Siddha doctors have joined those claiming to have found a cure for COVID-19

Siddha medicine is based on a combination of ancient medicinal practices and spiritual disciplines as well as alchemy and mysticism. It is thought to be one of the oldest system of healthcare of India that developed during the Indus civilization, which flourished between 2500 and 1700 BCE.

It has been reported that the Indian ‘National Institute of Siddha’ (NIS) claim to have successfully treated 160 COVID-19 positive patients. Subsequently, they have requested the government to hand over all COVID-19 Care Centres in Chennai and let Siddha doctors treat all COVID-patients. They say they are confident of flattening the curve in Chennai and convert it into a safe zone in just matter of days.

The NIS claim to have three potent combinations of Siddha drugs. “Depending upon the availability and quantity required for treating Coronavirus positive patients, we have after thorough research, come out with three different effective combinations of the Siddha preparations,” Dr R Meenakumari, Director of NIS, said. The treatment low-cost compared to the prohibitive cost in corporate hospitals and all the Siddha medicines are locally available, she added. “We have requested the state government to hand over all the COVID-19 Care Centres to us and allow us to treat all the patients. Our Siddha drug combination is potent enough to convert a positive patient into Coronavirus negative in three days’ time,” she claimed.

Her confidence stems from the fact that the Siddha doctors here have “successfully” treated 160 patients besides
23 inmates of the Puzhal Central Prison. “Initially, we treated 85 patients with SRM Medical College and Hospital and another 75 at the Greater Chennai Corporation… They all recovered and tested negative after five days of successful treatment,” she claimed. “The combination that we have prepared will help to cure the infected patient within three days… Siddha medicine has huge potential to treat the patients and there are possibilities to use the medicine to save precious human lives”.

The combination drug in question seems to be similar to or identical with Kabasura Kudineer.  Also termed ‘Nilavembu Kudineer‘, this drug is a powder form of medicine mainly used in the treatment of respiratory problems such as fever, cold, severe phlegm and flu. This polyherbal Siddha medicine is also widely used as a prophylactic during times of viral epidemics. To get the proper benefits, it should be made into a decoction and then consumed. 
Kabasura Kudineer is made up of 15 different ingredients:

1. ginger,
2. cloves,
3. aakarkara,
4. harad,
5. oregano,
6. giloy,
7. chiretta,
8. nagarmotha,
9. kali mirch
10. tragiainvolucrata,
11. vajradanti,
12. malabar nut,
13. kuth,
14. ajwain,
15. leghupatha.

In 2009, it allegedly helped containing the spread of swine flu and, in 2012, the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had requested public to use Nilavembu Kudineer prepared by the Institute to prevent dengue.

Meanwhile, the ‘Central Council for Research in Siddha’ has sent a proposal to the state government to include the
traditional medicine in the treatment protocols at the state-run CCCs. “We have also urged the state government to include the Brahmananda Bhairava Mathirai a herbo-mineral preparation, which has already been approved by the AYUSH ministry to treat persons with COVID-19 related fever, at all the COVID-19 wards,” a senior doctor at the CCRS said.

Of course, we all wish that an effective treatment against COVID-19 will be found soon. However, what the NIS calls THOROUGH RESEARCH looks like a flimsy bit of pseudo-research. And their assertion that their herbal mixture turns positive into negative patients within three days is a claim that sounds far too good to be true.

I have no reason to doubt that the NIS is full of good intentions. But I am reminded of Bert Brecht’s bon mot: ‘the opposite of good is not evil, but good intentions’.