Holistic healing, the Siddha way

CHENNAI: Health has never taken more priority in mankind’ modern history than in the last 3-plus years, thanks to COVID-19, which turned the world upside down. When several forms of treatment proved ineffective especially during the initial phase of the pandemic, Indians especially in Tamil Nadu, began exploring other options to strengthen immunity.

Enter the Siddha system of medicine, which has been practiced for thousands of years but until the last few years had not been given its due. Immunity boosters in the form of Kabasura Kudineer and Nilavembu Kudineer gave the public much-needed hope.

The National Siddha Day (celebrated on January 9 every year) marks the birth anniversary of Agathiyar, a revered Indian sage, who is also considered the father of Siddha medicine. While playing a key role treating COVID patients, Siddha practitioners also released several research papers in the field and the several advancements it has achieved.

Since the threat of new mutations of the virus looms, the theme this year is diet and nutrition, healthy lifestyle changes and promotion of overall health and fitness.

Patients’ trust

“It was my daughter’s 18th admission to the same hospital since she was 9 months old. She had been diagnosed with autism and her legs were in a cross position. With regular Siddha treatment, now she’s running and playing like other kids. She’s also responding to us immediately,” says Meenakshi, mother of an autistic child Chrompet, as she smiles looking at her daughter walking in the corridor of the National Institute of Siddha (NIS).

Meenakshi is not an isolated case. There are hundreds and thousands of patients who swear by Siddha treatment. And one of the main reasons for the popularity of Siddha is that these medicines have very few side-effects.

Take Aarthi from Villupuram, for instance. She was admitted at the NIS a month ago. “When compared to allopathy, Siddha medicines are slower. It takes at least 48 days to cure a patient of any illness, but at you can guarantee zero side-effects,” states Aarthi.

The NIS receives at least 2,000 patients in outpatient wards from around the country on a single day. This sudden spike in number of patients happened during and after the pandemic.

Dr Meenakshi Sundaram, dean-NIS, says, “Those who come to us are mostly patients with chronic ailments like skin disease, mental disorders, respiratory issues, ulcers, and arthritis of all kinds. The paediatric department here focuses on autistic babies. We provide a service at a minimum cost to patients.”

Traditional food habits

The Siddha Central Research Institute recently released a book of traditional food recipes from the Siddha system of medicines.

The hospital in Arumbakkam distributes one traditional snack to patients to promote the consumption of nutrition through traditional Indian food. Doctors say that there’s an increased consumption of packaged snacks that leads to health issues, especially non-communicable lifestyle diseases.

“We’re introducing healthy eating habits, and this can be a good lifestyle change. We know that the taste of packaged snacks can be addicting; so, we’re introducing new and innovative recipes to suit the palate. We’ve tried to include dark chocolate in some snacks since it’s healthy and enhances the taste,” Dr P Gnanamani, resident medical officer.

No powders, kashayam

It’s a myth that Siddha medicines are difficult to consume because of their bitter taste and heavy quantity. The introduction of solid tablets for easy consumption is being planned by the NIS. These will be manufactured by adhering to guidelines issued by the Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM) functioning under the Ministry of Ayush, WHO and other regulatory bodies.

“Oral disintegrating tablets have been introduced in the form of a film. We’re trying to enhance the taste and also mask it to ensure that patients do not hesitate to consume. Medication in the form of powders or syrups is being fortified in the form of films to make it easier to consume them,” says Dr Shree Devi MS, research officer, HoD-pharmacy.

COVID-19 management

The role of Siddha medicines has found great significance in the management of COVID-19 cases with the help of immunity boosters that led to effective recovery of patients.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian had advocated the significance of Siddha medicines in the management of COVID-19 cases. “We received hundreds of patients with COVID last year. We treated them effectively and also followed up on post-COVID care,” explains Dr K Kanakavalli, principal, Government Siddha Medical College and Hospital.

The State Health Department released guidelines on the distribution of Nilavembu Kudineer, Kabasura Kudineer and other churnas to patients in the COVID Care Centres and stand-alone centres.

“People were cured with the use of Siddha medicines and other drugs, all of which are approved by the Central Council for Research in Siddha. There are 30 clinical studies conducted on the effectiveness of these medicines with the ministry. The findings led to Nilavembu Kudineer and Kabasura Kudineer being recognised by the GoI and the ministry. These medicines were then nationally distributed,” she recalls.

Kanakavalli adds that over Rs 5 crore was allocated for the expansion of Siddha medicine and “34 scientific papers, including the one on using these medicines for critical cases, were published by the ministry”.

Moreover, a study based on network pharmacology approach was conducted by a team of researchers and experts from Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research, Siddha Central Research Institute Chennai, School of BioSciences & Technology, VIT Vellore and Department of Biotechnology, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Biomedical sciences and Technology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research. It studied the activating mechanism of the immune system when Siddha medicines such as Kabasura Kudineer and Nilavembu Kudineer and JACOM were consumed for treating COVID-19.

The plants and phytochemical chemical compounds in these medicines were studied for their biological process, molecular functions, cellular functions, and pathways involved in treating COVID-19 against the target proteins. They were found to have phytochemical compounds that have similar properties to the drugs used to treat COVID.

These properties were believed to play a crucial role in regularising immune response function and helped improve the system by preventing or reducing inflammation and improving symptoms.

Improve infrastructure

Despite various developments, the Siddha system of medicine needs an infrastructure lift and there is a need to improve the overall medicine system.

Siddha units are in Safdarjung Hospital and Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Tirupati, Puducherry, Bengaluru, Palayakottai, Mettur and Trivandrum. Goa is also about to get a Siddha unit, and another is planned in one of the north-east States.

“We’re cultivating 50-60 species out of 2,000-3,000 available species of medicines throughout the country. We have to upgrade the new infrastructure with the latest technology and advanced high-tech facilities. The upgradation of patient care, facilities, equipment and infrastructure will encourage more people to choose Siddha,” opines Dr Shree Devi.

The NIS stands out as the Centre of Excellence of Psoriasis and there are thousands of cases that have been cured here. “There are clinical trials being done right now in the Varmam unit of NIS to make them 3D adaptable for presenting to patients. We’re hoping that it’d be developed as the Centre of Excellence in Varmam. But that would huge require infrastructure development,” she elaborates.

Aayush Aahar, which promotes traditional eating habits, was developed to provide healthy food in all institutes that come under the Ministry of AYUSH. “As per the geographic popularity and taste palate of the people, the food is being modified to make sure that people with lifestyle diseases can be benefitted. We’re also planning on opening the Ayush Aahar canteen at NIS in Chennai,” says Dr Shree Devi.

Lack of awareness

However, Siddha doctors opine that lack of awareness about the ancient practice is a challenge. Since it’s not mainstream like Allopathy, Siddha is considered pseudo-science and often referred to as alternate medicine.

“Every form of medicine has its limitations, but we must also understand that Siddha medicines can help in reducing symptoms and has fewer side effects. The finished drugs are used in limited amounts and undergo purification procedures to ensure they don’t harm patients in any way. We’re conducting awareness campaigns to ensure that Siddha medicine and its benefits reach more people,” says Dr Shree Devi.

The knowledge in Ayurveda and Siddha medicines have been passed on from generations of vaidyars often by word-of-mouth alone.

Dr Anupama, National Ayurvedic Medical Association, states that these compounds have never been standardised in India. “For example, turmeric is used for many different conditions and it’s a time-tested herb. Unfortunately, our science does not fit into complete randomised control trials. This is alternative medicine’s biggest challenge,” points out Dr Anupama. “Despite all these studies we still have to await the scientific presentation of clinically proven data of each of the definitive molecules in the leaf, fruit seed or bark so that they can be used for medical treatment.”

Role of Naturopathy

Whenever there is a lack of vitamins and minerals in the body, it can be modified through therapies such as sun bath therapy, oil bath, mud therapy, etc.

There are enough case studies to prove a decrease in depression, pain, and improved quality of sleep following massage therapy in breast cancer patients. For instance, a massage acts on the spinal afferent nerves by augmenting descending suppression of nociception (a means of neural feedback that allows the central nervous system to detect and avoid potentially damaging stimuli in both active and passive settings).

“Similarly, foot reflexology was observed to be effective in reducing anxiety, pain, and improving sleep quality in cancer patients,” points out Dr Y Deepa, HoD, manipulative therapy at Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital. “Mud therapy’s therapeutic impact on cancer-related symptoms has been ascribed mostly to its thermal and systemic anti-inflammatory properties. Thermal mud-pack therapy has been shown to reduce circulating levels of mediators of inflammation and pain.”

(With Inputs from Lakshmi Priya)