The Ministry of AYUSH today refuted the claim of research which said that the use of Tinospora cordifolia, popularly known as Giloy, resulted in liver damage in six patients in Mumbai. In a statement issued to the press, the ministry clarified that linking Giloy with liver damage would be misleading as the herb has been used in Ayurveda for a long time.
According to the report, it was told in research that liver disease is a result of consumption of Giloy. According to research published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology, drinking too much decoction of Giloy can cause liver toxicity. The researchers said that they had detected six cases of liver damage associated with Giloy between September and December 2020. Patients who came to the doctor complained of jaundice and lethargy.
The ministry says that the authors of the research failed to keep all the necessary information about the cases in a systematic format. The statement further said, “The effectiveness of Tinospora cordifolia in the management of many disorders is well established. After observing the research, it was also observed that the researchers did not analyze the ingredients of the herb that the patients used. It is the responsibility of the researchers to ascertain that the herb used by the patients is Tinospora cordifolia and not any other herb.
In order to strengthen the knowledge, the authors should have consulted a botanist or consulted an expert in Ayurveda.” The statement further added, “Many research shows that the wrong result of not correctly identifying the herb. It is possible. Treating Tinospora cordifolia in the same way can have negative effects on the liver. The authors needed to follow the standard guidelines and identify the plants correctly, which they did not. There are many flaws in research. It is not clear how much dosage patients had taken or whether they had taken this herb with other medicines. The current or past medical records of the patients were not considered in the research.