The present review deals with the medicinal agents based on natural curative mud from Lake Karachi in Siberia which have been obtained by staff members of the organic chemistry chair of the Tomsk State University under the guidance of Professor G.L. Ryzhova.

Tomsk University, founded over 100 years ago in one of Siberia's oldest cities, is an up-to-date educational and scientific establishment having stable ties with the country's major research centres, the institutes of the Tomsk branch of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences which have University chairs, and with large industrial enterprises. One of the aspects of its activity is promoting the utilization of scientific developments and ideas.

The University's recognized scientific centers - the Siberian Physical Engineering Institute, the Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, the Institute of Biology and Biophysics, the Botanical Gardens and the Scientific Library - are making their contribution to the progress of University science.

From time immemorial people have used natural muds, so-called peloids, for treating their ailments.

Today, too, this old natural remedy included in new medicinal preparations - dry water-soluble concentrates of Siberian peloids - continues to work.

These efficacious drugs are obtained on the basis of natural silt sulphide mud and highly mineralized rapa water from Lake Karachi in Siberia.

The important thing is that these drugs preserve the entire set of biologically active substances contained in natural mud, keep well in ordinary conditions, and are easy to dispense and transport.

The manufacturing methods are ecologically safe and do not involve great expenses.

Thousands of patients suffering from inflammatory diseases of the locomotion system, the gastrointestinal tract, the hepatobiliary system or the upper respiratory passages, as well as gynecological, dermatological or stomatological afflictions have already taken courses of treatment with the above medicinal agents. Excellent results have been achieved in nine out of ten cases,

which give us the grounds for saying that Siberian peloids, the unique composition of Karachi-type Siberian peloids:

- ensures highly effective antiphlogistic and analgetic action in acute and chronic diseases while ruling out completely the development of allergic reactions and having a mild effect on the cardiovascular system;

- rules out exacerbations of concomitant diseases;

- has a regulating influence on systemic and local immunity;

- is nontoxic.

Moreover, peloids are easy for use in domestic conditions.

The consumption rates in treating with natural sulfide mud, natural rapa and the new dry preparations based on rapa and mud are presented in the table below.

The difference is striking indeed: the amount of a dry preparation required per course of treatment is thousands of times smaller than that of silt sulfide mud.

The drugs based on Siberian peloids can be used in electrophysiotherapy, compresses, irrigation, inhalation and rinsing, and also as additives to medicinal cosmetic agents.

The Ministry of Public Health has approved physiotherapeutic techniques and recommendations for their broad use. The drugs have been clinically tested and preventive care centers of Siberian and Altai cities.

The drugs are contraindicated in conditions requiring surgical intervention, as well as in cases of cutaneous lesions (exema, dermatitis, pustules), pregnancy, hemorrhage-readiness, individual intolerance and exacerbation or concomitant diseases.

The multicomponent composition of the biologically active compounds contained in concentrates of Karachi-type Siberian peloids brings about a cumulative effect in the human body, stimulating the functioning of the endocrine system and suppressing inflammatory processes.

All the drugs in question are capable of removing acute inflammatory reactions, inflammatory growth of granulocyte elements and exhibit ah analgesic action.

As a result the patient's general condition and physical fitness improve, the clinical and laboratory characteristics show normalization and the bodily status get back to normal.

The therapeutic effect is 85-95 per cent and depends on the stage and duration of the disease. Work is currently under way to produce new medicinal forms based on rapa and curative mud of the Karachi-type and bring out new possible curative properties of concentrates, while investigating the possibility of recommending them for oral administration.

The therapeutic effect is stable and long-lasting, continuing from 3 months to 3 years.

What distinguishes the Karachi-type Siberian peloid preparations is their regulating effect on cellular immunity.

The drugs are nontoxic and prove effective in repeated administration at different stages of the morbid condition.

The rapid disappearance of pain syndromes mild action on the cardiovascular system and absence of allergic reactions contribute to the patient's good tolerance of the drugs under review, turning them into universal remedies for inflammatory diseases.

The authors of the drugs are Tomsk State University, the Tomsk Researcn Institute of'Health Resort Treatment and Physiotherapy and the Tomsk State Medical University.