In the wake of a study finding that linked the use of giloy herb to liver damage, the Union Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) stated today, on July 7, that the claim is ‘misleading and disastrous’ to the traditional medicine system of India.
The research titled ‘The Herbal Immune Booster-Induced Liver Injury in the COVID-19 Pandemic – A case series‘ was published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology on June 24.
“The Ministry feels that the authors of the study failed in placing all needful details of the cases in a systematic format,” the ministry stated.
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“Apart from this, relating Giloy or TC (Tinospora cordifolia) to liver damage would be misleading and disastrous to the Traditional Medicine system of India (sic) as herb Guduchi or Giloy has been used in Ayurveda since long. The efficacy of TC in managing various disorders is well established,” it added.
What the study findings say about giloy use?
The study was centered around the use of complimentary and alternative medicines (CAM) during the COVID19 pandemic.
It stated that while there are some benefits from the use of herbs and immunity boosters like giloy, they also have a reputation for lesser side effects compared to modern medicine.
“However there have been several documented cases of Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) due to CAM drugs,” the study highlighted.
“We describe what is to our knowledge the histologically documented experience of six patients with a drug induced autoimmune-like hepatitis secondary consumption of Tinospora cordifolia (giloy), an Indian herb popularly used for its “immunity booster” effects during the pandemic,” it added.
What is government’s objection with the study?
The AYUSH ministry has stated that the study has not analysed the contents of the herb that was consumed by the patients.
“It becomes the responsibility of the authors to ascertain that the herb consumed by the patients is TC and not any other herb. To build upon the soundness, the authors would have taken the opinion of a botanist or would have consulted an Ayurveda expert,” it said.
AYUSH ministry also pointed out that there are many studies that point out that identifying the herb not correctly could lead to wrong results.
“A similar looking herb Tinosporo Crispa might have a negative effect on the liver. So, before labelling a herb, such as Giloy, with such toxic nature the authors should have tried to correctly identify the plants following the standard guidelines, which they did not,” the ministry stated in the press release.
The AYUSH ministry also took note of the alleged lack of clarity about the dosage of giloy consumed by the patients.
“It is unclear that what dose the patients had taken or whether they took this herb with other medicines. The study has not taken into account the past or present medical records of the patients,” the ministry’s statement mentioned.
