Health
Homeopathy hope for AIDS, TB, Hemophilia
From the dreaded HIV, tuberculosis and the deadly blood disease hemophilia, 
In a pioneering two-year long study, Mumbai-based homeopath Dr Rajesh Shah has developed a new medicine for AIDS patients, sourced from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) itself.
The drug has been tested on humans for safety and efficacy and the results are encouraging, said Dr Shah addressing the media at the Press Club-Mumbai. Larger studies with and without concomitant conventional ART (Antiretroviral therapy) can throw more light in future on the scope of this new medicine, he said.
Scientists from premier institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Haffkine institute and National Institute of Immuno Hematology (NIIH) also showcased their research into homeopathy to the media.
These, along with several other researches, will be presented at the two-day World Homeopathy Summit to be held at Mumbai from April 11, 2015.
Dr Shah’s scientific paper for debate has just been published in Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy (IJRH), the Official publication of the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) in its online edition. CCRH is a Union Government-run institute.
The drug resulted in improvement of blood count (CD4 cells) of HIV patients, which is a very positive and hopeful sign, he said and expressed the hope that this will encourage an advanced research into the subject.
Sourcing of medicines from various virus and bacteria has been a practice in the homeopathy stream long before the prevailing vaccines came into existence, said Dr Shah, who is also the organising secretary of the Global Homeopathy Foundation (GHF), an NGO, and holds a Limca Book record for treating patients from 180 countries.
Dr Shah, who has been campaigning for the integration of homeopathy and allopathic treatments, said this combination has proven to be useful for several challenging diseases.
He teamed up with noted virologist Dr Abhay Chowdhury and his team at the premier Haffkine Institute and developed a drug sourced from TB germs of MDR-TB patients.
Earlier, controlled studies by the CCRH have also shown that combination of allopathic and homeopathy for tuberculosis works better than treatment by stand-alone method of treatment, as per a paper published in peer-reviewed international journal from the UK.
In homeopathy, there has been a trend to source medicines from all kinds of virus and bacteria, including those from measles, diphtheria, Influenza, syphilis, smallpox, gonorrhea, etc. This category of medicines is called nosodes, which are in use since last 140 years. “They resemble vaccines but they are not as the method of preparation renders them absolutely safe when administered as per certain guidelines,” said Dr Shah, who has revamped the method of making nosodes using the modern techniques. Homeopathic medicines from germs could safely be used for even other diseases, which are not necessarily caused by the same microorganisms.
For example, the new medicine prepared from Tuberculosis germs is found to effective for severe cough and cold patients, Dr Shah explained.
The research by Dr Kanjaksha Ghosh of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Immuno Hematology (NIIH) and Dr Tapas Kundu, showed that homeopathy demonstrated positive results in patients of Hemophilia – a deadly blood disease that leads to uncontrolled bleeding that cannot be managed with regular medicines. Usage of allopathy-homeopathy combination, however, showed that hemophilia patients did get relief. The medicines were tested on 494 patients whose profuse bleeding was effectively checked.
Dr Jayesh Bellare, HOD- Chemical Engineering – IIT-Bombay, worked on an altogether different subject of homeopathy. His research has shown that homeopathic medicines have nano-particles, breaks the myth criticism that homeopathic medicines don’t have any content.
This breakthrough research also disproves the notion that homeopathic medicines have an energy element and is bound to promote lot of more research and homeopathy will turn into a kind of nanotechnology.
Former BARC scientist Dr G.D. Jindal developed an electrical devise which was used by him and Dr Akalpita Paranjape, a physicist, and ex-scientist BARC, capable of demonstrating the effects of homeopathic medicines in a matter of few minutes. This is bound to silence the critics of homeopathy who fail to see science behind the time-tested system of medicine, Dr Shah added.
“It is heartening to see scientists from pure and applied sciences are taking interest not only in homeopathic research, but also trying to investigate even unexplored and lesser known areas in homeopathy. This is bound to boost the growth of homeopathy as science”, said Dr Eswara Das, New Delhi, senior homeopath and an ex-advisor AYUSH.
Homeopathy is heading towards scientist facelift. Some of the eminent scientists from Austria, Brazil, Italy, Holland, UK, USA, etc. have also done path-breaking research. They are coming to India to showcase their fundamental research in homeopathy. “If extensive and strategic research is carried out in future, homeopathy is likely to have complete transformation, which in turn, could bring a paradigm shift in health care,” affirmed Dr Shah.