A pioneer project to study the effects of panchakarma on the metabolism and immunology of the human body will be conducted by the government soon. The study, which is to commence on May 1, will be conducted in three major hospitals in Mumbai. This project is part the research programme 'A Scientific Initiative in Ayurveda' on the initiative of the office of the principal scientific advisor to the government of India.
The research programme, under the guidance of Dr M S Valiathan, a renowned surgeon and academician with the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, aims to approach five core areas of Ayurveda system with modern scientific research methodology to scientifically analyse the treatment procedures and to conduct research on the core concept area of Ayurveda to rejuvenate the ancient system of medicine as per the modern standards of science.
Dr. Urmila Thatte, department of clinical pharmacology, BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai will be the principal investigator of the study. The programme is an attempt to study the effect of rasayana drug on DNA repair mechanism and the effect of panchakarma therapy on metabolic and immunology profile of a subject as separate projects envisaging scientific validity for the age-old procedures.
Dr Thatte said the programme is in its initial stage to design appropriate routes of interfacing between the two domains of knowledge. The hospitals that are assisting this venture are BYL Nair hospital, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) and Poddar Hospital.
She said, "Till now alternate systems of medicine have not been granted any status or recognised. Our study is just an effort to give credible proof that there can be a scientific basis for validating panchakarma and its therapeutic effects. Our objective is to give a scientific basis for alternate system of medicine. In a broader sense the scientific initiative is a venture to understand and interpret the postulates and procedures of Ayurveda with evolving scientific modalities with rigorous principles and methods universally accepted by scientific community."
Dr. Thatte added that Poddar Hospital would provide the patients for conducting trials and this would only happen after they get approval from the ethics committee after discussion. As per the existing norms this will also include the consent of the patient after briefing him about the various aspects of the trials.
While ACTREC will handle the immunology trials, Dr. Thatte's team at BYL Nair hospital will carry out the metabolic testing part. "This is a very narrow objective and the scope is just a pointer to the scope of panchakarma that stresses on removal of toxins from the body. We have a timeframe of three years after which we can give definite results and conclusion and a comprehensive data and conclusive proof," said Dr. Thatte.