Traditional healers

LIN J, PUCKREE T, MVELASE T P (2002) Anti-diarrhoeal evaluation of some medicinal plants used by Zulu traditional healers. J Ethnopharmacol. 79 53-6. 

Similarly, counselors and therapists can be tempted to chastise or to try to alter cultural values or practices in which clients may engage. For example, maybe a client is a member of an ethnic-minority group that uses traditional healers in... 

Many medicines that we now use and often take for granted were based on the healing properties of plants and other natural sources known to traditional healers. Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, is a chemically modified form of salicylic acid, a chemical extracted in the early 19 century from willow tree bark, which had been known for centuries to reduce fevers. Today, aspirin is chemically... 

A large rtumber of irtdigenous Southern African plants have, over the ages, been used for nutrition and medicine (Ham et al., 2008). Traditionally, some of these plants have been collected from the wild or obtained in crude form from traditional healers for home consumption and as a result have not been commercialized. Commercialization and value addition of indigenous plants have been mooted as a possible solution to the alleviation of poverty in resource poor communities (Jordaan et al., 2008). Such initiatives would provide income-generating opportunities for these com-mimities as well as serve as an incentive to value and conserve natural resources more. 

It is estimated that 80 percent of people in developing countries are almost totally dependent upon traditional healers for their health care, and that plants are the major source of drugs for their traditional medical practitioners. In theory, in as... 

Ajowan is known to traditional healers to have hypotensive properties. Bioassay-directed fractionation of seeds results in the isolation of thymol. In anaesthetized rats, thymol (1—lOmg/kg, i.v.) produces dose-dependent reductions in blood pressure and heart rate (Aftab et al., 1995). 

In looking in a comparative way at the accounts of psilocybe mushroom experiences we have gathered for the present collection, several differences with the ayahuasca situation are immediately obvious. There are very few accounts of experiences with traditional healers using mushrooms, because mushroom curanderos like Maria Sabina are vanishing (unlike the situation with ayahuasqueros). We are fortunate to... 

Both groups offer professional observation of the participants, necessary because of possible fluctuations after the treatment. The traditional healers hold nightly sessions and meetings on the following day and the psycholytic therapists utilize an in-patient setting. 

A 47-year-old South African man developed acute oliguric renal insufficiency and liver dysfunction after taking an herbal medicine prescribed by a traditional healer to clean his stomach (8). After withdrawal of the remedy and dialysis he recovered slowly, but his creatinine concentration did not fully normalize. Analysis of the remedy showed that it consisted of A. capensis Aloe ferox Miller), which contains the nephrotoxic compounds aloesin and aloesin A. 

Seven Israeli children were seriously harmed when their parents used homeopaths and other providers of complementary medicine instead of conventional doctors four died (136). Similarly, it has been reported that seeing a traditional healer in Kenya increased the risk of dying from an acute pneumonia by 5.3 times (137). 

Back pain Cauda equina syndrome Lumbar Traditional healer Likely (172)... 

A starting point would be to assemble a catalogue of safe herbal remedies, which the traditional healers could use for their patients. Watt and Breyer-Brand-wijk [9] pubhshed such a catalogue and listed the local names of numerous medicinal plants. The poisonous ones were also identified in their publication. However, ensuring that this information is easily accessible to the traditional healers is challenging. In addition to the need for a revised, updated and expanded version, the document must be written in the language of the traditional healer and be user friendly. 

A substantial experience of toxin induced renal failure has been gained at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto. This 3000-bed teaching hospital serves approximately 4 million people from Soweto. Once again patients often visit traditional healers, usually prior to, or instead of consultation with a medical doctor [1, 18]. A study done at the hospital [Katz - personal communication] revealed that 13% of cases of AKI were caused by herbal toxins. 

Figure 3. Cow horn and hollow reid used by the traditional healers for the administration of herbal enemas.

There is much distrust of traditional healers. This is perhaps justified in some instances it is particularly relevant when no formal register of traditional healers is in place. Traditional healers are therefore not held accountable. 

Over the last two decades there has been a resurgence of interest in the study and use of medicinal plants. The WHO (World Health Organization) has confirmed the importance of traditional medicine to a majority of the. world s population and encourages all countries to preserve and to use the safe and positive elements of traditional medicine in their national health systems. The WHO Traditional Medicine Programme (1) was inspired by the observation that 80% of the world s population treats diseases exclusively with traditional medicines, and most traditional therapies involve the use of plant extracts or their active constituents. Vegetable species from South America and China are of particular interest in view of their wide use in traditional medicine they offer local populations immediately accessible safe and effective therapeutic products. However only a small fraction of South American and Chinese medicinal plants have been studied. Therefore it is of general interest to document the experience of traditional healers, to select interesting medicinal species and to identify the constituents responsible for their therapeutic or toxic effects. 

It is estimated that 80 percent of the population consults with traditional healers before they seek access to conventional medicines. The use of indigenous African medicine is thus quite prevalent cind presents medicine regulatory challenges as the materials are obtained from the fauna and flora of the country. 

Kala, C.P. (2006). Preserving Ayurvedic herbal formulations by Vaidyas The traditional healers of the Uttaranchal Himalaya region in India. HerbalGram, 70 42-50. 

Achyranthes aspera (family Amaranthaceae) is an indigenous medicinal plant of Asia and is commonly used by traditional healers for the treatment of malarial fever, dysentery, asthma, hypertension and diabetes (Girach and Khan, 1992). A root extract is also used to treat scorpion and snake bites by Indian tribes. A typical yellows and small leaves symptoms... 

Now most of the certified Vaidyas (Vaidyas having formal training and education), mostly purchase the medicine from market that is prepared in pharmaceutical company. The collection of plants from the wild is mainly done by traditional healers living in remote areas. Some Vaidyas, who collect the raw material from the wild or purchase it from the market for preparation of home-made formulations, are approached by patients from both urban and rural areas due to the potential positive effects of the prescribed medicine. 

Intercooperation (20), shows that only in India, of the 2,500 plant species that is used by traditional healers nearly 500 are used by the pharmaceutical industiy. 

Makhubu, L. P. The traditional healer. University of Swaziland, Kwaluserri, 1978. 

Green, E. C. Makhubu, L. Traditional Healers in Swaziland Towards Improved Cooperation Between the Traditional and Modern Health Sectors. Ministry of Health, Mbabane, 1983. 

Scientific research confirms the medical attributes of many of these plants used by the traditional healers. For instance, the medical attributes of Guiera senegalensis 3-4) justifies its widespread use in the treatment of coughs and bronchitis. Likewise, Combretum micranthum is used to treat liver disease 1, 5-6) and Anacardium occidentale to treat arterial hypertension (7). However, further studies are required to confirm the use of many other of the medicinal plants they use as well as establishing or validating their healing or curative properties. From our survey, we can report that it is the leaves that are the most commonly used plant tissue for medicinal purposes. As expected, however, other plant parts such as the roots and barks are also commonly used. 

From our data, the plant roots were the tissue used in 49 cases. In contrast, the bark of the plant was used in 27 and the entire plant was used in 16 cases. Since these plants are heavily used and extensively harvested and collected in raral communities in Senegal, the ways in which the plants have been harvested and collected, particularly those plants where the roots are the prime tissue used for medicinal purposes can lead to decreased populations of these genetic materials. Their overase and over collection can constitute a continual threat to the regions biodiversity that ultimately could reduce the availability of these plants as medical resources (S). Thus, the collectors and harvesters as well as the traditional healers and users need to be trained and educated to ensure that the medicinal plants are harvested in a sustainable marmer which will then protect and conserve these valuable genetic resomces (P). 

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