I wrote a blog on Coronavirus outbreak: Death toll in China rises to 259-What should we do? (coronavirus-outbreak-death-toll-in-china-rises-to-259-what-should-we-do) On February 1, 2020. Since then till now outbreak has become pandemic. More than 3000 deaths have been reported from China and death reports from around the globe is pouring in every day. About 87 countries have reported the virus infection. World economy is in panic and US central bankers see “evolving” risks to the world’s biggest economy from the fast-spreading coronavirus (Covid-19) and are scrambling to assess what’s next, both for the business outlook and the Federal Reserve’s own response.
Panic and fear are engulfing fast across the world. India is not the exceptional. Recent discoveries about the neural system and cellular mechanisms in pathways mediating classical fear conditioning have provided a foundation for pursuing concurrent connectionist models of this form of emotional learning. Worry affects the immune response (Suzanne C. Segerstrom, 1999) and make our body weak to fight against the diseases. Therefore, if we have to face this disease it has to be with pure understanding of science and facts. I find there are lot of unscientific messages which are being circulated in social media and making people more panic. So much so that some of the parliamentarian also started behaving abnormally. I therefore, thought to highlight some of the facts that can remove the cloud of fear and panic from mind of common citizen. First thing, all of us should know that this disease is not something new to the human race that alarms panic. In my previous blog I have given a good account of several virus influenza like diseases encountered by the human race since the time of Hippocrates in 400 BCE.
Let us understand few insights of the disease and its treatments
How modern medical science look for human disease management of infectious diseases?
- Cure by medicines that directly kill the pathogen and eliminate them from the human body
- By developing immunity to fight the pathogen in the system.
Let us first understand what do we mean by immunity?
IMMUNITY: the ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitized white blood cells.
In biology, immunity is the balanced state of multicellular organisms having adequate biological defences to fight infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion, while having adequate tolerance to avoid allergy, and autoimmune diseases.
IMMUNITY can be of two types:
- Innate immunity, also called native immunity, exists by virtue of an organisms constitution, that is its genetic make-up, without an external stimulation or a previous infection. It is further divided into two types:
- Non-Specific innate immunity, a degree of resistance to all infections in general.
- Specific innate immunity, a resistance to a particular kind of microorganism only. As a result, some races, particular individuals or breeds in agriculture do not suffer from certain infectious diseases.
- Adaptive immunity which is developed in the body due to exposure to a pathogen or conditions which can be sub-divided depending on how the immunity was introduced in
- ‘naturally acquired’ through chance contact with a disease-causing agent. It can be passive or Active (Infection)
- whereas ‘artificially acquired immunity’ develops through deliberate actionssuch as vaccination. In this case passive can be antibody transfer and Active is through immunization.
Entire Pharmaceutical industry only targets to develop products for triggering ‘artificially acquired immunity. Thus whenever, we encounter a new disease all efforts are put to develop and vaccine for immunization.
How Ayurveda approaches a disease?
The cause of disease in Ayurveda is viewed as a lack of proper cellular function due to an excess or deficiency of vata, pitta and kapha. Disease can also be caused by the presence of toxins. In Ayurveda, body, mind and consciousness work together in maintaining balance.
There is no germ theory in Ayurveda for the cause of disease. Everyone is exposed to same conditions, yet some suffer to certain disease but others not. Cause of not suffering is defined by modern medical sciences as immunity and in Ayurveda as proper balance cellular function.
How the disease being treated ?
The disease is symptomatically treated by the modern doctor in the absence of specific drugs for the disease. It means, if you have fever, they sill treat you for fever with paracetamol; if you have cough, they will give you cough syrup. If you have pneumonia like symptom, they will give you some antibiotic.
In any virus infection, one should be in isolation so that he should not spread the disease and should rehydrate his body with frequent intake of water.
Best option to us is “prevention is better then cure”
So far there is no cure, no vaccines in modern medicines. Let them continue to search for those. But we cannot wait for that and we have to do something to protect us from this pandemic virus, Covid-19. Fortunately, Ayurveda has described and used a number of herbs in their formulations that has immune-modulating properties. One of them, Andrographis paniculatia which has already been described in my previous blog. I shall tell you here two more plants that have tested immune boosting properties and widely used in folk medicines to avoid viral diseases such as pox, measles, influenza, common cold , etc. Out of these three plants whatever, is available in your area that can be used. In Bengal, young neem leaves are fried in oil with tiny pieces of brinjal. The dish is called neem begun bhaja and is the first item during a Bengali meal that acts as an appetizer as well as to fight viral infection during season changes. It is eaten with rice.
Neem (Azadirachta indica)
Introduction
Azadirachta indica, commonly known as neem or nimtree is a tree belongs to family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to the Indian subcontinent, i.e. India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives. It is typically grown in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem oil. Neem is a fast-growing tree that can reach a height of 15–20 metres (49–66 ft), and rarely 35–40 metres (115–131 ft). It is evergreen, but in severe drought it may shed most or nearly all of its leaves. The branches are wide and spreading. The tender shoots and flowers of the neem tree are eaten as a vegetable in India.
Chemical Structure
Ayurveda was the first to bring the anthelmintic, antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral constituents of the neem tree to the attention of natural products chemists. The chemical constituents are found in the leaves of neem as nimbin, nimbanene, 6-desacetylnimbinene, nimbandiol, nimbolide, ascorbic acid, n-hexacosanol and amino acid, 7-desacetyl-7-benzoylazadiradione, 7-desacetyl-7-benzoylgedunin, 17-hydroxyazadiradione and nimbiol (Mohammad A. Alzohairy , 2016).
Antiviral Effects
Products made from neem trees have been used in India for over two millennia for their medicinal properties.[11] Neem products are believed by Siddhaand Ayurvedic practitioners to be anthelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, contraceptive, and sedative.
How to use
Best way to use this for immuno-modulation is chewing three-four tender leaves in the morning in empty stomach. Alternatively, fry 6-10 leaves with little cooking oil and take it with rice with a pinch of salt or prepare Nim-Begun as Bengalis use it in their diet.
Tinospora cordifolia
Introduction
Tinospora cordifolia, which is known as gaduchi, gIloya, amrita, gado, gulancha,is an herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to the tropical areas of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. It is an herb used in Ayurveda to enhance vitality. It is being researched for a variety of health effects, including its effect on diabetes, glucose metabolism, inflammation, immune system support, and neurology.
Tinospora cordifolia supplementation improves the ability of macrophages, an immune system cell, to consume their targets, though this effect is not immunostimulatory. Supplementation can also ward off allergies. One study suggests Tinospora cordifolia is as potent as Spirulina as an anti-allergic supplement. Preliminary evidence suggests Supplementation of Tinospora cordifolia can reduce the body’s absorption of sugar-derived carbohydrates, and it may also play a role in reducing the pathologies associated with diabetes, like retinopathy and nephropathy. Tinospora cordifolia may be a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor, which means it may raise catecholamine levels. The plant may also contain phytoandrogen, which means it can protect against DNA damage induced by the environment and radiation therapy. Finally, Tinospora cordifolia may have Adaptogen-like properties.
Chemical Structure
Tinospora cordifolia contains diverse phytochemicals, including alkaloids, phytosterols, glycosides, and mixed other chemical compounds.
Columbin, tinosporaside, jatrorhizine, palmatine, berberine, tembeterine, tinocordifolioside, phenylpropene disaccharides, choline, tinosporic acid, tinosporal, and tinosporon have been isolated from Tinospora cordifolia.
Antiviral Effects
Viral infections are being managed therapeutically through available antiviral regimens with unsatisfactory clinical outcomes. The refractory viral infections resistant to available antiviral drugs are alarming threats and a serious health concern. Also few studies have been conducted on the antiviral properties of Tinospora and have been reported to be of great value.
How to use
Tinospora cordifolia powder is sold in the market by various Ayurveda Pharmacies as Giloi churna, Guduci churna. 2-4 g powder can be taken in the morning with honey. Alternatively, 4-5 inch stem of little finger thickness can be crushed and soaked in water for overnight and can be taken in the morning.
References
Suzanne C.Segerstrom, Dorie A.Glover, Michelle G.Craske, John L.Fahey
- Worry Affects the Immune Response to Phobic Fear. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 13 (2): 80-92.
Agrawal, D.P. “Medicinal properties of Neem: New Findings”
Mohammad A. Alzohairy 2016. Therapeutics Role of Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Their Active Constituents in Diseases Prevention and Treatment. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2016 : 7382506 (online publication).
K. Raveendran Nair, Sonia Rodriguez, Reshma Ramachandran, Arturo Alamo, Steven J. Melnick, Enrique Escalon, Pedro I. Garcia Jr., Stanislaw F. Wnuk, Cheppail Ramachandran 2004. Immune stimulating properties of a novel polysaccharide from the medicinal plant Tinospora cordifolia. International Immunopharmacology 4 (13):1645-1659.
https://doi.org/10.1006/brbi.1998.0544
Disclaimer: This article has been prepared with information drawing from various sources: research papers, websites and no part of this is claimed by the author as his original work.
