LUGELA as a Unique Natural Medicament: The History of Scientific and Medical Recognition

From a Natural Source to an Object of Medical Science

The history of LUGELA began long before laboratory protocols and clinical publications appeared. The inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Western Georgia knew the source and used its water for practical purposes. However, folk experience alone does not establish scientific status. It was necessary to determine the chemical composition of the water, the consistency of its properties, physiological effects, allowable doses, and application results in various conditions.

The transition from empirical use to scientific research occurred in the first half of the 20th century. In a review published by Professor D. V. Javakhishvili, it is mentioned that the first chemical analysis of LUGELA was performed in 1928 by chemist R. Kuptsis. Subsequently, the Institute of Balneology of the Georgian SSR conducted repeated analyses and routine observations. The works of V. Khukhiya, D. Eristavi, M. Georgobiani, and other researchers confirmed the stability of the water’s chemical composition.

This result was fundamentally important. For therapeutic use of a natural source, it is insufficient to detect high mineralization. It is necessary to prove that the composition remains consistent over time and that the object of study has reproducible characteristics. Regular analyses turned LUGELA from a local natural phenomenon into a defined and observed object of medical science.

Rare Composition and the Birth of the Concept of a Natural Drug

D. V. Javakhishvili characterized LUGELA as a highly mineralized chloride-calcium water. According to his data, the dry residue exceeded 53 grams per liter, about 88 percent of the mineralization consisted of calcium chloride, and bromine content reached approximately 180 milligrams per liter. Sodium, potassium, magnesium, iodine, and other components were also present.

The researcher emphasized that LUGELA is not a mechanical solution of a single salt but a complex and exceptionally successful natural chemical complex. Already at the beginning of his work, the water was called a genuine natural medicine. This definition was based on the combination of two groups of data: its unusual composition and the results of biological effects.

The concept of a natural medicament in this case has a specific scientific meaning. It indicates that the active mineral system is formed by natural geological processes, has a stable composition, and induces physiological reactions that cannot be fully explained by the action of any isolated component. Subsequent comparative studies of LUGELA and calcium chloride solutions reinforced this understanding.

Prewar Stage of Experimental Research

Scientific study of LUGELA was not limited to chemical analysis. Even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Scientific Research Institute of Balneology and Physiotherapy of Georgia, together with employees from other institutions, began experimental research on animals and clinical observations. Scientists evaluated the effects of the water on the digestive system, blood circulation, blood clotting, inflammatory processes, diuresis, and mineral metabolism.

Works by M. Lezhava showed the influence of LUGELA on the secretory and evacuatory functions of the stomach as well as on blood clotting and viscosity. Experiments studied its effects on parenchymal bleeding. G. Gvishiani and V. Khukhiya examined the impact of the water on vascular tone, blood pressure, and heart activity. G. Chimakadze investigated the diuretic effect.

Comparative experiments held special significance. They showed that the similarity of LUGELA to calcium chloride solution in the main component does not imply pharmacodynamic identity. The water differed in calcium absorption, duration of changes in blood calcium levels, and effects on diuresis. These results provided a scientific basis for considering it as an independent natural therapeutic factor.

Recognition of Uniqueness in 1945

By the mid-1940s, the research base included chemical analyses, experimental work, and clinical observations. In the monograph by D. V. Javakhishvili, it is explicitly stated that in 1945 the Scientific Council of the USSR Ministry of Health recognized LUGELA therapeutic water as unique. The basis was the absence of information about mineral waters of similar composition in the USSR and foreign countries, as well as accumulated data on its biological activity.

This decision marked the transition from research interest to institutional recognition. The term “unique” was applied not as a figurative description but as a conclusion related to the rarity of the chemical composition, natural origin, and established therapeutic properties.

Scientific recognition did not end the research. On the contrary, after the war, at the suggestion of the Scientific Council of the Ministry of Health of the Georgian SSR, departments and clinics of the Tbilisi Medical Institute, the Institute for Advanced Medical Training, and other specialized institutions joined the work. LUGELA became an interdisciplinary study subject, combining balneology, pharmacology, therapy, gynecology, dermatology, and other fields.

Pharmacopoeial Stage of 1946

Scientific-historical materials on LUGELA record the next important stage: in 1946, the water was included in the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR as a unique natural medicinal product. Pharmacopoeial inclusion represented the transition of the natural therapeutic object into the field of normatively described means of medical use.

The significance of this fact lies not only in the mention of LUGELA in the state compilation of requirements. Pharmacopoeial status implied the necessity of composition definition, quality control, storage rules, and professional handling. Thus, scientific results received normative continuation.

Formation of the Javakhishvili Scientific Platform

A special role in the history of LUGELA belongs to Professor D. V. Javakhishvili. His contribution was not only in describing individual results. He combined chemical, pharmacological, experimental, and clinical information into a coherent scientific system. Thanks to this, LUGELA began to be regarded simultaneously as a natural mineral complex, an object of pharmacological research, and a means of practical medicine.

In 1949, material about the mineral water LUGELA was published in the journal “Soviet Medicine.” In 1953, a work titled “Mineral Water LUGELA. Characteristics and Therapeutic Properties” was issued, prepared at the Scientific Research Institute of Balneology and Physical Methods of Treatment of the Georgian SSR Ministry of Health. It systematized information about composition, methods of application, dosage, experimental research, and clinical observations.

Javakhishvili’s work is important as evidence of a mature stage of research. The author did not reduce the water’s action to its high calcium content. He emphasized the complexity of the natural complex and explicitly stated that chemical similarity to a calcium chloride solution does not prove identical pharmacodynamic action and therapeutic properties. This position defined the further direction of research.

Expansion of Clinical Experience

In the post-war years, the scope of LUGELA study was consistently expanded. Clinical observations were carried out in conditions where calcium preparations were used, as well as in inflammatory processes, vascular permeability disorders, bleeding, diseases of digestive organs, kidneys, and skin. Researchers evaluated not only patients’ subjective condition but also laboratory parameters, diuresis, blood calcium content, clotting, and other measurable indicators.

An important feature of the formed scientific school was continuity. Works by M. Lezhava, G. Gvishiani, E. Kvitsaridze, V. Khukhiya, V. Tushishvili, N. Glonti, I. Andguladze, and other authors were not isolated. Each examined a separate aspect of the common question: which components determine the water’s effects, how the natural complex differs from an artificial solution, and in which clinical areas its activity manifests.

Thus arose a body of scientific materials including monographs, articles, experimental works, clinical observations, and dissertation research. Its value is determined not by a single publication but by a stable line of research continued for decades.

Why LUGELA Recognition Cannot Be Reduced to a Single Event

Scientific and medical recognition of LUGELA was formed sequentially and included several interconnected levels:

• Analytical Level: determination of chemical composition and its stability.
• Experimental Level: study of physiological and pharmacological reactions.
• Comparative Level: identification of differences from calcium chloride solution.
• Clinical Level: observation of application results in specialized institutions.
• Institutional Level: recognition of uniqueness by the Scientific Council of the USSR Ministry of Health.
• Normative Level: historically documented inclusion in the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR.
• Academic Level: publications, monographs, dissertations, and formation of scientific continuity.

It is the combination of these stages that allows speaking of LUGELA as a unique natural medicament. It is not about a single positive observation or a later interpretation but a consistent progression from analysis of a natural object to experimental verification, clinical evaluation, and official recognition.

Historical Evidence Base and Contemporary Perspective

Mid-20th century studies were conducted according to the scientific standards of their time. Their design, statistical methods, and result presentation forms differ from the requirements of modern evidence-based medicine. This circumstance must be considered in scientific evaluation but does not negate the historical and experimental value of the accumulated data.

A strong aspect of LUGELA’s scientific heritage is the reproducibility of key conclusions in works of various authors: stable multicomponent composition, biological activity, differences from artificial calcium chloride solution, and the possibility of dosed therapeutic application. These provisions form the basis for contemporary reinterpretation of the material and the setting of new research according to current protocols.

The current task is not the mechanical repetition of historical treatment schemes but the scientific continuation of an already established tradition. Archival data define research directions, help formulate hypotheses, and show which properties of LUGELA require further laboratory and clinical testing.

Conclusion