Role of Santha Santhrothaya Mathirai (SSM), A Siddha Herbo-Mineral Formulation in the Management of Hepatic Disorders – A Review Study

Abstract

Liver disorders share a larger disease burden of the world every year. Liver disorders are caused by toxic chemicals, drugs, viruses (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E), excess alcohol intake etc., and are ranked among the top ten killer diseases in India. With only meagre number of dependable drugs available for hepatoprotective action, the present scenario has created a stage for scientific evaluation of traditional medicines in the treatment of liver disorders. The Siddha literature has provided a lot of herbal and herbo- mineral formulations as indications for the management of liver disorders. Though several studies have been done on hepatoprotective herbs in recent years, very minimal researches have been done on herbo-mineral formulations. Therefore this review focuses on the literature search involving both traditional ancient Siddha texts as well as recent researches for hepatoprotective activity on all the ingredients of Santha Santhrodhaya Mathirai (SSM) a classical herbo-mineral formulation that has been indicated for the treatment of Pitha Suram and other biliary disorders.