the usefulness of traditional systems of medicine must not be neglected.
The managing director of Frankfurth Biotechnology Innovation Centre (FIZ) which led the research collaboration, Dr Christian Garbe, said, “We started the Ayurgenomics project in mid-2020 to examine anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting Ayurvedic agents for their effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2.”
Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute had issued a herbal kit to study the role of herbal immunomodulatory formulations by Sri Sri Tattva in the inhibition of viral entry. This was explored in collaboration with German researchers as a part of the Ayurgenomics project.
Dr C R Jayanthi, dean and director, BMCRI said, “Results showed significant improvement of clinical and laboratory parameters like immunity markers and antioxidant markers after 14 days of treatment with Sri Sri Tattva immunity products along with standard care. Studies can be planned to establish it” she said.
“We distributed Kabasura Kudineer, as a prophylactic in Tamil Nadu and found it effective in improving immunity,” said Dr Kanakavalli, Central Council for Resarch in Siddha, Chennai.
Representing the AYUSH Department, Delhi, Dr Raj Manchanda said, that many studies are now being conducted on the immunmodulatory effects of traditional Indian medicines, nationally and internationally.