Aim: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been practiced in India for thousands of years. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of use, perception and attitude of doctors and patients utilizing the same healthcare facility. Methods: This study was conducted among 200 doctors working at a tertiary care teaching Hospital, India and 403 patients attending the same, to determine the extent of usage, attitude and perception toward CAM. Results: The use of CAM was more among doctors (58%) when compared with the patients (28%). Among doctors, those who had utilized CAM themselves, recommended CAM as a therapy to their patients (52%) and enquired about its use from patients (37%) to a greater extent. CAM was used concomitantly with allopathic medicine by 60% patients. Very few patients (7%) were asked by their doctors about CAM use, and only 19% patients voluntarily informed their doctors about the CAM they were using. Most patients who used CAM felt it to be more effective, safer, less costly and easily available in comparison to allopathic medicines. Conclusion: CAM is used commonly by both doctors and patients. There is a lack of communication between doctors and patients regarding CAM, which may be improved by sensitization of doctors and inclusion of CAM in the medical curriculum

Indian J Med Res, Official publication of Indian Council of Medical Research,India

Drug discovery and development is a time-consuming and costly procedure that necessitates a substantial effort. Drug repurposing has been suggested as a method for developing medicines that takes less time than developing brand new medications and will be less expensive. Also known as drug repositioning or re-profiling, this strategy has been in use from the time of serendipitous drug discoveries to the modern computer aided drug designing and use of computational chemistry. In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic too, drug repurposing emerged as a ray of hope in the dearth of available medicines. Data availability by electronic recording, libraries, and improvements in computational techniques offer a vital substrate for systemic evaluation of repurposing candidates. In the not-too-distant future, it could be possible to create a global research archive for us to access, thus accelerating the process of drug development and repurposing. This review aims to present the evolution, benefits and drawbacks including current approaches, key players and the legal and regulatory hurdles in the field of drug repurposing. The vast quantities of available data secured in multiple drug databases, assisting in drug repurposing is also discussed.

Indian J Psychiatry, Indian Journal of Psychiatry is the official publication of the Indian Psychiatric Society that considers for publication articles in all fields of Psychiatry