XRD ANALYSIS OF VEERAM AND ITS INTERMEDIATES OBTAINED IN THE PURIFICATION PROCESS INVOLVED IN MERCURIAL PREPARATIONS

摘要

Siddha system of medicine, whic h has a greater antiquity, is po pularly practiced in so uthern part of India. This system has evolved thro ugh the sect of intellec tuals of spirituality and in the ideal philoso phy of the Dravidian society. In today's situation, the to xic ity manifest ation and related health problems produced in human and to the enviro nment by heavy metals like mercury, lead, arsenic etc. are co nsidered to be of great threat to the soc iety. Many researchers have conduc ted a number of pharmacolo gical and toxico logical experiment s and revealed that the toxicity o f the crude drug is quite different from that of the finished pro duc ts of Siddha drugs. Many peo ple are skeptical about the use of Siddha medicine for health care due to lack of scientific document ation. In our Siddha system o f medic ine Veeram1being the main ingredient of several fo rmulations plays a vital ro le. Veeram based preparations are prescribed in the treatment o f syphilis, liver disorder, skin diseases, Rheumatoid Arthrities and cancer2 , 3. Books o n Siddha Ma teria Medic a equate Veeram with mercuric chlo ride