You Are A Stupid Idiot If You Condemn The Whole Of Your Culture! - Oro I...

Are Herbal Preparations Fetish? - Oro Isiti #6

TREAT HAIR LOSS AND BALDNESS WITH HOME-MADE REMEDIES

Home Remedies for Baldness,Hair Loss, or Alopecia

There is something about Hair that people take care of. For one, it is something natural yet adds a sense of beauty to our looks. Others see it as an extension of themselves which also is a reflection of their health. However one views his/her hair, one thing is certain about it: we all look good with a healthy, well-managed hair.

But no matter how much we would like to care for our Hair, Genetics, among other factors, play a role in its decline, especially more common for Men (male pattern baldness) yet also affecting Women (female pattern baldness). However, there are also means we can apply to prevent the condition of Hair Loss from ever worsening. And sometimes the best means can be found right inside our own homes.

As such, the following are the top 20 Home Remedies you can apply as Hair Loss Treatment:

1. COCONUT MILK

Said to be one of the richest sources of substances that nourishes the tissues as derived from plants, coconut milk, when applied to the scalp can be used as a Hair Loss Cure by reducing the chances of hair fall.

Here is a Video Tutorial on how to make your own Home-Made Shampoo using Coconut Milk and Castille Soap.

Video Credit: TheSustainableMama

2. ALOE VERA

 People who experience Hair Loss have a dry and irritated scalp. Applying Aloe Vera juice or pure aloe gel to the scalp gives it a sense of balanced pH. The application of pure aloe gel involves massaging of it on the scalp, leaving it for a few hours to dry, and then washing with lukewarm water. For best results, the same practice must be applied twice a week. Some aloe Vera Products are available on Amazon. Their user reviews is a must-read as these are from real buyers of the product.

Thinking of Making you own Aloe Vera Gel at Home? This ordinary Mom will take you thru the process she does to come up with an Aloe Vera extract that can be used as your Home-Made Hair Fall Remedy. Ir she can do it, why can’t you?

Video Credit: IAmMamaDaye

 3. OIL MASSAGE

 Regular massaging of the scalp with lukewarm coconut oil stimulates the blood flow on the scalp. Among other oils applicable to the scalp, it is coconut oil that is known to be effective in preventing hair loss.

4. NEEM

Also known by the name of Indian Lilac, Neem is a plant that is attributed to many healthful and cosmetic benefits. When a neem’s leaves are soaked and boiled in a water and then cooled down to be used for washing the head to be done once a week, the chances of one’s hair falling is said to be reduced.

Products derived from Neem can also be purchased from Amazon. You might want to check it out.

5. AMLA

If using coconut oil is not enough to reduce Hair Fall to yourself, then boiling Dried Amla with the Coconut Oil may fix it. Used in the same way as you would a coconut oil alone, boiled coconut oil with Amla is also used to massage the scalp.

Using Amla to treat Hair Loss is easy. You can combine it with other extracts of oils to increase or maximise its potency.

This video by Asa Kawano will show you how.

 6. ONION OR GARLIC

 Sulphur at proper levels is significant to Hair Growth. Both Onion and Garlic contains a good amount of sulphur which can be used to promote Hair Growth or Baldness Cure.

While eating both will give a substantial amount of sulphur to the body, applying the essence of the onion directly onto the scalp promotes better hair growth.

If you are to use garlic with the same purpose, you would need to boil it down first with the coconut oil before applying to the scalp topically.

Watch this Video by ItsaGiraziThang which demonstrates how to Mix Garlic and Onion to produce an Extract to fight Hair Loss

 7. HIBISCUS

Hibiscus contains properties that both revitalizes and nourishes the Hair. Not just preventing the premature growth of grey hairs as well as the occurrence of dandruff, Hibiscus is an altogether helpful in preventing Hair loss.

You need to collect the Leaves and Flowers of the Hibiscus plant, and then you have to crush it to extract the juice. You can either use a mortar and pestle to crush or a  food processor you are using at home. After extracting the Hibiscus Juice, you can easily mix it with your favourite shampoo or conditioner to be applied to your hair.

This Video by DuchessGabrielle will show how to make Hibiscus Hair Loss Treatment at Home:

Some ingredients used here Like the Hibiscus Leaves and Flowers can be bought straight from Amazon and delivered to your homes. Be sure to check it out Here!

8. EGG

Whether used topically or as food, an Egg contains enough nutrients and amino acids to promote Hair Growth and lessen Hair Thinning. When paired with either Olive Oil or Honey, it works better.

Eggs are an inexpensive solution to hair loss and breakage and can be taken internally or applied directly to your hair.

I would like to share this Video by SecretofNaturalBeauty on how to use Eggs, Lemon and Olive Oil to make a Home-Made Baldness and Hair Fall solution.

9. AVOIDING JUNK FOODS

Junk foods are nothing but empty calories and very little traces of nutrients. Heavily processed in preparation, Junk foods add toxins in the body when eaten which promotes Hair Loss. Instead of junk foods, eat healthy foods that are less processed and more natural.

10. GENTLENESS WHEN HAIR IS WET

Our hair is more fragile when wet. To prevent the chances of your hair from ever breaking, refrain from rubbing the hair dry with a towel and do not comb when hair is wet.

 11. FREQUENT SCALP MASSAGE

Massage helps maintain a good blood flow to the scalp and is synonymous to providing nourishment to it which promotes a healthy hair. For optimum effect, always massage the scalp with oil.

12. MINIMAL PRESSURE

While men are less likely to tie up their hair, women most likely do. Tying up on one’s hair may not be a big deal for most people, but it is not the case for women who are experiencing some balding.

 13. REFRAIN EXCESSIVE HEAT STYLING

Dry scalp is an enemy of a healthy hair as it sets a condition for Hair Loss. If that alone is bad, consider what an excessive heat styling can do to promote its condition.

 14. Don’t Use Hot Water When Rinsing Hair

There is something about heat, especially when excessive, that is bad for our hair even when bathing. To prevent your hair from being fizzy and dry, either use cold or warm water when taking a bath.

 15. HEALTHY DIET

 This is the direct opposite of eating junk foods. Having a healthy diet provides the needed nutrients into our body that is then spread to the rest of it, including the scalp. Hair needs essential Vitamins/Nutrients like the rest of our body to grow and stay healthy.

16. EXERCISE

Exercise improves our body’s metabolism, which, in turn, promotes better absorption of nutrients in the body. In addition, exercise also helps fights stress by releasing endorphins in the body. Both endorphin and improved nutrient absorption promotes hair growth.

 17. LOWERED CAFFEINE INTAKE

Caffeine affects our body’s natural sources of nutrients, including those needed for the hair. If you are experiencing alopecia, it is wise to refrain from taking too much caffeine as part of your diet. But on the contrary, applying caffeine directly to your scalp has shown promising effects in fighting Hair Loss.  You can check out this Caffeine Based Product and try reading what users are saying on its effects.

18. PROPER HYDRATION

The dryness of our skin affects the water levels in our body. When we’re dehydrated, we tend to feel dry from the outside. Our scalp is a part of our skin that is also affected by this. Stay well-hydrated to prevent the drying up of skin. 10 or more glasses of water is recommended for a normal person to stay well-hydrated for a day.

 19. USE OF HERBAL PRODUCTS

Herbal Products  are those that are made using real and natural ingredients unlike commercial products that have artificial chemicals in them. This makes herbal products ideal to use by people who are experiencing balding.

 20. PREVENT RESIDUE BUILD-UP

Everything that we apply on our hair leave residue on them. Prevent issues of developing dandruff and head lice that may affect the health of your scalp.

Balding may be a condition that has its natural causes, but its remedies, too, are equally natural themselves. The things you use for cooking or the oil you apply to sooth your body may be the answers to your quest of the ultimate Hair Loss or Baldness cure.

For better chances of beating the issue of balding, it is wise that a combination of the listed here be applied instead of sticking to just one method.

HERBAL MEDICINE RESEARCH AND GLOBAL HEALTH: AN ETHICAL ANALYSIS

Jon C Tilburt , Ted J Kaptchuk 

Introduction

Traditional herbal medicines are naturally occurring, plant-derived substances with minimal or no industrial processing that have been used to treat illness within local or regional healing practices. Traditional herbal medicines are getting significant attention in global health debates. In China, traditional herbal medicine played a prominent role in the strategy to contain and treat severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Eighty per cent of African populations use some form of traditional herbal medicine, and the worldwide annual market for these products approaches US$ 60 billion. Many hope traditional herbal medicine research will play a critical role in global health. China, India, Nigeria, the United States of America (USA) and WHO have all made substantial research investments in traditional herbal medicines.Industry has also invested millions of US dollars looking for promising medicinal herbs and novel chemical compounds.This is still a relatively modest investment compared to the overall pharmaceutical industry; however, it raises interesting ethical questions, some of which are not faced in more conventional drug development.

As attention and public funding for international traditional herbal medicine research collaborations grows, more detailed analysis of ethical issues in this research is warranted. Scant literature has addressed selected issues such as informed consent and independent review related to traditional herbal medicine research. Here we apply a practical, comprehensive and widely accepted ethical framework to international traditional herbal medicine research. We examine in detail difficult questions related to social value, scientific validity and favourable risk–benefit ratio. We conclude with implications for future research in this area, focusing on the importance of collaborative partnership.

Case

A government agency from a developed country is conducting an HIV-treatment trial in Africa. A traditional herbal medicine, Africa Flower, has been used for decades to treat wasting symptoms associated with HIV. Local traditional medicine healers believe Africa Flower is an effective antiviral. It is already widely used for immune boosting in AIDS. In vitro pharmacokinetic studies suggest potential interference with vaccines, and animal models show liver toxicity at very high doses. There are no systemic side-effects reported for humans in the literature. A few case series have shown mixed results. Local leaders are requesting the government agency conduct a large, randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Africa Flower to test its efficacy as a novel adjunctive therapy to slow progression to AIDS.

Ethical framework

Cases like these present challenging questions related to the role of traditional herbal medicines in public health. In general, international research on traditional herbal medicines should be subject to the same ethical requirements as all research related to human subjects. An ethical framework previously outlined by Emanuel et al. and revised for international research offers a useful starting point for thinking about the ethics of international traditional herbal medicine research. This framework includes eight ethical requirements for clinical research. These ethical requirements are universal and comprehensive but must be adapted to the particular social context in which the research is implemented. Of these, fair subject selection, independent review, informed consent, and respect for enrolled subjects have been discussed previously in the literature on the ethics of global health research and raise few issues unique to international traditional herbal medicine research.However, social value, scientific validity, and favourable risk–benefit ratio raise specific challenges in international herbal medicine research that have not been adequately discussed.

Social value

All research should hold the potential to achieve social value. Different entities may view the social value of traditional medicine research differently. Public-health officials are often eager to define the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicines for conditions such as malaria. Conversely, harm can arise with the unscrupulous use of herbs such as Africa potato (various Hypoxis species). While some claim that such medicines have “stood the test of time”, they nonetheless pose serious challenges to investigators and regulators from developed countries, in which standards of proof are closely linked to proven efficacy in RCTs. Accordingly, there has been a serious investment in herbal medicine research by public-health bodies in many countries. China recently launched a safety research programme focusing on herbal medicine injections from traditional Chinese medicine.South Africa recently included the need for investigating traditional medicines within its national drug policy.

In the USA, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health spent approximately US$ 33 million on herbal medicines in fiscal year 2005; in 2004 the National Cancer Institute committed nearly US$ 89 million to studying a range of traditional therapies. While this scale of investment pales in comparison to the total research and development expenses of the pharmaceutical industry, it nevertheless reflects genuine public, industry and governmental interest in this area.

While public-health entities may be concerned with defining the risks and benefits of herbal medicines already in use, entrepreneurs and corporations hope herbal medicines may yield immediate returns from herbal medicine sales, or yield clues to promising chemical compounds for future pharmaceutical development. They test individual herbs, or their components, analysed in state-of-the-art high-throughput screening systems, hoping to isolate therapeutic phytochemicals or biologically active functional components. In 2006, Novartis reported that it would invest over US$ 100 million to investigate traditional medicine in Shanghai alone.

Nongovernmental organizations may be primarily interested in preserving indigenous medical knowledge. One such organization, the Association for the Promotion of Traditional Medicine (PROMETRA), based in Dakar, Senegal, is “dedicated to preserving and restoring African traditional medicine and indigenous science”. Governments in developing countries may want to use traditional herbal medicine research to expand the influence of their culture’s indigenous herbal practices in the glob In developed countries, the “need” for this research may be to protect the public.

The perceived need for the research may justifiably differ across countries, but without some basic agreement on the primary source of social value for the research it may be difficult to judge its ultimate impact. In the Africa Flower case above, before agreements to study a herbal medicine are decided, partners must fully discuss potential differences about the perceived “need” for the research through public forums or structured debates. Based on these frank discussions, partners can assess whether the social values of partner countries are sufficiently compatible to warrant a research partnership.

Scientific validity

Part of ensuring the social value of research includes devising and implementing sound science. Although international collaborative research on herbal medicine is no exception, discussing scientific validity as an ethical requirement raises some specific challenges, including the meaning of scientific validity, establishing inclusion and exclusion criteria, using appropriate outcome measures, and determining appropriate study designs.

Balancing internal and external validity

Building a valid basis for knowledge in herbal medicine will require balancing two aspects of scientific validity: internal and external validity. Internal validity means the research must reliably test hypothesized relationships between an intervention and an outcome under controlled conditions. Internally valid research will typically try to answer a focused research question that is salient within the vocabulary and methods of the scientific community at the time the research is conducted. External validity refers to the applicability of the research results to a target population outside the experimental conditions of the research study. External validity must always be weighed against the need for rigorous internally valid research.

This tension between internal and external validity can be illustrated by a recent herbal medicine trial of Echinacea angustifolia extract for prevention of parainfluenza virus infection. The study was conducted under rigorous experimental conditions, but many herbalists pointed out that study conditions did not sufficiently reflect how these medicines are actually used. Null treatment trial results like these prompt questions about the external validity (i.e. value and meaning) of the research. Was the herbal medicine truly ineffective, or did the experiment not reflect the herb’s use in “real-world” practice? In herbal medicine there are often huge variations in the way in which the medicines are used in herbalist practice, including herb source, preparation, dose and indication. Because traditional herbal medicine practitioners may be unregulated and their products lacking in standardization, it may be difficult to generalize the results from a formal, structured and highly monitored trial to what will happen in the widespread dissemination of the herbal medicine. Nevertheless, herbal medicine research must endeavour to achieve a balance between internal and external validity.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

To ensure that research results are externally valid, the inclusion and exclusion criteria for research participation should fit with existing diagnostic categories in the target population specified by the research question. However, conceptualizations of health and illness can vary across medical systems and populations, making agreement on valid inclusion and exclusion criteria for international herbal medicine research collaborations more difficult to achieve.

During the SARS epidemic, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners involved in the care of SARS patients characterized patients based on nosological categories derived from TCM including “deficiency of chi and yin” as well as “stagnation of pathogenic phlegm”. Designing clinical trials using these kinds of TCM categories as inclusion criteria would require significant additional effort and biomedical flexibility to implement. If one wanted to test whether TCM works for populations in south-east Asia affected by a SARS-like illness, adapting the science to include traditional diagnostic categories may be critical for its ultimate external validity.

If American researchers want to test a herb’s effects on heart failure, they might use the New York Heart Association classification as part of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. However, this classification makes little sense from a TCM perspective, in which heart failure may be viewed primarily as either a heart yang chi deficiency or a kidney yang deficiency. TCM practitioners may prefer to categorize patients based on pulses, tongue examination, and other elements of traditional diagnosis. Investigators have simultaneously used both biomedical entry criteria and stratified for TCM diagnosis. Such an approach is scientifically ideal because of its ability to maximize the external validity of results.

Valid outcome measures

International herbal medicine research must use outcome measures that accurately capture the effects conferred by herbal medicines. However, constructs such as “physical functioning” or “psychological well-being” measured by the SF-36 quality of life instrument make little sense within the terminology and ideas of TCM.Therefore to accurately measure a TCM herb’s effects on quality of life, some investigators have constructed and validated analoguous measures that more faithfully detect the effects of TCM interventions that make sense within that healing tradition. Ideally, when new measures are introduced, they should overlap with existing outcome measures, so that the research can adequately contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Determining research design

While it is generally agreed that all human subjects research must maintain valid study designs, questions arise about the characteristics of a valid research design. Two extreme positions are often defended. At one extreme, some researchers trained in biomedical methods of clinical investigation argue that the only valid source of knowledge regarding clinical efficacy must come from one type of research design, the randomized double blind, placebo-controlled trial. They argue that any deviations from this gold standard of scientific validity amount to worthless science.

At the other extreme, critics of biomedical research conducted on traditional medicines charge that attempts to evaluate traditional therapies with biomedical methodologies may fail to generate true knowledge, since that knowledge itself depends on a scientific vocabulary that only makes sense from within the concepts of biomedicine. They worry that “standard notions of ... experimental design criteria represent an imperialistic ‘western’ mode of thinking”.

Research on herbal medicines should typically employ experimental research designs such as the RCT. Even if research tools (including the RCT) are imperfect, they are thus far the best methods we have for furthering our knowledge. Consider how RCT designs could be implemented in TCM, in which treatments are individualized to patients, often incorporating several, or even dozens, of herbs in a customized preparation. Despite these complexities, investigators have successfully adapted double-blind RCT designs to complex individually tailored Chinese herbs. Bensoussan et al. conducted a three-arm trial in which they tested the comparative clinical efficacy of standard complex herbal medicines, customized therapy and placebo. Standard and customized therapy were comparably beneficial as compared to placebo. In other instances, cluster RCTs can allow for practitioner variability, while still rigorously testing the efficacy of a therapeutic approach. In cross-cultural settings, researchers cannot merely adopt alternative designs in an ad hoc manner, but must reflect on and refine their research question, and find a design that best answers the research question within the given cultural context.

In recent years, growing attention has been paid to a group of additional important ethical issues surrounding publication bias, financial conflicts of interest, and clinical trial registries. In the arena of traditional herbal medicine, these same issues apply, and when cross-cultural differences exist in the definitions of valid science, as is the case in traditional herbal medicine research, these questions compound. For instance, until recently, there was a tendency to see only positive studies published in China. It is, therefore, critically important to the long-term scientific credibility of international traditional herbal medicine research that, at the outset, partners agree about the standards of scientific conduct, the disclosure of financial relationships, registration of clinical trials, and adequate reporting of trial results.

Favourable risk–benefit ratio

In international herbal medicine research, several practical challenges arise in making accurate risk–benefit determinations. Typically, in American pharmaceutical development, a step-wise process of drug testing occurs – a compound is isolated, tested in tissue cultures and animals, and then investigated in phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials. However, herbal medicines are already in widespread use, are often used in combination, and are drawn from plant sources with their own variability in species, growing conditions and biologically active constituents. They often come into use by a process of trial and error, or over centuries. Accordingly, in clinical herbal medicine research there is rarely a strong preclinical basis for dosing, and there are significant looming questions about product purity, quality, chemical stability and active constituents at the time herbal medicine trials are proposed.

Initiating large-scale research trials in such circumstances raises questions about whether the risks and benefits of research participation can be accurately ascertained. Those reviewing protocols should factor in the uncertainty associated with product variability in determining whether a herbal medicine trial has afavourable risk–benefit ratio. However, protocol reviewers (i.e. institutional review boards) should not presume that because they are personally unfamiliar with a herbal preparation that there is no credible or valuable background evidence regarding safety and potential efficacy. While researchers should provide such information in protocol materials, reviewers must remain aware of the role their own lack of familiarity may play in their ultimate judgements of risks and benefits of the research.

Researchers increasingly agree that it is important to establish a rational basis for dosing and standardization of biologically active compounds before conducting large-scale treatment trials. These efforts can improve investigators’ ability to assess the risks and benefits of participation in large-scale herbal medicine trials. Likewise, more rigorous monitoring of adverse events and standardized reporting of research results for both safety and efficacy data will improve long-term efforts to enhance risk–benefit ratio determination for trial participation.

Cultural factors also may influence judgements of the risks and benefits in herbal medicine research. For instance, a cultural familiarity with many traditional Chinese herbal medicines in China may promote a familiarity bias, accepting a widespread cultural assumption of safety, based on the historical use of herbal medicines.There may also be a cultural difference in emphasis placed on standardized adverse events reporting in China. These cultural differences make achieving agreed-upon standards of favourable risk–benefit ratio more difficult. In order for international collaborative herbal medicine research to achieve its objectives, it will be important to establish standards of evidence for demonstration of safety before conducting large-scale clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of herbal medicines.

Improving science through collaborative partnership

How can international collaborative herbal medicine trials achieve the ethical requirements outlined above? Collaborative partnership, the first requirement for international research ethics, provides both the rationale and the context for achieving appropriate application of the other ethical requirements. Partners in these collaborations must share vocabulary for all the requirements, especially for social value, scientific validity, and favourable risk–benefit ratio. How can agreed-upon language be achieved? As illustrated here, these challenges are significant. In the case presented earlier, investigators should have reservations about implementing a large-scale clinical trial for Africa Flower. Nevertheless, the local interest in this substance may be valid and deserve some additional preliminary investigation. Collaborative partnership displays a commitment by all parties in international research agreements to work together for common language and goals.

To achieve collaborative partnership, parties can engage in structured methods of democratic deliberation to devise shared language and concepts for research. These methods have been used to bring different parties together in a safe and collegial process of decision-making. Over time, collaborations could “cross-train” basic and clinical investigators to more fully appreciate the concepts and practices of the traditional herbal medicine traditions, and developing host countries would need to develop the basic literacy, knowledge and skills among traditional medicine practitioners so that they see the value of rigorous clinical research. With a sustained investment like this, it will become increasingly possible to conduct sound international scientific investigation on traditional herbal medicine. Furthermore, sustainable collaborative research partnerships would benefit from robust and independent adverse-event reporting systems for herbal medicines so that the risk–benefit ratio for herbal medicine research can be more clearly defined.

Ethical challenges in international traditional herbal medicine call for a comprehensive framework. Addressing these challenges requires collaborative partnership that implements sound research designs. So envisioned, international herbal medicine research can contribute to global health. ■

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Acknowledgements

Franklin G Miller and Jack Killen generously read and offered helpful suggestions on earlier versions of this paper.

Funding: TJK is a consultant for Kan Herbal Company, Scotts Valley, CA, USA. Partial funding for TJK was provided by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Competing interests: None declared.

                                -Edited By OSS

TRADITIONAL AFRICAN MEDICINE [HEALING THE PLANET]

Traditional African medicine

Definition

Traditional African medicine is a holistic discipline involving extensive use of indigenous herbalism combined with aspects of African spirituality.

Origins

Despite numerous attempts at government interference, this ancient system of healing continues to thrive in Africa and practitioners can be found in many other parts

of the world. Under colonial rule, many nations considered traditional diviner-healers to be practitioners of witchcraft and outlawed them for that reason. In some areas of colonial Africa, attempts were also made to control the sale of traditional herbal medicines. After Mozambique obtained independence in 1975, divinerhealers were sent to reeducation camps. Opposition to traditional medicine has been particularly vehement during times of conflict, when people have been more likely to call on the supernatural realm. More recently, interest has been expressed in integrating traditional African medicine with the continent's national health care systems. In Kwa-Mhlanga, South Africa, a 48-bed hospital combines traditional African medicine with homeopathy, iridology , and other Western healing methods, as well as traditional Asian medicine. Founded by a traditional African healer, the hospital is said to be the first of its kind in the country.

Benefits

Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim to be able to cure a wide range of conditions, including cancers, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS ), psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, infertility , and most venereal diseases. Other applications includeepilepsy, asthma, eczema , hayfever, anxiety, depression , benign prostatic hypertrophy, urinary tract infections, gout , and healing of wounds and burns .

Description

Traditional African medicine involves diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Diviners are responsible for determining the cause of illness, which in some causes are believed to stem from ancestral spirits and other influences. Traditional midwives make extensive use of indigenous plants to aid childbirth . Herbalists are so popular in Africa that an herb trading market in Durban is said to attract between 700,000 and 900,000 traders a year from South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Smaller herb markets exist in virtually every community.

There are strong spiritual aspects to traditional African medicine, with a widespread belief among practitioners that psychospiritual aspects must be addressed before medical aspects. Among traditional healers, the ability to diagnose an illness is considered a gift from both God and the practitioner's ancestors. A major emphasis is placed on determining the root cause underlying any sickness or bad luck. Illness is said to stem from a lack of balance between the patient and his or her social environment. It is this imbalance that determines the choice of the healing plant, which is valued as much for its symbolic and spiritual significance as for its medicinal effect. For example, the colors white, black, and red are considered especially symbolic or magical. Seeds, leaves, and twigs bearing these colors are deemed to possess special properties. Diviners may use plants not only for healing purposes but also to control weather and events. In addition to plants, traditional African healers may employ charms, incantations, and casting of spells.

One traditional African medicinal cure that has developed a wide following outside the continent is pygeum (Prunus africana ), which has been sold in Europe since the 1970s as a treatment for mild-to-moderate benign prostatic hyperplasia. Each year, 2,000 metric tons of pygeum bark are harvested in Cameroon and another 600 tons are harvested in Madagascar. In Africa, the bark is made into a tea. Elsewhere in the world, it is sold in powders, tinctures, and pills, often combined with other herbs believed to help with prostate problems. Users report greater ease of urination, with reduced inflammation and cholesterol deposits.

A comparison between numbers of traditional healers and medical doctors demonstrates the importance of this healing modality in Africa. In the Venda area of South Africa, there is one traditional practitioner for every 700–1,200 people, compared to one physician for every 17,400 people. Swaziland has one traditional healer for every 110 people. Benin City, Nigeria has the same ratio. Urban Kenya has one traditional healer per 833 population.

Precautions

All cases of serious illness need to be examined by a medical doctor. Even though many prostate conditions are not serious, patients thinking of using pygeum should first undergo a medical examination to rule out more serious problems.

Concern has been expressed that increased demand for wild plants used in traditional African medicine is endangering local plant populations. For example, the Washington-based group Future Harvest says that a $220 million annual market for Prunus africana as a prostate remedy could lead to extinction of the slow-maturing evergreen tree in the African wilds.

Some Christian church officials express opposition to elements of witchcraft used by some African healers.

Side effects

Serious side effects, even death, can result from incorrect identification of healing plants. For example, species of the aloe plant are extensively used in traditional African medicine, but some forms, such as Aloe globuligemma, are toxic and can result in death if misidentified.

Convulsions and fatalities have been linked to the use of African herb concoctions known asimbiza, used for male erectile problems. Suppliers insist the problems occur only when too much of the concoction is consumed.

Research & general acceptance

Although many of the principles and methods of traditional African medicine are quite foreign to orthodox medical thinking, there is nonetheless considerable interest in exploiting Africa's ethnobotanical knowledge for drug-development purposes. For example, American researchers have expressed interest in using seed extracts from Garcinia kola, a common African tree used by traditional healers, to treat Ebola and Marburg disease.

Training & certification

The field is largely unregulated. In Africa, many traditional practitioners are simple, uneducated people who have nonetheless accumulated a great deal of knowledge about native plants and their actions on the human body. There is considerable interest in integrating traditional African medicine more fully with the continent's national medical systems. In Harare, Zimbabwe, a school of Traditional African Medicine opened its doors in October, 1999. Students include both traditional healers and university graduates.

Resources

PERIODICALS

Kale, R. "Traditional healers in South Africa: a parallel health care system." British Medical Journal 310 (6988) (May 6 1995):1182-5.

-David Helwig