Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9.
Weakness:
It is important to differentiate between laziness, which is a cultivated habit, and general-
ized weakness due to malaria or other diseases not yet manifesting recognizable symptoms.
10.
Rash:
Skin eruptions are taken seriously. They may be interpreted as indicative of measles or other
contagious diseases. They may also result from allergy to plants or accidental entry into bewitched
forests. People were also believed to inflict rashes—smallpox (
lkpenta
) or chicken pox (
Kitikpa
)—
on their enemies or rivals. The healer usually determines whether the rash itches, hurts, or burns;
whether it has spread or is limited to one area; whether there was a change in diet or contact with
unfamiliar substances; whether there was any contact with someone with a similar affliction; and
when the victim last entered a forest previous to the attack and which forest.
11.
Pain:
Experienced healers often relate the various types of pain to specific diseases. The constant
or intermittent pain has to be differentiated from the sharp or dull, stabbing or cramping, steady or
pounding, and moving or localized. The healer asks many questions and probes the patient to deter-
mine the exact nature of the pain and correct diagnosis. The healer has to decide whether to treat the
pain by external applications and massage or with oral mixtures.
The main diseases treated by the traditional healers are discussed next. Some of the herbs listed
under the diseases are not included in the catalog in Chapter 2 since they are considered minor
ingredients for the preparation of remedies.
MaLarIa
Malaria remains by far the most common disease suffered by the African. Some traditional
healers classify all fevers together, but an expert herbalist easily distinguishes the various types
and recommends appropriate treatment. There is often no distinction between the various forms of
malarial fever; both the tertian and quartan fevers are treated alike. The prescription of antimalarial
drugs is not usually restricted to professional herbalists; in serious cases, however, people with some
knowledge of herbs often volunteer their services when malaria occurs in the community. Cases of
drug-resistant malaria (both herbal and allopathic) are referred to the professional herbalists.
Many plant genera were used either alone or in combination for the treatment of malaria. The
plants are mainly of the families Rubiaceae and Apocynaceae and a few from the families Bombaceae,
Loganaceae, Rutaceae, Solanaceae, Meliaceae, and Gramineae. Malaria medicines vary enormously
from one community to the other, in both the choice of plants and the method of preparation.
Complementary to oral therapy is steam treatment; the patient is covered with a thick blanket or
cloth and subjected to the vapors from a steaming pot of herbs (ingredients of this hot pot include
the leaves of neem, lemongrass, paw-paw (
Carica papaya
), mango, and guava). Burns and blisters
are prevented by surrounding the hot pot with short pieces of water-soaked wood; very frail patients
are allowed to raise their heads above the blanket to avoid suffocation. The treatment works, and I
have not observed any case of suffocation or severe bums from this method of treatment.
The leaves of some of these plants are sometimes used for the preparation of “teas”; typical fever
teas are made from lemongrass (
Cymbopogon citratus
)
,
lime (
Citrus aurantifolia
),
and sometimes
guava leaves. This form of treatment is usually recommended for mild attacks of malaria.
arthrItIS aND INFLaMMatOrY DISOrDErS
The items in the prescription list of antiarthritic drugs, in both traditional and Western ortho-
dox medicine, are indeed legion and sometimes quite exotic. In orthodox Western medicine, the
folk treatment ranges from sips of the innocuous honey to sophisticated medications such as intra-
articular injections of cortisones. The list also includes white ribbons tied round the afflicted parts
of the body, apple cider, spring water, gold, roasted potatoes, vinegar, aspirin, indomethacin, and
