Soldiers manning the border posts in Kashmir that has some of the coldest battlefields in the world, including the Siachen glacier, have a reason to cheer now. A Chyavanprash has been developed by the country's premier research laboratory Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) to help them withstand the bone-chilling cold on the Himalayan heights bordering Pakistan and China.
Pre-clinical and clinical trials of this ayurvedic preparation have been successfully conducted by Dr.Sathya Murthy, an allopathic practitioner attached to the research and development (Medical) unit of DRDO, the secretary-general of New Delhi-based Vijnana Bharati, Jayakumar Appukuttan, told The Hindu .
The Chyavanprash has been tested among the soldiers serving in high altitudes and it has yielded good results, he said.
“Trials have revealed that soldiers after consuming this Chyavanprash have shown that they could not only withstand the sub-zero temperatures, but also could extend their stay in the cold region,” said Mr. Jayakumar, who is coordinating the IV World Ayurveda Congress that starts here from December 9.
Without revealing what changes were brought into this ayurveda product that is being consumed in India for several centuries now, he said some ingredients were added to the existing recipe to boost the soldiers' immunity.
Threat to exports
There is a threat of India losing out on export of ayurvedic medicine and dietary products after March 2011 when the deadline set by the European Union for product validation expires.
According to Suman Chatterji, Under Secretary in the AYUSH Department of the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the European Union had issued Herbal Medicinal Product Directive to ban import of such products.
“The directive has put a condition that only those products, which were in use for 15 years in Europe or 30 years elsewhere, could be imported to the European Union. A Geneva-based NGO is engaged in studying documentary evidence for furnishing it for getting the ban withdrawn,” he said.
The AYSUH Department, along with the Commerce Ministry, was jointly working to consolidate documentary evidence.
The Central Council of Research in Ayurveda and other departments along with the Maharshi University, the U.S., and members of the European Union were taking up research on drugs to cure cancer, diabetes and skin disorders.
