July 25, 2011

Herbal cure

G. LAKSHMANA RAO

The Hindu Natural way Herbs like rosemary, lemonbalm and thyme can help treat minor ailments. Photo: Special Arrangement

Heal your body with herbal medicines

Holistic Herbal Medicine

Most people think that herbal medicine is the same thing as Ayurveda, Siddha, or Unani. It is true that these three Indian systems of medicine also have some pure single as well as multi-herb medicines. All three systems also use extensively animal products, minerals, metals, calces, acids, alkaline substances, raw sugar, and spices. They also use a wide variety of fermentation and distillation processes.

Herbal medicines, on the other hand, are made from only edible and non-toxic plant substances. They do not involve fermentation and distillation processes. A true herbalist does not use any branded medicines in the market. He makes his own medicines from raw herbal substances.

The principle of herbal medicine is that good health is the natural state of the human body and that the human body has an inherent healing power to restore itself to good health if you assist it. Even contagious diseases are unlikely to affect a person if the body's immunity to disease is high. A high level of immunity to disease, robust health, and plentiful energy make a person happy, enthusiastic, and productive until death.

According to practitioners of herbal medicine, drugs that are taken on a daily basis to maintain health are contrary to the basic principles of total health care. Mere absence of disease is not good health.

Herbal medicine treats the root causes of disease. It treats the person, not just the disease. It treats a wide variety of modern chronic diseases with a view to a permanent cure and not just for temporary relief from symptoms. These include cardiovascular blockages, arthritis, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, sinusitis, and gall bladder stones.

Adverse factors relating to diet, life style, physical exercise, state of mind, and the quality of environment in which a person lives, travels and works degrade the body's immunity to disease. So, along with herbal medicines, these physical and environmental factors have to be rectified for permanent cure and robust health.

Even when the same disease affects several patients, the root causes can be different in each patient. So, customized medicines and treatment for each patient are important in restoring a person to good health. How can an herbalist do this? An herbalist keeps each herb in a processed and readily usable form for use in different combinations for different patients.

Herbal medicine is participatory medicine. The patient has an important role to play in curing a disease. So, a herbalist has to seek and obtain full cooperation from the patient in terms of diet, life style, and physical exercise. A properly qualified herbalist is also a competent nutritionist

Radical realists

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Radical realists

Radical realists

Baskaran Pillai Jul 25, 2011, 02.05pm IST

The physical immortality of the body is a key concept among the Siddhas. According to them, enlightenment is simply not psychological. Liberation is not just psychological liberation from thought forms. Nirvana, according to Swami Ramalingam who turned his body into light in 1874, is a stage in the evolutionary process. He maintained that one should attain evolution of body, mind, and soul. You cannot simply evolve your psychology or your soul, and say that it is everything. Sri Aurobindo, although he was not a Siddha, upheld the Siddha ideal that unless the body is turned into light, the evolution of the human is not complete. Aurobindo admitted not reaching that stage, but praised Swami Ramalingam and the Siddhas for holding the highest ideal of enlightenment. The Siddhas believed that if anyone dies, regardless of how enlightened that person might be, he would have to be reborn to understand the nature of the body.
An inclusive school
It is interesting to note that the Siddhas are eclectic in their appropriation of mystical schools that pre-existed their time. They freely drew from alchemy, astrology, herbal medicine, kundalini yoga, image worship and rituals, and other modalities. They brought the scientific approach into each discipline that they touched. If the Siddhas prayed to Ganesha to remove obstacles, then they linked Ganesha with the Mooladhara or root chakra in the subtle body. For them, it is simply useless to do idol worship without aligning it to the enlivening of the chakras.

The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : Regaining student life after 15 years' legal battle

The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : Regaining student life after 15 years' legal battle

Regaining student life after 15 years' legal battle

Petlee Peter

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The Hindu Government Siddha Medical College in Palayamkottai, where Mr. Kamalakannan will join soon to pursue his dream. Photo: A. Shaikmohideen

S.P. Kamalakannan(38) fought a 15-year-old court battle to rejoin medical college

The last class he attended at medical school was in April 1996. Now, after nearly 15 years, he can finally go back to the classroom, and hopes to start his student life afresh.

Meet S.P. Kamalakannan (38) from Mannargudi Town in Thanjavur district who fought a 15-year-old court battle to rejoin Government Siddha Medical College in Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli, from where he was dismissed during his second year following an allegation that he submitted a fake class XII improvement exam mark sheet for admission.

“A police case was filed against me in 1996 based on the allegation and a case went on at the Judicial Magistrate Court in Tirunelveli. After enquiring 13 witnesses and verifying 17 documents, the court acquitted me in the end of 2006,” says Mr. Kamalakannan, who made ends meet by working at a STD booth and provision store. He is married and has one child.

Having proved his innocence, he then submitted a petition to the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University to permit him to continue his studies from the third year. The university authorities directed Mr. Kamalakannan to the Directorate of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy here.

“As the Magistrate court verdict did not say Kamalakannan should be readmitted in college, the Directorate declined his claim to rejoin college. Therefore, he filed a writ petition at the Madras High Court in 2007 praying that he be permitted to join the third year and pursue his medical education,” said Charles Muthusanthan, Mr. Kamalakannan's attorney.

Mr. Kamalakannan's 15-year-long struggle paid off on July 11, when the Madras High Court pronounced a verdict in his favour. “The Court directed Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University to permit him to rejoin Government Siddha Medical College in Palayamkottai and continue his studies,” added the attorney.

Sources at the varsity state that there has been no precedent that could be followed in such a case. However, since the court has issued a directive, it had to be examined before further orders could be issued. As it is, there is no upper age limit to join any course run by the university or its affiliated institutions, they added.

Mr. Kamalakannan is thankful to his supportive family and university authorities who guided him in the journey to achieve his dream. He is all set to go back to campus and build the career he had longed for.

Keywords: fake marksheet, Government Siddha Medical College, S.P. Kamalakannan

சித்த மருத்துவர்கள், அலோபதி மருத்துவம் செய்யக் கூடாது!                                                                                                                                                                              PLEASE SEE THIS ARTICLE FROM THUK LAK   (20/07/2011)

Siddha Vision 2025

CTMR submits Siddha Vision 2025 blueprint for TN’s ‘Vision 2025’ development plan

Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai Monday, July 11, 2011, 08:00 Hrs  [IST]

In a significant stride towards developing a holistic and affordable healthcare service through traditional Siddha system of medicine, the Chennai-based Centre for Traditional Medicines and Research (CTMR) has drawn up a blueprint for Siddha Vision-2025 to be taken up for the state’s mega project 'Vision -2025'. The blueprint is extensively dealing with a plan of action aimed at facilitating an integrated development of the age old Siddha healing system in the entire state of Tamil Nadu as well as the places where Tamil people are settled, said Dr T Thirunarayanan, secretary of CTMR. Drawing inputs from experts of Siddha community comprising skilled physicians, specialized and traditional healers, therapists, regulatory experts and drug manufacturers, the Vision document was prepared and it was approved and voted for submission by the approval committee constituted by the Centre, he said. The document will be submitted to the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa shortly, to be included in the ‘Tamil Nadu-Vision 2025’. Copy of the proposal will be sent to the secretary of Ayush department in New Delhi for his perusal. Dr Thirunarayanan has been selected to the Committee of working group on Ayush for the 12th Five Year Plan. According to him, Siddha medicine is primarily based on complete balanced outlook to life through diet, lifestyle and practices that promote harmonious healthy living.  So there should be an initiative from every corner to assure the conditions in which the people can become hale and hearty by following Siddha methods of treatment. Besides, creation of an environment suited for the growth of Siddha medicine is required to cater to the needs of the people across the world, he told pharmabiz. The blueprint also suggests for efforts to promote Siddha treatment as a component of health tourism. It tries to underline the fact that Siddha medicine was found effective in curing common ailments and prevention of anaemia, malnutrition, dermatological disorders and non-communicable diseases like diabetes. There is pain relief through Varma in the system. Further proposal in the blueprint is that traditional medicines like Siddha have to be encouraged in India as they are available at cheaper rates than allopathic medicines. So measures are to be taken to that end. While advocating the efficacy of the drugs, Dr Thirunarayanan wants expansion of Siddha services in every village in the state. He also mentions in his plan of action that Siddha treatment should be included in the health insurance packages of the state. The report recommends for constitution of committees to study adverse drug reaction (pharmacovigilance for Siddha), drug-drug reaction and food-drug reaction. Regarding production of drugs, the blueprint says that the manufacturing industry should maintain document for all its processes from collection of raw-materials to the final stage of packaging. During drug development process, there should be collaboration among industry, academia and physicians, it says.