Siddha system ensures longevity, says expert

PUDUCHERRY: “The Siddha system, which is Tamil Nadu’s own medicine system, concentrates on the protection of one’s health through prevention of diseases,” said Vaidyar K P Arjunan, State president of the Tamil Nadu Parambariya Siddha Vaidhya Maha Sangam.He was addressing students during an interaction  organised by field publicity office here on Monday.  Arjunan said the Siddha system, unlike other systems which provided treatment after the onset of the disease, focused on prevention of diseases. The ancient wisdom of ‘food is medicine, and medicine is food’ followed by the Tamils was endorsed by the Siddha system, he said.Major preventive approaches for maintaining and improving the quality of life include following a daily regime, seasonal regime and behavioural and ethical considerations, he said.Arjunan said healthy life style was the  main determinant of longevity of life and this in turn was dependent on the body-mind constitution of an individual.Like ayurveda, herbs formed the raw materials for most of the drugs prescribed by the Siddha system of medicine, he said, and added that mineral and metals were also used for preparation of medicines.