• Diseases
  • African Trypanosomiasis
  • Buruli Ulcer
  • Chagas Disease
  • Cholera
  • Dengue
  • Dracunculiasis
  • Emerging infectious diseases
  • Fascioliasis
  • Leishmaniasis
  • Leprosy
  • Lymphatic Filariasis
  • Malaria
  • Onchocerciasis
  • Schistosomiasis
  • Soil transmitted helminthiases
  • Trachoma
  • Tuberculosis
  • Yaws
  • Zoonoses
• Global health topics
  • Agriculture
  • Biotechnology
  • Climate change
  • Capacity building
  • Community health
  • Conflict
  • Diagnostics
  • Economics
  • Environment
  • Ethics
  • Equity
  • Funding
  • Gender
  • Health policy and systems
  • Human rights
  • Immunology
  • Innovation
  • Operations research
  • Pharmaceutical products
  • Poverty
  • Primary health care
  • Research priorities
  • Research translation
  • Social environment
  • Vaccines
  • Vectors
• News
• Reviews
• Editorial opinions
• Research articles
• Reports
• Virtual journals
• Profiles
• Policy & Strategy
• Funding opportunities
• Networking
• Resources
• Toolkits
  • Knowledge Translation (KT) Toolkit
  • Health Research Systems Analysis (HRSA) Toolkit

Communities of practice

• Disease Reference Groups
• Thematic Reference Groups

Lymphatic filariasis: integrated approach brings new hope

26 Feb 2008

Joao Souza

Source: Institute of Applied Dermatology (IAD) (see original article)

Delegates at the National Seminar on Lymphatic Filariasis, held in Kasaragod, India heard claims that an integrated approach, combining traditional and modern medicine, has led to a considerable improvement in treatment success, compared with the use of conventional methods alone. The Indian Institute of Applied Dermatology (IAD), which has developed the new approach, says it is now able to relieve up to 80 percent of the chronic manifestations of this highly degenerative infectious disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has named filariasis as the fourth leading cause of disability in the world. Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a highly degenerative, non-curable infectious disease. The parasite responsible causes blockages in the lymphatic system leading to swellings (lymphoedema) often affecting the legs and scrotum (hydrocoele). Further consequences include scarring and extreme disability. Although rarely life-threatening, LF causes widespread social stigma, as it can lead to grotesquely elephant-like swollen limbs (elephantiasis).

The Kasarogod seminar, 5- 7 February 2008, was organized by the IAD and was attended by nearly 250 delegates from different parts of India and nine delegates from abroad, including the UK, US and Bangladesh.

The seminar discussed ‘Evidence Based and Integrated Medicine for LF and other Dermatoses”, giving emphasis to “Morbidity Control of LF by patient empowerment through creation of patient support peer group cooperatives”.’

IAD is internationally known for its treatment of patients suffering from neglected skin diseases, including LF, through an integrated approach that combines traditional Indian ayurveda and yoga procedures with western medicine. It also emphasizes treating the sick at home. Patients are taught to continue the self-help treatment method at home, with the support of family members.

Chief Dermatologist and one of the founders of IAD, Dr S R Narahari, described the
ayurveda and yoga method of self-care for the management of lymphoedema: ‘A skin wash, dipping the infected leg in ayurvedic skin tonic, massaging with special oil and modern compression bandage and medicines are the uniqueness of this treatment.’

In India alone, LF affects 25 million people across 15 states of the country. The new method is claimed to have already helped to treat over 500 Indian patients.

‘Nearly a billion people in about 80 countries are at a risk of contacting lymphatic filariasis and over 120 million have already been affected by the malady’, said IAD Principal, Dr K S Bose.

The Institute is working in collaboration with Professor Terence Ryan from Medical Sciences Division at Oxford University and is supported by the Indian Council of Medical Sciences in New Delhi (ICMR), the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore (IISC) and the Forum for Ethical Review Committee in India (FERCAP).

Janardhan, a 24-year old patient, pictured on the IAD’s home page, is an example of the effectiveness of the integrated method. Suffering from advanced elephantiasis, his left leg weighed 18 kg. He could barely get out of bed on most days. Janardhan became an outcast in his own family; his mother and brothers refused to talk to him. His father, a school teacher, consulted many doctors but to no avail. Now, after six months of treatment at IAD, his left leg weighs only 6 kg (a 60% decrease). He now wants this treatment to be extended to hundreds of other patients suffering from elephantiasis.

About IAD

The Institute of Applied Dermatology (IAD), Kasaragod is a non-profit, charitable, non-governmental organization. Since its launch in 1999, it has developed an integrated approach for the treatment of filariasis by combining various systems of medicine including ayurveda, allopathy homoeopathy, physiotherapy and yoga. This treatment protocol has been recognised as a new medical development by the Indian Department of Health Research, the International Society of Lymphology and a number of other national and international scientific institutions.

Comments