Abstract

MANAGEMENT OF FIRST STAGE OF FLU-LIKE SIGNS & SYMPTOMS IN HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) INFECTION BY POTENTIAL POLYHERBAL UNANI COMPOUND DECOCTION MEDICAMENT – AN ALTERNATE THERAPY

Prof. Dr. Naquibul Islam*, Dr. Sheikh Zahoor Ahmad, Dr. Atiba Jan and Dr. Nida Mehraj

ABSTRACT

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and it leads to the final stage of infection as AIDS which stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS happens when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of this virus. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS. HIV harms our immune system by destroying a type of white blood cell that helps our body fight infection. This puts us at risk for serious infections and certain cancers. The dreadful disease has created the severest threat to the world since the first case detected some more than six decades earlier. Never before, the world was so frightened of any disease than this before. As per Decemebr, 2021 Data, 37.7 million people are living with HIV at the end of 2020 across the world of which 680,000 -1.0 million people died from HIV-related causes. Out of the estimated 37.7 million people living with HIV, 36 million were adults and 1.7 million were children aged 0-14 years. More than half (53%) were women and girls. As per Data of 2021 for the year 2017, India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world, with 2.1 million people living with HIV with Maharashtra having the highest number of HIV cases, almost 50 percent of the total HIV/AIDS cases in India (Data updated on 21.1.2022). There is no any permanent cure available in the present modern world in Allopathic treatment. There is search of some traditional and alternative treatment for this disease (syndrome) around the world. In various Unani Medicine Literatures, which go as back as 400 BC and onwards, several of viral diseases found the cure in Unani system of medicine. In the light of cure available for various viral diseases in Unani system of medicine and keeping in view the signs and symptoms of HIV, an attempt has been made to formulate an alternate Unani Compund Medicament in the form of Decoction for the management of HIV and it will not be out of context that HIV should also be tackled likewise. The details have been discussed in this paper.

Keywords: management; human immunodeficiency virus; polyherbal; unani medicament.