Abstract
BackgroundAllopathic practitioners in India are outnumbered by practitioners of traditional Indian medicine and homeopathy (TIMH), which is used by up to two-thirds of its population to help meet primary health care needs, particularly in rural areas. India has an estimated 2.5 million HIV infected persons. However, little is known about TIMH use, safety or efficacy in HIV/AIDS management in India, which has one of the largest indigenous medical systems in the world. The purpose of this review was to assess the quality of peer-reviewed, published literature on TIMH for HIV/AIDS care and treatment.ResultsOf 206 original articles reviewed, 21 laboratory studies, 17 clinical studies, and 6 previous reviews of the literature were identified that covered at least one system of TIMH, which includes Ayurveda, Unani medicine, Siddha medicine, homeopathy, yoga and naturopathy. Most studies examined either Ayurvedic or homeopathic treatments. Only 4 of these studies were randomized controlled trials, and only 10 were published in MEDLINE-indexed journals. Overall, the studies reported positive effects and even "cure" and reversal of HIV infection, but frequent methodological flaws call into question their internal and external validity. Common reasons for poor quality included small sample sizes, high drop-out rates, design flaws such as selection of inappropriate or weak outcome measures, flaws in statistical analysis, and reporting flaws such as lack of details on products and their standardization, poor or no description of randomization, and incomplete reporting of study results.ConclusionThis review exposes a broad gap between the widespread use of TIMH therapies for HIV/AIDS, and the dearth of high-quality data supporting their effectiveness and safety. In light of the suboptimal effectiveness of vaccines, barrier methods and behavior change strategies for prevention of HIV infection and the cost and side effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for its treatment, it is both important and urgent to develop and implement a rigorous research agenda to investigate the potential risks and benefits of TIMH and to identify its role in the management of HIV/AIDS and associated illnesses in India.
Highlights
Allopathic practitioners in India are outnumbered by practitioners of traditional Indian medicine and homeopathy (TIMH), which is used by up to two-thirds of its population to help meet primary health care needs, in rural areas
Overview of Systems of Traditional Indian Medicine India has a long history of traditional medicine that is well established and integrated within the overall medical structure of the country. [8,9] there are more TIMH practitioners [2] than allopathic medical doctors in India, with Ayurvedic practitioners accounting for the largest number of TIMH providers
The majority of articles were excluded because they were not based on actual research studies, were not in English, or were surveys of TIMH usage
Summary
Allopathic practitioners in India are outnumbered by practitioners of traditional Indian medicine and homeopathy (TIMH), which is used by up to two-thirds of its population to help meet primary health care needs, in rural areas. Little is known about TIMH use, safety or efficacy in HIV/AIDS management in India, which has one of the largest indigenous medical systems in the world. [2] Over 65% of the population in rural areas of India are using TIMH and medicinal plants to help meet their primary health care needs.[3] TIMH is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including cancer, diabetes and HIV/ AIDS. To address some of these issues, the Indian government established the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy in 1995 and later renamed it the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga-Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), which is part of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
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