PGI happy with results of pilot study on Vaid’s asthma medicine

Dr Meenu Singh,Additional Professor of Paediatric Pulmonology,PGI,said,“We used the formulation as an additional medicine for children whose standard course of treatment was being tapered off. We observed that these patients stayed in remission. They didn’t get too many viral infections even during the viral season. We are happy with the results,but the medicine must be used strictly under a doctor’s observation,since a complete scientific study is yet to be done.”

Interestingly,the person who suggested to Dr Meenu Singh that the medicine can be tried for asthma patients is Dr Lata Kumar,who had been the head of the Paediatrics Department for almost seven years,before her retirement. She had set up the Asthma Clinic in the department. Dr Lata,who resides in Sector 38 now,suggested to Dr Meenu that PGI can conduct a pilot study to see if the medicine produces any medical benefits.

Talking to Newsline,Dr Lata said,“NIPER had conducted an extensive study on the medicine. When Dr Parikshit Bansal of NIPER spoke to me about the medicine,I suggested it could be tried for asthmatic children. PGI has now done a preliminary study,which has shown good results. We would like to administer it for a longer period of time so that one completely knows its efficacy,” she said.

Raj Katyal,the Vaid,whose formulation was tested at NIPER,said she had been giving this medicine to asthma patients for years. Added Dr Parikshit Bansal,the in-charge of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Cell at NIPER,“We would like this medicine to cross the borders of India and benefit children all over the world after detailed studies involving larger number of patients is conducted.” Dr Bansal had initiated the three-year study at NIPER on the formulation.