According to the World Health Organization, Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease caused by inherited and/or acquired deficiency in production of insulin by the pancreas, or by the ineffectiveness of the insulin produced. Such a deficiency results in increased concentrations of glucose in the blood, which in turn damage many of the body's systems, in particular the blood vessels and nerves. Diabetes Mellitus is commonly called as Diabetes.
The main signs and symptoms of this disease are polyuria (excessive urination),Polydipsia(excessive thirst) , polyphagea (excessive appetite), and offen accompanied by unusual weight loss.
There are mainly three types of diabetes mellitus. That are:
Type I – Generally called as Juvenile diabetes as it mainly affecting the young people and children. In this type the insulin production in the cells of islets of Langerhans of pancreas is insufficient for the glucose metabolism or it is nil. This may be either due to functional or structural deficiencies of the insulin producing cells. This can only be managed by direct insulin administration.
Type II – It is the commonest form found among. It is due to the resistance or loss of sensitivity of the cells towards insulin. Here the insulin level in the body may be normal but the blood glucose level will be high.
Gestational diabetes: It mostly resembles like the type II diabetes. It is found in 2-5 % of the pregnant ladies. This may disappear after the delivery or sometimes it continues.
The International Diabetes Federation estimates that more than 250 million people around the world have diabetes. This total is expected to rise to 380 million within 20 years. Each year a further 7 million people develop diabetes. Presently there is no complete cure for diabetes, but fortunately it can be managed without complications by using proper medication.
Diabetes and Siddha
Diabetes Mellitus is a condition which can be compared with Neerizhivu in Siddha. The other names described in the texts are the Madhumegham and Inippuneer. The signs and symptoms explained are increased urination both in frequency and quantity, there will be flies surrounding the urine voided place, weigh loss, dryness of the skin, etc.
Various diagnostic methods in Siddha system like Naadi (The Pulse reading), Moothira parisothanai (Urine Examination) etc are used to diagnose the condition. The disease comes under the Megha diseases.
In siddha the management of a disease not only depends on the medicine but the modification of food, habits, and lifestyle also. There are several medicines said in the literatures and practiced successfully by Siddha practitioners. The regulations in food, daily habits etc. are the specialty of most of these medicines. Some commonly used medicines are
- Madhumegha choornam
- Seenthil choornam
- Naval chornam
- Seenthil Kudineer
- Aavarai kudineer
- Abraga Parpam
- Vanga parpam etc
In addition to the prepared medicines there are several herbal cominations said in the texts for the management of this disease. All these medicines are to be used with the prescription of a Siddha medical practitioner and with proper regimen. These medicines include several plants with anti- diabetic property like
Jambolinor Naval (Syzygium cuminii)
Sarkarai Kolli (Gymnema Sylvestre)
Kadalazhinjil or Eganayakam (Salacia reticulate)
Seenthil or Amrithu (Tinospora cordifolia)
Vilwam (Aigil marmalose) etc.
The regulations in the daily habits, food and other activities are called as regimen. Even if there is so many do's and don'ts it is said that food that necessary for the sustaining of the vitality of the body should be consumed without fail. It is said that one should avoid day sleep and the sexual intercourse in the daytime.
November 14th is considered as World Diabetes Day. In this occasion let us hope more researches will aim to the Indigenous systems of medicine which all have lot of resources.