Who is ready for cow's urine? >From Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) Smooth away those wrinkles with nature's best medicine, a swig of pure cow's urine. The ancient Vedic medicine, which bagged a U.S. patent last week, is touted as the miracle cure for ailments ranging from skin disease, liver problems and obesity to cancer. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) developed the product containing cow urine distillate jointly with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) cow research centre in Nagpur. The product is said to increase the activity of antibiotics and anti-cancer agents. The U.S. patent office also notes that it helps to drastically reduce the dosage of antibiotics, drugs and anti-cancer agents while increasing the absorption of bioactive molecules. But who is ready for a dose of cow's urine? The antidote, long championed by proponents of traditional Indian treatment as the wonder medicine from the gods, has not yet caught the fancy of the masses. It induces almost the same reaction as human urine - a "tonic" made famous by former prime minister Morarji Desai and used by quite a few Indians. "I cannot imagine taking it even if it comes disguised as a pill mixed with other ingredients," said Sunaina Khullar, a housewife in west Delhi. The idea of using cow's urine emanated from the VHP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist mentor of the ruling Bharata Janata Party (BJP). But the traditional medicine got a push into the mainstream when Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi directed the government-funded CSIR to investigate its properties. The scientists - 16 inventors share the patent - discovered healing components in certain compounds in cow urine that enhanced the anti-bacterial action of antibiotics and also had the potential of killing cancer cells. Long before gaining the U.S. stamp of approval, the VHP's Nagpur research centre had last year, started marketing the liquid in bottles labelled "Gift of the Cow". The urine is collected daily from shelters for rescued and wounded cattle set up by the VHP under a government programme to protect the animal. It is advertised as "sterilised and completely fresh" and sold at VHP-run centres all over the country, at the rate of Rs.110 per litre. It also comes in pills and cream mixed with other traditional medicinal herbs. The healing properties of cow dung and cow's urine are also mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. But doctors are sceptical about the remedy. "It is very unfortunate that the U.S. has patented something like this without adequate research and advice about its commercial use," said Prem Aggarwal, president of the National Medical Forum. Aggarwal said no proper research had been conducted into the properties of cow's urine. "The medical community does not subscribe to this kind of home-grown therapy that has no proven quality." CSIR director general R.A. Mashelkar has said it could take up to a decade to develop the product for commercial use and more research would be taken up. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
