Coimbatore:  The Indian government has initiated a project
to conduct the first ever clinical trial on efficacy of Ayurveda in management
of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
has been signed between the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda (CCRAS)
and the AVP Research Foundation, Coimbatore, for Phase IV Clinical Trial on
Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The study is based on a previous
pilot study conducted by the AVP in 2003. Then the National Institutes of
Health, USA, awarded a grant through the University of Washington, Seattle, to
conduct a clinical trial comparing the efficacy and safety of classical
Ayurvedic treatment and standard Allopathic treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The outcome of the study was
published in leading research journals like Annals of Rheumatic Diseases and
Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. The study was also recommended as a blue
print for future studies on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by Dr Edzard
Ernst, a vehement critic of CAM. The paper published in JCR also won the
prestigious European Society of Integrative Medicine “Award for Excellence in
Integrative Medicine Research”. This was a major step for recognition of
Ayurveda in Europe.

The Indian government has now come
forward to take the study to next level as part of positioning Ayurveda as a
forefront medical system capable of handling conditions including auto-immune
disorders.

The agreement to pursue the study
was signed between Dr P R Krishnakumar, Chairman of AVP Research Foundation,
and Dr Shasidhar Doddamani representing CCRAS. “This is one of the major
initiatives of the government to position India’s medical wealth for the
benefit of the world,” Dr Krishnakumar said after signing the MoU.

The Coimbatore AVP Hospital,
Regional Ayurveda Research Institute for Metabolic Disorders, Bengaluru, and
Raja Ramdeo Anandilala Central Ayurveda Research Institute for Cancer, Mumbai,
will be the clinical sites of the study.

Renowned physician Dr KG
Raveendran would be the treating physician of the study at Coimbatore and Dr
Somit Kumar the Director of AVP Research Foundation would be co-ordinating the
study. The study is designed by the world renowned rheumatologist Dr Daniel
Furst, currently the Director of Clinical Research at Arthritis Association of
South California (AASC).

ENDS