There is a report in the Wire about CSIR's new anti diabetic drug.
"The drug is said to contain extracts from four plants mentioned in ayurveda and so, according to NBRI principal scientist A.K.S. Rawat, has no side-effects."
When a scientist says that plant extracts by definition have no side effects, it is appalling. It is excusable when lay people say "It is natural and has no chemicals, so it is safe", but when scientists say it, it is terrible. Even a masala ingredient like khus-khus has side effects as anyone who has over-indulged in bisi-bele or khus-khus kheer will tell you.
Rawat sahab, the main principle in Ayurveda is that the exact method of preparation and exact combination of ingredients are what lead to a medicine being efficacious and safe. Emphasis is placed on how a plant is to be collected, stored, treated and incorporated into medicines. Any deviation from the prescriptions is said to make the medicine ineffective or even unsafe. A simple example is castor oil which is used to cure both constipation and loose motions when administered in different ways. The methods used to prepare metal powders where they are heated to high temperatures and ground sometimes a hundred times, are said to make them non toxic ( I don't know if this is true, but this is something that needs to be studied in view of the huge difference in properties of macro and nano scales)
“The traditional knowledge from ayurveda is certainly valuable for discovering new drugs for diabetes,” Bhushan Patwardhan, professor of health sciences at Pune University said, adding: “But it should be based on scientific evidence for safety, quality and efficacy”, which is absent in the case of BGR-34.
Which brings me to an earlier post about Sanjeevani.
"The drug is said to contain extracts from four plants mentioned in ayurveda and so, according to NBRI principal scientist A.K.S. Rawat, has no side-effects."
When a scientist says that plant extracts by definition have no side effects, it is appalling. It is excusable when lay people say "It is natural and has no chemicals, so it is safe", but when scientists say it, it is terrible. Even a masala ingredient like khus-khus has side effects as anyone who has over-indulged in bisi-bele or khus-khus kheer will tell you.
Rawat sahab, the main principle in Ayurveda is that the exact method of preparation and exact combination of ingredients are what lead to a medicine being efficacious and safe. Emphasis is placed on how a plant is to be collected, stored, treated and incorporated into medicines. Any deviation from the prescriptions is said to make the medicine ineffective or even unsafe. A simple example is castor oil which is used to cure both constipation and loose motions when administered in different ways. The methods used to prepare metal powders where they are heated to high temperatures and ground sometimes a hundred times, are said to make them non toxic ( I don't know if this is true, but this is something that needs to be studied in view of the huge difference in properties of macro and nano scales)
“The traditional knowledge from ayurveda is certainly valuable for discovering new drugs for diabetes,” Bhushan Patwardhan, professor of health sciences at Pune University said, adding: “But it should be based on scientific evidence for safety, quality and efficacy”, which is absent in the case of BGR-34.
Which brings me to an earlier post about Sanjeevani.
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