In breakthrough research by Indian homoeopath, Dr Rajesh Shah in collaboration with clinical pharmacologists at Mumbai’s BYL Nair Hospital, five new homoeopathic drugs have shown anti-fungal and anti-bacterial effects in a laboratory model. The research paper was published last week in a peer-reviewed; a Pub-med listed British Homeopathy Journal.
In this research, five new homoeopathic nosodes were developed from bacteria that produce typhoid (Salmonella typhi), pneumonia (Klebsiella pneumonia), gonorrhoea (Neisseria Gonorrhea), gastrointestinal infections (E Coli) and from fungus (Candida albicans) by Dr Rajesh Shah, a homoeopath and researcher. Nosodes are homoeopathic medicines prepared from bacteria and viruses. Nosodes are often comparable with vaccines because they are prepared from viruses and bacteria, but they are not vaccines. There are about fifty nosodes used in homoeopathy for over 150 years. Interestingly, homoeopathy and vaccination were introduced to the world in the same year that is 1796.
“Homeopathy is often subjected to scepticism due to lack of scientific evidence,” said, Dr Shah, who has been working on new drugs for the last two decades. “This research is a strongly convincing evidence of the scientific proof of the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effects of homoeopathic medicines in laboratory experiments.” Dr Shah was earlier awarded a national award from the Ministry of AYUSH in 2018, for his research in developing another nosode from the TB germs. Dr Renuka Munshi and Geeta Talele are the co-authors of this research paper.
Candida is a common fungus affecting the skin and lungs. The research shows that a nosode prepared from Candida fungus was able to inhibit the growth of candida fungus in the laboratory. Its success was as effective as standard anti-fungal medicine called amphotericin.
Similarly, the homoeopathic nosodes prepared from Typhoid bacteria (Salmonella typhi) in certain doses could inhibit the growth of the germs similar to that by Ciprofloxacin and Ofloxacin. A new drug prepared from E. Coli could also inhibit the growth of E. Coli bacteria as effectively as the previously mentioned antibiotics. Typhoid and E. Coli bacteria are amongst the major bacteria producing infections of the intestines and other organs.
Klebsiella pneumonia is a major cause of pneumonia, a lung infection. A homoeopathic nosode prepared from the same bacteria could inhibit the growth at par with the commonly used antibiotics.
“Infections of typhoid, E. Coli and pneumonia are among the most common in daily practice. Many of these bacteria tend to become resistant to antibiotics, requiring stronger antibiotics with more adverse effects,” said Dr Rajesh Shah, “It will be a great advantage if homoeopathic medicines could demonstrate such results in human trials a well, which could potentially help reduce the use of antibiotics.” Dr Shah is a director and research head at Biosimilia Pvt Ltd, a start-up focusing on new drugs prepared from biological materials.
When an allopathically trained lung-specialist (pulmonologist) from KEM Hospital, Dr Jaswant Patil was asked about the anti-microbial scope of homoeopathy, he said, “Many homoeopathic studies have shown anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal effects in animal and clinical trials in the past. In spite of being an allopathic doctor, I use homoeopathic medicines for most of such infections and I get excellent results.” Dr Patil is a pulmonologist turned homoeopath, who has given up his ICU practice and now practising homoeopathy for over twenty years.
In a series of experiments with various germ-based nosodes developed by Dr Shah, he says, “We have seen anti-HIV, anti-Hepatitis C, anti-malaria and anti-cancer effects in laboratory and human models with some of the nosodes. I firmly believe that nosodes will have a great future in the preventive and therapeutic roles in healthcare.”
Homoeopathy has a tradition of making nosodes from almost all major germs including TB, measles, smallpox, syphilis, scabies, diphtheria, and more. Some of the homoeopathic nosodes prepared from specific germs were found to be very effective in managing epidemics of leptospirosis, dengue and influenza in Brazil and Cuba. Recently, Biosimilia has also developed a nosode from the COVID-19 virus and has conducted phase 1 and phase 2 trials examining the prophylactic role of the nosode.
