In homeopathy, arsenicum
album (Arsen. alb.) is a solution prepared by diluting aqueous arsenic
trioxide generally until there is little or no arsenic remaining in the
solution. It is used by homeopaths in an attempt to treat a range of symptoms
that include digestive disorders and, as an application of the so-called Law of
Similars, has been suggested by homeopaths as a treatment for arsenic poisoning.
Since the arsenic oxide in a homeopathic preparation is normally non-existent,
it is considered generally safe, although cases of arsenic poisoning from
poorly prepared homeopathic treatments sold in India have been reported. When
properly prepared, however, the extreme dilutions, typically to at least 1 in
1024, or 12C in homeopathic notation, mean that a pill would not
contain even a molecule of the original arsenic used. While Anisur Khuda-Bukhsh's
unblinded studies have claimed an effect on reducing arsenic toxicity, they do
not recommend its large-scale use, and studies of homeopathic remedies have
been shown to generally have problems that prevent them from being considered
unambiguous evidence. There is no known mechanism for how arsenicum album could
remove arsenic from a body, and there is insufficient evidence for it to be
considered effective medicine (for any condition) by the scientific community.
However MCGM is
distributing Arsenicum Album 30 homoeopathic medicine free of charge as
preventive measure to fight nCov19 as recommended by Ministry of Ayush,
Government of India. State Home Minister Mr. Rajesh Tope is telling public that
Arsenicum Album 30 has been approved by AYUSH as preventive medicine for nCov19
infection.
The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani,
Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) of India released two advisories via
PIB on the preventative and treatment measures that can be taken for the
coronavirus epidemic. One of the advisories was using the homoeopathy drug
Arsenicum album 30 as a ‘prophylactic medicine’ for the prevention of the
infection:
“At the instance of Ministry of AYUSH, Central Council for
Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) discussed the ways and means of prevention of
Coronavirus infection through Homoeopathy in 64th meeting of its Scientific
Advisory Board on 28th January 2020. The Group of Experts inter-alia has
recommended that homoeopathy medicine Arsenicum album30 could be taken as
prophylactic medicine against Coronavirus infections, which has also been advised
for prevention of ILI. It has recommended one doze of Arsenicum album 30, daily
in empty stomach for three days. The dose should be repeated after one month by
following the same schedule in case Coronavirus infections prevail in the
community. The Expert Group has further suggested that general hygienic
measures for prevention of air-borne infections suggested by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, for prevention of the disease should
also be followed by the public.”
It is pertinent to
note the caveat incorporated by the Ministry of Ayush in Annexure 1 to its
directive dated 06/03/2020 which states that - During Ebola outbreak in 2014 expert group of WHO has recommended that
"it is ethical to offer
unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention"
keeping in view no vaccine or anti-virals were available.
Thus Ministry of AYUSH itself categorically admits that:
1.
Arsenicum Album 30 is an unproven intervention;
2.
It has unknown efficacy and
3.
It has unknown adverse effects.
While AYUSH cites
centuries of practitioners’ experiences with these products as evidence behind
its advice, the media and the scientific community criticized the guidance as
being counterproductive in dealing with a serious health emergency.
David Robert Grimes,
an Irish science writer who has published research showing homeopathy to be ineffective, in an email to The Scientist said “It is
profoundly irresponsible of the Ministry of AYUSH to endorse homeopathy as this
entirely undermines public understanding of science and medicine, and elevates
pseudoscience with potentially dangerous consequences.” Grimes has argued that
the proposed mechanisms of homeopathy are implausible when analysed from a
physical and chemical perspective, and says that it is not surprising,
therefore, that the biological effects of homeopathy cannot be measured in
large-scale clinical trials.
According to Dr
Edzard Ernst, an emeritus professor at the University of Exeter in the UK and a
critic of homeopathy
“The claim of some homeopaths that homeopathic remedies are effective in
treating or preventing coronavirus
infections is not based on any evidence at all.” Dr Ernst points to a
study that found no difference between Arsenicum album and a placebo in
preventing fever after vaccination. Other studies in which homeopathy was found
to be ineffective include one on acute respiratory tract infections,
another on middle ear infections, and yet another on influenza-like illness.
Dr Ernst further
comments, “Using homeopathy as an alternative therapy risks forfeiting effective
causative or symptomatic treatments or if such treatments are not available
creating a false sense of security. In any case, it would be a waste of
resources.”
Even among proponents
of homeopathy, there is disagreement about the best way to prevent the
coronavirus. Mitchell
Fleisher, the second vice president of the American Institute of
Homeopathy, says that the Lancet
article that scientists at CCRH used to come up with their advice does not provide
enough information on symptoms to make an accurate homeopathic prescription.
He says that perhaps
the best way to validate the therapeutic value of homeopathy would be to
perform a comparative clinical outcome study of acute corona viral infection by
giving individualized homeopathic medicines to one experimental group and
allopathic medicines to another, with a minimum of 250 patients in each group. Mitchell Fleisher
says “A careful and honest, statistical analysis of the study results will
speak the scientific truth.”
Countering Fleisher’s
proposal, Grimes says that this is completely unethical. He says “Homeopathy
has no plausible mechanism of action, and it is downright irresponsible to
suggest it in a trial for a serious potential pandemic. Large scale studies of
homeopathy have clearly shown over decades the same result—that it simply does
not work.”
Thailand Medical News’s director,
Jakkapong Watcharachaijunta has said, “Its total ridiculous and outright
irresponsible for the Indian government to have allowed such a health advisory
to be released as it also affects the image of the whole healthcare and medical
industry in India
which have always been held in high esteem internationally. Everyone knows that
homeopathy is
even worse than placebo as it just some charlatans trying to make money out of
sugar pills and compounds with no scientific basis or even solid evidence so
far even after hundreds of years. It’s a shame that the Indian government did
not turn to its own traditional Indian Aurvedic Medicine where are many
concoctions and hebs with antiviral properties and proper research into some of
those could perhaps yield results. One interesting candidate is the
licorice root which has been used in both Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) as
well as in Indian Ayurvedic Medcine.”
To summarise:
1. Evidence for Arsenicum album 30 for coronavirus: No studies were found that
researched the effect of Arsenicum album for coronavirus in humans or animals
(in vivo). Also, there were also no studies found in an ex-vivo (outside the
animal/human body) to study the drug efficacy.
2. Evidence for any homoeopathy drug for coronavirus: No studies were found that
linked the efficacy of any homoeopathy drug in coronavirus infections.
3. Evidence for Arsenicum album 30 for any infection: Searching for evidence in the
homoeopathic research for evidence for the drug Arsenicum album 30, only one
paper was found, published in British Homoeopathic Journal (Kayne &
Rafferty, 1994) that studied its use in neonatal diarrhoea in calves. This
study was not only in animals on a different type of infection, but was found
to be statistically invalid by Verdier, Öhagen & Alenius in 2003.
Thus,
Arsenicum album 30 has not been proven or researched scientifically by
homoeopaths to prevent or cure coronavirus or any other infections in humans.
As with
other homoeopathic drugs, Arsenicum album 30 has never been tested or proven to
reduce coronavirus infections or to prevent coronavirus infections.
The claim
of the AYUSH Ministry and the AYUSH homoeopaths therefore is not only false, dangerous
but deceitful too and can lead to India’s own coronavirus epidemic, as the
infected patients’ caregivers and general public can assume false protection
based on the government of India’s advisory.
This
misinformed advice, if followed, risks millions of people’s lives during such a
dangerous and contagious epidemic.
The moot
question is: What convinced Ministry of AYUSH to issue such an advisory telling
people to take Arsenicum Album 30 pills to prevent nCov19 infection?
Hope Vaidya
Rajesh Kotecha from Ministry of Ayush who has authored the Directive would
offer specific answer.
Kishor
Satwick
(15/05/2020)
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