Dermatological Ailments Treated by the Non-Institutionally Trained Siddha Practitioners of Virudhunagar District, Tamil Nadu, India
Keywords:
Dermatological conditions, Siddha medicine, Ethnobotany, Medicinal plants, Virudhunagar district, Non-institutionally trained practitioners, Traditional knowledgeAbstract
Dermatological conditions are a significant yet often underestimated global healthcare concern, with increasing prevalence rates worldwide. In India, traditional medicine systems such as Siddha offer alternative treatments for skin ailments. This study aims to document the knowledge and practices of non-institutionally trained Siddha practitioners in Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu, focusing on their treatment of dermatological issues. Ethnobotanical data were collected from 63 practitioners using interviews conducted in Tamil, and plant species used in treatments were identified and analyzed. The study documented the use of 100 plant species in 60 medicinal formulations for treating various dermatological conditions, with a species accumulation curve indicating sufficient sampling. Illness categories such as wounds, psoriasis, and eczema showed the highest informant consensus factor (Fic), while formulations involving plants like Thespesia populnea, Terminalia chebula, and Curcuma longa had strong support from traditional literature. However, several plant-based treatments lacked documentation in Siddha Materia Medica, reflecting gaps in recorded knowledge. The findings highlight the rich traditional knowledge of non-institutionally trained Siddha practitioners and underscore the importance of integrating such practices into community healthcare. Further research is recommended to explore the pharmacological potential of the documented plant species and promote the conservation of ethnomedicinal knowledge.
Downloads
References
Abdillahi, H.S. and Van Staden, J., 2012. South African plants and male reproductive healthcare: conception and contraception. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 143(2), pp.475-480.
Abraham, K.M., 2020. How comparable are sodium-ion batteries to lithium-ion counterparts? ACS Energy Letters, 5(11), pp.3544-3547.
Adhikari, B.N., Joshi, B.P., Shrestha, J. and Bhatta, N.R., 2018. Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance and correlation among yield and yield components of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1(1), pp.149-160.
Agarwal, A., Mulgund, A., Hamada, A. and Chyatte, M.R., 2015. A unique view on male infertility around the globe. Reproductive biology and endocrinology, 13(1), pp.1-9.
Agarwal, V., Bell, G.W., Nam, J.W. and Bartel, D.P., 2015. Predicting effective microRNA target sites in mammalian mRNAs. elife, 4, p.e05005.
Ahern, F.J., Goodenough, D.G., Jain, S.C., Rao, V.R. and Rochon, G., 1977, January. Use of clear lake as standard reflectors for atmospheric measurement. In ERIM Proc. of the 11th Intern. Symp. on Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 1.
Akour, A., Kasabri, V., Afifi, F.U. and Bulatova, N., 2016. The use of medicinal herbs in gynecological and pregnancy-related disorders by Jordanian women: a review of folkloric practice vs. evidence-based pharmacology. Pharmaceutical biology, 54(9), pp.1901-1918.
Anonymous, 2019. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.
Balamurugan, R., Liu, J.H. and Liu, B.T., 2018. A review of recent developments in fluorescent sensors for the selective detection of palladium ions. Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 376, pp.196-224.
Chellappandian, M., Mutheeswaran, S., Pandikumar, P., Duraipandiyan, V. and Ignacimuthu, S., 2012. Quantitative ethnobotany of traditional Siddha medical practitioners from Radhapuram taluk of Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 143(2), pp.540-547.
Chenniappan, K. and Murugan, K., 2017. Therapeutic and fertility restoration effects of Ionidium suffruticosum on sub-fertile male albino Wistar rats: effects on testis and caudal spermatozoa. Pharmaceutical biology, 55(1), pp.946-957.
Dabaja, A.A. and Schlegel, P.N., 2014. Medical treatment of male infertility. Translational andrology and urology, 3(1), p.9.
Disticraj, S. and Jayaraman, P., 2015. Ethnobotanical documentation of few medicinal plants in Jawadhu hills in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu. J Pharm BioalliedSci, 10(3), pp.8-11.
El-Khatib, M.J., Abu-Nasser, B.S. and Abu-Naser, S.S., 2019. Glass classification using artificial neural network.
Esmaeilinezhad, Z., Barati-Boldaji, R., Brett, N.R., De Zepetnek, J.O.T., Bellissimo, N., Babajafari, S. and Sohrabi, Z., 2019. The effect of synbiotics pomegranate juice on cardiovascular risk factors in PCOS patients: a randomized, triple-blinded, controlled trial. Journal of endocrinological investigation, 43, pp.539-548.
Fahmy, H.M., Saad, E.A.E.M.S., Sabra, N.M., El-Gohary, A.A., Mohamed, F.F. and Gaber, M.H., 2018. Treatment merits of latanoprost/thymoquinone–encapsulated liposome for glaucomatus rabbits. International journal of pharmaceutics, 548(1), pp.597-608.
Gamble, J.S., 1921. Flora of the Presidency of Madras. West, Newman and Adlard.
Gamble, T.R., Yoo, S., Vajdos, F.F., Von Schwedler, U.K., Worthylake, D.K., Wang, H., McCutcheon, J.P., Sundquist, W.I. and Hill, C.P., 1997. Structure of the carboxyl-terminal dimerization domain of the HIV-1 capsid protein. Science, 278(5339), pp.849-853.
Ganguly, S. and Unisa, S., 2010. Trends of infertility and childlessness in India: Findings from NFHS data. Facts, views & vision in ObGyn, 2(2), p.131.
Geetha, T., Chenoy, R., Stevens, D. and Johanson, R.B., 1995. A multicentre study of perinatal mortality in Nepal. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 9(1), pp.74-89.
Goshtasebi, A., Sadighi, J. and Jahangiri, K., 2015. Endometriosis and sexual health: a systematic review. Payesh (Health Monitor), 14(1), pp.25-40.
Gupta, K., Hooton, T.M., Naber, K.G., Wullt, B., Colgan, R., Miller, L.G., Moran, G.J., Nicolle, L.E., Raz, R., Schaeffer, A.J. and Soper, D.E., 2011. International clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of acute uncomplicated cystitis and pyelonephritis in women: a 2010 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the European Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Clinical infectious diseases, 52(5), pp. e103-e120.
Heinrich, B. and Klier, M., 2009. A novel data quality metric for timeliness considering supplemental data.
Heinrich, B.S., Maliga, Z., Stein, D.A., Hyman, A.A. and Whelan, S.P., 2018. Phase transitions drive the formation of vesicular stomatitis virus replication compartments. MBio, 9(5), pp.10-1128.
Henry, C.D., 1989. Late Cenozoic Basin and Range structure in western Mexico adjacent to the Gulf of California. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 101(9), pp.1147-1156.
Henry, R.J., 1987. Pentosan and (1→ 3), (1→ 4)-β-glucan concentrations in endosperm and wholegrain of wheat, barley, oats and rye. Journal of Cereal Science, 6(3), pp.253-258.
Hussain, A., Ali, S., Ahmed, M. and Hussain, S., 2018. The anti-vaccination movement: a regression in modern medicine. Cureus, 10(7).
Inhorn, M.C. and Patrizio, P., 2015. Infertility around the globe: new thinking on gender, reproductive technologies and global movements in the 21st century. Human reproduction update, 21(4), pp.411-426.
James, N.D., Sydes, M.R., Clarke, N.W., Mason, M.D., Dearnaley, D.P., Spears, M.R., Ritchie, A.W., Parker, C.C., Russell, J.M., Attard, G. and De Bono, J., 2016. Addition of docetaxel, zoledronic acid, or both to first-line long-term hormone therapy in prostate cancer (Stampede): survival results from an adaptive, multiarm, multistage, platform randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 387(10024), pp.1163-1177.
Jaradat, N. and Zaid, A.N., 2019. Herbal remedies used for the treatment of infertility in males and females by traditional healers in the rural areas of the West Bank/Palestine. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 19(1), pp.1-12.
Kavousi, F., Goodarzi, M., Ghanbari, D. and Hedayati, K., 2019. Synthesis and characterization of a magnetic polymer nanocomposite for the release of metoprolol and aspirin. Journal of Molecular Structure, 1183, pp.324-330.
Kiran Mudigonda, S., Murugan, S., Velavan, K., Thulasiraman, S. and Raja, V.K.K., 2020. Non-suturing microvascular anastomosis in maxillofacial reconstruction-a comparative study. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, 48(6), pp.599-606.
Kolahdooz, M., Nasri, S., Modarres, S.Z., Kianbakht, S. and Huseini, H.F., 2014. Effects of Nigella sativa L. seed oil on abnormal semen quality in infertile men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytomedicine, 21(6), pp.901-905.
Kumar, N., Belhumeur, P.N., Biswas, A., Jacobs, D.W., Kress, W.J., Lopez, I.C. and Soares, J.V., 2012. Leafsnap: A computer vision system for automatic plant species identification. In Computer Vision–ECCV 2012: 12th European Conference on Computer Vision, Florence, Italy, October 7-13, 2012, Proceedings, Part II 12 (pp. 502-516). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Kumar, S. and Kumar, R., 2011. Mechanical activation of fly ash: Effect on reaction, structure and properties of resulting geopolymer. Ceramics International, 37(2), pp.533-541.
Leonti, M. and Weckerle, C.S., 2015. Quantitative and comparative methods in ethnopharmacology. Ethnopharmacology, pp.29-40.
Livdans-Forret, A.B., Harvey, P.J. and Larkin-Thier, S.M., 2007. Menorrhagia: A synopsis of management focusing on herbal and nutritional supplements, and chiropractic. The journal of the Canadian chiropractic association, 51(4), p.235.
Lohiya, S.S., Patel, S.V., Pawde, A.M., Bokare, B.D. and Sakhare, P.T., 2016. Comparative study of diagnostic nasal endoscopy and CT paranasal sinuses in diagnosing chronic rhinosinusitis. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, 68, pp.224-229.
Madhavan, B., Yue, S., Galli, U., Rana, S., Gross, W., Müller, M., Giese, N.A., Kalthoff, H., Becker, T., Büchler, M.W. and Zöller, M., 2015. Combined evaluation of a panel of protein and miRNA serum‐exosome biomarkers for pancreatic cancer diagnosis increases sensitivity and specificity. International journal of cancer, 136(11), pp.2616-2627.
Mangathayaru, K., Sarah, K. and Balakrishna, K., 2014. Estrogenic effect of Erythrina variegata L. in prepubertal female rats.
Manimaran, K. and Murugesan, S., 2017. district Eastern Ghats, Tamilnadu, India. International Journal of C Key words.
Mascarenhas, M.N., Cheung, H., Mathers, C.D. and Stevens, G.A., 2012. Measuring infertility in populations: constructing a standard definition for use with demographic and reproductive health surveys. Population health metrics, 10, pp.1-11.
Matthew, K.M., 1999. The Flora of the Palni Hills, South India: Gamopetalea & Monochlamydea (Caprifoliaceae-Salicaceae). Rapinat Herbarium.
Moerman, D.E., 2007. Agreement and meaning: rethinking consensus analysis. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 112(3), pp.451-460.
Moteetee, A. and Kose, L.S., 2016. Medicinal plants used in Lesotho for treatment of reproductive and post reproductive problems. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 194, pp.827-849.
Mudaliar, K.S.M., 1936. Gunapadam–Part–I (Porut Panbu Nool), Siddha Materia Medica (Medicinal Plants Division).
Mutheeswaran, S., Pandikumar, P., Chellappandian, M. and Ignacimuthu, S., 2011. Documentation and quantitative analysis of the local knowledge on medicinal plants among traditional Siddha healers in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 137(1), pp.523-533.
Muthiah Pillai, N.S., Eswar, K., Amirthalingam, S., Mony, U., Kerala Varma, P. and Jayakumar, R., 2019. Injectable nano whitlockite incorporated chitosan hydrogel for effective hemostasis. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2(2), pp.865-873.
Nair, N.C. and Henry, A.N., 1983. Flora of Tamil Nadu, India.
Palmsten, K., Rolland, M., Hebert, M.F., Clowse, M.E., Schatz, M., Xu, R. and Chambers, C.D., 2018. Patterns of prednisone use during pregnancy in women with rheumatoid arthritis: daily and cumulative dose. Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 27(4), pp.430-438.
Pandikumar, P., Chellappandian, M., Mutheeswaran, S. and Ignacimuthu, S., 2011. Consensus of local knowledge on medicinal plants among traditional healers in Mayiladumparai block of Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 134(2), pp.354-362.
Prescott, H. and Khan, I., 2020. Medicinal plants/herbal supplements as female aphrodisiacs: Does any evidence exist to support their inclusion or potential in the treatment of FSD? Journal of ethnopharmacology, 251, p.112464.
Rajeswari, R., Murugesh, S., Kumar, D.J., Prakash, B. and Gayathri, K., 2019. Characterisation and Evaluation of Antimicrobial, Antioxidant and Antibiofilm Activities of Silver Nanoparticles Biosynthesised from Harpullia arborea Bark Extract. Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, 16(9).
Ravikumar, K. and Sankar, R.V., 2003. Village, Javvadhu Hills of Eastern Ghats, Tiruvannamalai District, Tamil, Nadu. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot, 27(3).
Ravishankar, N. and Demakis, G.J., 2007. The neuropsychology of migraine. Disease-a-Month, 53(3), pp.156-161.
Sheoran, P. and Sarin, J., 2015. Infertility in India: social, religion and cultural influence. International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 4(6), pp.1783-1788.
Silvestris, E., Lovero, D. and Palmirotta, R., 2019. Nutrition and female fertility: an interdependent correlation. Frontiers in endocrinology, p.346.
Sun, J., Dai, X., Wang, Q., Van Loosdrecht, M.C. and Ni, B.J., 2019. Microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: Detection, occurrence and removal. Water research, 152, pp.21-37.
Swar, G., Shailajan, S. and Menon, S., 2017. Activity based evaluation of a traditional Ayurvedic medicinal plant: Saraca asoca (Roxb.) de Wilde flowers as estrogenic agents using ovariectomized rat model. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 195, pp.324-333.
Tajuddin, Ahmad, S., Latif, A., Qasmi, I.A. and Amin, K.M.Y., 2005. An experimental study of sexual function improving effect of Myristica fragrans Houtt. (nutmeg). BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 5, pp.1-7.
Thakur, V., Degago, S.A., Oset, F., Aabøe, R., Dolva, B.K., Aunaas, K., Nyheim, T., Lyche, E., Jensen, O.A., Sæter, M.B. and Robsrud, A., 2014. Characterization of post-failure movements of landslides in soft sensitive clays. Landslides in Sensitive Clays: From Geosciences to Risk Management, pp.91-103.
Tomar, V. and Tiwari, G.N., 2017. Techno-economic evaluation of grid connected PV system for households with feed in tariff and time of day tariff regulation in New Delhi–A sustainable approach. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 70, pp.822-835.
Ugwah-Oguejiofor, C.J., Bello, S.O., Okolo, R.U., Etuk, E.U., Ugwah, M.O. and Igbokwe, V.U., 2011. Ficus platyphylla promotes fertility in female Rattus norvegicus Wistar strain: a preliminary study. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 9(1), pp.1-6.
Van Andel, T., Myren, B. and Van Onselen, S., 2012. Ghana's herbal market. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 140(2), pp.368-378.
Varsakiya, J., Goyal, M., Harisha, C.R. and Shukla, V.J., 2016. Phamacognostical And Phramacuetical Analysis Of Phala Ghrita-An Ayurvedic Polyherble Formulation.
Venugopal, M.S. and Bhaskaran, C.S., 1968. Puerperal and postabortal sepsis (a bacteriological study). Journal of obstetrics and gynaecology of India, 18(1), pp.70-78.
Zaid, A., Gérardin, P., Taylor, A., Mostafavi, H., Malvy, D. and Mahalingam, S., 2018. Chikungunya arthritis: implications of acute and chronic inflammation mechanisms on disease management. Arthritis & rheumatology, 70(4), pp.484-495.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Inventum Biologicum: An International Journal of Biological Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
