Outcomes of Ayurvedic care in a COVID-19 patient with hypoxia – A case report

This paper reports for the first time, the outcomes of Ayurvedic intervention in a COVID-19 patient with hypoxia requiring supportive oxygen therapy. Patient developed fever, severe cough, loss of smell, loss of taste, nasal block, anorexia, headache, body ache, chills, and fatigue and was hospitalised when she developed severe breathing difficulty. Later, she tested positive for COVID-19 by RT-PCR. The patient sought Ayurvedic treatment voluntarily when her SPO(2) remained at 80% even after being given oxygen support. The patient was administered Ayurvedic medicines while undergoing oxygen therapy at the hospital. The patient refused to take Fabiflu recommended by the treating physician and discontinued other Allopathic drugs except for Vitamin C. The patient showed clinical improvement within a day of administration of Ayurvedic medicines and was able to talk, eat, and sit on the bed without breathing difficulty and her SPO(2) became stable between 95 and 98%. In the next two days, she was asymptomatic without oxygen support and was discharged from the hospital in the following week. Since obesity and high plasma C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels indicated high risk for progression to severe disease, the favourable outcomes with Ayurvedic treatment in this patient is significant and warrants further studies. Ayurvedic care may be considered as a first-line cost-effective alternative for COVID-19 patients presenting with symptomatic hypoxia in an integrative setup.