PA01.14. Study of Herbal combination in HIV infection

Abstract

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of traditional herbal medicine preparation in HIV 1 positive patients. Material & Methods: The efficacy of a combination of three herbal drug preparations in a total of 10 HIV 1 positive patients attending our herbal clinic at Hanumantgaon was assessed. Eight patients have only on herbal formulations, while the other two had ARV treatment along with herbal formulations. The patients were tested for their HIV status by standard NACO protocols and CD4 and viral load estimate followed along with the other clinical and biochemical analysis. Results: The duration of the 10 patients for herbal treatment ranged from 11months to 65 months follow up. Except for the patients on 11 months the overall gain for CD4/CD8 was increased. Eight patients out of the ten patients showed viral load below detection level after the traditional herbal formulation treatment while the other two showed a reduction. One patient among eight patients who on herbal treatment had tuberculosis from seven months before and was on anti-tuberculosis treatment along with herbal treatment got reduced to below detection level from59304 copies/ml. Though only 2 patients were on ARV treatment was involved they had no side effects with herbal formulations. All the 10 patients on herbal treatment showed improvement in health and well-being. Conclusion: The primary conclusion is that traditional herbal preparations can be used as an alternative form of therapy in HIV positive individuals.