{"id":79116,"date":"2020-11-08T17:58:48","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T12:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=79116"},"modified":"2020-11-08T17:58:48","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T12:28:48","slug":"fact-check-efficacy-of-ashwagandha-in-ayush-standard-treatment-protocol-for-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/fact-check-efficacy-of-ashwagandha-in-ayush-standard-treatment-protocol-for-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact-check: Efficacy of Ashwagandha in AYUSH standard treatment protocol for COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms such as pneumonia, clotting complications, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock are reported in many cases of the infection. While these symptoms may arise in severe cases (~19% of the total cases), symptoms like fever, headache, cough, malaise, muscle pain, sore throat, nasal congestion, etc. can occur in mild-to-moderate cases (Wu, Z. et al. 2020<\/a>). However, some patients experience no symptoms of the infection and are referred to as \u2018asymptomatic\u2019.<\/p>\n

On October 6, 2020, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan released<\/a> an \u201cAYUSH standard treatment protocol\u201d for the clinical management of COVID-19, that lists dietary measures, yoga, and Ayurvedic herbs with formulations. A long list of specific Ayurvedic recommendations for COVID-19 prevention and treatment were announced. This included the herb Ashwagandha<\/em> (Withania somnifera) for:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. For prevention of COVID-19 in a high-risk population such as healthcare workers, those living in COVID-19 hotspots, primary contacts of COVID-19 patients, etc.<\/li>\n
  2. For prevention of COVID-19 complications in infected patients like fatigue, lung fibrosis (scarring of lung tissue) and for the changes in the mental well-being associated with the COVID-19 infection.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    ‘Ayush Standard Treatment Protocol’ \u091c\u093c\u093e\u0930\u0940 \u0915\u0930\u0924\u0947 \u0939\u0941\u090f \u092e\u0948\u0902\u0928\u0947 \u0907\u0938\u0947 \u090f\u0915 \u0910\u0924\u093f\u0939\u093e\u0938\u093f\u0915 \u0926\u093f\u0928 \u092c\u0924\u093e\u092f\u093e\u0964<\/p>\n

    \u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0907\u0938\u0915\u0940 \u0924\u0941\u0932\u0928\u093e \u0915\u093f\u0938\u0940 \u0938\u093e\u0927\u093e\u0930\u0923 Protocol \u0938\u0947 \u0928\u0939\u0940\u0902 \u0915\u0930 \u0938\u0915\u0924\u093e\u0964 \u0906\u092f\u0941\u0930\u094d\u0935\u0947\u0926 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0935\u0948\u0938\u0947 \u092d\u0940 \u092f\u0939 \u0905\u091a\u094d\u091b\u093e \u0926\u094c\u0930 \u0939\u0948\u0964 \u0905\u092d\u0940 \u0938\u0902\u0938\u0926 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u092d\u0940 \u0907\u0938\u0947 \u0932\u0947\u0915\u0930 \u0926\u094b \u092c\u093f\u0932 \u092a\u093e\u0938 \u0915\u093f\u090f \u0917\u090f, \u091c\u094b \u0907\u0938\u0915\u0940 \u092a\u094d\u0930\u093e\u0938\u0902\u0917\u093f\u0915\u0924\u093e \u0915\u094b \u0926\u0930\u094d\u0936\u093e\u0924\u093e \u0939\u0948\u0964@PMOIndia<\/a> @moayush<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/zdsS72gbaW<\/a><\/p>\n

    \u2014 Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) October 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    On October 6th, 2020, Dr Harsh Vardhan claimed that this AYUSH protocol is \u2018not an ordinary protocol which makes its launch a historic day.\u2019 He further claimed that the role of Ashwagandha<\/em> and other herbs like Guduchi<\/em> or Giloy<\/em> is established for prophylaxis of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

    In this article, we will review the claims made about the efficacy of Ashwagandha<\/em> against COVID-19 in the AYUSH standard treatment protocol for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

    Claims<\/strong>:<\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. According to Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the COVID-19 treatment protocol is based on research studies conducted by AYUSH.<\/li>\n
    2. In healthy people, Ashwagandha<\/em> can prevent COVID-19 infection.<\/li>\n
    3. In COVID-19 patients, Ashwagandha<\/em> can prevent disease complications like fatigue, lung scarring and the impact of COVID-19 infection on mental health.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Verdict<\/strong>:<\/h4>\n

      False<\/p>\n

      Fact-Check: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

      By the time of the launch of the AYUSH protocol, various investigators had registered nine clinical trials for evaluating the efficacy of Ashwagandha<\/em> against COVID-19 on the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI). This is an online public record system for registration of clinical trials being conducted in India.<\/p>\n

      Such clinical trials are registered before enrolling participants to publicise the ethics approval on the methodology, provide information to potential participants and referring clinicians. The registration prevents selective reporting of desirable results and also prevents replication of the study by other researchers.<\/p>\n

      1. Clinical studies for Ashwagandha<\/em> against COVID-19<\/strong><\/p>\n

      A total of nine studies were registered with their respective ethics protocols on the CTRI. As per the timeline of these studies on CTRI: one out of the nine has been completed (but unpublished), three are are \u2018open to recruitment\u2019 for participants, and the remaining five have not even started. Thus, close to 50% of the studies have not started recruiting any patients for the study at the time when the AYUSH protocol was released (6th October 2020). Also, two-thirds of the studies will be conducted only in healthy people who do not have the infection. The remaining three are labelled as clinical trials in COVID-19 patients. Only one of the total three clinical trials registered is labelled as completed, the other two trials are either in the recruitment phase or have not started the study.<\/p>\n

      Table 1<\/strong>: Summary of the registered clinical trials on Ashwagandha<\/em> against COVID-19<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Status<\/td>\nHealthy volunteers<\/td>\nCOVID-19 positive patients<\/td>\nTotal no. of studies<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Not yet recruited<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Recruiting<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Completed<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      Total no. of studies<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Thus, the AYUSH treatment protocol is not based on any published evidence for Ashwagandha<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      2. Ashwagandha<\/em> as a preventative drug in uninfected people<\/strong><\/p>\n

      While there are no published clinical trials showing any efficacy of Ashwagandha<\/em> in preventing COVID-19 infection, we found six protocols included in the ethics application on the CTRI website. These studies were either ongoing, or in the process of starting, but not completed<\/strong>. Further, the experimental methods or protocols in these six studies listed some unethical and unscientific design flaws as described in table 2 below:<\/p>\n

      Table 2:<\/strong> The status of six unpublished, ongoing studies on Ashwagandha<\/em> in healthy people to prevent COVID-19. The table also lists their sub-standard methodology that may incorporate research bias in the final data (Data from CTRI, India as of 6th October 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Study<\/strong><\/td>\nResearcher<\/strong><\/td>\nGroup<\/strong><\/td>\nStatus<\/strong><\/td>\nMethodology from the ethics application<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      1<\/td>\nSaketh Ram<\/td>\nHigh-risk, healthy<\/td>\nRecruiting<\/td>\n\n
        \n
      • Not randomised<\/li>\n
      • Unclear exclusion sample<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      2<\/td>\nMuralikrishna<\/td>\nHealthy<\/td>\nRecruiting<\/td>\n\n
        \n
      • Used as an immune-booster but excludes those with lowered immunity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      3<\/td>\nJayanthi<\/td>\nHigh-risk,<\/p>\n

      Healthy<\/td>\n

      		Not started<\/td>\n\n
        \n
      • A concoction of Ashwagandha <\/em>with 10 other herbs as an immune booster<\/li>\n
      • No information for safety against drug interactions or adverse effects before the study<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      4<\/td>\nChopra<\/td>\nHigh-risk,<\/p>\n

      Healthy<\/td>\n

      		Not started<\/td>\n\n
        \n
      • Comparison with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) which has little evidence against COVID-19<\/li>\n
      • No other control group to compare with Ashwagandha<\/em>– if both groups have the same effect<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      5<\/td>\nSinghal<\/td>\nHigh-risk,<\/p>\n

      Healthy<\/td>\n

      		Recruiting<\/td>\n\n
        \n
      • No control group<\/li>\n
      • Protocol vague between healthy and asymptomatic cases, unclear which will be included<\/li>\n
      • Enlists vague and generalised outcomes like \u2018communicable diseases\u2019<\/li>\n
      • Outcomes with which mental well-being will be quantified are undefined<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      6<\/td>\nChopra<\/td>\nHealthy<\/td>\nNot started<\/td>\n\n