Three siddha drugs, Rasagandhi Mezhugu, Amukkara Chooranam and Nellikkai Lehyam, were found to have immuno-restorative properties thus helping HIV patients gain immunity strength and ward off opportunistic diseases, according to research conducted at the Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM) here, India's largest AIDS care centre.

This is for the first time that the hospital has been able to come out with clear evidence of such properties in the siddha drugs being administered to the HIV patients. While it was earlier argued that the immuno-restorative properties of the siddha drugs were the reason behind HIV patients being able to increase the CD4 count and increased immunity strength no evidence was put forth to substantiate the arguments.

According to GHTM Deputy superintendent, Dr. S Rajasekaran, the research conducted by team of doctors have found that the immuno-restorative properties of the three drugs was the reason behind most HIV patients being able to get back their immunity strengths. "We conducted the studies among batches of HIV patients undergoing treatment at the hospital either as inpatients or out patients, and we have found that the immunity strength gained by these patients was due to the immuno-restorative properties of the three drugs," Dr. Rajasekaran told Pharmabiz.com. He further added that the team of doctors are conducting further tests to ascertain if there were other properties that helped HIV patients and which could be leveraged upon to improve treatment and life qualities of the HIV patients.

Currently these three drugs are being administered as staple drugs for HIV patients coming to hospital. Around 300 HIV patients visit the separate HIV outpatient department here daily. On any given day, there are over 300 patients taking inpatient treatment in eight exclusive HIV wards here.

The discovery will now be leveraged to find better use of the three drugs in different forms and in combination with allopathic and other siddha medicines to bring about a standardized treatment for HIV patients and with various dosages depending on the condition of the HIV patients. Currently no standard treatment is adopted, the treatment differing from patient to patient.

The GHTM is the only institute, which prescribed Indian systems of medicine, particularly siddha, in treatment of HIV patients. The same was done on the lineage that siddha medicines had proved successful in treating serious ailments that could not be cured by allopathic medicines. The regime of administering siddha drugs was started under the stewardship of the then Superintendent Dr. C. Devanayagam, who formed a doctoral team comprising well known siddha practitioners for preparing and administering the siddha drugs.

The improvement in immunity strengths and CD4 count in of some of the patients administered with siddha medicines has sparked off like instances where siddha medicines were administered to HIV patients at other government hospitals in the state. The successes achieved by the GHTM had also prompted the Tamil Nadu government to bring out a scheme of dispensing siddha drugs at primary health care centers and district hospitals for various ailments, alongwith allopathic drugs.

Meanwhile the hospital has registered an increased growth in the number of admission of HIV affected children in the paediatric ward. According to Dr. Rajasekaran the hospital has so far admitted thirty children in the age group of 2 to 10 in the paediatric ward of the hospital. "What is matter of grave concern is that there has also been an increase in the number of children coming to the outpatient department too," he added.