Time when a physician turned out to be a patient: A case study on how an Ayurvedic physician cured himself from COVID-19.

Medical literature continues to get enriched through various researches and observations related to SARS-CoV-2 infection leading to COVID-19. Case reports play crucially to understand a novel clinical condition where much is yet to be known. Current pandemic is unique for the reason that its impacts upon front line health care workers (HCWs) are much higher than general population. In this situation, how an Ayurvedic physician has handled his own case leading to a cure from COVID-19 may furnish important information regarding mitigation and cure from the disease. This is also an unprecedented writing in medical literature as a physician reporting his own case is a rare phenomenon in medical history. This case report puts strongly the prophylactic and disease modifying potential of Ayurvedic interventions in COVID-19.

Ayurvedic intervention in metastatic liver disease.

BACKGROUND: Ayurvedic medicines are often considered effective for treating chronic and lifestyle-related diseases only and have not been thoroughly evaluated for treating acute or terminal illnesses. A prospective evaluation of Ayurvedic intervention was proposed for a patient who had metastatic liver disease with abnormal liver functions. The reason given for this was that no other conventional therapies were feasible in this case, and the family and caregivers were not willing to opt for any other intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A diagnosed patient with metastatic liver disease that included abnormal liver functions and symptomatic presentation was treated with Ayurvedic therapies and was observed for 10 days for any possible changes. RESULTS: A substantial clinical and biochemical improvement was observed in this patient after 10 days of treatment. This improvement was noted to be consistent at a 1-week follow-up after the patient was discharged from the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: This case offers an opportunity to reconsider whether or not the toxic potentials of heavy metals used in Ayurvedic agents outweigh the possible benefits for treating patients with well-defined, incurable clinical conditions.

Evaluating the Impact of a Pragmatic Nutrition Awareness Program for Expectant Mothers upon Birth Weight of the Newborn.

Poor maternal nutritional status and substandard antenatal care, which result in increased women's risk, low birth weight and stillbirth, afflict many countries with weak or emerging economies even today. Studies that address the effect of extending nutrition awareness among pregnant women to the net outcome of pregnancy remain scarce. We aimed to compare and contrast the effect of a pragmatic nutrition awareness program for expectant mothers (NAPEM) on birth weight of the newborn with a control group who received no such nutrition awareness activity. The effect of variables of mode of newborn delivery, associated complications at birth, and APGAR score of the newborn were also assessed. A pragmatic intervention trial of an antenatal care (ANC) program that consisted in nutrition awareness was conducted involving 53 pregnant women. Awareness was given through one-to-one interview and through informational literature provided to the participants in the local language. A hospital registry for deliveries undertaken during the study period was screened for identification of variables. A control group of matched pregnant women (n = 53) was obtained from the same hospital registry from preceding years, when the nutrition awareness program was not executed. A statistically significant improvement in birth weight of the newborn was observed in the intervention group, where expectant mothers were made aware about desired nutrition during pregnancy. A reduced incidence of complications associated with pregnancy was also observed in the intervention group. Providing awareness about nutritional requirements during pregnancy and suggesting the pragmatic ways to meet them was shown to be one possible effective measure to deal with pregnancy-related undernutrition. We show the efficacy of the intervention for underprivileged regions of India marked by inadequate health care delivery and lower socio-economical standards. We discuss our findings in the context of available evidence-based guidelines.