Multimodal ayurvedic approach in the management of moderate SARS-COV2 infection with co-morbidities - A case report

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic which has claimed more than 1.4 million lives as of today. This unprecedented period demands greatly for the traditional and native medical systems which are time-tested and holistic. Some of the recent studies have reported severe infection in individuals with comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, old age, etc. Ayurveda understands this condition as Agantuja Jwara of Sannipatika origin. Madhumeha (diabetes mellitus) is basically a disease of depleted Ojus (immunity) as per Ayurveda.

Here, we report a case of COVID-19 in an elderly overweight patient with diabetes, which was managed successfully with Ayurvedic medicines, diet, lifestyle, yoga, and rejuvenative therapy.

A 70-year-old male consulted our physician through phone call and willfully wanted to take Ayurvedic management for COVID-19. On the 1^st day of treatment, the patient complained of fever at 103 F, headache, and severe body ache. Later on, started with a cough, headache, shortness of breath, excessive thirst, etc. Based on the symptom cluster and food-exercise routine, Kapha and Pitta were the vitiated body humors.

After thorough Ayurvedic assessment, the patient was administered with Langhana, Pachana (procedures to improve digestive metabolism), anti-pyretic, and antidiabetic medications followed by yoga and pranayama. The patient was also advised rejuvenative therapy to prevent further post-COVID complications. Quality of Life was assessed with Quality of Life Instrument for Indian Diabetes Patients (QOLID) and EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D). The patient was completely relieved from major symptoms in 4 days and tested negative after 12 days, with considerable improvement in QOL. The case was followed up for 60 days, and no post-COVID symptoms were reported.