In the olden world there was a few countries far ahead of the medicine bell curve than the rest of the world. All throughout ancient Asia they used traditional forms of medicine, more of which can be learned about here. Instead of blood letting and religious zealotry, ancient India used natural herbs and ayurvedic medicines, an exaple of which is pictured above. Many historians believe that this era of herbal medicines began with the Surgeon Sushruta anywhere from 500 BCE to 300 BCE. This is where the popular origin story of the Laddu comes from. It is said Sushruta, used Laddu to give ayurvedic medicines to his patients. The sweet balls helped him manage the dose and also made it easier for the patients to consume. Some types were laddu were used as a medicine too. Like til ke laddu, made with sesame seeds, jaggery (cane sugar) and peanuts come with its own unique benefits.
Laddu is a soft round sweet originating in ancient India with many debates on how it came to be. There are many different types of laddu, but the biggest thing they have in common is that they are all sweets/desserts, an not forms of medicine. Although some will laud the health benefits of Laddu, it is a highly debated subject and there is likely no other benefit other than placebo itself. Laddu itself are soft, round balls, made mainly with gram flour, sugar, and spices. The details of the ingredients themselves can not be specified because the sweet has many different forms.
Likely the most popular form of Laddu, besan ke Laddu, is gram flour or besan roasted with ghee in a kadhai(a type of cooking pot), flavored with sugar and cardamom and shaped into tight round balls, decorated with almonds and pistachios. Besan ka ladoo is an Indian dessert usually made during festive times. If stored well, besan ke ladoo has a long shelf life so you can relish them for many days. A version more popular in southern India, Ragi Coconut Ladoo, is nutritionally rich due to the high protein and mineral value present in its main ingredient, ragi. Ragi is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia(source). Other than ragi, the obvious difference between the two is that the Ragi based one contains coconut, a staple of south Indian cooking, while the besan based one has besan, which is much more common in North India. Differences in the sweet hae cropped up thoughout the various regions due to what is readily available. A much more comprehensive list of types of Laddu with recipes can be found here.