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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Final results of studies on potential COVID-19 adjunct treatment under review - DOST official

Final results of studies on potential COVID-19 adjunct treatment under review - DOST official

Published Oct 5, 2021 02:53 pm

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has yet to release the final results of the clinical trials on potential adjunct treatments against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Director Jaime Montoya of the DOST’s Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) gave updates on Tuesday, Oct, 5 regarding the progress of the clinical trials on virgin coconut oil (VCO), lagundi, and tawa-tawa.

Virgin coconut oil

According to Montoya, the in vitro study on the anti-viral properties of VCO has already finished, while the community-based study on VCO conducted in Sta. Rosa, Laguna has now completed.

The study’s results, he said, have already been published in the International Journal of Functional Foods.

Meanwhile, Montoya said a separate community-based study on VCO is still ongoing after the researchers expanded the coverage of the study to include mild COVID-19 patients from Valenzuela City.

On the other hand, the VCO study involving COVID-19 patients with moderate to severe conditions at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has already wrapped up.

“The data is already being analyzed and we await the release of the final results,” Montoya told reporters in a virtual interview.

Lagundi

As for the clinical trials on lagundi, the DOST official said the study on the herbal medicine, which seeks to determine if it could help with the recovery time of patients, has also been finished last September.

“The data has already been presented to us but we are just finalizing the results before the data release so that the results are reviewed by experts,” he said.

“Because we always have to peer review all the results. We don’t want to release that results that are not yet peer reviewed,” he added.

Tawa-tawa

The clinical trial on herbal plant tawa-tawa as another potential adjunctive treatment against COVID-19 has yet to be completed, Montoya said.

“We hope that the study will finish by the end of this month, at least the recruitment of volunteers, and hopefully the result will be out by November,” he said.

Montoya underscored the importance of having the results of the clinical trials peer reviewed by experts before its publication.

“Most of the studies, the results are still pending but it's just a matter of time that we release it because we have to have it peer reviewed by experts before we have the public release of the results,” he said.

Related Tags

adjunct therapy Virgin coconut oil Department of Science and Technology tawa-tawa covid-19 CLINICALTRIALS LAGUNDI
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